MA English II Sem OU Notes Final 2017-2018

MA ENGLISH, II Semester Material, OU, TU, SU, MU, PU Compiled by Dr Adi Ramesh
MA
ENGLISH LITERATURE
Osmania University
Palamuru University
Telangana University
Satavahana University
Mahatma Gandhi University
SECOND SEMESTER (CBCS)
Written & Compiled by

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU
Asst. Professor of English
Kakatiya Government Degree & PG College (KDC)
Hanamkonda
Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 1

MA ENGLISH LITERATURE
Semester-II, Paper I, II, III, IV & V
ST
1 Edition -2018
Compiled by
Dr. Adi Ramesh Babu
Asst. Professor of English
Kakatiya Government Degree & PG College (KDC)
Hanamkonda
Phone: 99590 26160 (WhatsApp only)
The author is available at adirameshan@gmail.com
In spite of many efforts taken to present the book without errors, some errors might have
crept in, so do not take any legal responsibility for such errors and omissions. If they are
brought to our notice, they will be corrected in the next editions.

All Universities
CBCS
Syllabus of MA (English)
(With effect from the Academic Year 2016-17)
Semester II
Paper-I
Eng 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and Methods (5
credits) Unit-I
a) History of English Language Teaching in India: Some Important Pre-Independence

Landmarks: Macaulay’s Minute-a critique; Woods Despatch (1854); Indian Education
Commission (1882); Indian Universities Commission (1902)
b) Landmarks in English Education in India after Independence: Radhakrishnan
Commission (University Education Commission, 1948); Kothari Commission -Three
Language Formula (1964-66), Curriculum Development Commission, Acharya
Ramamurti Commission (1990); The National Knowledge Commission Report
(2006- 10)
c) Teaching English as a second language: Role of English in India; Objectives of
Teaching English as a Second Language in India
Unit II
a) Behaviourism and its Implications for ELT: Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning,
Thorndike’s Connectionism, Skinner’s Operant conditioning
b) Cognitivism and its Implications for ELT: Gestalt Theory; Chomsky’s Cognitive
Theory-Competence vs Performance; Dell Hymes’ Communicative Competence
c) Language Acquisition Process: Differences between First Language Acquisition and
Second Language Learning
Unit III
a) Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation method, Direct Method, Reading
Method, Audio-Lingual Method, Bilingual Method, Eclectic Method
b) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task Based Learning and Teaching
c) Humanistic Approaches: Community Language Learning, Suggestopedia
Unit IV
a) Teaching LSRW and their Sub-skills
b) Curriculum and Syllabus: Components, Needs Analysis, Goals and Objectives;
Course Evaluation
c) Types of Syllabi: Structural Syllabus, Notional - Functional Syllabus, Task-based
Syllabus
Unit V
a) Language Testing: Definition and Types of Language Testing
b) Characteristic Features of an Effective Test: Validity, Reliability, Feasibility
c) Testing Language Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary,
Grammar

MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-II Eng 202: English Prose (5 credits)
Unit I Background
Origin and Development of the English Essay; Utopia; Translation of the
Bible, Allegory; Satire
Unit II Philip Sidney An Apologie for Poetrie
Francis Bacon “Of Studies”, “Of Truth”, “Of Revenge”
John Bunyan The Pilgrim’s Progress (from “As I walked through the
wilderness of this world …” till the paragraph ending
with the line “The name of the one was Simple, another
Sloth, and the third Presumption.”)
Unit III Jonathan Swift “The Battle of the Books”
Joseph Addison “Sir Roger in Church”, “The Aims of the Spectator”
Samuel Johnson Preface to Shakespeare (Up to the paragraph beginning
“So careless was this great poet…”)
Unit IV Charles Lamb “Dream Children”, “Old China”
William Hazlitt “The Indian Jugglers”, “On People with One Idea”
John Ruskin Unto This Last (Section I)
Unit V Bertrand Russell “The Ethics of War”, “Education and Discipline”
Virginia Woolf A Room of One’s Own
George Orwell “Politics and the English Language”, “Reflections on
Gandhi”

MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-III Eng 203: English Fiction (5 credits)
Unit I Background
The Rise of Novel; The Gothic Novel; Realism-Naturalism; Bildungsroman;
Stream of Consciousness; Magic Realism
Unit II Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

Jane Austen Emma
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Unit III Charles Dickens Hard Times

Thomas Hardy Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
Unit IV DH Lawrence Sons and Lovers

William Golding Lord of the Flies
Zadie Smith White Teeth
Unit V Short Stories

Rudyard Kipling “Lispeth”, “Thrown Away”
HG Wells “The New Accelerator”, “The Man Who Could Work
Miracles”
Roald Dahl “The Umbrella Man”, “Lamb to the Slaughter”

MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-IV Eng 204 A: Women’s Writing (4 credits)
Unit I Background
Sex and Gender; Women’s Liberation Movement; Feminisms; Women and the
Canon; Gynocriticism
Unit II Poetry
Aemilia Lanyer “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women”
Sylvia Plath “Lady Lazarus”, “The Applicant”, “Daddy”
Grace Nichols “Waterpot”, “A Praise Song for Mother”,
“The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping”
Luci Tapahonso “Blue Horses Rush In”, “Leda and the Cowboy”,
“Raisin Eyes”
Unit III Fiction

Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea
Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye
Chimamanda Adichie Americanah
Unit IV Prose
Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Introduction and Chapter 2)
Adrienne Rich “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-
Vision”
Suniti Namjoshi From Feminist Fables
1. From the Panchatantra
2. The Little Princess
3. The Gods
4. Perseus and Andomeda
5. Case History
6. The Runner

MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-IV Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory (4 credits)
Unit I Background
New Criticism; New Historicism; Structuralism and Poststructuralism;
Reader Response Theories; Psychoanalytical Criticism
Unit II Cleanth Brooks “The Language of Paradox”

(from The Well Wrought Urn)
Northrop Fry “Archetypes of Literature” (from Fables of
Identity)
Mikhail Bakhtin “Discourse in the Novel”
(from The Dialogic Imagination)
Unit III Michel Foucault “The Unities of Discourse”

(from The Archaeology of Knowledge)
Roland Barthes “The Death of the Author” (from Image-Music-
Text)
Raymond Williams “Literature” (from Marxism and Literature)
Unit IV Edward Said “Introduction” (from Orientalism)

Elaine Showalter “Feminist Criticism in Wilderness”
(from The New Feminist Criticism)
Henry Louis Gates Jr. “Editor’s Introduction: Writing ‘Race’ and the
Difference It Makes” (Sec 1-5)

Note
These notes are compiled by Dr. Adi Ramesh Babu for MA English Semester II (CBCS) of
all Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Universities. These notes are very much helpful to the
students for UGC NET / SET in English subject and M.Phil and Ph.D Entrance
examinations also.
Dr Adi Ramesh Babu is presently working as Assistant Professor, Department of English,

Kakatiya Government Degree and PG College (KDC), Hanamkonda, Kakatiya
University, Telangana State. He obtained his M.Phil and Ph.D degrees from Kakatiya
University, Warangal. He also did PGCTE and PGDTE from EFLU (Hyderabad). He has
published several articles and presented scholarly papers in national and international
seminars. He is one of the Editors of The Criterion: An Online International Journal;
International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies; Research
Scholar: An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations; International Journal
on Studies in English Language and Literature.

Units Contents Page No

ENG 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and Methods
a) History of English Language Teaching in India: Some
Important Pre-Independence Landmarks: Macaulay’s Minute-
Unit-I: 15
a critique; Woods Despatch (1854); Indian Education
b)Landmarks in English Education in India after
Independence: Radhakrishnan Commission (University
Education Commission, 1948); Kothari Commission -Three
33
Language Formula (1964-66), Curriculum Development
Commission, Acharya Ramamurti Commission (1990); The
National Knowledge Commission Report (2006- 10)
c) Teaching English as a second language: Role of English in
India; Objectives of Teaching English as a Second Language 40
in India
a) Behaviourism and its Implications for ELT: Pavlov’s
Unit-II: Classical Conditioning, Thorndike’s Connectionism, Skinner’s 45
Operant conditioning
b) Cognitivism and its Implications for ELT: Gestalt Theory;
Chomsky’s Cognitive Theory-Competence vs Performance; 51
Dell Hymes’ Communicative Competence
c) Language Acquisition Process: Differences between First 56
Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning
a) Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation method,
Unit-III: Direct Method, Reading Method, Audio-Lingual Method, 58
Bilingual Method, Eclectic Method
b) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task Based 63
Learning and Teaching
c) Humanistic Approaches: Community Language Learning, 66
Suggestopedia
Unit-IV: a)Teaching LSRW and their Sub-skills 68
b) Curriculum and Syllabus: Components, Needs Analysis, 69
Goals and Objectives; Course Evaluation
c) Types of Syllabi: Structural Syllabus, Notional - Functional 71
Syllabus, Task-based Syllabus
a) Language Testing: Definition and Types of Language
Unit-V: 74
Testing
b) Characteristic Features of an Effective Test: Validity, 76
Reliability, Feasibility
c) Testing Language Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, 77
Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar

Eng 202: English Prose

Unit-I: Background 83
Unit-II: Philip Sidney’s An Apologie for Poetrie 87
Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies”, “Of Truth”, “Of Revenge” 90
John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress 95
Unit-III: Jonathan Swift’s The Battle of the Books 97
Joseph Addison’s “Sir Roger in Church”
100
“The Aims of the Spectator”
Samuel Johnson’s Preface to Shakespeare 104
Unit-IV: Charles Lamb’s “Dream Children”, “Old China” 106
William Hazlitt’s “The Indian Jugglers”
110
“On People with One Idea”
John Ruskin’s Unto This Last 112
Bertrand Russell’s “The Ethics of War”
Unit-V: 114
“Education and Discipline”
Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own 119
George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”
121
“Reflections on Gandhi”
Eng 203: English Fiction

Unit-II: Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe 139
Jane Austen’s Emma 142
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre 147
Unit-III: Charles Dickens’s Hard Times 152
Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles 157
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 161
Unit-IV: DH Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers 166
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies 172
Zadie Smith’s White Teeth 177
Unit-V: Short Stories 184
Rudyard Kipling’s “Lispeth”, “Thrown Away” 184
HG Wells’s “The New Accelerator”
190
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles”
Roald Dahl’s “The Umbrella Man”, “Lamb to the Slaughter” 194

Units Contents Page No

Eng 204 A: Women’s Writing
Unit-II: Poetry 207
Aemilia Lanyer’s “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” 207
Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus”, “The Applicant”, “Daddy” 210
Grace Nichols’s “Waterpot”
“A Praise Song for Mother” 219
Luci Tapahonso’s “Blue Horses Rush In”
“Leda and the Cowboy” 224
“Raisin Eyes”
Unit-III: Fiction 228
Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea 228
Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye 233
Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah 236
Unit-IV: Prose 240
Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women 240
Adrienne Rich’s “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision” 243
Suniti Namjoshi’s From Feminist Fables 245
Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory

Unit-II: Cleanth Brooks’ “The Language of Paradox” 256
Northrop Fry’s “Archetypes of Literature” 260
Mikhail Bakhtin’s “Discourse in the Novel” 264
Unit-III: Michel Foucault’s “The Unities of Discourse” 269
Roland Barthes’ “The Death of the Author” 271
Raymond Williams’ “Literature” 274
Unit-IV: Edward Said’s “Introduction” (from Orientalism) 282
Elaine Showalter’s “Feminist Criticism in Wilderness” 286
Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s “Editor’s Introduction: Writing ‘Race’
290
and the Difference It Makes”
Model Papers 293

Note
examinations also.


PAPER-I
Eng 201: English Language

Teaching: History, Approaches and
Methods
(5 Credits)

Semester II
Paper-I
Eng 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and Methods (5 credits)
Unit-I
a) History of English Language Teaching in India: Some Important Pre-Independence

Landmarks: Macaulay’s Minute-a critique; Woods Despatch (1854); Indian Education
b) Landmarks in English Education in India after Independence: Radhakrishnan
Commission (University Education Commission, 1948); Kothari Commission -Three
Language Formula (1964-66), Curriculum Development Commission, Acharya
Ramamurti Commission (1990); The National Knowledge Commission Report
(2006- 10)
c) Teaching English as a second language: Role of English in India; Objectives of
Teaching English as a Second Language in India
Unit II
a) Behaviourism and its Implications for ELT: Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning,
Thorndike’s Connectionism, Skinner’s Operant conditioning
b) Cognitivism and its Implications for ELT: Gestalt Theory; Chomsky’s Cognitive
Theory-Competence vs Performance; Dell Hymes’ Communicative Competence
c) Language Acquisition Process: Differences between First Language Acquisition and
Second Language Learning
a) Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation method, Direct Method, Reading

Method, Audio-Lingual Method, Bilingual Method, Eclectic Method
b) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task Based Learning and Teaching
Unit IV
b) Curriculum and Syllabus: Components, Needs Analysis, Goals and Objectives;
Course Evaluation
c) Types of Syllabi: Structural Syllabus, Notional - Functional Syllabus, Task-based
Syllabus
Unit V
b) Characteristic Features of an Effective Test: Validity, Reliability, Feasibility
c) Testing Language Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary,
Grammar

Semester-II
Paper-I
Eng 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and

Methods
Unit-I
History of English Language Teaching in India: Some Important Pre-
Independence Landmarks:
World English is broadly categorised into three varieties: English as a Native Language
(ENL), English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Accordingly, there are three geographical divisions of English speaking nations viz., ENL
territories, ESL territories and EFL territories
ENL territories - In countries like the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,
English is the first or often the only language of communication among the people. In ENL
territories people use the mother tongue variety of English.
ESL territories- In ESL situations English plays a vital role and is used to perform a variety of
official, educational, and other roles. For ESL speakers, although English is not their native
language but it is an important language in their professional and social lives. Like India,
English is used as a second language in almost all the former British colonies (Singapore,
Nigeria, South Africa etc.) Often the person’s second language becomes the first functional
language in adulthood in such cases. In ESL countries English is generally given importance
in the educational framework of the nation and taught in schools and colleges.
EFL territories - In some countries English neither enjoys the status of native language nor
second language. It is treated as foreign language and its use is restricted to occupational and
educational purposes. In countries like China and Japan, English is taught and learnt mainly
for reasons of trade and business and it does not play any role in social interactions.
A historical sketch of ELT in India:
Pre-colonial period
Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India also paved way for the introduction of
English in the sub-continent in 1498.However, it was only in the 18th century, when the
Mughal Empire was on the decline and the English East India Company had secured a
foothold in India that India’s tryst with the English language began. During this period,
English was the language of communication of the elite people and was not the lingua franca
of the people.
Colonial period
With the consolidation of the activities of the East India Company in eighteenth century,
began the efforts of teaching English in the South Asian subcontinent. As far back as 1759,
Christian missionaries entered India and the 1787 despatch welcomed the efforts of Rev.
Swartz to establish schools for the teaching of English. Another significant effort was the
publication of the first book, ‘The Tutor’, to teach English to the non-Europeans by author
John Miller in 1797. This book was published in Serampore in Bengal. Thus the socio-
historical stage for the role of English in education was set by the end of the 18th century.
T.B. Macaulay, in the Minutes of 1835, for the first time, formally introduced the teaching of
English in the South Asian subcontinent. In his Minutes he mentioned the importance and
usefulness of the education that would be given to the natives through the medium of English.
There were primarily two objectives of such education. The first was to create through this
education a class of natives who, despite their blood and colour, would be English in culture
and be able to “interpret” between the rulers and the subjects:”â€¦a class who may be
interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern - a class of persons, Indians in
blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect.” The second was
to create a “demand” for the European institutions. Although both the objectives were
designed to serve the interest of the Masters, not of the subjects, but it provided the
framework of formal English education to India which to a large extent is followed even
today.
Thus by the middle of the nineteenth century the aims and objectives of teaching English
were very clearly laid out For the remaining period of colonial rule there were a few
landmarks in the development of English such as:
Ø The establishment of universities in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai in 1857 and in

Dhaka in 1920
Ø Selective education and training in administration, imparted through English, the
Indian University Act (1904)
Ø The Resolution on Educational Policy (1913).
For the entire period of British rule four broad developments with regard to English
education took place:
Ø 1600 -1800: During the early years the variety of English used was imitative and
formal. It was the language of the rulers and the elite class.
Ø 1850 -1947: During the later years more varieties (from very high to very low)
appeared. Indian intellectuals and freedom fighters effectively used English as tool to
for political awakening and resurgence.
Interaction with vernacular languages: As the use of English penetrated the different sections
of the educated Indians, a new variety of English emerged. This variety of English had a very
distinct Indian flavour and a number of words of vernacular origin were absorbed in English,
e.g., Brahmin. Coolie, jungle, and so on.
Methodology: Language studies were based on literature and grammar and the means of
studies was the grammar-translation method. The spoken component of the language was not
practised. The emphasis was given on correctness and complete sentence construction.
English also played a critical role in India’s struggle for independence as it became the
language of political awakening and resurgence. Even Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948),
although a strong advocator of use of national language, used English language effectively to
put forth his message to the British Government.
Significance of the Study

A needs assessment study is usually carried out for different purposes states Richards, 2001.
Understanding the learners problems, assessing whether the present syllabus adequately
addresses those problems of the learner, identifying what skills the learners need in order to
perform a specific role, analyzing if a change in approach and strategy is required and
identifying the gap, if any, in what the students are able to do and what they need to be able to
do are the main reasons for needs assessments to be conducted.
1.5 Terms Frequently Used
Clarification of the terms which will frequently be used and constitute the backbone of the
study is essential. To prevent misunderstanding or misinterpretation, some of the terms have
been explained here.
Need: Need is the difference between what a learner can presently do in a language and what
he or she should be able to do.
Needs Assessment: A needs assessment is a systematic set of procedures undertaken for the
purpose of setting priorities and making decisions about program or organizational
improvement and allocation of resources. It is a systematic process for documenting relevant
needs
ESP (English for Specific Purposes): It is an approach to language learning, which is based
on learner need. The foundations of all ESP are the simple question: Why does this learner
need to learn a foreign language?
Target Needs: Target needs refer to what the learner needs to do in the target situation (work
domain)
Learning Needs: They refer to what the learner needs to do in order to learn. They show how
the learner learns the language items. It refers to the skills that he or she uses
ENL: English as a Native Language
ESL: English as a Second Language
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
Macaulay’s Minute-a critique

Thomas Babington Macaulay, who is generally regarded as the architect of the system of
education in India during the British rule, was a great essayist, historian, linguist, orator,
politician, statesman and thinker. He was regarded as one of the first rate literary figure of his
times. As a parliamentarian, he made his mark in British parliament. He came to India in
1838 and joined as the law member of the executive council of the governor-General. He was
also appointed as the president of the general committee on Public instruction by governor
general Lord William Bentinck.
Macaulay wrote his famous minute on Feb. 2, 1835 in which he vehemently criticized almost
everything Indian: astronomy, culture, history, philosophy, religion etc., and praised
everything western. On this basis he advocated the national system of education for India
which could best serve the interest of the British Empire. His minutes was accepted and Lord
William Bentinck issued his proclamation inn march 1935 which set at rest all the
controversies and led to the formulation of a policy which became the corner stone of all
educational programmes during the British period in India.

The beginning of the state system of education in India under the British rule maybe traced
back to the year 1813 when the east India company was compelled by the force of
circumstances to accept responsibility for the education of Indians. Clause 43 of the charter
act of 1813 which stated “It shall be lawful for the governor general in council to direct that
out of any surplus which may remain of rents, revenues , and profits arising from the said
territorial acquisitions , after defraying the expenses of the military , civil and commercial
establishment and paying the interest of the debt, in manner hereinafter provided , a sum of
not less than one lack of rupees in each year shall be set apart and applied to the revival and
improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned natives of India and for the
introduction and promotion of knowledge of the sciences among the inhabitants of the British
territories in India.
The charter act of 1813 did not specify the methods to secure the objects of revival and
improvement of nature, the encouragement of learned natives of India and the introduction
and promotion of knowledge of sciences among the inhabitants of British territories in India.
The vagueness of clause 43 of the charter act 1813 intensified the oriental occidental’s
th
educational controversy in India. Since the dons of 19 century, there had emerged two
groups among the officials of the company. One group was of the orientlists or classists who
wanted the promotion of Indian education through the medium of Sanskrit, Arabic and
Persian whereas the other group was of anglicists or occidentalists who were in favour of
developing western education in India through the medium of English.
Points of controversy on the interpretation of charter act of 1813 and the national system of
education and Macaulay’s role:
At that time a major oriental and occidental controversy was going on in respect of the
following issues
Ø Aim of education of the British policy: whether it should be to educate the classes in
higher branches of learning or the masses in elementary education
Ø Type of knowledge: whether to preserve and promote oriental learning or to introduce
western knowledge, culture and science
Ø Medium of instruction: whether English or Persian and Sanskrit in Bengal, English or
Indian languages in Bombay and madras should become the medium of instruction
Ø Agency of education: whether the government should assume direct responsibility of
educating the Indians or the indigenous system of the country to continue
Ø Missionaries: whether the shores of India to be thrown open to missionaries of all
parts of the world to promote education or to a few missionaries or not at all
There were important English officers of the east India Company who were the supporters of
the oriental point of view. On the contrary some prominent Indians like Raja Ram Mohan
Roy supported the anglicists who were in favour of English and western learning
Main Aim of Introducing English System of Education in India
Macaulay wrote in his minute “we must at present do our best to form a class of persons
Indian in blood and colour and English in taste, opinions in morals and in intellect,”

Macaulay’s arguments in favour of English: Macaulay rejected the claims of Arabic and
Sanskrit as against English, because he considered that English was better than either of
them. His arguments in favour of English were
Ø It is the key to modern knowledge and is therefore more useful than Arabic or
Sanskrit.
Ø It stand pre eminent even among the language of the west in India, English is the
language sponsored by the ruling class. It is likely to become the language of
commerce throughout the seas of the east.
Ø It would bring about renaissance in India, just as Greek or Latin’s did in England or
just as the languages of western Europe in civilized Russia
Ø The natives are desirous of being taught English and are not eager to learn Sanskrit or
Arabic.
Ø It is possible to make the natives of this country good English scholars, and to that end
our efforts ought to be directed
Ø It was impossible to educate the body of people but it was possible through English
education to bring about “a class of persons Indian in blood and colour and English in
taste , opinions in morals and in intellect”, and that education was to filter down from
them to the masses
Acceptance of minute by lord William Bentinck: lord William Bentinck endorsed the minute
by writing one line beneath it “I give my entire concurrence to the sentiments expressed in the
minutes “.he passed the resolution of march 1835 which determined the age, content and
medium of instruction in India
Result of Macaulay’s Minute
Merits
1. A clear cut picture of the national system of education in India emerged
2. The system proved very helpful in promoting the objectives for which it was planned
3 English schools began to be established.
4. English became the medium of instruction.
5. Western arts and sciences became popular.
6. Filtration theory of education emerged
Demerits
1. Indian culture and philosophy receded to the background

2. Vernacular languages began to be neglected
3. Mass education was neglected
4 Western culture made rapid strives.
5. Arabic and Sanskrit languages found very few takers
6. Arabic, maktabs and Sanskrit pathshalas saw gradual disappearance
Resolution
Ø His Lordship –in council is of the opinion that the great object of the British
government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the
natives of India; and that all the funds appropriate from the purpose of education
would be best employed on English education alone.

Ø It is not the intention of His Lordship –in –council to abolish any college or school of
native learning, while the native population shall appear to be inclined to avail
themselves of the advantages which it affords, and His Lordship –in-council directs
that all the existing professors and students at all institutions under the
superintendence of the committee shall continue to receive their stipends …. No
stipends shall be given to any student that may hereafter enter at any of these
institutions; and that when any professor of oriental learning shall vacate his
situations, the committee shall report to the government the number and state of the
class in order that the government may be able to decide upon the expediency of
appointing a successor.
Ø It has come to the knowledge of the governor General-in-council that a large sum has
been expanded by the committee on the printing of oriental works: His Lordship-in –
council directs that no portion of the funds shall hereafter be so employed.
Ø His Lordship-in-council directs that all funds which these reforms will leave at the
disposal of the committee be henceforth employed inn imparting to the native
population a knowledge of English literature and science through the medium of the
English language; and His lordship-in –council requests the committee to submit to
government with all exposition, a plan for the accomplishment of this purpose.
Oriental –Anglicists Controversy on the System of Education in India and Macaulay’s

Minute
When the east India Company embarked on its political conquests in India in 1757, there was
no education system organized and supported by the state. Gradually it was realized by the
rulers to take interest in education. In 1813 the company decided to spend a sum of Rs one
lakh on education in India. This led to oriental-anglicists controversy on education.
Oriental school of thought wanted to encourage the indigenous system of education in India
and wanted the company to spend the amount on the promotion of this system. The anglicists
found their supporter in lord Macaulay who translated their dream into reality to a
considerable extent. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a distinguished Indian educationist, religious and
social reformer appreciated the merits of western philosophy and science and was an ardent
supporter of the educational reforms advocated by the anglicists.
Charles grant who had been associated with the east India company’s administration in
London and Calcutta believed that Britain had a mission of regenerating Hindu society
[pleaded that ‘Britain must do so through the English language’ .he further observed” the
Hindu erred because they were ignorant. This darkness could be dispelled by the introduction
of Christianity and the art and sciences of Europe.
Downward Filtration Theory of Education
The British rulers thought that in order to run the administration peacefully and smoothly it
was essential to make the higher classes blind followers of the Britishers. This they wanted to
achieve through educating classes. This theory meant “education is to be filtered to the

common people. Drop by drop , the education would go to the common public so that at due
time it may take the form of a vast stream which remained water desert of the society starved
for water for along time and high class of people would be educated and common people
would gain influence from them”
Reasons for the Adoption of Filtration Theory
Ø The British rulers needed various types of employees to run the business and the
government.
Ø The government did not have sufficient funds for educating the masses.
Ø The educated people educated on British lines through English medium would get
higher posts in government services and then naturally they would use their influence
in controlling the masses from going against the government rule.
Ø Higher classes educated through the medium of English would adopt English ways
and in turn influence the lower classes.
Ø After educating some people, the responsibility of educating the masses could be left
to them.
Evaluation of the Filtration Theory
The immediate aim of getting the people educated to run the various jobs in the
administration was fully achieved. It also helped in creating a Faithfull class of people .The
ultimate aim could not be fulfilled as the educated persons were cut off from the common
masses. The common people began to look upon the educated classes as the favoured
children of the British Government. The higher and richer classes began to copy British food,
taste, behavior and, manners. They become more and more self-centered and a great cleavage
was created between the rich and poor.
Adam’s Report on Education
A Christian priest of Scotland, William Adam came to India in 1818 and spent about 27 years
here. He came into contact with Raja Ram Mohan Roy and both of them influenced each
other. He was greatly impressed by Indian views regarding the existence of one almighty god.
In due course he renounced Christian priesthood.
Lord William Bentinck, the governor general of India appointed Adam in 1835 to survey the
state of education in Bengal and Bihar and to suggest reforms. Adam submitted 3 reports
(1835-1838). His report was a digest of the earlier reports on the subjects. The second and
nd
third reports were based on the survey he conducted. The 2 report was a thorough enquiry
rd
on the system of education prevalent in Natlore in the district of raja rajshahi the 3 report
covers 5 districts of Bengal and Bihar and his recommendations for the reform of indigenous
schools.
Adam’s First Report
The following paragraph of the report has led to a good deal of controversy “By this
description are meant those schools in which instruction in the elements of knowledge is
communicated, and which have been originated and are supported by the natives themselves,
in contradiction form those that are supported by religious or philanthropic societies, the

number of such schools in Bengal is supposed to be very great. A distinguished member of

the general committee of public instruction in a minute on the subject expressed the opinion ,
that it one rupee per mensem were expended on each existing village school in the lower
provinces, the amount would probably fall little short of 12 lakhs of rupees per annum. This
supposes that there are 100,000 such schools in Bengal and Bihar and assuming the
population of those two provinces to be 40,000,000 persons.”
Adam’s Second Report

Adam’s second report covered Naltore Thana, in district rajshahi with a population of
129,640 Muslims and 65,656 Hindus. There were two types of schools i.e., regular schools,
similar to modern schools and domestic schools where family members taught or a teacher
was employed to teach. As against 27 elementary schools and 262 students, there were nearly
2360, i.e., nearly nine times students in domestic schools. Following were the important
findings;
1. Age of schooling: The average age of admission to an elementary school was 8 years
and the average school leaving age was 14 years.
2. Schools for the teaching of Quran: There were 11 Arabic schools for this purpose.
3. Type of elementary schools: There were 10 Bengali schools, and 4 Persian schools.
4. Average number of students in a school; the average number of students in a school
was 10.
5. Average pay of the teacher: Pay ranged between Rs. 5-8 per month.
6. Female Education: Female education was non-existent
1. 7. Literacy Rate; Literacy percentage was 6.1 percent. Total literary percentage of
males and females was 3.1
7. Indigenous Colleges: There was no indigenous college conducted by Muslims. There
were 38 Sanskrit colleges with 397 students.
8. Fees etc in colleges: Food, lodging and education was free in colleges.
Adam’s Third Report
Adam’s third report is divided into two parts. The first part covers educational data collected
by him for 5 districts, viz., Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, south Bihar and Tirhut. The
second part provides proposals put forward by Adam for the reform of education, especially
indigenous.
Method of collection of data and accuracy of rte data: Adam followed two methods. One, he
himself collected information from one ‘Thana’ of each district. Second, his agents collected
data from all other ‘Thanas’
In the conduct of the survey, two difficulties were encountered with. One related to means of
travel and communication and the other related to the various types of suspicions among the
people regarding the motive of survey.
General Features of Indigenous Education As Observed By Adam

Adam classified different educational agencies into seven categories.
1. Types and agencies related to schools

i. Indigenous elementary schools
ii. Elementary schools not indigenous, i.e., new types of elementary schools run
by

missionaries and others.

iii. Domestic education
iv. English schools
v. Native female schools
vi. Indigenous schools for advanced learning (colleges)
vii. Adult instruction
2. Extent of Education: Adam says that no village in Bengal was without a primary school.
There were about one lakh of schools scattered in all the villages. Adam called
schools as the places and homes where education was given.
3. Teacher’s Salary: Teachers were paid rs5 to 8 per month.
4. Duration of schooling: The students started education at the age of 8 and read up to the
age of
14 years.
5. Courses of studies: The Hindus were generally reading Bengali and Sanskrit and Muslims
were reading Arabic and Persian.
6. Education of Women: Adam states that the very name of women education made people
afraid.
7. Schools open for all: Schools were not meant for a particular caste or class of society.
They
were open to everyone who wanted to study.
Measures for Reforming the System
1. Publication of a graded series of new textbooks (I-IV) in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu, to
be prepared by Indians and Europeans in collaboration.
2. Appointment of an examiner for each district. It was suggested that the examiner
should survey his area, supply and explain textbooks to teachers, examine teachers
on the content of textbooks already provided after a period of six months, distribute
grants and record to teachers according to the percentage or passes in school
examinations, and supervise the work of teachers.
3. Appointment of inspectors for supervising the work of examinees.
4. Training of teachers. Adam proposed to convert vernacular department of English
schools into normal schools for training teachers of indigenous schools. He
suggested that these teachers should be required to study in these schools for three
months in a year for four successive years.
5. Award of small grants of land to village schools for their maintenance.
6. Organization of experimental farms for agricultural education.
Evaluation of Adam’s Recommendations

Adam wanted that his plan may be first tried in some selected areas before final adoption. But
Macaulay had pronounced his verdict already that education was to be given through English
medium to the upper classes only and hence Adam’s scheme for mass education fell on deaf
ears. The plan was considered as impracticable and Adam was forced to resign in disgust v.
Such was the fate of one of the ablest reports ever written on Indian education. A golden
opportunity for building up a national system of education was lost.
Points to Remember

Ø Macaulay vehemently criticized Indian Education System in his minute written on

Feb, 1835
Ø Bentinck’s proclamation marks a turning point in the history of education in India. It
was the first declaration of the educational policy, which, the British government
wanted to adopt in this country.
Ø During the dawn of nineteenth century two groups emerged. One was orientalists and
the other was Anglicists.
Ø Vagueness regarding the interpretation of charter act of 1813 and national system of
education intensified the controversy between the two groups.
Ø It was observed by S.N Mukherji that Macaulay’s minute had all defects of a
preliminary spadework, but it is very important document, because it influenced
Britain’s educational policy in this country for more than a century. It should be
admitted that western learning has done good to India, and better results have been
achieved through Macaulay’s bold policy than it would have been possible through
half –hearted attempts of the orientalists.
Ø The new knowledge led to India’s unity and her great recovery brought her into
contact with scientific research of the west and developed Indian languages to a
standard in which university language became possible. But his minutes can neither
be regarded as the greater charter of Indian education nor can it condemn as the evil
genius of Macaulay.
Ø Macaulay was wedded to the Filtration Theory and believed firmly in the superiority
of western civilization.
Ø Adam’s reports were regarded as on of the ablest reports ever written on Indian
education but it was rejected by Macaulay.
Woods Despatch (1854)

Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the English East Indian Company,
had an important effect on spreading English learning and female education in India .When in
1854 he sent a despatch to Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General of India. Wood
suggested that primary schools must adopt vernacular languages, high schools must adopt
Anglo vernacular language and on college level English medium for education. This is known
as Wood’s despatch. Vocational and women’s education were stressed upon. One of the most
favourable step taken by EIC to create English class in Indian people to be used as workforce
in company’s administration.
He recommended there in that:
1. An education department was to be set up in every province.

2. Universities on the model of the London university be established in big cities such as
Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
3. At least one government school be opened in every district.
4. Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid.
5. The Indian natives should be given training in their mother tongue also.
6. Provision was made for a systematic method of education from primary level to the
university level.
7. The government should always support education for women.

8. The medium of instruction at the primary level was to be vernacular while at the
higher levels it would be English.
In accordance with Wood’s despatch, Education Departments were established in every

province and the University of Calcutta, the University of Bombay and the University of
Madras in 1857 as well as the University of the Punjab in 1882 and the University of
Allahabad in 1887.For its great impact and influence on western education in India it was
known as “Magna Carta”. In which education for commerce was also added.
Indian Education Commission (1882)

The revolt of 1857 shook the very foundation of British Empire in the country and the
administration was taken away from the company and transferred to the crown. The
normalisation of conditions took some time. By 1882 it was considered necessary to assess
the development of education in the country and to remove the defects which has creeped
into it. For this purpose Lord Ripon appointed on February 3, 1882 the Indian Education
Commission under the chairmanship of William Hunter, a member of the executive council
of viceroy. Subsequently Indian Universities Act of 1904 and Lord Curzon’s Educational
Policy also came into existence to improve upon the educational system of India.
Aims of the Indian Education Commission (1882)
The following were prescribed as the aims of the commission:
Ø To assess the position of primary education and to give suggestions for its reforms.
Ø To evaluate the work of the missionaries in the field of education.
Ø To find out if the government institutions should be allowed to continue.
Ø To assess the utility of the grant-in-aid system. To find out the attitude of the
government towards the private Indian enterprises in the field of education. To find
out if they received encouragement from the government.
Ø The main purpose of the commission was to study the problem of primary education
and to suggest the measures for its reforms. But the commission also chose to look
into the affairs relating to secondary and higher education.
Recommendations of Indian Education Commission (1882)
The main recommendations of the Commission were as under:
Ø In the field of primary education, the commission made elaborate recommendations

on the lines of country council act of England with regard to its policy, objectives,
curriculum, methods of teaching, teachers training, finance and administration etc.
The responsibility of imparting primary education was fixed on local – bodies.
Ø The curriculum should be framed according to local needs and its practical aspects
properly emphasised.
Ø The Mother tongue should be the medium of instruction at the primary stage. The
commission was silent about the secondary stage. Hence, indirectly, it supported the
cause of English.

Ø The Commission recommended the establishment of a model Government high

school in each District.
Ø At the secondary stage two types of courses were recommended. ‘A’ Type courses
was to be pursued upto university level and ‘B’ type for providing vocational
education. Thus, the Commission laid special emphasis on the diversification of
courses.
Ø For primary teachers training, the number of normal schools should be increased or,
established.
Ø Due encouragement should be given to local co-operation and private efforts. It
suggested for the creation of a fund for the development of education in the country
and the government was made responsible for providing grant-in-aid.
Ø Emphasis was laid on the Indianisation of education. The result was that the number
of institutions at various levels of education increased enormously.
Ø Government institutions were banned for imparting religious education. Private
institutions had freedom to manage their affairs in their own way. This lead to a
policy of religious neutrality on the part of the government.
Ø In the field of women education, emphasis was laid on the differentiation of
curriculum, award of scholarships and facilities in appointments
Ø Education for Muslims was given due to encouragement and attention was paid
towards granting proper facilities to them.
Ø The commission also recommended for the proper arrangements of the education of
backward classes.
Thus, the recommendations of the Hunter Commission (1882) gave a great set back to the
efforts of the Christian missionaries. The individual’s efforts and local co-operation got due
impetus and encouragement. This led to Indianisation of education. The result was increased
number of schools and colleges. Grant-in-aid system was recognized by the Government and
emphasis was laid on imparting useful knowledge.
Primary Education: The Hunter commission studied the problems of primary education
from every angle and gave elaborate suggestion for its reforms. The education policy, the
financing system, training of teachers, organisation and curriculum etc, were studied by the
commission. Below we shall hint at some of the major recommendations of the commission:
Policy for Primary education: The commission has observed that Primary Education should
be related to life and should be practical and useful. Its purpose should be to make students
self dependent and its curriculum should consist of such subjects which may further these
goals. The student should be given primary education through the medium of their mother
tongue. Persons who have received Primary Education should be given preference in services
suitable for them. Primary Education will be encouraged by this step. So steps should be
taken to develop Primary Education. The backward and tribal peoples should be encouraged
to receive the Primary Education.
Management of the Primary Education: The Hunter Commission placed the responsibility
of Primary Education on district boards, municipal boards and town areas. Thus it made the
government free from its responsibility.

Training Schools: The commission urged the necessity of opening training schools for
training of teachers; the commission rightly thought that training of teachers was necessary
for development of Primary Education. In this connection it gave the following suggestions:
Ø Training school should be established at such places form where trained teachers may
be made available for the areas where no trained teachers are. There should be at least
one normal school within jurisdiction of each inspector of schools.
Ø Inspection of schools should take personal interest in the organization and
maintenance of normal schools.
Ø Normal schools should also get reasonable share of the grant sanctioned for primary
education.
Curriculum: The Commission left the organization of the curriculum on provincial

governments with the suggestions that they should organize the same in their respective areas
according to the needs of the locality concerned. But at the same time the Commission also
suggested that subjects useful for life should be incorporated in the curriculum. It opined that
agriculture, physical trigonometry, geography, medicine and accountancy should be included
in the curriculum, because these subjects were closely related with life.
The Impact of the Recommendations of the Commission on Primary Education: The

Hunter Commission changed the shape of Primary Education by bringing it under the local
boards. This measure made the government free of any responsibilities for the same and gave
an opportunity to the local boards to serve the people. Luckily, the local boards performed
their task well and condition of primary education schools, the provincial governments had to
release the grants sanction in their favour and they could not divert it to other purpose. This
position eased the financial difficulty of primary schools up to some extent.
Indigenous Schools: At the time of Hunter Commission there were many indigenous
institutions imparting education to people on the old traditional Indian pattern. The
Commission regarded these schools as very useful for imparting primary education. So, it
recommended financial grants for them.
Development of Primary Education:
According to the recommendations of the Hunter Commission the responsibility for Primary
Education was entrusted to the local bodies which were established in Great Britain at this
time and the local bodies in India were formed on the same pattern. Generally, in the
beginning of any new scheme, the progress appears to be very slow. So, the progress of
Primary Education under the local bodies appeared to be very slow in the beginning. The
Indigenous Schools were also brought under the control of the local boards according to the
recommendations of the Hunter Commission. Great set back and they began to fade away
from the scene. At places where they were added to the Government schools there also they
lost their identity.
Secondary Education

As we have already said earlier, the Hunter Commission examined the condition of secondary
and higher education as well, although it was appointed only for Primary Education. The
commission gave the following three important suggestions for Secondary Education:
Ø The government should entrust the responsibility of secondary education wholly to

the Indians and should only give financial grant for removing certain difficulties.
Ø The commission indirectly pleaded for English as the medium or, instruction and
ignored the claim of the mother tongue for the same. For the middle schools the
managers of schools were made responsible to organise education according to the
local needs.
st
Ø The secondary school curriculum should be divided into two parts. In the 1 part
nd
literary and science subjects should be grouped and in the 2 part there should be
such vocational subjects which might be useful to life.
Training Graduate Teachers:
The commission emphasised the necessity of teacher’s training for rising the standard of
secondary education. At the time of Hunter Commission there were only two training schools
in the country, only at Lahore and the other at Madras. So there was a great dearth of
teachers. The commission recommended that the duration of training of graduates should be
shorter than those who are not graduates. The trainees should be examined both in theory and
practice of teaching.
Grant-in-aid: The Grant-in-aid system was started in (1865). This system was started in
England also in 1861. There was no uniformity in this system in India. It was of different
nature in various provinces. In Madras, it was based on teacher’s salary, in Bombay on
provinces it was only for a fixed period. The commission urged that there should be
uniformity in this system and the same policy would be followed throughout the whole
country.
Development of Secondary Education:

Secondary Education was benefited by the recommendations of Hunter Commission and it
developed further. The commission had recommended for total governmental withdrawal
from the field of secondary education. But the education departments continued their control
over secondary education. This situation helped the development of secondary education,
because the education departments worked for its expansion in order to make their own
position stronger. Previously, the departments had not taken so much interest in the
development of secondary education. The financial position of government schools was quite
sound and the standard of education in them, too, was better than in the aided schools. The
aided schools were facing financial stringency.
The Hunter commission had recommended for diversification of the curriculum into two
st
separate parts: (1) Literary and science and (2) vocational. The 1 was meant to prepare
nd
students for university classes and the 2 was for imparting vocational education useful in
practical affairs of life. The students those days were more interested in procuring services

and they had little interest in vocational education. So, vocational education could not be
encouraged, although some arrangements for vocational education were made after (1882).
University Education or Higher Education
The commissions gave some important suggestions for improvement of higher education. The
commission has observed that at the time of giving grant it should be seen that the
educational institutions well utilized the given grant. The grants should be determined
keeping in view the strength of teachers and students, need and capacity of the institution.
The colleges engaged in higher education should be given sufficient grants for experimental
laboratories, reading rooms, libraries, equipments, science rooms, buildings and furniture etc.
Development of Higher Education
We have said earlier that secondary education prepared students for higher education.
Therefore, its progress had its progress had its impact on university education. Since
secondary education progressed between 1882 and 1902, the university education also
progressed during this period. With a view to obtain good services youths began to come to
universities. The commissions had recommended for encouraging private enterprise in field
of education. So many colleges were opened by voluntary organizations. Their number was
larger than the college started by Missionaries. By (1882) there were 437 colleges run by
Missionaries, whereas the number of colleges run by voluntary organization at this time was
42. By (1902) there were 191 colleges in the whole country. Out of these 145 were art
colleges, 30 laws, 4 engineering, 5 training, 4 medical and 3 agricultural colleges. Besides,
there were 12 women’s colleges for higher education in the country by (1902).
In (1885) the Indian National Congress was established. This created a feeling of nationalism
and patriotism. Youths educated in colleges were greatly influenced by the revolutionary
ideas of such great writer as Rousseau, Byron, Burk, Bacon, Milton, Lock, Wordsworth and
others. There educated Indians were imbued with the ideals of sacrifice, national morality and
independence. They became perturbed over the foreign rule in the country and they began to
began to dream for national freedom. This situation led to the generation of nationalism in
education. The Indians more intensively realized the necessity of education and they thought
that education would be a good tool for obtaining freedom. Therefore, the work of expansion
of education was accelerated by private enterprise under the control of Indians. It was at this
time that such great personalities were born who took the vow of national service with the
ultimate objective of winning national freedom. High school began to be developed into
colleges and a number of new colleges were also opened. Great persons like R.P. Paranjbe,
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Triplankar. Ayanger took the work of education in their hands. The
Ferguson Colleges was established at Pona in 1870. Sir Surendra Nath Banerji controlled the
management of Ripon Colleges at Calcutta.
The name of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati would ever remain immortal in the field of
education in India. He stood for some of the ancient ideals of education and established a
number of D.A.V. Colleges in the Northern part of the country. He tried to remove the ills of

Hindu Society and religion through his educational ideals. The Arya Samaj took up his work
and tried to propagate his ideals of life throughout of the whole country.
In the city of Banaras Mrs. Annie Besant established two Central Hindu Colleges in (1898)
on the basis of Hindu ideals. Later on this college became the nucleus of the Banaras Hindu
University established by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.
The Commission had also made recommendation in regard to higher education. These
recommendations may be summed up under the following heads:
Ø While giving grants-in-aid to the colleges, the number of the teachers, expenditures of
the college, efficiency and local needs must also be kept in mind.
Ø If needed, non recurring or, special grant may be given to the colleges for establishing
libraries and other educational equipments.
Ø Such varied and vast curricular should be arranged in these colleges so that the
students must have the subject of their choice and aptitude.
Ø Meritorious and promising students may be set to foreign countries for higher
education on the Government scholarships.
Ø In order to raise the moral standard of the students such books should be compiled
which may contain the principles of religion and human religion at large.
Ø The number of students receiving free education should be limited.
Ø Private colleges should be authorized to receive lesser fee as compared to the
Government colleges
Ø While appointing teachers such Indians should be preferred who have received
education in European universities.
Women Education:
Hunter Commission was pained at the pitiable condition of the women education of the time.
It gave out the following recommendations for overall development and expansion of the
women education:
Ø Arrangements of Public Funds.

Ø Appointment of lady teachers.
Ø Appointment of lady inspectresses.
Ø Free education for women.
Ø Different curriculum for girls.
Ø Decent arrangement of hostels for girls.
Ø Liberal Grant-in-aid for girl education.
Ø Special arrangement for education of ‘Pardah’ observing ladies.
Ø Arrangements for Secondary Education.
Muslim Education:
The commission considers that the education of the Muslims was not given sufficient and
proper attention. The commission recommended that every effort should be made to
popularize Muslim education.

Special funds should be allocated for it. In the localities where Muslims are in majority, the
teaching of Hindustani (Urdu) and Persian should be given in middle and high schools. More
scholarships should be given to Muslim students as they are unable to pay the fee. In the
Government appointments, Muslim should be given proportionate representation.
Education of Harijans and Backward Classes. Aboriginals and Hill Tribes.

In regard to the education of Harijans and Backward Classes, the following recommendations
were put forward:
Ø All the schools run by Government, Municipalities and local boards should be
directed to admit children of Harijans and Backward classes.
Ø In places where an objection is raised to the admission of these Harijans and
Backward children, special schools should be opened for them.
Ø It was made recommendatory on the part of school teachers and inspectors to make
judicious effects to remove caste prejudices.
In regard to the education of Aboriginals Hill tribes, commission made the following
recommendations:
Ø It was recommended that the education of the Aboriginals Hill tribes cannot be left to
private agencies only and so Government was expected to take up this job.
Ø Children of these tribes were not be charged any fee.
Ø The education of students should be such as may help them to establish contact with
their neighbours.
Ø It was also recommended that subjects taught should be of the most elementary
character.
Religious Education:
The Commission made the following recommendations in this connection:

Ø Religious education of any sort should not be given in the public schools.
Ø Religious education may be imparted in the private institutions and the Government
shall have nothing to do with it.
Ø While giving grant-in-aid to institutions imparting religious education as
well, attention should be paid to their teaching work only.
Indian Universities Commission (1902)

The Indian Universities Commission was a body appointed in 1902 on the instructions of
Lord Curzon which was intended to make recommendations for reforms in University
education in India. Appointed following a conference on education at Simla in September
1901, the Commission was led by Law member Sir Walter Raleigh and included among its
members Syed Hussain Belgrami and Justice Gooroodas Banerjee. The recommendations of
the commission included regulations for reformation or University Senates in Indian
Universities, greater representation of affiliated colleges in the senate’s, and stricter
monitoring of affiliated instituitions by the universities. It also made recommendations for
reform of school education, curricular reforms at Universities, recommendations on education
and examinations, research, as well as student welfare and state scholarships. The
recommendations were however controversial at the time. There was a growing nationalist
sentiment in British India, and a number of colleges and institutions of higher education had

risen in metropolitan suburbs which were linked to the major universities of Calcutta,
Bombay and Madras. These set their own curriculum, and the recommendations of the
commission were seen as measures to derecognise and regulate indigenous institutions which
fell into disfavour of the Raj. Despite strong and sustained opposition from Indian populace,
the recommendations were enacted by Curzon as Indian Universities Act 1904.
b) Landmarks in English Education in India after Independence

In the following years, English was established firmly as the medium of instruction and
administration by the British Raj (1765-1947). Indian education was ever greater anglicized
as the English language became rooted in an alien linguistic, cultural, administrative and
educational setting. The first universities were established in India in 1857 (in Bombay,
Calcutta and Madras). English became accepted as the language of the élite, of the
administration, and of the pan-Indian press. English newspapers had an influential reading
public. Indian literature in English was also developing.
English in Independent India
India, after becoming independent in 1947, was left with a colonial language, in this case
English, as the language of government. It was thought that the end of the British Raj would
mean the slow but sure demise of the English language in South Asia. This, of course, has not
happened. The penetration of English in these societies is greater that it has ever been.
Nationalist imperative wanted that English continue to be used. Nationalist motivations were
of the opinion that an indigenous Indian language should be adopted as the official language.
Hindi seemed most qualified for that, since it had more native speakers than any other Indian
language and was already widely used in interethnic communication.
In addition, it was thought that linguistic unity was a prerequisite for political and national
unity. Thus, Hindi was designated by the constitution as the language of communication
between and within the states. It was to replace English within 15 years. The plan was that
Hindi would be promoted so that it might express all parts of the “composite culture of India”
There were, however, several problems with selecting Hindi, and since the protests were
often violent (e.g. the riots in Tamil Nadu in May 1963, protesting against the imposition of
Hindi), the government wanted to adapt a policy which would help to maintain the status quo.
Firstly, Hindi is not evenly distributed throughout the country; e.g. in Tamil Nadu, in the
south, only 0.0002 per cent of the people claimed knowledge of Hindi or Urdu, whereas in
the northern states this figure can rise up to 96.7 per cent. Secondly, it was thought that the
speakers of other languages would be offended by its selection; other Indian languages, for
example Tamil and Bengali, had as much right to be national languages as Hindi. The other
Indian communities felt they would be professionally, politically and socially disadvantaged
were Hindi given the central role. Thirdly, Hindi was thought to need vocabulary

development before it could be used efficiently as a language of government. In spite of these

problems, Hindi was chosen as the national language in the constitution, and English was to
be replaced by Hindi in fifteen years’ time. However, due to the continuous opposition in the
south, this replacement was not politically possible. In 1967 a law was passed which allowed
the use of both Hindi and English for all official purposes - and that situation still exists.
The controversy between Hindi, Urdu and Hindustani made the case for Hindi even worse.
Support for Hindustani almost ended with independence; Hindi’s supporters’ enthusiasm was
not, also, channeled in a constructive direction. As a result, English continues to be a
language of both power and prestige (Kachru 1986a: 8).
Radhakrishnan Commission (University Education Commission,

1948)
As an academic, philosopher, and statesman, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) was one
of the most recognized and influential Indian thinkers in academic circles in the 20th century.
The Radhakrishnan was named chairman of the University Education Commission. After
Independence the first action of a great significance to be taken by the Government of India
in the field of education was the appointment of the University Education Commission under
the Chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, a distinguished scholar and former Vice-
Chancellor of Banaras University, who rose to become the second President of India.
After independence on August 15, 1947, Radhakrishnan was requested to Chair the
University Education Commission. The Radhakrishnan Committee’s suggestions helped
mould the education system for India’s needs to report on Indian University Education and
suggest improvements and extensions that may be desirable to suit present and future
requirements of the country” The Commission’s 1949 Report assessed the state of university
education and made recommendations for its improvement in the newly independent India.
The Commission held its first meeting in New Delhi on 6th December, 1948, when the
Hon’ble Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Minister for Education, Government of India, addressed
the meeting and explained Governments’ intentions in regard to the purpose and scope of the
inquiry.
Appointment of the Commission
The members of the Commission were appointed by the Government of India to report on
Indian University Education and suggest improvements and extensions that may be desirable
to suit present and future requirements of the country.
Terms of Reference
Terms of Reference-The terms of reference of the Commission were to consider and make
recommendations in regard to-
(i) The aims and objects of university education and research in India.
(ii) The changes considered necessary and desirable in the constitution, control, functions and
jurisdiction of universities in India and their relations with Governments, Central and
Provincial.
(iii) The Finance of universities.
(iv) The maintenance of the highest standards of teaching and examination in the universities
and
colleges under their control.
(v) The courses of study in the universities with special reference to the maintenance of a
sound
balance between the Humanities and the Sciences and between pure science and
technological training and the duration of such courses.
(vi) The standards of admission to university courses of study with reference to the
desirability
of an independent university entrance examination and the avoidance of unfair
discriminations which militate against Fundamental Right 23 (2).
(vii) The medium of instruction in the universities.
(vii) The provision for advanced study in Indian culture, history, literatures, languages,
philosophy and fine arts.
(ix) The need for more universities on a regional or other basis.
(x) The Organisation of advanced research in all branches of knowledge in the universities
and
Institutes of higher research in a well-co-ordinate fashion avoiding waste of effort and
resources.
(xi) Religious instruction in the universities.
(xii) The special problems of the Banaras Hindu University, the Aligarh Muslim University,
the
Delhi University and other institutions of an all-India character.
(xiii) The qualifications, conditions of service, salaries, privileges and functions of teachers
and
the encouragement of original research by teachers.
(xiv) The discipline of students, hostels and the Organisation of tutorial work and any other
matter which is germane and essential to a complete and comprehensive enquiry into
all aspects of university education and advanced research in India.
Major Observations and Recommendations:
I Aims of Education
The aims of education are

Ø To teach that life has a meaning.
Ø To awaken the innate ability to live the life of soul by developing wisdom.
Ø To acquaint with the social philosophy which should govern all over institutions,
educational as well as economic and political?
Ø To train for democracy.
Ø To train for self development
Ø To develop certain values like fearlessness of mind, strength of conscience and
integrity f purpose.
Ø To acquaint with cultural heritage of its generation
Ø To enable to know that education is a life-long process.
Ø To develop understanding of the present and the past.
Ø To impart vocational and professional training.

II Functions of Universities
The commission laid the emphasis on the following functions of education in the view of
the economic and political changes of the country.
Ø Creating individuals with a change of spirit. It is for the universities to create

knowledge and train mind of men who would brings together the two material
resources and human energies. If our living standards are to be raised radical change
of spirit is essential.
Ø Preparing individual who seek guidance from the past but give up fatal obsession of
the perfection of the past. The universities are the intellectual sanctuaries of the inner
life of the nation. They must train intellectual pioneers, seeking guidance from the
past but providing dynamics to realize new dreams.
Ø Developing individual who understand the significance of an integrated way of life.
The universities must develop the qualities of synthesizing the knowledge – a
‘Samanavaya’ of the different items of the knowledge.
Ø Developing men of the wisdom. Our ancient teachers tried to teach subjects and
impart wisdom. Their ideal was wisdom along with knowledge. We cannot be wise
without some basis of knowledge though we may easily acquire knowledge and
devoid of wisdom. To use the word of Upanishad, we may knower of the text
(mantravati) and not knower of self (atmavti). No amount of factual information
would make a ordinary men into educated or virtuous men unless something is
awakened in them, an innate ability to live the life of the soul.
Ø Developing individuals who understand the aims of the social order. The universities
must develop a concept of the social order in the students. They must also develop
value of democracy, justice and liberty, equality and eternity – ideals of the Indian
society.
Ø Producing students who can adjust to society and bring about new changes. Education
is the mean by which society perceptual itself. In 1852 Newman defined the function
of the university thus, “if a practical end must be assigned to a university course, then
I say it is training member of the good society.” No system of the education could be
directed to weakening of the state that maintains it. But the education is also an
instrument for social changes.
Kothari Commission -Three Language Formula (1964-66)
Indian Education Commission (1964-1966), mostly known as the Kothari Commission on

Secondary Education. Kothari Commission was a step by the government of India to evaluate
th
the educational system in India. The commission took up the job on 14 July 1964. The
chairman of the committee was Daulat Singh Kothari, then the chairman of the University
th
Grants Commission. The Commission submitted the report on 29 June 1966.
nd
Ø It began its work on 2 October 1964
th
Ø Presented its report on 29 June 1966
Ø It Consisted of 16 Members 11 Indians and 5 Foreign experts
Ø The main focus was to improve the Secondary Education in India
Aims of the Commission

According to Dr. Radha Krishnan, “It is my earnest desire that the Commission should
survey all aspects of the educational system at all levels and give suggestions that may help
the educational system in progressing at all levels. According to Kothari Commission, “One
of the important social objectives of education is to equalize opportunity, enabling the
backward or underprivileged classes and individuals to use education as a tool for
improvement of their social and economic condition.” The most important and urgent reform
needed in education is to transform it. It was important to relate education to the life, needs,
and aspirations of the people. Education is a powerful instrument of social, economic and
cultural transformation, necessary for the realization of the national goals.
The Commission set up 12 Task Forces and 7 Working

Groups Task Forces
Ø School Education
Ø Higher Education
Ø Technical Education
Ø Agricultural Education
Ø Science Educational and Research
Ø Adult Education
Ø Teacher Training and Teacher Status
Ø Student Welfare
Ø New Technique and Methods
Ø Man Power
Ø Educational Administration
Ø Educational Finance
Working Groups
Ø Women’s Education
Ø Education of the Backward Classes
Ø Community Relations
Ø School Buildings
Ø Statistics
Ø Pre-primary Education
Ø School Curriculum
Recommendation of the Commission
Ø Establishment
Ø Enrolment
Ø Vocationalisation
Ø Part-time-Education
Ø Girls Education
Ø Planning and Location
Ø Curriculum
Ø Language Formula
Ø Class Size
Ø Guidance
Ø Evaluation
Ø Teachers

Ø Administration
Ø Social and National Integration
Ø Structure and Duration
Ø Structure of School Education
Ø Place of English
Education always helps to focus on national objectives. Education helps a person to develop
positive thoughts of an individual. Every person plays a significant role in the development of
the country.
Curriculum Development Commission, Acharya Ramamurti

Commission (1990)
The Acharya Ramamurti Committee Report (1990) and UNESCO World Education
Report(1998) both see In-Service Teacher Education as an essential element towards
professional development of the teachers. According to UNESCO report the very nature of
In-Service Teacher Education indicates the existing level of professionalism among the
teachers. If the demand for In-Service teacher education is coming from within the teaching
community it is said to indicate the very high level of professionalism when compared to a
top down approach where the training programmes are imposed on the teachers. Then the
teachers willingness to invest in their own professional development is said to indicate the
high level of professional status of teaching. Further the professional status of teaching and
professionalism among teachers are suggested to be closely interrelated. The prospective of
attaining higher levels of professional status is said to serve as the most important motivation
for teachers to voluntarily invest their time, effort and resources in improving their
professionalism. It also observes that there is high level of teacher participation in areas
where in-service education enables them to obtain qualifications that lead to the career
development in terms of improvement in their salaries, tenure etc. This trend is said to be
common across various professions. It cites the teacher’s large number of enrollment in open
universities as an evidence for their willingness to independently invest for climbing up the
professional ladder. Hence the success of In-Service Teacher Education is argued to be
interlinked with the factors like opportunities for upward mobility, incentives for improving
professional status, extent of workload and the provision of support in terms of teaching-
learning resources. When compared to UNESCO report it is observed that the arguments
made by the Acharya Ramamurti Committee with regard to Inservice Teacher Education are
either inconsistent or incoherent in various sections of the report.
The National Knowledge Commission Report (2006- 10)

The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was a high-level advisory body to the Prime
Minister of India, with the objective of transforming India into a knowledge society. In its
endeavour to transform the knowledge landscape of the country, the National Knowledge
Commission submitted around 300 recommendations on 27 focus areas during its three and a
half year term. The implementation of the NKC’s recommendations are currently underway
at the Central and State levels.
About National Knowledge Commission

The ability of a nation to use and create knowledge capital determines its capacity to
empower and enable its citizens by increasing human capabilities. Today, India has the
largest number of young people in the world (600 million below the age of 25). Following a
knowledge-oriented paradigm of development would enable India to leverage this
demographic advantage.
With this broad task in mind, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was constituted
on 13th June 2005 with a time-frame of three years, from 2nd October 2005 to 2nd October
2008. As a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, the NKC was given a
mandate to guide policy and direct reforms, focusing on certain key areas such as education,
science and technology, e-governance, etc. Easy access to knowledge, creation and
preservation of knowledge systems, dissemination of knowledge and better knowledge
services were core concerns of the commission.
Terms of Reference
As per Government Notification of 13th June 2005, the following are the Terms of
Reference of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC).
Ø Build excellence in the educational system to meet the knowledge challenges of the
21st century and increase India’s competitive advantage in fields of knowledge.
Ø Promote creation of knowledge in S&T laboratories.
Ø Improve the management of institutions engaged in intellectual property rights.
Ø Promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry.
Ø Promote the use of knowledge capabilities in making government an effective,
transparent and accountable service provider to the citizen and promote widespread
sharing of knowledge to maximize public benefit.
Objectives
The overarching aim of the National Knowledge Commission was to enable the development
of a vibrant knowledge based society. This entails both a radical improvement in existing
systems of knowledge, and creating avenues for generating new forms of knowledge. Greater
participation and more equitable access to knowledge across all sections of society are of vital
importance in achieving these goals. In view of the above, the NKC sought to develop
appropriate institutional frameworks to:
Ø Strengthen the education system, promote domestic research and innovation, facilitate
knowledge application in sectors like health, agriculture, and industry.
Ø Leverage information and communication technologies to enhance governance and
improve connectivity.
Ø Devise mechanisms for exchange and interaction between knowledge systems in the
global arena.
c) Teaching English as a second language: Role of English in India;

Objectives of Teaching English as a Second Language in India

Teaching English as a second language (TESL) refers to teaching English to students

whose first language is not English, usually offered in a region where English is the dominant
language and natural English language immersion situations are apt to be plentiful.
In contrast, teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) refers to teaching English to
students whose first language is not English, usually in a region where English is not the
dominant language and natural English language immersion situations are apt to be few.
TEFL teaching is considered to be more accessible to teachers with less experience. These
teaching jobs are also more prone to exploitation with few companies helping to fight against
systemic abuses.
The teaching profession has historically used different names for these two teaching
situations; however, the more generic term teaching English to speakers of other
languages(TESOL) is increasingly used to describe the profession. Both native speakers and
non-native speakers successfully train to be English language teachers. In order to teach
English as a Second Language to English Language Learners, or ELL’s, one must pass a
written and oral test in English to demonstrate proficiency.
The use of these various terms has led to confusion about the training options for both
prospective students and for employers. Because there is no global standard for the training of
English language teacher, it is important to look beyond the actual acronym/title to the
components of the training program. Short term certificate programs that do not have an
academic affiliation resulting in credits or degrees (such as CELTA or other non-credit
programs) can be a good launching pad for beginning positions internationally, but they will
generally not provide sufficient training for a career (unless a person already has substantial
experience and a degree in a closely related field). People interested in pursuing a career as an
English language teacher should invest in credit-bearing programs that result in a university
recognized certificate or degree program (MA/TESOL, MA/Applied Linguistics) particularly
if one wants to work in higher education. Because of the confusing certification situation,
employers now generally look for a certificate that reflects at least 100 hours of instruction in
order to determine if the candidate has sufficient preparation to begin teaching English.
Institutions with higher standards will require applicants to possess a master’s degree for
employment.
Role of English in India
It’s impossible to imagine the world without the two ‘e’s : Electronic Communication and
English. English is all over the Internet, books and all media. English language is followed by
almost all the developed and developing countries today.
English in India
A lot of Indian personalities have won many global awards for creative literature in English.
In 1997, an Indian author, Arundhati Roy, won the acclaimed Booker Prize for fiction, for her
book “The God of Small Things”. Millions of copies of her book were sold all over the
world.
Over the last 30 years, English language has emerged out to be one of our key strengths in
procuring international acclaim for a number of films made by Indians in English language.
In 1998 a famous Indian film director, Shekhar Kapoor’s film “Elizabeth” has received 7
nominations for Oscar Awards. In 2007, the sequel to the same movie again received 2 Oscar
nominations. Thus we can’t deny the fact that English language has brought India to an
international level.

The Need
English is everywhere. Globalization and the Internet have made English an important aspect
of our lives. The finest and the most advanced innovations in science and technology are
made in the United States of America, where English language is the primary means of
scientific communication.
If we live in India and have the knowledge of English, we can learn from the experiences and
mistakes of the people living in other developed countries. We can reject the unacceptable
and accept the justifiable. Using English, we can also promote our theories among the global
audience.
English has thus become an effective means sharing experiences and strengthening our
cultural identity all across the globe.
Here’s how English is important in India:
Jobs
Knowledge of English opens up a large number of employment opportunities in almost every
business domain. Almost every employer expects his employees to have basic to excellent
English speaking skills.
Travel
If you were supposed to travel to another country, either for business or as a tourist, imagine
how you would communicate with their natives. English, being a global language and spoken
by more than 950 million people all across the world, certainly can make your life easier
when you travel. Knowledge of English can let you communicate with people anywhere you
travel.
Education
English is the major medium of education in India. English medium schools are
Those students who are interested in higher studies from universities and colleges abroad,
they are supposed to clear exams like IELTS and TOEFL. These test your proficiency of
English in usual day to day verbal and written communication.
Language of Science and Technology
English is the language of Science and Technology. Scientific innovations or discoveries in
other developed countries cannot reach India without English.
All the latest technologies are now at our fingertips but to be able to access to this technology
we need to develop English language skills. The syntax of most of the existing computer
programming languages is also made up of English keywords.
Internet
Though there are several websites in various other languages, English will always be the
primary language for internet access. Most of the information over the internet is in English.
So to gaining access to this vast information, knowing English becomes a prerequisite.
Official Language of India
Although English is just one of the official languages of India, but it would perhaps be the
only language that can be understood across the country. It is the primary language used in

international affairs. It is used in building international relations through the involvement of

professional diplomats with respect to issues relate peacemaking, global trade, economy and
culture.
Globalization
Apart from general communication, knowledge of the English is an added advantage to help
in communicating at the global level. Many global companies have outsources their
operations to India which led to the IT and ITeS boom a few years ago. Many Indian
companies also have their offices in English speaking countries. Being able to communicate
in English helps interact with your global colleagues as well as advance your career
prospects.
Every business with an international client base uses English language as the prime source of
communication. A good knowledge of English along with strong interpersonal skills can not
only get us employment in the global business world but also brings a lot of opportunities for
self-employment as well. Some of the common self-employment careers in English include
English teachers/trainers, content writers, bloggers etc.
So while learning and enriching your local and vernacular languages is just as important,
today it’s a well accepted norm that English has become the language of professional
communication and being able to express yourself and your ideas in English is not just a skill,
but also an art!
Objectives of Teaching English as a Second Language in India
In order to make the programme of Teaching English effective, we should first of all identify
our objectives we want to achieve. It will help the teacher to apply the correct methods and
devices to achieve the particular object at any particular stage. So it is extremely necessary to
fix up the objectives of teaching English in the beginning.
With the change of the position of English in the new set up of India, the aims and objectives
of teaching English has naturally undergone a change. We have accepted English as a second
language. English is, therefore, taught now as a skill subject as opposed to literary subject. So
the objectives of teaching English in schools will be the acquisition of linguistic or
communicative skills.
The four skills of the objectives of Teaching English are mentioned below:
1.’Listening Skill’:
Listening skill means ability to understand English when spoken. Thus the objectives of
teaching English are to enable the pupils to understand ordinary daily English speech spoken
at a normal speed. They will be trained in grasping what is being said.
2. Speaking Skill:
“Speaking Skill” means “ability to speak English correctly and easily”. The pupil will have a
command over English vocabulary and a sense of correct intonation and pronunciation. This
can be achieved gradually through regular practice.
3. Reading Skill:

It means the ability to understand when written. The pupil should achieve the skill to
understand simple and non-technical English first, then he is likely to appreciate literary
English.
4. Writing Skill:
The students on leaving high school should be able to write correct English. It is expected to
them that they should be able to write on matters of their personal experiences, interest and
needs correctly in simple English.
(Each of these four foundation skills has its component parts of speaking English, as for
example are pronunciation, intonation, phrasing, stress, rhythm etc). Moreover these four
linguistic skills are closely related to one another and one assists work towards another. Thus
reading assists writing and writing assists reading. These four linguistic skills should be
developed in continual interrelation of the language activities of speaking, listening, reading
and writing.
The All India Seminar on the Teaching English in secondary schools, held at Nagpur in 1957,
recommended that, “within a period of six years of the high school course the pupils should
be enabled to attain a working knowledge of English, giving them mastery over about 250
language structures and a vocabulary of 2500 essential words”.
The objectives of teaching English are to develop in students both receptive and productive
capabilities. The students’ role is receptive when he reads or listens and the moment he
speaks or writes, the ability becomes productive.
The following objectives of Teaching English at the secondary stage:
(I) “The main object should be to develop the student’s language sense and linguistic skill
and his ability to understand, speak, read and write general English”. Pupils should be
enabled to attain working knowledge of the language from utilitarian point of view.
(II) The second objective is to develop the capacity of our pupils “to express themselves in
English freely, correctly and with proper pronunciation in takes or conversation on ordinary
topics”.
(III) The third objective is to enable pupils to express their ideas of non-technical nature in
simple correct English obviously the stress is entirely on expression”.
(IV) The fourth objective is “to generate in the pupils a love for the language and a desire to
cultivate it at leisure for pleasure and profit”.
(V) The fifth objective is to teach English as an auxiliary language to maintain

communicative skill with other parts of India and outside.
(VI) The sixth objective is to enable pupils to acquire knowledge of fundamental concepts of
English grammar.
Lastly, we may say that our approach in Teaching English throughout school stage should be
balanced and aim at the

Unit-II
a) Behaviourism and its Implications for ELT: Pavlov’s Classical
Conditioning, Thorndike’s Connectionism, Skinner’s Operant
conditioning
Behaviourism and its Implications for ELT:

As the students of English Education Department, it is important to us to know the kinds of
approaches or theories related language teaching and learning. In this case, some approaches
have constructed in teaching and learning process. All of the approaches are conducted in
teaching learning process in order to get the positive effect for the students and the teacher
itself. The use of the approach itself is to improve or increase the student’s ability in learning.
Although there are some theories that still used some conventional methods that make the
students uninterested in joining the teaching learning process. So the role for the teacher is to
apply appropriate approach based on the condition of the students in order it can make the
students are interested to learn.

The Definition of Behaviorism

According to Waltman (2003) Behaviorism is a theory of animal and human learning that
only focuses on objectively observable behaviors. While behaviorism described as
developmental theory that measures observable behaviors produced by a learner’s response to
stimuli.
The Characteristics of Behaviorism
According to Tomic , Behaviorism attempts to describe , explain and influence behavior. In
this section, I would like to describe the features of behaviorism.
1. According to behaviorist, the most important causes of motivation for behaviorism lie
outside rather than within the individual.
2. The dualistic portrayal of mankind which distinguishes between mental processes and
observable behavior is scientifically unproductive. For example” Mary loses control
of herself because she is aggressive”. This sentence means something. Mary is the
cause of their observable behavior. However, the only way to detect the inner
characteristics serving to explain behavior in such pronouncements is to observe this
behavior. We see that the cause and effect have the same source.
3. The scientific study of mankind should be restricted as much as possible to directly
observable quantities.
4. Explanations of human behavior are simple in principle, as behavior arose out the
elementary learning processes, but in practice however, behavior is quite complex.
Both the behavioral patterns of and the outside influences that effect human beings are
complicated.
5. Man is generally a shallow and imprecise observer of both his own and others’
behavior. The dualistic portrayal of mankind forces him to propose all sorts of
dubious explanations.
6. The attempt to influence behavior must be preceded by a thorough behavioral
analysis. If the attempt to influence behavior fails, then the analysis is incorrect or
incomplete and must be revised.
The Principles of Learning of Behaviorism

The behaviorism is primarily associated with Pavlov (classical conditioning) in Russia and
J.B Watson. While, B.F Skinner in United States (operant conditioning). The two types of
possible conditioning that are classical and operant conditioning is explained as follows.
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
Ivan Pavlov is brilliant Russian Behaviorist. He studied about behaviorism (reflexes) for
thirty years and was considered to be the father of conditioning theory. He concerned in the
concept of classical conditioning behaviorism. Classical conditioning is the process of relax
learning. Moreover, the condition tends to use the behavioral training naturally occurring
stimulus is paired with a response.
The principles of classical conditioning (as cited in Cherry)
1. Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is to be strengthened.
2. Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear

3. Spontaneous Recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest

period
4. Stimulus Generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to appear similar
responses after the response has been conditioned.
5. Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other
stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
John B Watson (1878-1958)
John B. Watson is the important contributor to classical behaviorism. He studied the behavior
of animals. Watson’s approach was influenced by Ivan Pavlov who concerned in Classical
conditioning. Classical conditioning is the process of reflex learning. Watson’s approach
emphasized in the role of stimuli in producing conditioned responses. For this reason, Watson
may describe it as an S-R (Stimulus-Response) called “reflexes”.
B.F Skinner (1904-1990)
B.F Skinner is American behaviorist whom develops a system based on operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning is the idea that we behave the way we do because this kind of behavior
has had certain consequences in the past. In operant conditioning there is reinforcement of the
behavior by giving reward or punishment.
The principles of operant conditioning (as cited in Demirezeen (1988:137))
1. Behaviorist theory dwells on spoken languageà learning language is primarily what is
spoken and secondarily what is written.
2. Behaviorist theory is the habit formation theory of language teaching and learning,
reminding us the learning of structural grammarà Language learning concerns us by
“not problem-solving but the information and performance of habits”
3. The stimulus-response chain, S-Responseà emphasizes conditioning and building
from the simplest conditioned responses to more and more complex behaviors.
4. All learning is the establishment of habits as the result of reinforcement and reward à
positive reinforcement is reward, negative reinforcement is punishment.
5. The learning, due to its socially-conditioned nature, can be the same for each
individual à each person can learn equally if the condition in which the learning takes
are the same for each person.
Classical Vs Operant Conditioning Based On (Cherry, 2008)

Classical conditioning
Ø First described by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist
Ø Involves placing a neutral signal before a reflex
Ø Focuses on involuntary response and stimulus
Operant conditioning
Ø First described by B.F Skinner, an American psychologist
Ø Involves applying reinforcement or punishment after a behavior
Ø Focuses on a voluntary behavior and consequence
The Strength and Weakness of Behaviorism

The next section that will be discussed is the strength and weakness of behaviorism (As cited
in Mergel: 1998)
The strength of behaviorism is focused on a clear goal and can respond automatically to the
cues of that goal. On the other hand, the weakness of it is the learners may find themselves
in a situation where the stimulus for the correct response does not occur, so the learner cannot
respond.
Application of Behaviorism for ELT
Behaviorism offers a particular perspective on how learning occurs and how teaching impacts
that process. According to Beavers, Eaglin, Green, Nathan and Wolfe (2002) Learning is a
persisting change in performance or performance potential that results from experience and
interaction with the world. The importance of measurable and observable performance and
the impact of the environment comprise foundational principles of the behaviorist approach to
learning.
A. Applying Classical Conditioning in the Classroom
The teacher can apply the principles of behaviorism in the classroom that can be
applied through classical and operant conditioning. The key elements in classical
conditioning
Ø A teacher uses attractive learning aids
Ø Decorate the classrooms
Ø Encourage students to work in small group for difficult learning tasks
Ø Greet the students and smile at them when he comes to the classroom
Ø Inform the students clearly and specifically the format of quizzes , tests, and
examination
Ø Make the students understand the rules of the classroom
Ø Give time for students to prepare for and complete the learning tasks.
B. Applying Operant Conditioning in the Classroom

In operant conditioning, the consequences of behavior place changes in the probability
that the behavior will occur. Reinforcement and punishment are two main concepts in operant
conditioning.
Behaviorism
Ø Students tend to be passive
Ø The teacher is active in teaching learning process than the students since the teacher
presents and provides for practice and feedback.
Ø The material is prepared by the teacher.
Constructivism
Ø Students tend to be active
Ø The teacher is passive because the students do their personal discovery knowledge
Ø The students understand the information or material constructed by themselves
Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

Several types of learning exist. The most basic form is associative learning, i.e., making a
new association between events in the environment. There are two forms of associative
learning: classical conditioning (made famous by Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs) and
operant conditioning.
Pavlov’s Dogs
In the early twentieth century, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov did Nobel prize-winning
work on digestion. While studying the role of saliva in dogs’ digestive processes, he stumbled
upon a phenomenon he labeled “psychic reflexes.” While an accidental discovery, he had the
foresight to see the importance of it. Pavlov’s dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber,
were presented with meat powder and they had their saliva collected via a surgically
implanted tube in their saliva glands. Over time, he noticed that his dogs who begin salivation
before the meat powder was even presented, whether it was by the presence of the handler or
merely by a clicking noise produced by the device that distributed the meat powder.
Thorndike’s Connectionism
Connectionism was based on the concept, that elements or ideas become associated with one
another through experience and that complex ideas can be explained through a set of simple
rules.
Connectionism, today defined as an approach in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive

psychology, cognitive science and philosophy of mind which models mental or behavioural
phenomena with networks of simple units, is not a theory in frames of behaviourism, but it
preceded and influenced behaviourist school of thought. Connectionism represents
psychology’s first comprehensive theory of learning. It was introduced by Thorndike, the
most commonly cited connectionist.
Fundamental concepts:
Connectionism is the theory that all mental processes can be described as the operation of
inherited or acquired bonds between stimulus and response. A theory that proposes that all
learning consists primarily of the strengthening of the relationship between the stimulus and
the response.
Thorndike’s learning theory:
1. Multiple Response: in any given situation, the organism will respond in a variety of ways
if the first response does not immediately lead to a more satisfying state of affairs. Problem
solving is through trial and error. A learner would keep trying multiple responses to solve a
problem before it is actually solved.
2. Set or Attitude: What the learner already possesses, like prior learning experiences,
present state of the learner, etc., while it begins learning a new task. There are
predisposition’s to behave or react in a particular way. These are unique for species or groups
of related species, and may be culturally determined in humans.

3. Pre-potency of Elements- Thorndike observed that a learner could filter out irrelevant
aspects of a situation and respond only to significant (proponent) elements in a problem
situation. : Different responses to the same environment would be evoked by different
perceptions of the environment which act as the stimulus to the responses. Different
perceptions would be subject to the pre-potency of different elements for different perceivers.
4. Response by Analogy -: New problems are solved by using solution techniques employed
to solve analogous problems. In a new context, responses from related or similar contexts
may be transferred to the new context. This is sometimes referred to as the theory of identical
elements.
5. Associative shifting -: Let stimulus S be paired with response R. Now, if stimulus Q is

presented simultaneously with stimulus S repeatedly, then stimulus Q is likely to get paired
with response R. It is possible to shift any response from one stimulus to another.
6. Belongingness: If there is a natural relationship between the need state of an organism and
the effect caused by a response, learning is more effective than if the relationship is
unnatural.
7. Polarity: which specifies that connections occur more easily in the direction in which they
were originally formed than the opposite.
8. Spread of effect:- i.e., rewards affect not only the connection that produced them but
temporally adjacent connections as well.
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were
becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning.
Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious
reasons, he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
Skinner’s views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). Skinner believed
that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study
observable behavior rather than internal mental events.
The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to
be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the best way to
understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this
approach operant conditioning.
Operant Conditioning deals with operants - intentional actions that have an effect on the
surrounding environment. Skinner set out to identify the processes which made certain
operant behaviors more or less likely to occur.
Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on
Thorndike’s (1905) law of effect. Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect -
Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened);
behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e., weakened).
Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which
he placed in a ‘Skinner Box’ which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box.

b) Cognitivism and its Implications for ELT: Gestalt Theory;

Chomsky’s Cognitive Theory-Competence vs Performance; Dell
Hymes’ Communicative Competence
Sometimes, when someone calls us, we immediately hear it. Then, we give the response from
his or her calling. From the phenomenon, unconsciously there is a process happens in our
brain or thought. The process is called cognitive theories or cognitivism. According to
Mergel (1998) cognitivism is a process based on the thought process behind the behavior.
Changes in behavior are observed, and used as to what is happening inside the learner’s
mind. Cognitive theories emphasize the children conscious thought (Hebb, 2003:3). From the
two definitions, I can infer that a process can be called cognitivism if a process happens in
conscious thought (inside the learner’s mind). Here is the explanation of e the development of
cognitivism or cognitive revolution.
The History of Cognitivism
Cognitivism as a theory of learning studies about the process occurs inside the learner’s mind
has the own history about how it happens or the development of it. The development of
cognitivism theory is famous with the term “cognitive revolution”. According to asiae
university (2012:106) the cognitive revolution is the name for an intellectual movement in the
1950s that began with what are known collectively as the cognitive sciences. It began in the
modern context of greater interdisciplinary communication and research.
Factors Influenced the Development of Cognitivism
After we know the history of cognitivism, it is important for us to know the factors
influenced the development of it. According to Jordan, Carlite & Stack (2008: 36-37) there
are four factors influenced it. They are the development of experimental psychology, the
move from on interest in external behaviors to internal brain process, the inadequacy of
computer and an interest in artificial intelligence.
Experimental psychology
The factor emphasized in how the memory was laid down by using nonsense syllables and
words that was begun in the 1880s by Herman Ebbinghuns.
The Shift from behaviorism to cognitivism

The factor emphasized that not all learning can be explained through observable behaviors,
sometimes we find unobservable ones. For example: Rats build up a mental representation or
cognitive map of their environment and develop expectations rather than a set of inflexible
links between stimuli and response(Tolman , 1948 in Jordan, 2008:37).
Language Acquisition
The factor showed that the result of contested theories of language acquisition was the
evidence of human cognition. In this case language is as the result which is shaped by the
stimulus- response.
Computer and Artificial Intelligence

The factor showed the relationship between computers and cognitivism theory. Here, the
computer is seen as a process for cognitive function while brain as the computing tool. For
example the cognitive theory consists of information processing, input-process – output
model.In this case, the position of cognitive learning theory is just the beginning to inform
the design of CALL materials (Collentine, 2000:3).
Definition of Cognitivism
According to Mergel (1998) cognitivism is a cognitivist theory that based on thought process
behind the behavior. It means that the theory occurs inside the learners mind consciously.
Moreover, it focuses on how people think, how people understand, and how people know.
How people think is the theory stresses in how our ways of thinking will impact to the
behavior. How people understand is the theory shows the people’s understanding related to
outside world. How people know is the theory shows how the people know phenomenon
outside the world. Of course, it derives from the process thatrt happens in human mind.
Principles of Cognitivism
Cognitivism involves the study of mental processes such as sensation, perception, attention,
encoding, and memory that behaviorists were reluctant to study because cognition occurs
inside the” black box” of the brain. In this case, sensation perception, attention, encoding, and
memory are the principle of cognitivism. The followings are the explanation of them.
Three Important Cognitive Theories
Cognitive is a learning theory that emphasized in the process which happens inside the
learners. In this case, there are three important types of cognitive theories. They are Piaget’s
cognitive development theory, Vygotsky’s socio cultural cognitive theory and the
information processing approach.
Piaget’s Cognitive Development (1896-1980)
Piaget is the famous psychologist from Swiss who describes cognitivism theory in the
cognitive developmental theory. According to Hebb(2003: 3) Piaget’s theory states the
children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through stages of
cognitive development. It means that Piaget described cognitivism in the stage development
of children when they are ready to construct the meaning of things through their own
understanding which starts from the simple to complex thing. Knowledge and thinking skills
provide the substance and tools for cognitive problem solving (Bandura, 1989:9). There are
two processes underlie in cognitive construction. They are organization and adaptation.

Organization is important in order the children construct the meaning of thing which make
sense to them by organizing our experience. For example we specify the less and important
ideas then we connect them.
Vygotsky’s Socio Cultural Theory 1896-1934)
Vygotsky is a Russian psychologist who emphasizes the cognitivism theory based on the
developmental analysis, the role of language, and social relation. According to Hebb (2003:3)
there are three claims of Vygotsky. They are child’s cognitive skills can be understood only
when they are developmentally analyzed and interpreted. It means that if someone wants to
know the origin and the transformation from beginning to the next, he must take a part in
child’s cognitive functioning.
Vygotsky’s second claim is cognitive skills are mediated by words, language, and forms of
discourse which serve as psychological tools for facilitating and transforming mental activity.
It means that language is important tool for children in early childhood in order to plan their
activities and solve the problems. His third claims described knowledge is situated and
collaborative. It means that knowledge occurred in environments through the interaction with
others collaboratively.
Gestalt Theory;
Gestalt principles describe how the human eye perceives visual elements—in particular, they
tell us that complex images tend to be reduced to simpler shapes. Gestalt psychologist Kurt
Koffka summarized them thus: “The whole is other than the sum of parts.” This means the
whole of an image is perceived as a separate entity from its individual parts.
Gestalt principles are used in creating many optical illusions. A notable example is the image
that depicts both an elderly woman in profile and a young lady who is looking away from the
viewer. Because we perceive the whole of an image differently from how we do its
constituent parts, we can create images that trick our eyes into perceiving interesting
“wholes” out of seemingly meaningless “individual” elements. In other words, visual artists
can perform illusions—as the human mind is hardwired to make sense of such chaotic scenes,
drawing conclusions from these kinds of images by filling in any gaps between the elements
they comprise or “flipping” perspectives so as to end up with multiple interpretations.
Chomsky’s Cognitive Theory

Cognition is the act of recognizing or of having knowledge. Thus, cognitive development
theory explores the mental processes used in “the formation of all internal processes such as
perception, intuition, and reasoning” (dictionary.com, 2012). Although basic cognitive theory
can be traced back to seventeenth century philosopher Rene Descartes, cognitive theory
development as we know it has been pursued more aggressively since the middle of the
twentieth century.

Beginning with linguist Noam Chomsky and his 1959 critique of cognitive empiricism and
operant conditioning as researched by B.F. Skinner (Boeree, 2006), the discipline as a whole
has become more widely considered as scientists and various researchers in the field have
realized that only by using a more holistic approach to psychological studies will they be able
to understand the developmental capacities of the mind.
Cognitive development theory
Attention to cognitive science has increased dramatically since the middle of the twentieth
century. While some mental processes are measurable, it is virtually impossible to adequately
establish what determines how an individual perceives, remembers, thinks, or solves
problems.
Cognitive psychology concerns how people perceive, understand, evaluate and think.
Psycholinguistics
Every human child has the biological ability to acquire language. Developmentally normal
children construct the grammar of his or her native language without the help of others.
However, two conditions exist in order for the child to perform: “(1) he must recognize the
physical and social events which are encoded in language, and (2) he must be able to process,
organize, and store linguistic information” (Slobin, 2004). In other words, the child must be
able to comprehend both the meaning and the form of the syllables in order to process them
internally.
Language Acquisition
The conventions of a language are learned by interacting with experienced users, i.e. adults,
of that culture. However, linguistic interchange can be false or otherwise deceptive without
prior semantic knowledge. “Linguistic messages may refer to things remote in time and
space, or both, from the site of the communication.” Humans acquire perception and
comprehension of language through language acquisition. This also allows them the
capability to reproduce this knowledge in conversations with others. Humans are not limited
to a finite vocabulary. New words and phrases are constantly being coined, especially with
regards to scientific and technological fields. What scientists still fail to pinpoint is precisely
how first and second languages are acquired.
Chomsky’s view adheres to a natavistic approach in that he believes that certain skills or
abilities are hard wired into the brain at birth. He argues that humans are born with certain
cognitive abilities that enable them to learn and acquire certain skills. Nativism enables a
child to grow exponentially once spoken language has been realized at a significant level.
Conclusion
Language use is a complex cognitive phenomenon, and is one of the areras that distinguishes
humans from animals. Humans learn words at rapid rates, learning about 45,000 words
around the time the average person graduates high school (Radford, 2004). Cognitive
psychology studies how people think, remember, create, and speak. Cognitive development
theory is ever changing as more knowledge is gained and added to the catalogue of
information already in existence. Compounding on this study is the field of psycholinguistics,

founded by linguist Noam Chomsky. Chomsky’s ideas have set the standard for the way that
language acquisition and development is viewed.
Competence vs Performance
Chomsky separates competence and performance; he describes ‘competence’ as an idealized
capacity that is located as a psychological or mental property or function and ‘performance’
as the production of actual utterances. In short, competence involves “knowing” the language
and performance involves “doing” something with the language. The difficulty with this
construct is that it is very difficult to assess competence without assessing performance.
Dell Hymes’ Communicative Competence

In other words, a language user needs to use the language not only correctly (based on
linguistic competence), but also appropriately (based on communicative competence). Of
course, this approach does not diminish the importance of learning the grammatical rules of a
language. In fact, it is one of the four components of communicative competence: linguistic,
sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence.
Linguistic competence is the knowledge of the language code, i.e. its grammar and
vocabulary, and also of the conventions of its written representation (script and orthography).
The grammar component includes the knowledge of the sounds and their pronunciation (i.e.
phonetics), the rules that govern sound interactions and patterns (i.e. phonology), the
formation of words by means of e.g. inflection and derivation (i.e. morphology), the rules that
govern the combination of words and phrases to structure sentences (i.e. syntax), and the way
that meaning is conveyed through language (i.e. semantics).
Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of socio-cultural rules of use, i.e. knowing how
to use and respond to language appropriately. The appropriateness depends on the setting of
the communication, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating.
Moreover, being appropriate depends on knowing what the taboos of the other culture are,
what politeness indices are used in each case, what the politically correct term would be for
something, how a specific attitude (authority, friendliness, courtesy, irony etc.) is expressed
etc.
Discourse competence is the knowledge of how to produce and comprehend oral or written
texts in the modes of speaking/writing and listening/reading respectively. It’s known how to
combine language structures into a cohesive and coherent oral or written text of different
types. Thus, discourse competence deals with organizing words, phrases and sentences in
order to create conversations, speeches, poetry, email messages, newspaper articles etc.
Strategic competence is the ability to recognize and repair communication breakdowns

before, during, or after they occur. For instance, the speaker may not know a certain word,
thus will plan to either paraphrase, or ask what that word is in the target language. During the
conversation, background noise or other factors may hinder communication; thus the speaker
must know how to keep the communication channel open. If the communication was
unsuccessful due to external factors (such as interruptions), or due to the message being
misunderstood, the speaker must know how to restore communication. These strategies may

be requests for repetition, clarification, slower speech, or the usage of gestures, taking turns
in conversation etc.
c) Language Acquisition Process: Differences between First Language

Acquisition and Second Language Learning
Stage I: Pre-production
This is the silent period. English language learners may have up to 500 words in their
receptive vocabulary but they are not yet speaking. Some students will, however, repeat
everything you say. They are not really producing language but are parroting.
These new learners of English will listen attentively and they may even be able to copy words
from the board. They will be able to respond to pictures and other visuals. They can
understand and duplicate gestures and movements to show comprehension. Total Physical
Response methods will work well with them. Teachers should focus attention on listening
comprehension activities and on building a receptive vocabulary.
English language learners at this stage will need much repetition of English. They will benefit
from a “buddy” who speaks their language. Remember that the school day is exhausting for
these newcomers as they are overwhelmed with listening to English language all day long.
Stage II: Early production
This stage may last up to six months and students will develop a receptive and active
vocabulary of about 1000 words. During this stage, students can usually speak in one- or two-
word phrases. They can use short language chunks that have been memorized although these
chunks may not always be used correctly.
Here are some suggestions for working with students in this stage of English language
learning:
Ø Ask yes/no and either/or questions.
Ø Accept one or two word responses.
Ø Give students the opportunity to participate in some of the whole class activities.
Ø Use pictures and realia to support questions.
Ø Modify content information to the language level of ELLs.
Ø Build vocabulary using pictures.
Ø Provide listening activities.
Ø Simplify the content materials to be used. Focus on key vocabulary and concepts.
Ø When teaching elementary age ELLs, use simple books with predictable text.
Ø Support learning with graphic organizers, charts and graphs. Begin to foster writing in
English through labeling and short sentences. Use a frame to scaffold writing.
Stage III: Speech emergence
Students have developed a vocabulary of about 3,000 words and can communicate with
simple phrases and sentences. They will ask simple questions that may or may not be
grammatically correct, such as “May I go to bathroom?” ELLs will also initiate short
conversations with classmates. They will understand easy stories read in class with the
support of pictures. They will also be able to do some content work with teacher support.
Here are some simple tasks they can complete:

Ø Sound out stories phonetically.

Ø Read short, modified texts in content area subjects.
Ø Complete graphic organizers with word banks.
Ø Understand and answer questions about charts and graphs.
Ø Match vocabulary words to definitions.
Ø Study flashcards with content area vocabulary.
Ø Participate in duet, pair and choral reading activities.
Ø Write and illustrate riddles.
Ø Understand teacher explanations and two-step directions.
Ø Compose brief stories based on personal experience.
Ø Write in dialogue journals.
Dialogue journals are a conversation between the teacher and the student. They are especially
helpful with English language learners. Students can write about topics that interest them and
proceed at their own level and pace. They have a place to express their thoughts and ideas.
Stage IV: Intermediate fluency
English language learners at the intermediate fluency stage have a vocabulary of 6000 active
words. They are beginning to use more complex sentences when speaking and writing and are
willing to express opinions and share their thoughts. They will ask questions to clarify what
they are learning in class. These English language learners will be able to work in grade level
math and science classes with some teacher support. Comprehension of English literature and
social studies content is increasing. At this stage, students will use strategies from their native
language to learn content in English.
Stage V: Advanced Fluency
It takes students from 4-10 years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency in a
second language. Student at this stage will be near-native in their ability to perform in content
area learning. Most ELLs at this stage have been exited from ESL and other support
programs. At the beginning of this stage, however, they will need continued support from
classroom teachers especially in content areas such as history/social studies and in writing.
Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning
Ø In first language acquisition, the basis for learning is universal grammar alone. In
second language acquisition, knowledge of the first language also serves as a basis for
learning the second language. There may be both positive and negative transfer
between languages in second language learning.
Ø In first language acquisition, children spend several years listening to language,
babbling, and using telegraphic speech before they can form sentences. In second
language acquisition in older learners, learning is more rapid and people are able to
form sentences within a shorter period of time.
Unit III
a) Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation method, Direct

Method, Reading Method, Audio-Lingual Method, Bilingual Method,

Eclectic Method
Approaches and Methods

1. Grammar Translation Method
This Grammar-Translation Method is also called Classical Method of teaching English. This
method has enjoyed a very good reputation amongst the Indian teachers and the students.
Translation Method means teaching the target language (here it is English) by translating it
into mother tongue. The teacher translates each word and sentence in to the mother tongue.
This is one of the simplest ways of teaching a foreign language. Neither the teacher nor the
taught have to make extra efforts to learn the target language.
Advantages of Translation Method –
1. This method is useful in the class in which there are a large no of students.
2. It is beneficial to use in the class where there are students of various levels – very
intelligent and not-so-very intelligent.
3. It helps the teacher to clear the meaning of a word and sentence easily by translating it
in to the mother tongue.
4. The students understand the things very easily if taught using this method.
5. It doesn’t consume the time in finishing the syllabus.
6. Precise pictures of the words and the things are made in to the minds of the learners
through this method.
7. This Translation Method is very useful for the average and below-average students.
Disadvantages of Grammar-Translation Method –

1. No oral work takes place in the class room due to this method.
2. The main focus remains only on the mother-tongue and the target language remains
ignored.
3. No Speaking in the target language is possible. The only thrust remains on the
reading.
4. The students don’t develop the power of thinking in the target language.
5. It doesn’t help the students to learn correct pronunciation of English Language or the
target language.
6. Main emphasis is given on the Rules of Grammar.
7. Students try to do everything by translating.
8. This method doesn’t involve the students mentally and just like story telling method.
Direct Method
It is a system of teaching a foreign language using only that language and without emphasis
on the study of grammar.
Advantages of Direct Method

1. It makes the learning of English interesting and lively by establishing direct bond
between a word and its meaning.
2. It is an activity method facilitating alertness and participation of the pupils.
3. According to Macnee, “It is the quickest way of getting started”. In a few months over
500 of the commonest English words can be learnt and used in sentences. This serves
as a strong foundation of further learning.
4. Due to application of the Direct Method, students are able to understand what they
learn, think about it and then express their own ideas in correct English about what
they have read and learnt.
5. Psychologically it is a sound method as it proceeds from the concrete to the abstract.
6. This method can be usefully employed from the lowest to the highest class.
7. Through this method, fluency of speech, good pronunciation and power of expression
are properly developed.
Disadvantages of Direct Method
1. There are many abstract words which cannot be interpreted directly in English and
much time and energy are wasted in making attempts for the purpose.
2. This method is based on the principles that auditory appeal is stronger that visual. But
there are children who learn more with visual than with their oral- aural sense like
ears and tongue.
3. The method ignores systematic written work and reading activities and sufficient
attention is not paid to reading and writing.
4. Since in this method, grammar is closely bound up with the reader, difficulty is
experienced in providing readers of such kind.
5. There is dearth of teachers trained and interested in teaching English in this method.
6. This method may not hold well in higher classes where the Translation Method is
found suitable.
7. In larger classes, this method is not properly applied and teaching in this method does
not suit or satisfy the needs of individual students in large classes.
Reading Method
A significant part of selecting appropriate instructional approaches is understanding the
learning profile of an individual. A diagnostic program is necessary to identify students with
learning disabilities. A cognitive profile is also necessary to determine precisely what
students’ needs are, their strengths and weaknesses, whether they have difficulty with
working memory, if they have inadequate language skills, etc.
Students with learning disabilities need to be taught strategic approaches explicitly. They
need to have ideas made conspicuously clear to them.
Persons with learning disabilities who need to work on reading mechanics frequently respond
to explicitly taught code-emphasis developmental reading methods such as phonic, linguistic,
or multisensory approaches. Some of the more popular approaches are briefly described
below.
Phonics approach
The phonics approach teaches word recognition through learning grapheme-phoneme (letter-
sound) associations. The student learns vowels, consonants, and blends, and learns to sound

out words by combining sounds and blending them into words. By associating speech sounds
with letters the student learns to recognize new and unfamiliar words.
Linguistic method
This method uses a “whole word” approach. Words are taught in word families, or similar
spelling patterns, and only as whole words. The student is not directly taught the relationship
between letters and sounds, but learns them through minimal word differences. As the child
progresses, words that have irregular spellings are introduced as sight words.
Multisensory approach
This method assumes that some children learn best when content is presented in several
modalities. Multisensory approaches that employ tracing, hearing, writing, and seeing are
often referred to as VAKT (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile) methods. Multisensory
techniques can be used with both phonics and linguistic approaches.
Neurological Impress Technique

This is a rapid-reading technique. The instructor reads a passage at a fairly rapid rate, with the
instructor’s voice directed into the student’s ear. The teacher begins as the dominant reading
voice, but gradually the student spends more time leading these sessions.
Students who have learned mechanics without adequately learning reading fluency frequently
benefit from this, as do students who read slowly or who hesitate over a number of words but
are able to identify most of the words in a sentence. A student is directed to read a passage
without errors. This method functions most effectively when it is practiced for short periods
every day.
Language experience approach

The language experience approach uses children’s spoken language to develop material for
reading. This approach utilizes each student’s oral language level and personal experiences.
Material is written by the child and teacher for reading using each child’s experience. This
can be done in small groups and individually.
Reading comprehension support

Persons with learning disabilities who need work on reading comprehension often respond to
explicitly taught strategies which aid comprehension such as skimming, scanning and
studying techniques. These techniques aid in acquiring the gist, and then focus is turned to the
details of the text through use of the cloze procedure.
Audio-Lingual Method
The Audiolingual Method (ALM) was developed during the Second World War. “The Audio-
lingual method was the outbreak of World War II, which created the need to post large
number of American servicemen all over the world.” 1 That is why it was known as the
“army method”, too. The method was born directly related to the 40´s approach, behaviorism,
which addressed education as a mechanical process. As a result, the ALM adopted
behaviorism´s techniques such as repetition and memorization, to teach foreign languages in
schools all over the world.
Bilingual Method

The bilingual method of foreign language teaching was developed by C.J. Dodson (1967) as
a counterpart of the audiovisual method. This method was developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
Dodson set out to make improvements to the audio-visual method (which has much in
common with the direct method outlined above). The bilingual method makes use of the
traditional three P’s: presentation, practice, production.
The three P’s are the three main stages of any language lesson. First, you present material.
Then you all practice together and students are expected to produce something with their new
knowledge.
Principles of ‘The Bilingual Method’:
Ø The understanding of words and sentences in foreign languages can be made easier by
the use of mother tongue.
Ø There is no need to create artificial situations for explaining the meaning of words and
sentences of the target language.
Ø Bilingual method is the combination of the Direct method and the Grammar
translation method.
There are 7 advantages of the bilingual method of teaching English:
1. Students become functional bilinguals

If the aim of language learning is ultimately for the student to become fully bilingual (or
multilingual) then this method models this positive outcome from the very beginning. As the
students begin their language learning journey, their destination is visible in their language
teacher.
2. Never miss out on a lesson

Rather than being a hindrance, advocates of the bilingual method argue that the mother
tongue of the students is the greatest resource in the language learning process. This is true
particularly for those students over the age of 7 or 8, when the mother tongue has been firmly
established in the students’ minds. The bilingual method allows easy glossing of difficult
words and efficient explanations of points of grammar. Time saved in this manner optimizes
learning opportunities.
3. Give some love to other languages

While English, with an estimated 328 million speakers, is the third most widely spoken
language in the world, it’s perhaps first in terms of prestige. For this reason, students
worldwide are clamoring to learn it. This is good news for English language teachers.
However, there are inherent dangers for languages considered less prestigious.
4. Accessibility
The bilingual method ensures accessibility. Students beginning the daunting task of learning
a new language can immediately find a level of familiarity, avoiding the terrors of that “deer
in the headlights” stage of acquiring new skills.
5. Discipline

Many fresh-faced English language teachers landing on exotic shores with a shiny new TEFL
certificate struggle with this one. An oft-heard complaint among foreign teachers is that they
aren’t afforded the respect given to the local teachers.
6. It’s a teacher’s tool, not a student crutch

Though the bilingual method employs the students’ native language, it’s important to note
that it’s predominantly the teacher who makes use of L1. This distinguishes it from the
grammar-translation method which relies more on rote learning and the translation of texts.
7. Build strong foundations for reading, right from the start

As with the direct method, basic texts make use of picture strips to accompany the dialogue.
The bilingual method makes use of the written form of the language from the start. This
allows students to begin to see the shapes of words as they repeat them orally.
Eclectic Method
The eclectic approach is the label given to a teacher’s use of techniques and activities from
a range of language teaching approaches and methodologies. The teacher decides what
methodology or approach to use depending on the aims of the lesson and the learners in the
group.
b) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task Based

Learning and Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Communicative Language Teaching is a set of principles about teaching including
recommendations about method and syllabus where the focus is on meaningful
communication not structure, use not usage. In this approach, students are given tasks to
accomplish using language instead of studying the language. The syllabus is based primarily
on;
Ø Functional development,
Ø Not structural development.
Ø In essence, a functional syllabus replaces a structural syllabus.

Ø There is also less emphasis on error correction as fluency and communication become
more important than accuracy.
Ø Authentic and meaningful language input becomes more important as well.
Ø The class becomes more student-centered as students accomplish their tasks with
other students, while the teacher plays more of an observer role.
The features and principles of CLT
Ø Focus on meaning.
Ø Communicative competence is the desired goal.
Ø Learner-centered.
Ø Fluency is the primary goal.
Ø Students are expected to interact with other people, either in oral practice, through
pair and group work, or in their writings.
Ø Dialogues, if used, center on communicative functions.
Ø Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being communicated by the
language.
Ø Task-based.
Principles
Ø The communicative principle: Activities that involve real communication promote

learning.
Ø The task principle: Activities in which language is used to carry out meaningful tasks
promote learning.
Ø The meaningfulness principle: Language that is meaningful to the learner supports the
learning process.
Advantages and disadvantages of communicative language teaching
There are some advantages of CLT;
Ø The interaction between students and teachers: Communicative teaching is

becoming increasingly clear feature is the change in the way as the internship;
students develop the subject, initiative and become increasingly important. Teacher-
student relationship is an interactive, harmonious relationship, rather than the
traditional education, the kind of master-servant relationship.
Ø To inform the basic knowledge and ability to skillfully combine the development:
Traditional classroom teaching of English in the main body of the expense of home
study, only emphasized the teachers on the knowledge of the systematic and integrity,
which is a teacher-centered, knowledge-centered from the medieval “scholastic”
teaching methods inherited One consequence of the neglect of student ability.
Ø Greatly improved the student’s interest: Communicative teaching students to

participate in, sometimes accompanied by scenes or simulated scenarios, so that

students more close to life, the students became the main character, naturally they
were interested in the English language, to learn English as a pleasure.
Disadvantages of CLT
There some disadvantages of CLT;

Ø It is felt that there is not enough emphasis on the correction of pronunciation and
grammar error. It is because too much focus on meaning at the expense of form.
Ø CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy in grammar and pronunciation.
Ø The CLT approach is great for intermediate student and advanced students, but for
Beginners some controlled practice is needed.
Ø The monitoring ability of the teacher must be very good
Ø Grammar Teaching Practices make application of this approach difficult.
The Roles of Teachers and Learners in the Classroom
The type of classroom activities proposed in CLT also implied new roles in the classroom for
teachers and learners. Learners now had to participate in classroom activities that were based
on a cooperative rather than individualistic approach to learning. Students had to become
comfortable with listening to their peers in group work or pair work tasks, rather than relying
on the teacher for a model. They were expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility
for their own learning. And teachers now had to assume the role of facilitator and monitor.
Rather than being a model for correct speech and writing and one with the primary
responsibility of making students produce plenty of error-free sentences, the teacher had to
develop a different view of learners’ errors and of her/his own role in facilitating language
learning. (Richards, 2006)
Task Based Learning and Teaching

Task-based language teaching (TBLT), also known as task-based instruction (TBI),
focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using
the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or
calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome (in other
words the appropriate completion of real world tasks) rather than on accuracy of prescribed
language forms. This makes TBLT especially popular for developing target language fluency
and student confidence. As such TBLT can be considered a branch of communicative
language teaching (CLT).
Task-based language learning has its origins in communicative language teaching, and is a
subcategory of it. Educators adopted task-based language learning for a variety of reasons.
Some moved to task-based syllabus in an attempt to make language in the classroom truly
communicative, rather than the pseudo-communication that results from classroom activities
with no direct connection to real-life situations. Others, like Prabhu in the Bangalore
Project, thought that tasks were a way of tapping into learners’ natural mechanisms for
second-language acquisition, and weren’t concerned with real-life communication per se.
According to Rod Ellis, a task has four main characteristics:

1. A task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.

2. A task has some kind of ‘gap’ (Prabhu identified the three main types as information gap,
reasoning gap, and opinion gap).
3. The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
4. A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
Humanistic Approaches:
The Humanistic Approach began in response to concerns by therapists against perceived
limitations of Psychodynamic theories, especially psychoanalysis. Individuals like Carl
Rogers and Abraham Maslow felt existing (psychodynamic) theories failed to adequately
address issues like the meaning of behavior, and the nature of healthy growth. However, the
result was not simply new variations on psychodynamic theory, but rather a fundamentally
new approach.
There are several factors which distinguish the Humanistic Approach from other approaches
within psychology, including the emphasis on subjective meaning, a rejection of determinism,
and a concern for positive growth rather than pathology. While one might argue that some
psychodynamic theories provide a vision of healthy growth (including Jung’s concept of
individuation), the other characteristics distinguish the Humanistic Approach from every
other approach within psychology (and sometimes lead theorists from other approaches to say
the Humanistic Approach is not a science at all). Most psychologists believe that behavior
can only be understood objectively (by an impartial observer), but the humanists argue that
this results in concluding that an individual is incapable of understanding their own
behavior--a view which they see as both paradoxical and dangerous to well-being. Instead,
humanists like Rogers argue that the meaning of behavior is

essentially personal and subjective; they further argue that accepting this idea is not
unscientific, because ultimately all individuals are subjective: what makes science reliable is
not that scientists are purely objective, but that the nature of observed events can be agreed
upon by different observers (a process Rogers calls inter subjective verification).
Community Language Learning
Community language learning (CLL) is a language-teaching method in which students

work together to develop what aspects of a language they would like to learn. It is based on
the Counseling-approach in which the teacher acts as a counselor and a paraphrase, while the
learner is seen as a client and collaborator.
The intention was that it would integrate translation so that the students would disassociate
language learning with risk taking. It’s a method that is based on English for communication
and is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there
are certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in
the early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment
as the main focus.
Suggestopedia
As we know that English is a language for international communication. The indonesian
government has realized the importance of English and now they make English as a necessary
lesson that have to be learned in every education level. Even English now has become one of
six lessons of final examination or Ujian Nasional (UN) for senior high school students. So
that realizing that facts, preparing the teacher who will teach English becoming very
important. There are many methods of teaching which can be chosen by teachers. One of
them is suggestopedia method. Suggestopedia method is a method which focuses on how to
deal with the relationship between mental potential and learning efficacy. This method was
introduced by a Bulgarian psychologist and educator, George Lozanov in 1975. Lozanov
believed that a relaxed but focused state is the optimum state for learning. In order to create
this relaxed state, suggestopedia uses music, a comfortable and relaxing environment, and a
relationship between the teacher and the student. Memorization in learning through
suggestopedia would be accelerated by up to 25 times over than in conventional learning
methods. However, there are some advantages and also disadvantages of teaching English by
using suggestopedia method.
The first advantage of using suggestopedia for teaching English is that suggestopedia method
use music during the process of learning. Ostrander and Schroeder cited in Harmer said that
baroque music which is used in suggestopedia, with its 60 beats per minute and its specific
rhythm will create the kind of relaxed states of mind for maximum retention of material. He
believed that baroque music creates a level of relaxed concentration. It the reason why the
main concept of suggestopedia method is that using music during the process of learning. The
second advantage of using suggestopedia methods in teaching English is that suggestopedia
methods have different class setting which make the students relax during the learning

process. We know from the explanation before that a relax state is the optimum state for
learning. So, in order to get relaxed mind, beside by using music, suggestopedia methods also
decorate the class with posters or something which can make students’ mind relax, such as by
putting flowers or aquarium in the corner of the class. By using poster, the students will
always learn even when they just look around the classroom. We can put some posters which
contain of motivation words or posters which contain of our lesson. For example is
vocabulary, we can put a poster which contains of some vocabulary on the wall. So when the
students look at the poster, they have learn some new vocabulary. Besides that, suggestopedia
class a range chairs in the class into semi-circle shape. It is aimed to make students more
focus on the lesson.
Unit-IV

Communication skills have a great impact on the success of an individual. A person’s ability
to stand apart in a crowd is more often than not determined by his/her communication skills,
even so more with his/her proficiency in English language. Be it career or relationships, the
harsh truth in today’s global scene is that the future of any person is affected strongly by his
communication skill in English.
The four major skills of language learning, listening, speaking, reading and writing
provide the right key to success.
Teaching of English language while ensuring focus on all these four skills provides a
platform for the learners to hone their proficiency in this language well. An ideal programme
for teaching-learning of English as a second language would involve content for all the above
mentioned four skills. Yet, it is observed that somehow the reading and writing skills are
given more importance over the other two skills.
Ideally, listening and speaking should take prominence over reading and writing when any
language is being learnt. The benefits of naturally acquiring language can be enhanced
phenomenally when the opportunity to listen to and speak in the target language is
accelerated.
Content designed specifically for providing ample teaching material is important for this
purpose. Digital language learning labs with audio based content allow the learners to listen
to authentic and appropriate sounds of the target language, in this case English. This helps

them with listening to the right pronunciation of words and with ample access to audio based
passages and articles.
This intensive listening ultimately helps the learners to pick up the exact pronunciation of
words. Listening to a lot of audio based articles also allows the learners to understand the
spoken language even when the pace of speech, accent or tone varies. This proves beneficial
for them in the real world, where the control over such factors is minimal.
Writing skills may be improved through giving exercises on composition and creative
writing. Learners should be encouraged to arrange their thoughts on a giving topic or
composition. The importance of sequencing their thought groups should be shown to them to
bring cohesiveness and coherence in their writing.
With these four skills addressed equally while learning English, the learners can be assured of
having good communication skills, a very great necessity in today’s competitive world.
b) Curriculum and Syllabus: Components, Needs Analysis, Goals and

Objectives; Course Evaluation
Curriculum and Syllabus

When it comes to education, the two concepts which pop up in our mind which are
commonly misconstrued are syllabus and curriculum. Syllabus connotes the subjects as well
as the topics covered in the course of study. On the other hand, curriculum implies the
chapters and academic content taught in school or college. It alludes to the knowledge, skills
and competencies students should learn during study.
Components, Needs Analysis, Goals and Objectives; Course

Evaluation
Historically, need analysis introduced into instruction of language through movement of ESP
between 1960 till 1970. Although, this matter of need analysis do not suggested only for ESP,
but also for the student of foreign language in general. Even, need analysis have been
conducted informally for years by all teachers which wish to assess what language that the
student need to learn. It is true, various activity which usually referred as “approach” is
different expression of students’ desire to look for what the student need to learn.
Discussion of Need Analysis

A. The Objective of Need Analysis
The term ‘need’ is not straight forward as it might appear, and hence the term is sometime use
to refer to wants desire, demands, expectation, motivation, lacks, constrains, and
requirements. Need are often describe in term of a linguistic deficiency, that is, describing the

different between what a learner can presently do in a language and what he or she should be
able to do.
B. The Users of Need Analysis
The need analysis can do for several of different users. For example, when do need analysis
to help revise secondary English curriculum in the country, the last user includes:
Ø Curriculum official at service education that possible want to use that information to
evaluate syllabus, curriculum, and the material.
Ø The teacher who will teach from the new curriculum,
Ø The student who will be taught from curriculum,
Ø The writer who is preparing the new learning book,
Ø Testing personnel, who are involved in developing end-of-school assessments
Ø Staff of tertiary institutions, who are interested in knowing what the expected level
will be of the students existing the schools and what problem they face.
C. The Target Population

Target population in a need analysis refers to the people about whom information will be
collected. In language program these will be language learners and potential language
learners. For example in conducting a need analysis to determine the focus of an English
program in public secondary school in an EFL context, the target population might be:
1. Ministry of education official

2. Teachers
3. Students
4. Academics
5. Employers
6. Vocational training specialist
7. Parents
8. Influential individual and pressure groups
9. Academic specialist
10. Community agencies
D. The Procedure for Conducting Need Analysis
Procedure for collecting information during a need analysis can be selected from among
the following:
1. Questionnaire
2. Self-Rating
3. Interviews
4. Meetings
5. Observation
6. Collecting Learner Language Samples
7. Task Analysis
8. Case Studies

Goals and Objectives

Goals are long-term aims that you want to accomplish. Goals is Target of education to reach
according to level and type go to school or each education institute. Objectives have the word
‘object’ in it. Objects are concrete. They are something that you can hold in your hand.
Course Evaluation
A course evaluation is a paper or electronic questionnaire, which requires a written or
selected response answer to a series of questions in order to evaluate the instruction of a given
course. The term may also refer to the completed survey form or a summary of responses to
questionnaires.
c) Types of Syllabi: Structural Syllabus, Notional - Functional

Syllabus, Task-based Syllabus
Syllabi are not totally distinct from each other. All actual language teaching syllabuses are
integrated product of two or more types of syllabi.
Types of Language Syllabus

There has been much confusion as to what types of syllabus are possible in language teaching
and to how different they are in the level of implementation. Knowing the syllabus types will
help us to decide and choose the one(s) that is appropriate with our teaching goals and our
situations and conditions. The following are some types of language teaching syllabus that
will be distinctively discussed.
Structural Syllabus
A Structural Syllabus (also known as Grammatical Syllabus, Formal Syllabus, Traditional
Syllabus, Synthetic Syllabus) is one in which grammatical structures form the central
organizing feature. The Structural or Grammatical Syllabus is one of the most common type
of syllabus and still today we can see the contents pages of many course books set out
according to grammatical items. The Structural Syllabus derives its content largely from the
structural linguists.
Major Characteristics
The major characteristics of the Structural Syllabus are as follows:
Theoretical Bases: The underlying assumptions behind the Structural Syllabus are that:
Ø Language is a system which consists of a set of grammatical rules; learning language

means learning these rules and then applying them to practical language use.
Ø The syllabus input is selected and graded according to grammatical notions of
simplicity and complexity. These syllabuses introduce one item at a time and require
mastery of that item before moving on to the next.

Content: The content of the syllabus is determined by giving top priority to teaching the
grammar or structure of the target language. The Structural Syllabus generally consists of two
components:
Ø A list of linguistic structures, that is, the grammar to be taught, and

Ø A list of words, that is, the lexicon to be taught.
Advantages
Many learning principles implicit in a structural approach are sound. The merits of a
Structural Syllabus are as follows:
Ø The learner moves from simpler to more complex grammatical structures and may
grasp the grammatical system more easily.
Ø Teaching and testing are relatively simple, because teachers deal with discrete-point
knowledge and skills. The teachers need not be fluent in the language they teach,
since grammatical explanations and drills do not require a high level of language
proficiency.
Ø It is very much helpful to develop writing skills.
Ø It enriches student’s basic vocabulary.
Ø Sequencing and selection of teaching items is not as difficult as it with other
syllabuses.
Disadvantages
Despite its numerous advantages it has few shortcomings too. The drawbacks of a Structural
Syllabus are as follows:
Ø The potential disadvantage of the Structural Syllabus is that it over-emphasizes

language structure and neglects communicative competence. It does not address the
immediate communication needs of the learner who is learning a language within the
context of a community where the language is spoken. In fact, the sociolinguistic
aspects of communicative competence are not in focus at all in a strictly structural
syllabus. It is therefore more useful in a context where the language learner does not
have immediately communication needs.
Ø It hampers the student’s creative sides because it confines him/her within the walls of
some specific rules.
Ø Here the role of the student is passive, since it is the teacher who is deciding what to
teach in which stage. It is, thus, a teacher dominated syllabus.
Notional - Functional Syllabus

A notional-functional syllabus is an approach where the organization of the material is
determined with notions or ideas that learners expect to be able to express through the target
language and the functions acts learners expect to be able to accomplish (Wilkins, 1976). In
this type of syllabus, it contains the same teaching materials as traditional syllabus but
organizes them in different way such as around uses or functions.
Theory of notional-functional syllabus

A notional-functional syllabus is an approach where the organization of the material is

determined with notions or ideas that learners expect to be able to express through the target
language and the functions acts learners expect to be able to accomplish. The functional-
notional syllabus takes semantic knowledge as primary and attempts to answer the question
‘what do users of the language need to express?’. This implies a belief in language as a
system but a system of meaning rather than forms. It answer that learning language consists
of learning how to mean. Such a syllabus would seek correlations between form and function
but would define the link as being between the forms of the language available to the user and
the meanings he wishes to express.
The strengths of the notional-functional syllabus
The advantages of the notional syllabus include that it could consider the communicative
facts of language from the beginning with concerning of grammatical and situational factors.
So it is superior to the grammatical syllabus possibly (Wilkins, 1976). In the grammatical
syllabus language elements are demonstrated more in complete possibilities of the language
than the use of it needed in conversation. So learners would complain that foreign language
learning is not practical and they have few opportunities to use out of it. However, a
functional-notional syllabus would teach language to use it rather than instructing the use of
its exclusive forms. As teaching the language through its uses, learners would consider the
utility and the relevance of their study (Wilkins, 1976).
From above it can say that this type of syllabus does have some significant merits as follows:
The first merit of the functional-notional syllabus is that it emphasizes the fact that students
and their communicative purposes are at the very core of the teaching program. The learner’s
actual and foreseeable academic, social, and vocational needs will underlie all aspects of the
programs of linguistic and cultural content. While due attention is given to certain aspects of
selection and grading of linguistic cultural content, the primary consideration is those
functions that persons of a particular age level, in a particular situation, would wish or need to
express. Thus, it suits the need of learners’. This syllabus is extremely useful for ESP clauses
in which the learners can learn part of the language which they are badly in need without
wasting their time and energy for detailed study of the whole language system.
Task-based Syllabus
A task-based syllabus is based on task-based learning, an approach where learners carry out
tasks such as solving a problem or planning an activity. The language learnt comes out of the
linguistic demands of the activity. A task-based syllabus is structured around a series of these
tasks.
Example: A teacher uses a series of projects on British culture as a syllabus for teenage
learners on a summer course in the UK, and applies the task-based approach to the work the
learners do.
In the classroom: Various elements of the task-based approach are applicable to activities in
other methodologies. For example, learners can see a model of the activity they are to do first,
prepare a report of how they completed a task, or a project, and the teacher can record this
report and analyze it for further work.
Task-based syllabuses are constructed with varieties of tasks as the basic blocks, focusing on
using the target language in real world rather than drilling on the isolate grammatical items.

In making practical decisions about task-based syllabus design, one must consider all the
possible factors that might affect the teach ability of the syllabus. Adjusting the choice and
integrating the different types according to learners’ needs.
Unit-V

There are four major categories of language testing and assessment that LTI provides. As the
exclusive licensee of ACTFL, we supply tests that ensure the highest validity standard in
language testing to both individuals and organizations.
Category 1: The Speaking Test
Any company operating in a foreign country or offering their products and services to
language-specific markets wants to make sure that their employees can effectively speak the
language and be completely understood. A speaking proficiency test measures how fluently a
person speaks when performing real-life communication tasks. Given that they will be the
face of your company, you want to be sure that they are the best bilingual representatives
possible.
Category 2: The Listening Test
Just as you want your employee to be able to effectively speak in the target language, you
will want them to be able to understand what is being said to them. Misunderstanding your
clients leads to customer frustration and dissatisfaction, and could prove detrimental to your
company’s profits and future in a given community or country.
Category 3: The Reading Test
A reading test is an option if you need your employees to be able to read any kind of written
communication. This could be anything from asking them to read incoming correspondence
and emails to reading local technical manuals or legal documents. As such, LTI’s reading test
measures their ability to read and understand a variety of informational texts, such as short
messages, correspondence, and reports.
Category 4: The Writing Test
Writing skills are essential in this digital world. A writing test can be used to certify that
employees are not only bilingual but biliterate, able to read and write in the target language. It
is vital that any business or organization knows whether a potential hire has the correct level
of fluency for the position they are seeking. With LTI, they can be assured that job candidates
have undergone the most rigorous language testing and assessment in the industry.

Types of Language Testing

1. Achievement Test
An achievement test, also referred to as attainment or summative test, are devised to measure
how much of a language someone has learned with reference to a particular course of study or
programme of instruction, e.g. end-of-year tests designed to show mastery of a language. An
achievement test might be a listening comprehension test based on a particular set of
situational dialogues in a textbook. The test has a two-fold objective: 1) To help the teachers
judge the success of their teaching. 2) To identify the weaknesses of their learners. In more
practical and pedagogical terms, Brown defines an achievement test as „tests that are limited
to particular material covered in a curriculum within a particular time frame‟. In other words,
they are designed primarily to measure individual progress rather than as a means of
motivating or reinforcing language. Ideally, achievement tests are rarely constructed by
classroom teacher for a particular class.
2. Diagnostic Test
As its name denotes, a diagnostic test is primarily designed to diagnose some particular
linguistic aspects. Diagnostic tests in pronunciation, for example, might have the purpose of
determining which particular phonological features of the English language are more likely to
pose problems and difficulties for a group of learners.
3. Placement Test
A placement test, as its name implies, is originally designed to place learners at an

appropriate level in a programme or course. The term “placement test” as Richards et al.
(1989) note does not refer to what a test contains or how it is constructed, but to the purpose
for which it used. Various types or testing procedures such as dictation, interview or a
grammar test (discrete or integrative) can be used for placement purposes. The English
Placement test (EPT), which is a well-known test in America, is an illustrative example of
this test-type. The EPT is designed to assess the level of reading and writing skills of entering
undergraduate students so that they can be placed in appropriate courses. Those
undergraduate students who do not demonstrate college or university-level skills will be
directed to remedial courses or programmes to help them attain these skills.
4. Proficiency Test
A proficiency test is devised to measure how much of a language someone has learned. It is
not linked to any particular course of instruction, but measures the learner’s general level of
language mastery. Most English language proficiency tests base their testing items on high
frequency-count vocabulary and general basic grammar. Some proficiency tests have been
standardized for worldwide use, such as the well-known American tests, the TOEFL, and the
English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT)3 which are used to measure the English language
proficiency of foreign students intending further study at English-speaking institutions,
namely the USA.
5. Progress Test
A progress test is an achievement-like test. It is closely related to a particular set of teaching
materials or a particular course of instruction. Progress tests are usually administered at the
end of a unit, a course, or term. A progress test may be viewed as similar to an achievement
test but much narrower and much more specific in scope.

b) Characteristic Features of an Effective Test: Validity, Reliability,

Feasibility
A good test should be:
1- Valid:
It means that it measures what it is supposed to measure. It tests what it ought to test. A good
test which measures control of grammar should have no difficult lexical items.
2- Reliable:
If it is taken again by (same students, same conditions), the score will be almost the same
regarding that the time between the test and the retest is of reasonable length. If it is given
twice to same students under the same circumstances, it will produce almost the same results.
In this case it is said that the test provides consistency in measuring the items being
evaluated.
3- Practical (or) Feasibility

It is easy to be conducted, easy to score without wasting too much time or effort.
4- Comprehensive:
It covers all the items that have been taught or studied. It includes items from different areas
of the material assigned for the test so as to check accurately the amount of students’
knowledge
5- Relevant:
It measures reasonably well the achievement of the desired objectives.
6- Balanced:
It tests linguistic as well as communicative competence and it reflects the real command of
the language. It tests also appropriateness and accuracy.
7- Appropriate in difficulty:
It is neither too hard nor too easy. Questions should be progressive in difficulty to reduce
stress and tension
8- Clear:
Questions and instructions should be clear. Pupils should know what to do exactly.
9- Authentic:
The language of the test should reflect everyday discourse
10- Appropriate for time:

A good test should be appropriate in length for the allotted time.
11- Objective:

If it is marked by different teachers, the score will be the same. Marking process should not
be affected by the teacher’s personality. Questions and answers are so clear and definite that
the marker would give the students the score he/she deserves.
c) Testing Language Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing,
Vocabulary, Grammar
Listening
There are two aspects to listening. If we look at the national standards and tests, we see that
by listening is meant comprehension. While this is no doubt an important skill, it is not the
only one required to achieve understanding. Underpinning the skill of comprehension is that
of understanding a stream of sound and converting the speech signal into sounds, words and
sentences. This process is similar in nature to readers decoding written text in order to
understand its meaning.
As John Field (2003) says in his article on listening, it is remarkable that native speakers
manage the first process so fluently, namely to identify individual words consistently while
they listen to spoken English. Second language speakers, however, find this hard to do. This
is a real problem as, without the ability to decode the stream of sound, comprehension cannot
take place. You may well have experienced this yourself, trying to understand what an Italian
or French waiter is saying to you. Moreover, listening is a most important skill, perhaps the
most important for migrants and refugees, both to learn the new language and to survive in
their new environment.
Speaking
Most teachers will be familiar with the concept of grading with a rubric, a table with
different criteria and a grading scale. If you have never created a rubric before, it’s really
quite easy. Simply choose the criteria on which you will grade students and list them along
the left side of the page. Then create an even number of columns along the top of the page.
Four is the easiest to start with if this is your first rubric. These columns will represent
potential skill levels of your students. For each criterion, define what level of the ability a
student at each of the four levels would exhibit.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is a basic quality of language learning. Though most second language learners
will never have the pronunciation of a native speaker, poor pronunciation can obscure
communication and prevent an ESL student from making his meaning known. When
evaluating the pronunciation of your students, listen for clearly articulated words, appropriate
pronunciations of unusual spellings, and assimilation and contractions in suitable places. Also
listen for intonation. Are students using the correct inflection for the types of sentences they
are saying? Do they know that the inflection of a question is different from that of a
statement? Listen for these pronunciation skills and determine into which level your student
falls.
Vocabulary
After noting your students’ pronunciation levels, move to vocabulary. Vocabulary

comprehension and vocabulary production are always two separate banks of words in the
mind of a speaker, native as well as second language. You should encourage your students to
have a large production vocabulary and an even larger recognition vocabulary. For this reason
it is helpful to evaluate your students on the level of vocabulary they are able to produce. Are
they using the specific vocabulary you have instructed them in this semester? Are they using
vocabulary appropriate to the contexts in which they are speaking? Listen for the level of
vocabulary your students are able to produce without prompting and then decide how well
they are performing in this area.
Accuracy
Grammar has always been and forever will be an important issue in foreign language study.
Writing sentences correctly on a test, though, is not the same as accurate spoken grammar. As
your students speak, listen for the grammatical structures and tools you have taught them. Are
they able to use multiple tenses? Do they have agreement? Is word order correct in the
sentence? All these and more are important grammatical issues, and an effective speaker will
successfully include them in his or her language.
Communication
A student may struggle with grammar and pronunciation, but how creative is she when
communicating with the language she knows? Assessing communication in your students
means looking at their creative use of the language they do know to make their points
understood. A student with a low level of vocabulary and grammar may have excellent
communication skills if she is able to make you understand her, whereas an advanced student
who is tied to manufactured dialogues may not be able to be expressive with language and
would therefore have low communication skills. Don’t let a lack of language skill keep your
students from expressing themselves. The more creative they can be with language and the
more unique ways they can express themselves, the better their overall communication skills
will be.
Interaction
Being able to say what you mean with a foreign language is one thing, being able to interact
with others is another. Ask your students questions. Observe how they speak to one another.
Are they able to understand and answer questions? Can they answer you when you ask them
questions? Do they give appropriate responses in a conversation? All these are elements of
interaction and are necessary for clear and effective communication in English.
Fluency
Fluency may be the easiest quality to judge in your students’ speaking. How comfortable are
they when they speak? How easily do the words come out? Are there great pauses and gaps in
the student’s speaking? If there are then your student is struggling with fluency. Fluency does
not improve at the same rate as other language skills. You can have excellent grammar and
still fail to be fluent. You want your students to be at ease when they speak to you or other
English speakers. Fluency is a judgment of this ease of communication and is an important
criterion when evaluating speaking.
Reading

The skill of reading is hard to assess, both in class and in the test situation. Although is it
often described as a ‘passive’ skill, it is nothing of the sort: reading often involves multiple
processes in which the reader is actively engaged. For example, a question may test
candidates’ comprehension of a paragraph. A typical sequence of skills application and the
impact on the successful outcome of the task is outlined below:
Learner 1 is unable to decode the words within the sentence, so cannot answer the question
Learner 2’s working memory is fully occupied with reading words and sentences, which
leaves no ‘brain space’ for comprehension Learner 3 has understood the paragraph but does
not understand the question and comes to the wrong conclusion as to the answer Learner 4
can decode, read the paragraph for meaning, understands the question correctly and gives the
right answer The test item above engages the candidates in a sequence of four processes
which only produce the correct answer if the learner manages all of them.
Writing
Grammar
The second feature by which we can easily distinguish native and second language speakers
is the structure of the language they produce. For second language speakers we can analyse
language in terms of production which: is accurate and follows the rules of English is
influenced by the learner’s first language conforms to a typical pattern of language
development which does not reflect English or the first language Until the 1960s the
influence of the first language was thought to be the main source of errors made in the
second.
Vocabulary
One of the areas in which first and second language speakers differ substantially is their
handling of vocabulary. While native English speakers can be expected to know commonly
occurring words, this is by no means certain for second language speakers. The text below
exemplifies how first and second language speakers vary in their knowledge of vocabulary in
the context of reading. This text originates from a bank of national literacy tests which all
learners are expected to take to pass their Skills for Life and Key Skills exams. Candidates
are expected to read the text and answer five questions. The design of the test is the
responsibility of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority (QCDA, formerly
known as QCA), the regulatory body for publicly funded qualifications in England.


PAPER-II
Eng 202: English Prose

(5 Credits)
MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-II Eng 202: English Prose (5 credits)
Unit I Background
Origin and Development of the English Essay; Utopia; Translation of the
Bible, Allegory; Satire

Unit II Philip Sidney An Apologie for Poetrie

Francis Bacon “Of Studies”, “Of Truth”, “Of Revenge”
John Bunyan The Pilgrim’s Progress (from “As I walked through the
wilderness of this world …” till the paragraph ending
with the line “The name of the one was Simple, another
Sloth, and the third Presumption.”)
Unit III Jonathan Swift “The Battle of the Books”

Joseph Addison “Sir Roger in Church”, “The Aims of the Spectator”
Samuel Johnson Preface to Shakespeare (Up to the paragraph beginning
“So careless was this great poet…”)
Unit IV Charles Lamb “Dream Children”, “Old China”

William Hazlitt “The Indian Jugglers”, “On People with One Idea”
John Ruskin Unto This Last (Section I)
Unit V Bertrand Russell “The Ethics of War”, “Education and Discipline”

Virginia Woolf A Room of One’s Own
George Orwell “Politics and the English Language”, “Reflections on
Gandhi”
MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-II Eng 202 English Prose
Unit-I
Background
Origin and Development of the English Essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author’s own argument — but the
definition is vague, overlapping with those of a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short
story. Essays have traditionally been sub-classified as formal and informal. Formal essays are

characterized by “serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length,” whereas the

informal essay is characterized by “the personal element (self-revelation, individual tastes
and experiences, confidential manner), humor, graceful style, rambling structure,
unconventionality or novelty of theme,” etc.
Essays are commonly used as literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments,
observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern
essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g., Alexander
Pope’s An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay,
voluminous works like John Locke’s AN Essay Concerning Human Understanding and
Thomas Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle of Population are counterexamples. In some
countries (e.g., the United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal
education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing
skills; admission essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants, and in the
humanities and social sciences essays are often used as a way of assessing the performance of
students during final exams.
The essay in its real from came in to existence in England in 1597 with the publication of a
short series of essays by Francis Bacon. There is in his essays aphoristic touch, sentence toils
wisdom, and astute expediency. After Bacon Sir William Cornwallis tried to write in the
Aphoristic style, But he failed to reach thou heights. He had little in common with Bacon.
Ben Jonson the great poet and dramatist was also a renowned critic of his time. His prose
work is a [ice of first rate criticism. The most important name after Bacon in the realm of
Essay writing is that of Abraham Cowley. He is an important connecting link between
Bacon and Addison. The defects of Bacon were remedied by Cowley. While Bacon’s essays
are aphoristic and impersonal, Cowley’s essays have intimate and personal thought which
characterizes the true essay. Cowley cultivated from of essay more intimate and confidential,
though less profound, less rightly and philosophical than the Balconies. After Abraham lowly
comes in the age of modern English prose. However, much had transpired in the field of
Essay between Bacon and Cowley before the modern prose came in to existence. A host of
character-writers emerged on the literary scene whose contribution to the English Essay in on
less important, therefore, it does deserve a bright mention.
Joseph Hall, Sir Thomas Overbury and John Earle are of the first rank among the
character writers. Hall wrote in a satirical and pungent style. Overbury wrote in a hopelessly
artificial style. Instead of being content with the superficiality of the character like Overbury,
Earle thrived to penetrate in to the depths of the character. Overbury’s character sketches are
the direct fore-runners to sir Roger and the whole group of personal belonging to the
Spectators Club. Sir Thomas Browne, another important name in the history of essay
writing, has Religion Medici, A classic in prose in his account.
Then come the Restoration prose which marks the real moment of the birth of our modern
English prose. The notable names of them are Locke, Temple, Halifax and Dryden of these, the
last is the most important. He is not only the first great modern prose writer but also a pioneer of
eroticism. His prose writing consists of mainly essay and prefaces. His Essay of pragmatic
Poesie (1669) is a major piece of litery criticism in the language. Direct and fluent in style,
prickled shows keen critical perception. His other works include Essay on satire, Essay on Epic
poetry and Preface to Fables. Dryden’s prose, indeed, marks a definite progress in the
development, and never stilted. It’s the first example of modern English prose.
Utopia
The literary term utopia denotes an illusionary place that projects the notion of a perfect
society to the reader. Here, the “perfect society” refers to ideal conditions achieved within the
material world, as opposed to the expected idealism of afterlife in Christianity or other
religions. Further, the citizens presiding in such utopias are bearers of a perfect moral code, or
at the least, every violator of the moral code is harshly punished. A utopian society is one
where all social evils have been cured. This is a list of utopian literature. A utopia is a
community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. It is a common literary
theme, especially in speculative fiction and science fiction.
Translation of the Bible

The Old Testament in Greek: 3rd c. BC - 3rd c. AD
There is no need for any part of the Bible to be translated until a community of Jews, in the
Diaspora, forgets their Hebrew. For the Jews of Alexandria, in the 3rd century BC, Greek is
the first language. They undertake the translation of the Old Testament now known as the
Septuagint.
Five centuries later the early Christians, who use Greek for their own New Testament, need to
read both Old and New Testaments- for they see themselves as the inheritors of the Old
Testament tradition. It is essential for their arguments, when debating with Jewish rabbis, that
they have an accurate understanding of the original Hebrew. Their need prompts the great
work of biblical scholarship undertaken by Origen in the 3rd century AD.
The Bible in Latin: 2nd - 4th century AD
During the 1st century Greek remains the language of the small Christian community, but
with the spread of the faith through the Roman Empire a Latin version of the Bible texts is
needed in western regions. By the second century there is one such version in use in North
Africa and another in Italy. These versions become corrupted and others are added, until by
the 4th century - in the words of St Jerome, the leading biblical scholar of the time - there are
‘almost as many texts as manuscripts’.
Ulfilas and his alphabet: AD c.360
Ulfilas is the first man known to have undertaken an extraordinarily difficult intellectual task
- writing down, from scratch, a language which is as yet purely oral. He even devises a new
alphabet to capture accurately the sounds of spoken Gothic, using a total of twenty-seven
letters adapted from examples in the Greek and Roman alphabets.
God’s work is Ulfilas’ purpose. He needs the alphabet for his translation of the Bible from
Greek into the language of the Goths. It is not known how much he completes, but large
sections of the Gospels and the Epistles survive in his version - dating from several years
before Jerome begins work on his Latin text.
A restricted Bible: 8th - 14th century AD

The intention of St Jerome, translating into Latin the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the
Greek of the New Testament, was that ordinary Christians of the Roman empire should be
able to read the word of God. ‘Ignorance of the scriptures’, he wrote, ‘is ignorance of Christ’.
Gradually this perception is altered. After the collapse of the Western Empire, the people of
Christian Europe speak varieties of German, French, Anglo-Saxon, Italian or Spanish. The
text of Jerome’s Vulgate is understood only by the learned, most of whom are priests. They
prefer to corner the source of Christian truth, keeping for themselves the privilege of
interpreting it for the people. Translation into vulgar tongues is discouraged.
Erasmus, Luther and Tyndale: 1516-1536
By the 16th century the view is gaining ground that a personal knowledge of scripture is
precisely what ordinary people most need for their own spiritual good. Erasmus, though he
himself translates the New Testament only from Greek into Latin, expresses in his preface of
1516 the wish that the holy text should be in every language - so that even Scots and Irishmen
might read it. In the next decade this wish becomes a central demand of the Reformation.
Fortunately writers with a vigorous style undertake the task. Notable among them are Luther
and Tyndale. At a time of increasing literacy, their phrases have a profound influence on
German and English literature.
The missionary’s weapon: 19th - 20th century
During the 19th century translations of the Bible, in whole or in part, are published in some
400 new languages. The 20th century has added at least double that number.
One small local example can give an idea of the pace and energy of the missionary
programme. In Papua New Guinea more than 800 languages are spoken. The first translation
of the New Testament into one of these languages is not published until 1956. Yet by the
1990s the New Testament is available in more than 100 languages of the region, with almost
200 other versions in preparation.
Allegory
Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of
characters, figures and events.
It can be employed in prose and poetry to tell a story with a purpose of teaching an idea and a
principle or explaining an idea or a principle. The objective of its use is to preach some kind
of a moral lesson.
Examples:
C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a famous religious allegory. The lion
Aslan is a stand-in for Christ, and the character of Edmund, who betrays Aslan, is a Judas
figure. And you thought it was just a kids’ book. George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, on the
other hand, is a political allegory. Other famous allegories include John Bunyan’s Piligrims

Progress and William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies. Just to spice things up, Edmund
Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is an allegory that takes poetic form.
Satire
Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices,
follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming
individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is
usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using
wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.
A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—”in satire, irony is militant”—but parody,

burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all
frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This “militant” irony or sarcasm often
professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to
attack. Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet
memes, literature, plays, commentary, television shows, and media such as lyrics.
Ex: Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal.
Unit-II
Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier, scholar, and soldier, who is remembered as
one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. His works include Astrophel and
Stella, The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence of Poetry or An Apology for
Poetry), and The Countless of Pembroke’s Arcadia.
His artistic contacts were more peaceful and more significant for his lasting fame. During his
absence from court, he wrote Astrophel and Stella and the first draft of The Arcadia and The
Defence of Poesy. Somewhat earlier, he had met Edmund Spenser, who dedicated The
Shepheardes Calender to him. Other literary contacts included membership, along with his
friends and fellow poets Fulke Greville, Edward Dyer, Edmund Spenser and Gabriel Harvey,
of the (possibly fictitious) ‘Areopagus,’ a humanist endeavour to classicise English verse.
An Apologie for Poetrie

-Philip Sidney
An Apology for Poetry (or, The Defence of Poesy) is a work of literary criticism by
Elizabethan Poet Philip Sidney. It was written in approximately 1579, and first published in
1595, after his death.
It is generally believed that he was at least partly motivated by Stephen Gosson, a former
playwright who dedicated his attack on the English stage, The School of Abuse, to Sidney in
1579, but Sidney primarily addresses more general objections to poetry, such as those of

Plato. In his essay, Sidney integrates a number of classical and Italian precepts on fiction. The
essence of his defense is that poetry, by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical
focus of philosophy, is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing its readers
to virtue. The work also offers important comments on Edmund Spenser and the Elizabethan
stage.
Sir Philip Sidney’s influence can be seen throughout the subsequent history of English
literary criticism. One of the most important examples is in the work of the poet and critic
Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley’s modern argument for poetry is cast in a Romantic strain in
his critical work titled A Defence of Poetry. In 1858, William Stigant a Cambridge-educated
translator, poet and essayist, writes in his essay “Sir Philip Sidney” that Shelley’s “beautifully
written Defence of Poetry is a work which “analyses the very inner essence of poetry and the
reason of its existence,—its development from, and operation on, the mind of man”. Shelley
writes in Defence that while “ethical science arranges the elements which poetry has created”,
and leads to a moral civil life, poetry acts in a way that “awakens and enlarges the mind itself
by rendering it the receptacle of a thousand unapprehended combinations of thought”.
Sidney’s influence on future writers could also be analyzed from the standpoint of his
handling of the utilitarian viewpoint. The utilitarian view of rhetoric can be traced from
Sophists, Joseph Justus Scaliger, Petrus Ramus and humanists to Sidney. For instance,
Sidney, following Aristotle, writes that Praxis (human action) is tantamount to gnosis
(knowledge). Men drawn to music, astronomy, philosophy and so forth all direct themselves
to “the highest end of the mistress knowledge, by the Greeks called architectonike [literally,
“of or for a master builder”], which stands, as I think, in the knowledge of a man’s self, in the
ethic and politic consideration, with the end of well-doing, and not of well-knowing only”.
Sidney’s program of literary reform concerns the connection between art and virtue. One of
the themes of the Apology is the insufficiency of simply presenting virtue as a precept; the
poet must move men to virtuous action. Poetry can lead to virtuous action. Action relates to
experience. From Sidney, the utilitarian view of rhetoric can be traced to Coleridge’s
criticism, and for instance, to the reaction to the Enlightenment. Coleridge’s brief treatise On
Poesy or Art sets forth a theory of imitation which bears a remarkable resemblance to that of
Sidney.
The contemporary impact of Sidney’s Apology is largely derivative of the humanistic

precepts that inform the work, and its linkage of the rhetorical with the civic virtue of
prudence. Prudence offers a middle ground between two extremes. Prudence, as a virtue,
places a greater value on praxis than gnosis. Action is thus more important than abstract
knowledge. It deals with the question of how to combine stability with innovation.
Sidney’s influence on future critics and poets relates more closely to his view of the place of
poets in society. Sidney describes poetry as creating a separate reality. The Romantic notion,
as seen in Wordsworth, is that poetry privileges perception, imagination and modes of
understanding. Wordsworth seeks to go back to nature for moments recollected in tranquility.
Sidney, like Shelley and Wordsworth, sees the poet as being separate from society. To Sidney
the poet is not tied to any subjection. He saw art as equivalent to “skill,” a profession to be
learned or developed, and nature as the objective, empirical world. The poet can invent, and
thus in effect grows another nature.

Sidney writes that there “is no art delivered to mankind that hath not the works of nature for
his principal object”. The poet then does not depart from external nature. His works are
“imitation” or “fiction,” made of the materials of nature, and are shaped by the artist’s vision.
This vision is one that demands the reader’s awareness of the art of imitation created through
the “maker,” the poet. Sidney’s notion of “fore-conceit” means that a conception of the work
must exist in the poet’s mind before it is written. Free from the limitations of nature, and
independent from nature, poetry is capable of “making things either better than Nature
bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in Nature”.
Sidney’s doctrine presents the poet as creator. The poet’s mediating role between two worlds
– transcendent forms and historical actuality – corresponds to the Neoplatonic doctrine of
emanation. A complement to this doctrine is the concept of return or cartharsis, which finds a
parallel in Sidney’s contemplation of virtue, based on man’s rational desire. Apologycontains
only elements of Neoplatonism without adhering to the full doctrine.
Thirdly, Sidney implies a theory of metaphoric language in his work. A recurring motif in
Apology is painting or “portraiture”. Apology applies language use in a way suggestive of
what is known in modern literary theory as semiotics. His central premise, as was that of
Socrates in Plato’s The Republic, is that poetry is an art of imitation, that is a “representing,
counterfeiting, or figuring forth” not unlike a “speaking picture”. Sidney pays his homage to
Aristotle also. Yet he develops his own idea of metaphoric language, one that it is based on
an analogy through universal correspondences. Sidney’s humanist poetics and his tendency to
harmonize disparate extremes – to seek mediation – find expression in poetic works by John
Donne.
The life and writings of Sir Philip Sidney remain a legacy. In 1819, Thomas Campbell
concludes that Sidney’s life was “poetry in action,” and then in 1858 William Stigant wrote
that “Sidney’s real poem was his life, and his teaching was his example”. Sidney, the man, is
apparent everywhere in his works: a study of Sidney’s works is a study of the man.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist,
jurist, orator, and author. He served both as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of
England. After his death, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as
philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific
revolution.
Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His works argued for the possibility of
scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events
in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and
methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. While his own
practical ideas about such a method, the Baconian Method, did not have a long lasting
influence, the general idea of the importance and possibility of a sceptical methodology
makes Bacon the father of scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and
theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates
about science and methodology today. In addition to his work in the sciences, Bacon was also
a venerable patron of libraries and developed a functional system for the cataloging of books
by dividing them into three categories- history, poesy, and philosophy- which could further
be divided into more specific subjects and subheadings.
Bacon was generally neglected at court by Queen Elizabeth, but after the accession of King
James I in 1603, Bacon was knighted. He was later created Baron Verulam in 1618 and
Viscount St. Alban in 1621. Because he had no heirs, both titles became extinct upon his
death in 1626, at 65 years of age. Bacon died of pneumonia, with one account by John
Aubrey stating that he had contracted the condition while studying the effects of freezing on
the preservation of meat. He is buried at St Michael’s Church, St Albans, Hertfordshire.
(i) “Of Studies”

- Francis Bacon

We analyzed the essay ‘Of studies’ which is a part of The Essays or Counsels, Civil and
Moral, written by Francis Bacon. He is considered the father of the English essay. ... Bacon
expresses that studies “serve for Delight, for Ornament, and for Ability.”
Francis Bacon “Of Studies In his classic essay, “Of Studies,” Francis Bacon explains how and
why study—knowledge—is important. Along with Michel de Montaigne, who published his
first essays less than twenty years before Francis Bacon published his first collection in 1597.
Bacon is considered the father of the English essay (with Montaigne the father of the French
essay). Bacon’s essays differ from Montaigne’s in being more compact and more formal.
Where Montaigne conceived of the essays as an opportunity to explore a subject through
mental association and a casual ramble of the mind, Bacon envisioned the essay as an
opportunity to offer advice. The title of his essay collection: “Essays or Counsels: Civil and
Moral,” suggests that didactic intent. In “Of Studies,” Bacon lays out the value of knowledge
in practical terms. Bacon considers to what use studies might be put. He is less interested in
their theoretical promise than in their practical utility—a proclivity more English, perhaps,
than French. Bacon’s writing in “Of Studies” is direct and pointed. It avoids the meandering
find-your-way free form of Montaigne’s essays. From his opening sentence Bacon gets
directly to the point: “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.” He then
elaborates on how studies are useful in these three ways. And he wastes no words in detailing
the use of “studies” for a Renaissance gentleman. One of the attractions of Bacon’s essay is
his skillful use of parallel sentence structure, as exemplified in the opening sentence and
throughout “Of Studies.” This stylistic technique lends clarity and order to the writing, as in
“crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them,” which in its
straightforward assertiveness exhibits confidence and elegance in addition to clarity and
emphasis. 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 contemn studies, simple men
admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is 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.
ii. “Of Truth”

- Francis Bacon
WHAT is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. Meaning … Here
Francis Bacon refers to Pontius Pilate, who occupied a position of influence in the Emperor
Tiberius’s court. For his involvement in the persecution of Jesus Christ, Pilate was not looked
upon favourably by Christians. He enjoyed a somewhat sullied reputation. Here Bacon takes
Pilate’s name to express how humans, in general, avoid Truth. They find Truth inconvenient
and difficult to imbibe.
People do not seek Truth, and enjoy resorting to falsehood and lies. People like ambiguity,
and inaccuracy, so that they can couch the harshness of Truth in convenient language. Bacon
goes back to the ancient Greek philosophers, who often lost their way while looking to
ascertain what really ‘truth’ was. He laments the fact that some of these independent-minded,
free-thinking philosophers proposed that there was nothing real as ‘truth’. But, while trying to
prove the contrary, they soon wavered, and came out with conflicting decisions. These types
of thinkers have all but ceased to exist. The present day ones lack the rigor and verve of the
ancient great minds. They are paler versions of their illustrious predecessors. Nevertheless,
they, too, doubt the existence of truth, and tend to drift towards falsehood.
But it is not only the difficulty and labor which men take in finding out of truth, nor again that
when it is found it imposeth upon men’s thoughts, that doth bring lies in favor; but a natural
though corrupt love of the lie itself. Undoubtedly, people do make very sincere and strenuous
attempts to discover ‘truth’. They succeed, but regrettably, they find the burden and demands
of ‘truth’ to be unbearable. Expediently, they abandon the pursuit of ‘truth’, and drift towards
‘lies’ knowingly very well that resorting to ‘lies’ is degrading. The world of ‘lies’ is dark, but
people, somehow’ develop a fascination for lies at the expense of truth.
Some Greek philosophers of later periods delved in to this matter. They tried to know why
and what attracts people towards ‘lies’. In poetry, some distortion of truth adds to a poem’s
literary beauty. So allowance needs to be made to accommodate fantasy and fiction as they
enhance the readers’ literary pleasure. Merchants and traders resort to a certain amount of
falsehood to entice the customers to buy their merchandize. But, why do common folks resort
to lies despite knowing its unsavoury consequences.
A pearl shines in the day. A diamond or a carbuncle glow at night giving an unreal feeling of
light in the midst of total darkness. ‘Truth’ is like a pearl. It shows what is visible to the
naked eye. It can’t show anything by lighting up something unrealistically. Only ‘falsehood’
has that capacity to make something apparent in total darkness.
A cocktail of lies and truth has the potency to please humans more than only lies or only
truth. Bacon, paradoxically, suggests the utility of such combination of lies and truth. If
everything is portrayed in their true colours with no addition of superficial praise, flaterring
comments and allusions, the society will appear drab and indolent. Vanity and
aggrandizement induce creativity, energy and intellectual activity. For example, if a poet is
not felicitated or a player is not rewarded, how will they be motivated to reach higher levels
of accomplishments? While showering praise, use of a certain amount of unreal description of
one’s feat is needed. Otherwise, the praise will be bland and ineffective.
One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum dæmonum [devils’-wine], because it
filleth the imagination; and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie. But it is not the lie that

passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth in it, that doth the hurt; such
as we spake of before. Some very revered men of great wisdom denigrated poetry saying it
contained lies. They felt, the poet adds fiction, exaggerations, allusions etc. to his poem to
impart it some charm and attraction for the reader. Bacon says, most of these lies actually
may not stay permanently in the mind of the reader. However, a part of such falsehood does
get embedded in the reader’s mind impairing the sense of the readers. This could indeed be a
sad consequence of reading poetry.
But howsoever these things are thus in men’s depraved judgments and affections, yet truth,
which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making or
wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which
is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature. So, lies, undoubtedly, deprave
the mind. Truth, on the other hand, remains unblemished always. It is absolute and does not
lend itself to differing interpretations. Inquiry of truth is a romantic pursuit that demands
indulgence of the pursuer. Knowledge of truth means owning this unique gift. When one
reposes absolute faith in truth, the feeling becomes very enjoyable. It symbolizes the ultimate
good of human nature.
The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last was the
light of reason; and his sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit. First he
breathed light upon the face of the matter or chaos; then he breathed light into the face of
man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light into the face of his chosen.
When God created the world, He gave the light of sense to the mankind. Using this, human
beings could see and feel the world around them. Then God gave the power of reason. Using
this, human beings could reason what was good or bad in the things happening pr being said
around them. As a result, human beings got the power of enlightenment. After this, God
radiated light that illuminated the world which was so disorderly then. Then His light fell on
human beings to make them superior in knowledge and wisdom to other species. After this,
He focused his kindly light on the face of those human beings whom He loved most.
The poet that beautified the sect that was otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently
well: It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure
to stand in the window of a castle and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no
pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be
commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors and
wanderings and mists and tempests in the vale below; so always that this prospect be with
pity, and not with swelling or pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man’s mind
move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.
When one stands in the sea beach and gets to see ships being rocked violently by the winds, it
becomes a breath-taking experience. In the same way, one can stand by the window of a high
castle and watch the fight raging below. This also is a unique experience. In the same way,
when a human being can realize truth, he can feel as if he stands atop a high mountain
enjoying its beauty and bliss. But attaining such an exalted status must not make the man to
feel proud. Instead, he should be humble, and benign towards others. He should engage in
charity.
To pass from theological and philosophical truth to the truth of civil business; it will be
acknowledged even by those that practise it not, that clear and round dealing is the honor of

man’s nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may
make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are
the goings of the serpent; which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is
no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious.
Theosophical and philosophical truth belongs to a certain domain. While dealing with our
day-to-day mundane matters, one finds it difficult to stick to the truth always. To make his
business and dealings smoother, he mixes some lies to his dealings. This, at times, appears to
be a practical necessity. Although, he might succeed and emerge a winner, such conduct is
vile and degrading. It is like an alloy where a foreign element is added in small quantities to a
metal like gold and silver to give it more strength and toughness. However, such alloying
robs the silver or gold of its luster. It is like a snake that moves on its belly always, and can
never stand up erect and upright. This is why, eminent men like Montaigne declared that
falsehood was universally degrading and loathsome.
iii. “Of Revenge”

- Francis Bacon
REVENGE is a kind of wild justice; which the more man’ s nature runs to, the more ought
law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; but the revenge of
that wrong, putteth the law out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with
his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince’s part to pardon. And
Solomon, I am sure, saith, It is the glory of a man, to pass by an offence. That which is past is
gone, and irrevocable; and wise men have enough to do, with things present and to come;
therefore they do but trifle with themselves, that labor in past matters. There is no man doth a
wrong, for the wrong’s sake; but thereby to purchase himself profit, or pleasure, or honor, or
the like. Therefore why should I be angry with a man, for loving himself better than me? And
if any man should do wrong, merely out of ill-nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn or briar,
which prick and scratch, because they can do no other. The most tolerable sort of revenge, is
for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed, the revenge
be such as there is no law to punish; else a man’s enemy is still before hand, and it is two for
one. Some, when they take revenge, are desirous, the party should know, whence it cometh.
This is the more generous. For the delight seemeth to be, not so much in doing the hurt, as in
making the party repent. But base and crafty cowards, are like the arrow that flieth in the
dark. Cosmus, duke of Florence, had a desperate saying against perfidious or neglecting
friends, as if those wrongs were unpardonable; You shall read (saith he) that we are
commanded to forgive our enemies; but you never read, that we are commanded to forgive
our friends. But yet the spirit of Job was in a better tune: Shall we (saith he) take good at
God’s hands, and not be content to take evil also? And so of friends in a proportion. This is
certain, that a man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise
would heal, and do well. Public revenges are for the most part fortunate; as that for the death
of Caesar; for the death of Pertinax; for the death of Henry the Third of France; and many
more. But in private revenges, it is not so. Nay rather, vindictive persons live the life of
witches; who, as they are mischievous, so end they in fortunate.

John Bunyan (1628-1688)

John Bunyan was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of
the Christian allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress. In addition to The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan
wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons.
It is the allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, written during Bunyan’s twelve-year imprisonment
although not published until 1678 six years after his release, that made Bunyan’s name as an
author with its immediate success. It remains the book for which Bunyan is best remembered.
The images Bunyan uses in The Pilgrim’s Progress are reflections of images from his own
world; the strait gate is a version of the wicket gate at Elstow Abbey church, the Slough of
Despond is a reflection of Squitch Fen, a wet and mossy area near his cottage in Harrowden,
the Delectable Mountains are an image of the Chiltern Hills surrounding Bedfordshire. Even
his characters, like the Evangelist as influenced by John Gifford, are reflections of real
people. Further allegorical works were to follow: The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680),
Pilgrim’s Progress Part II, and The Holy War (1682). Grace Abounding to the Chief of
Sinners, a spiritual autobiography was published in 1666, when he was still in jail.
The Pilgrim’s Progress

-John Bunyan
In his Apology, Bunyan affirms his aim to strengthen religious belief through fiction. He
attacks the popular misconception that religion and fiction are enemies, asserting that the
Bible contains many fictional parables. Bunyan also states that he wrote his work mainly for
himself, to further his own spiritual development.
Beginning the allegory, the narrator tells of his wandering through the wilderness, entering a
den to sleep. He dreams that he sees a man in rags holding a book and crying. The man,
named Christian, is visited by Evangelist, a spiritual guide who tells him he must leave his
hometown, the City of Destruction, with a heavy burden on his back. Christian tries to
convince his family to come with him, but they think he is mentally unwell and will recover.
Instead of attempting to persuade them further, Christian leaves home.
Christian tries to convince his neighbors Obstinate and Pliable to accompany him. Obstinate
refuses, but Pliable agrees, though he is soon discouraged when he and Christian fall into a
muddy pit called the Slough of Despond. Christian sinks because of the burden on his back.
A man named Help pulls him out. Disappointed, Pliable turns back home. Walking alone
now, Christian meets Worldly Wiseman, who urges him to throw down his burden. Although
Christian distrusts Wordly Wiseman, he nevertheless listens to Wordly Wiseman speak. Later
Evangelist returns to reproach Christian for listening to Worldly Wiseman.
Evangelist kisses Christian goodbye and wishes him well, and Christian resumes his journey.
He comes upon a Wicket Gate and reads a sign hung above it that says to knock. A serious-
looking attendant named Goodwill appears. Goodwill asks where Christian is heading, and

Christian tells him he is on his way to Mount Zion, also known as the Celestial City, to be
saved from the wrath soon to be unleashed on the City of Destruction.
Goodwill announces that he wills the gate to open. As it opens, he pulls Christian in,
explaining that he is saving his guest from Beelzebub’s arrows shot from a nearby castle.
With Christian safe inside, Goodwill requests an account of his journey so far. Before
agreeing, Christian asks whether he can first set down his burden. Goodwill says no,
explaining that it must be carried and will drop off naturally when no longer needed.
Christian reports his progress so far. Satisfied, Goodwill then sends Christian to a nearby
house where the Interpreter lives, saying that the Interpreter may show Christian many
helpful things.
The Interpreter invites Christian into his home. He shows Christian a picture of a serious man
in a crown. Christian asks who it is, and the Interpreter tells him that the man saves souls and
promises a better world beyond this one. Next Christian enters a large, dusty parlor where the
Interpreter orders a man to sweep. Then at the Interpreter’s command, a woman comes in and
sprinkles water on the floor, cleaning it further. Christian asks what this means, and the
Interpreters explains that the man’s sweeping is the law of the Old Testament, while the
woman’s washing is the gospel of the New Testament. Both are necessary parts of faith.
Christian enters another room where a fire burns against a wall. A man pours water onto the
fire, but the fire only burns higher and hotter. Christian is puzzled until he sees another man
on the other side of the wall pouring oil to rouse the flames. The Interpreter tells Christian
that the water-pourer is the devil, who tries to put out the fire of faith, while the oil-pourer is
Christ, who nurtures it. Another man standing at a doorway prepares to fight a crowd inside
the room. He puts on a helmet, grabs a weapon, and lunges in, fighting fiercely. Though he
appears to be failing, the man wins in the end. Christian on his own understands that this is
the valor a true pilgrim must show.
Finally the Interpreters leads Christian into a very dark room where a man sits, hands folded,
in an iron cage. Christian asks what he is doing there, and the man explains that the cage is
his despair. Once a successful professor confident he would reach heaven, the man
experienced a crisis of faith that he could never overcome. Now he remains in misery. The
Interpreter asks Christian what he feels at seeing all these things. Christian says he feels fear,
and the Interpreter says that is a good thing, for fear will spur him on his journey.
Unit –III

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the
Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral,
Dublin.
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against
Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver’s Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He
is regarded by the Encyclopadia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English
language, and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works
under pseudonyms – such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, the Drapier – or
anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. His
deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being
subsequently termed “Swiftian”.
The Battle of the Books

-Jonathan Swift
The Battle of the Books is the name of a short satire written by Jonathan Swift and
published as part of the prolegomena to his A Tale of a Tub in 1704. It depicts a literal battle
between books in the King’s Library (housed in St. James’s Palace at the time of the writing),
as ideas and authors struggle for supremacy.
Summary
The Battle of the Books” begins with a note from the bookseller to the reader, telling the
reader that it refers to a “famous dispute … about ancient and modern learning.” Sir William
Temple had taken the side of the ancients against Charles Boyle, who had praised the ancient
writer Phalaris, but Wotton and Bentley had taken Boyle’s side. The controversy led to a
battle between the books themselves, literally, in the King’s library. The manuscript about the
battle is incomplete, so we still do not know who won.
Then comes a preface from the author in which the nature of satire is discussed. Most people
do not see themselves in the satire, seeing only others, and it is not a problem when someone
sees himself and get offended, since in anger his counter-arguments are weak. Weak satires
apply “wit without knowledge,” while strong ones have depth.
The main tale begins with reflections about the causes of battles: mainly, pride and want.
Like dogs, people fight over scarce resources but tend to be at peace during times of plenty.
The battle began, the story goes, when the Moderns, occupying the lower of the two tops of
the hill Parnassus, grew jealous of the Ancients on the higher one. The Moderns offered to
trade places or else to shovel down the higher hill, as a way of avoiding war, but the Ancients
rejected the offer, surprised by the newcomers’ insolence. The Moderns should raise
themselves up instead. Yet the Moderns rejected that alternative and, being of greater
numbers, always with new if weak recruits, chose war, with the pen as the chosen weapon.
Despite defeats, both sides set up victory marks.

When the tales of victory are repeated often enough, the two sides become entrenched in
“books of controversy” in the library. For example, Scotus made trouble for Plato by turning
Aristotle against him, which led to a policy whereby upstarts would be chained up and kept
away from the others. This policy worked until the Moderns became a force to be reckoned
with, despite being “light-headed.” Many of the Ancients had gotten out of place in the
library as well, being stuck among the crowd of Moderns.
When the Moderns got ready for warfare, they got their best armor (ideas) from the Ancients.
They claimed to be original, though, and since most of them had shoddy armor of their own
making, Plato saw them and laughed in agreement that it was all their own.
There is a well-fed spider whose web-fortress is decorated “in the modern style” and who is
best at science and mathematics. There is also a bee, who argues for the ancient values of
“long search, much study, true judgment, and distinction of things” after getting caught
briefly in the spider’s web. The books are so transfixed by the discourse of the spider and the
bee that they cease to quarrel.
Aesop takes the opportunity to escape to the side of the Ancients, remarking,
characteristically, that the argument between bee and spider is a good allegory for that
between Ancients and Moderns: the spider boasts “of his native stock and great genius,”
particularly in architecture and mathematics, while the bee and the Ancients are content “to
pretend to nothing of our own beyond our wings and our voice” and “whatever [else] we
have got has been by infinite labour and search, and ranging through every corner of nature.”
This reflection inspires the books to prepare for battle, so they retreat to opposite sides of the
library to choose their leaders and make their strategy. The moderns have lots of ugly
weapons, some bulky fighters “without either arms, courage, or discipline,” including
Aquinas, and a crowd of “disorderly” and generally worthless writers. There are far more
Moderns than Ancients, the Ancients being primarily Greeks (Homer, Plato, Aristotle,
Hippocrates, Euclid, Herodotus) but also Romans such as Livy.
Fate alerts Jove about the impending battle, and (similarly to Homer’s Iliad) there is a big
meeting of the gods. Momus is on the side the Moderns; Pallas (Athena or her close relative)
is on the side of the Ancients. Jove consults the book of Fate and learns what will happen
regarding the battle, but he tells nobody.
Momus engages with the Goddess Criticism in order to gain victory. She sits upon a
mountain next to Ignorance and Pride, her parents, along with others including Opinion,
Noise, and the like. After hearing of the battle, she proceeds to dispense her critical bile
where it can be made use of—especially in England. She arrives at the library to see her son
Wotton. She disguises herself as Bentley (the book version) to speak with him. She
encourages him and leaves helpers with him (named Dulness and Ill-manners).
The battle finally begins. Details of the battle, we learn, are missing in some of the alleged
gaps in the text. Aristotle flings an arrow at Bacon, which misses and hits Descartes. Homer
kills many. Virgil is a bit slow and his helmet is too big. Dryden appears, claiming descent
from Virgil, and tricks Virgil into changing armor with him. (Virgil’s was better.)
The Roman poet Lucan and the Modern epic poet Blackmore agree to exchange gifts and
fight no more. The goddess Dulness gives the translator Thomas Creech a flying figure of the
poet Horace to fight, but it goes badly for him—in the tradition of another poor translator,

John Ogleby. The Greek poet Pindar slays many and finally faces the Modern named
Abraham Cowley, to whom Pindar shows no mercy and cuts in two. Venus takes the better
half of his body.
After another gap in the text comes “The Episode of Bentley and Wotton.” The Moderns are
almost ready to retreat when Bentley takes up their cause. He is contentious and “malignant,”
having a talent of lowbrow “railing,” which is serviceable enough in politics, at least. He is
rude to the Moderns and turns to his friend Wotton for help, The two of them march past the
tomb of Aldrovandus, the Modern naturalist.
They find two Ancients asleep. Bentley goes forward while Wotton stands back. Bentley is
about to kill an Ancient, when Affright (a child of one of the deities), sensing danger, stops
him, with the two Ancients scaring him simply by moving in their sleep. He at least takes
their armor.
Wotton, meanwhile, tries to drink at the fountain on Mt. Helicon (sacred to the Muses; the
fountain is named Helicon), but Apollo prevents him from getting anything but mud. Wotton
attempts to kill Sir William Temple (a Modern who seems to be on the Ancients’ side) with
divine help, but fails. Apollo is so furious at Wotton’s attempt that Apollo orders Boyle to get
revenge. Boyle catches up to the fleeing Wotton but, seeing Bentley with the armor, chases
Bentley. The three of them fight. The divine Pallas helps Boyle. Bentley and Wotton are
killed with a single stroke, and the two men die intertwined, almost indistinguishable from
one another, like a pair of skewered woodcocks.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest
son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of
his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
i) “Sir Roger at Church”

-Joseph Addison

In the Coverley Essays, Sir Roger has been characterized vividly by Joseph Addison and
Richard Steele. Sir Roger is presented in these essays as kind, generous, lovable and
sometimes as a peculiar person. But in the hand of Joseph Addison, Sir Roger’s character is
conveyed ironically. For that reason he sometimes seems odd. Although he is gentle and mild
in nature and lovable to people, he has some eccentricities and oddities. And all these things
are delineated superbly in these essays. However these things are given below:
Humanity: Sir Roger is a man of humanity and has a large heart. Moreover, he is mild. He
loves not only the servants of his house but also the people who live around him. In the essay
“Sir Roger at Church” we see that he is asking about the condition of the people who are
absent in the church. It suggests that he is very kind hearted and generous for who he is very
aware of other’s. In “Sir Roger at Home” we see that he is loved by his servants, who are
living with him and are growing older with him like family members, because of his love
towards them. Addison says in “Sir Roger at Home”
I am the more at ease in Sir Roger’s family, because it consists of sober and staid persons; for
as the knight is the best master in the world, he seldom changes his servants; and as he is
beloved by all about him.
Lover of religion: He is a true lover of religion. He is a regular church goer and encourages
other to come to the church. His mind is set for religious purposes and he does a lot of jobs
for religion. In the essay “Sir Roger at Church”, we see that he has decorated end beautified
the church on his own accord and at his own expense so that the country people would be
encouraged to come to the church enthusiastically. In this essay he says
My friend sir Roger, being a good churchman, has beautified the inside of his church with
several texts of his own choosing. He has likewise given a handsome pulpit-cloth, and railed
in the communion-table at his own expense.
His Hospitality: After getting invitation from Sir Roger, the author went to his (Sir Roger’s)
country house. Here his hospitality takes the attention of the readers. Here we see that he is
very hospitable and did everything possible to make his friend happy. Even the people around
his house were requested not to get closer to Addison because Addison would be disturbed.
In his house Addison was requested to feel free for any kind of job.
Him authority: Sir Roger has authoritative power both in home and church. In the church, we
see that he keeps him authoritative power. In the essay “Sir Roger at Church”, the author
says,
As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps them in good order, and will
suffer no body to sleep in it.
Even if he sees anybody is nodding, whether it is in the middle of the congregation or not, he
walls to that person or sends his servants to him to make him alert. Moreover, he appoints the
clergymen for the church on his own accord and suggests them to follow the instructions of
different professors for sermons.
Skilled Organizer: Sir Roger is a skilled organizer. He organizer not only him house but also
the church. He has keen sense to organize things. The church is organized beautifully. He
encourages people to come to church, decorates for church and keeps the church in a very

good or disciplined order. All these things suggests he is a skilled organizer. Addison says
about Sir roger in “Sir Roger at Church”
He has often told me , that, at his coming to his estate he found his parishioners very
irregular; and that in order to make them kneel and john in the responses, he gave every one
of them a hassock and a common-prayer book.
His Responsibility: Sir Roger being the landlord of all the congregations, felt personally
responsible for their behaviour and exerted his authority to keep them disciplined. He allowed
no one to sleep. If he felt asleep during the sermon, on waking up he would look around and
if he found anyone dozing off, he would immediately wake him up. Even in the middle of the
congregation he would stand up and started counting the number of people to understand
anybody’s absence. Addison says,
Sometimes stands up when everybody else is upon their knees, to count the congregation, or
see if any of his tenants are missing.
His eccentricity: To some extent Sir Roger can be considered as eccentric. In almost all the
essays regarding him, we find its full expression. In the essay “Sir Roger at Church” his
eccentricity is seen in which he exercised his authority. He wanted that his tenants should
behave well in the church. They must not sleep or make any noise during the church service
but he himself did so. Sometimes when everybody was on their knees, he stood up.
Humorist: Sir Roger is a humorist. In most of “de coverly” essays, we find humorous
expressions. His eccentricities cannot but make us laugh. The ways that he adopts to do his
daily work are sometimes humorous. Sometimes his follies and sometimes his eccentricities
are expressed humoristically in de coverley essays.
In summing up, it can be said that in spite of being a man of great honour, Sir Roger is
regarded as a humorist and sometimes eccentric because of having some oddities or
peculiarities in him. However, the ultimate aim of Addison was not to show his humorous
expressions to make up laugh only, rather to make up correct for our follies and absurdities.
But the main intention of Mr. Spectator was to correct the society, to reform every corner of
life by presenting the character Sir Roger.
ii. The Aims of the Spectator
-Joseph Addison
In Number 10, Mr. Spectator states that The Spectator will aim “to enliven morality with wit,
and to temper wit with morality”. The journal reached an audience of thousands of people
every day, because “the Spectators was something that every middle-class household with
aspirations to looking like its members took literature seriously would want to have.” He
hopes it will be said he has “brought philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools, and
colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and coffee–houses”. Women
specifically were also a target audience for The Spectator, because one of the aims of the
periodical was to increase the number of women who were “of a more elevated life and
conversation.” Steele states in The Spectator, No. 10, “But there are none to whom this paper
will be more useful than to the female world.” He recommends that readers of the paper
consider it “as a part of the tea-equipage” and set aside time to read it each morning. The
Spectator sought to provide readers with topics for well-reasoned discussion, and to equip

them to carry on conversations and engage in social interactions in a polite manner. In

keeping with the values of Enlightenment philosophies of their time, the authors of The
Spectator promoted family, marriage, and courtesy.
Joseph Addison’s character clearly lives during the eighteenth century when people did not
know or care much about the events in the outside world. As noted in the diary, Addison’s
character lived a life that was centered on his daily routine of waking up, going to the coffee
shop… As a satirist, Addison uses a typical ignorant man who is an imbecile caught up in his
normal affairs and a society that is just as ignorant as he is. Joseph Addison’s satiric purposes
is served when all will read the diary of a foolish man and the bland society he lives in, and
know the petty issues they concern themselves with. Both the diarist and everyone those who
surround him are not better than him because they are an integral part of his boring life.
The minute detail given by the diarist about his lackluster life shows how much attention he
pays to it. The dry and apathetic tone of the diarist throughout the passage reveals his apathy
regarding matters that happen outside his realm. The character wakes up at eight, puts on his
clothes, smokes his pipes, walks to the fields, goes to Mr. Nisby’s club, eats his sumptuous
lunch and dinner and goes back to retire. Addison repeats what the diarist does and record
everyday because it is the same boring thing. Details such as “double soled shoes” and “nap
broke by the falling of a pewter dish” shows the diarist as one who cares too much about
small things. This is satiric because while a great political leader is dead, the diarist is too
busy with” purl” and sleep to bother about anything. Addison is teasing the diarist to show
the crowd what an imbecile he is when he cares about every single aspect of his life and
nothing further than that.
The diarist is not alone as the society is equally foolish by continuing in its daily routines.
Society also is just like the diarist because the diarist is one of the many ignorant fools who
make up society. Therefore the tone by which society is represented is just as lackluster,
apathetic and boring. Every day the diarist goes to Mr. Nisby’s club from six o’ clock till ten
o’ clock keeping a very regular pattern of both Mr. Nisby’s and the diarist’s life. Mr. Nisby
accurately represents the working class society. The society is ignorant and sees the death of
the Grand Vizier as another occurrence in the world. An example of society’s disregard to the
outside world is seen when a stranger asked the diarist for the stock prices. No one cares
about the Grand Vizier but only of the stock prices. This goes to show society was selfish.
Addison’s passage portrays society as being ignorant and too overwhelmed in their daily
affairs to care or bother about anything except matters that concern them.
Addison’s attention to detail about the simplistic activities of the diarist describes him as a
simpleton. The society in which he lives is equally monotonous as well. The characterization
of the diarist as a simpleton serves Addison’s satiric purpose because he wants to show the
events beyond the daily routine. There are Grand Viziers that are present in far away empires
that are dead and one should possess the knowledge about them. Addison is teasing the diarist
and all those who are like him because they were not interested in politics and knowledge of
the outside world.
The diarist was an apathetic individual because of the society he lived in and the society was
ignorant because of individuals like the diarist. Addison’s purpose is to show the crowd that
on should be more concerned about the “last leg of mutton.” The Sultans and Grand Viziers
are outside the box of daily routines and it is everyone’s responsibility to be knowledgeable
about the times and events that take place during their lives.

Summary:
It is with much satisfaction that I hear this great city inquiring day by day after these my
papers, and receiving my morning lectures with a becoming seriousness and attention. My
publisher tells me that there are already three thousand of them distributed every day. So that
if I allow twenty readers to every paper, which I look upon as a modest computation, I may
reckon about three-score thousand (60,000) disciples in London and Westminster, whom I
hope will take care to distinguish themselves from the thoughtless herd of their ignorant and
unattentive brethren. Since I have raised to myself so great an audience, I shall spare no pains
to make their instruction agreeable, and their diversion useful.”
“For which reasons I shall endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with
morality, that my readers may, if possible, both ways find their account in the speculation of
the day. And to the end that their virtue and discretion may not be short, transient,
intermitting starts of the thought, I have resolved to refresh their memories from day to day,
till I have recovered them out of that desperate state of vice and folly into which the age is
fallen. The mind that lies fallow but a single day sprouts up in follies that are only to be killed
by a constant and assiduous culture. It was said of Socrates that brought philosophy down
from heaven, to inhabit among men; and I shall be ambitious to have it said of me that I have
brought philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and
assemblies, at tea tables and in coffeehouses.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Samuel Johnson often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting
contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer,
editor and lexicographer. He was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and is described by
the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as “arguably the most distinguished man of
letters in English history”. He is also the subject of James Boswell’s The Life of Samuel
Johnson, described by Walter Jackson Bate as “the most famous single work of biographical
art in the whole of literature”.
Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Johnson attended Pembroke College, Oxford, for just over a
year, but a lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to
London, where he began to write for The Gentleman’s Magazine. His early works include the
biography Life of Mr Richard Savage, the poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes,
and the Play Irene.
After nine years of work, Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English language was published in
1755. It had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been acclaimed as “one of the
greatest single achievements of scholarship”. This work brought Johnson popularity and
success. Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnson’s
was the pre-eminent British dictionary. His later works included essays, an influential
annotated edition of The Plays of William Shakespeare, and the widely read tale The History

of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later
travelled to Scotland; Johnson described their travels in A Journey to the Western Islands of
Scotland. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the
Most Eminent English Poets, a collection of biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-
century poets.
Johnson was a tall and robust man. His odd gestures were disconcerting to some on first
meeting him. Boswell’s Life, along with other biographies, documented Johnson’s behaviour
and mannerisms in such detail that they have informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette
syndrome, a condition not defined or diagnosed in the 18th century. He suffered from
depression, known as “melancholy” at the time, his whole life. After a series of illnesses, he
died on the evening of 13 December 1784, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In the
years following his death, Johnson began to be recognized as having had a lasting effect on
literary criticism, and he was claimed by some to be the only truly great critic of English
literature.
Preface to Shakespeare
-Samuel Johnson
Johnson’s Preface to Shakespeare published in 1765 is a comment on the argument over the
ancients and moderns. Johnson forwards his criticism with moral consideration and prescribes
imitation which is closer to truth, reality and to the right. Imitation has to be of general nature
rather than particular. The business of a poet is to examine not the individual but the species.
Johnson restrains the “wild strain of imagination”, but his moral concerns are principally
important.
The essay deals with the qualities that Shakespeare possesses. Johnson praises Shakespeare
and finds his position above all the modern writers: the greatness of his reputation has stood
the test of time; his highest praise is that he holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of
manners and of life;” (321) his characters, unlike “the phantoms which other writers raise up
before him” (322) are real men and women. That he mingled tragedy and comedy together is
not account against him, for he “exhibits the real state of sublunary nature, which partakes of
good and evil, joy and sorrow…” (322).
In terms of characterization Johnson defends Shakespeare stating that characters in his plays
are faithful representation of humanity. They are universal, as well as individual. His
characters are not exaggerated. They have the common feelings and virtues of humanity.
Iago, Hamlet, Desdemona, Macbeth etc. are the true human types found in all times in all
places.
Shakespeare has been much criticized for mixing comic and tragic elements. But Johnson
defends him in the following ways: he is true to nature. In real life also, there is the
intermingle of good and evil, joy and sorrow, tears and smiles and so in mixing tragedy and
comedy, Shakespeare holds a mirror to nature. In tragi-comedy, there is the combination of
pleasure and instruction; serious and the gay. It can satisfy a great variety of tastes as all
pleasure consists in variety.
Johnson defends Shakespeare on the ground of unities. According to him, Shakespeare has
well maintained the unity of action. His plots have a beginning, middle and an end. One event
is logically connected with other, and the plot makes gradual advances towards denouement.
Since the spectators show no concern to time by looking at the clock or calendar there is no
regard for the unities of time and place. Therefore there is no absurdity in showing different
actions at different places. The unity of time also has no validity. A drama imitates successive
actions and just as they may be represented at successive places. So they may be represented
at different periods separated by the range of several years.
However, Shakespeare does not escape from the criticism. Johnson goes on listing
Shakespeare’s faults- “faults sufficient of obscure and overwhelm any other merit” (324). No
single system of morality can be detected in his plays; the plots are loose; he is thoroughly
full of anachronisms; his jests are gross; language tedious and tumultuous; he never cares for
realism and regards pun as the true dramatic qualities; he falls into pathos.
Unit-IV
Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

Charles Lamb was an English essayist, poet and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of
Elia and for the children’s book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary
Lamb (1764–1847). Friends with such literary luminaries as Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
William Wordsworth, and William Hazlitt, Lamb was at the centre of a major literary circle
in England. He has been referred to by E.V. Lucas, his principal biographer, as “the most
lovable figure in English literature”.
“Dream Children”
-Charles Lamb
The essay is one of the ‘Essays of Elia’. The essay expresses the feelings of loss and regret
faced by the narrator. It is based on the description of a place, the relationships and the
feelings that have been part of the narrator’s past.
Summary
Just like all children do, Lamb’s children also wanted to hear their parents’ childhood stories.
One day, he was telling them about ‘their great-grandmother Field, who lived in a great house
in Norfolk’. The house she lived was ‘a hundred times bigger’ than the house they lived in
presently. The children had also heard (‘from the ballad of the Children in the Wood ‘) about
the tragic incidents that had supposedly taken place at that house. The tragic story of the
children and their cruel uncle had been carved out in wood upon a chimney piece. However, a
rich man replaced the wooden one with a marble one and the story was lost. Lamb mentions
that Alice displayed her displeasure when she heard that.
Lamb tells the children that Grandmother Field had been given the charge of the house since
the owner liked to live in a more fashionable mansion. He tells that she was religious and
very good lady, and was respected by everyone. She took care of the house very carefully.
After her, the old ornaments of the house were stripped and set up in the owner’s house.
When Lamb mentioned that the old ornaments could not fit decently in new mansion, John
smiled to express his agreement that it was a foolish act.
She was such ‘a good and religious woman’ that huge number of people attended her funeral.
That ‘she knew all Psaltery by heart’ and also ‘a great part of the Testament’ also suggest that
she was a good and religious woman.
She also used to be considered the best dancer till a disease called cancer forced her to stoop.
However, her spirits still remained upright. Lamb mentions that she slept ‘in a lone chamber
of the great lone house’ on her own despite that the ghosts of two infants glided up and down
the stairs near which she slept. During those days, Lamb himself would sleep with the maid
being afraid. He mentions that he was far less religious but he never noticed the ghosts. John
was trying to look courageous at this moment.
Lamb also mentions that she was very good to her grand children. When he would visit ‘the
great house’ in the holidays, he liked gazing upon ‘busts of Twelve Cæsars’. Lamb also
mentions various things that used to attract him while being at the mansion. He enjoyed
spending time among various things there, even more than ‘sweet flavors of peaches,
nectarines, oranges, and such like common baits of children’. Both children showed the
influence of his description by ignoring the bunch of grapes they had otherwise wanted to
have.
Lamb tells that the children’s uncle John L—— was liked particularly by grandmother Field
from amongst all her grandchildren. He was more handsome and spirited than the rest. He
was so spirited that when the rest would spend time at the mansion, he would ride a horse for
long distance and would even join hunters. Lamb mentions how he had missed their uncle
when he died, although he did not show it that much. He missed the uncle’s kindness as well
as crossness. Lamb also mentions the uncle’s lameness repeatedly which shows that he had
been very concerned for him. The children felt uncomfortable with the description of the
uncle and urged Lamb to tell about ‘their pretty, dead mother’.
Then, Lamb told that he courted their mother ‘the fair Alice W——n’ for seven years. He
also tried to clarify to the children how he faced problems due to her ‘coyness’ and ‘denial’.
At this point, he noticed the strong similarity between the appearance of his wife and that of
Alice. He feels as if his wife was communicating with him through Alice. Finally, he woke
up and found himself in his armchair where he had fallen asleep. He states that James Elia
was no more there and everything that has been mentioned in the essay so far was being
described by Elia.
Analysis
The response of children makes the essay dramatic and explains the effect of the essay on
their mind. On the one hand their actions make their characteristic features clear. For
instance, Alice seemed to feel discomfort when the grandmother’s ability to learn things by
heart was mentioned. This shows that she was a typical child who won’t like the mention of
qualities of others that she found lacking in herself. When Lamb told them that he preferred
to see things at mansion rather than eating fruits, John put the grapes back. This shows his
innocence as well as his ability to control his senses.
These actions on the part of children also show that the children were feeling constantly
influenced by their father’s description.
The essay does not end before an unexpected turn is given to the events. The way it is
mentioned that all the description through the essay was based merely on a dream adds to a
suspense element to the essay and also makes it open ended. The ending makes the essay
even more psychological than the mention of the narrator’s feelings and the response of the
children had made it.
“Old China”
-Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb had a sentimental attachment to old china-cups, plates, jars and the like which
are generally known as china-ware. Whenever he visited a great house, he used to enquire
first about the china-closet and then about the picture-gallery. He did not remember when this
love was planted in him.
The pictures on old-china tea-cups are drawn without any sense of perspective. The eye helps
us in making up the sense of distance. The figures may be up in the air but a speck of blue
under their feet represents the earth. The men on these cups and jars have women’s faces and
the women have more womanish expressions.
One of the cups has the picture of a young and courtly Mandarin, handing tea to a lady from a
salver. Between the two is a distance of only two miles. On another side there is the same
lady or another. On tea-cups things similar are things identical. She is stepping into a little
fairy boat. There is a river beside a garden. At a distance are houses, trees, pagodas, country
dances, a cow and a rabbit. Lamb was pointing out these to his sister over a cup of tea. This
sister is represented as his cousin Bridget in the essays. She was caught in the memory of
their past. So she started a long lecture. She wanted Elia not to forget the past.
Bridget wished for a return of the good old times when they were not quite so rich. She did
not want to be poor, nor did she like to be rich. She wanted to get back to that state when they
were neither rich nor poor, and in that state they were much happier. Now if they buy
something it has no other value except that of the money spent on it. In the old days every
purchase was a triumph. Before they purchased anything, they used to argue about it and
about their expenses for two or three days. All the arguments for and against were duly
considered, and then they would think about an item of expenditure where they could save
something. Thus they were inconvenienced by the money spent on the object purchased, and
this raised the value of the purchase.
Lamb used to wear the same brown suit which used to change on him even after it was in
rags. This he did because they wanted to purchase the folio edition of the plays of Beanment
and Fletcher. For weeks they looked at the volume before they could decide whether to
purchase it, and then at ten o’ clock of a Saturday night they ran to the shop and paid for it.
But now he wears neat black clothes because he has become rich and finical; and he goes
about purchasing any book or any print he likes.
In the past they would walk to Enfield and Potter’s Bar, and Waltham on a holiday. They
would go there with their meagre lunch and enter in a decent inn. There they were lucky
having an honest hostess like the one described by Izaak Walton in his The Complete Angler.
Formerly, they used to sit in the pit to witness the dramatic performances. They squeezed out
their shillings to sit in the one shilling gallery. There Elia felt many a time that he ought not to
have brought Bridget who was grateful to him for having brought her there. When the curtain
was drawn up, it did not matter where one sat. So Elia used to say that “the Gallery was the
best place of all for enjoying a play socially”. The spectators in the Gallery were illiterate
ones who never read the plays and who therefore were highly attentive to the play. Bridget
received the best attention there because there was chivalry still left, but now Elia cannot see
a play from the Gallery. So Bridget says that his sight disappeared with his poverty.
In the past, they used to eat strawberries; at that time they did not become quite common.
Now they cannot have such a treat. Elia may now say that it is better to have a clean balance-
sheet at the end of the year. But there was a different pleasure in the past. On the night of the
st
31 December, they used to argue accounting for the excess in the expenditure. At last they
pocketed up their loss and welcomed the New Year. Now there is not such accounting, and
there are “no flattering promises about the new year doing better for them”.
As long as Bridget was in a rhetorical vein speaking thus, Elia kept quiet. At last he told her
that they must put up with the excess. He said that they must be thankful for their early
struggles. Because of the past suffering, they were drawn together. “We must ride, where we
formerly walked; live better, and lie softer.”
William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

William Hazlitt was an English writer, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator,
and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history
of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is
also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among
historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print. During
his lifetime he befriended many people who are now part of the 19th-century literary canon,
including Charles and Mary Lamb, Stendhal, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth
and John Keats.
The Indian Jugglers

-William Hazlitt
From Table Talk, 1828
An Indian juggler is a common figure in a town or a village. He is an entertainer in the rural

life of India. At times he is also seen on the cities entertaining crowd on the road. He has no
fixed place where he can live. He moves from place to place. He is never seen with his wife
and children. He stays in a village or a town for two or three days. Then he leaves for some
other place. Generally he continues his tours within a district only. Sometimes he visits other
districts in search of fortune.
At the beginning of one of his best-known essays, William Hazlitt describes a stunning
performance by an Indian Juggler. Although he goes on to give full praise for the Juggler’s
mechanical mastery, his “skill surmounting difficulty, and beauty triumphing over skill,”
Hazlitt is first astonished by an odd and inexplicable mixture of simple and miraculous
power. In the course of his act, the Juggler tosses two brass balls in the air, “which is what
any of us could do,” but then keeps four balls up, “which is what none of us could do to save
our lives, nor if we were to take our whole lives to do it in.” There is something of the Indian
Juggler as seen by Hazlitt.
On People with One Idea

-William Hazlitt
There are people who have but one idea: at least, if they have more, they keep it a secret, for
they never talk but of one subject.
Mr. Owen is a man remarkable for one idea. It is that of himself and the Lanark cotton-
mills. He carries this idea backwards and forwards with him from Glasgow to London,
without allowing anything for attrition, and expects to find it in the same state of purity and
perfection in the latter place as at the former. He acquires a wonderful velocity and
impenetrability in his undaunted transit. Resistance to him is vain, while the whirling motion
of the mail-coach remains in his head.
He even got possession, in the suddenness of his onset, of the steam-engine of the Times
newspaper, and struck off ten thousand woodcuts of the Projected Villages, which afforded
an ocular demonstration to all who saw them of the practicability of Mr. Owen’s whole
scheme. He comes into a room with one of these documents in his hand, with the air of a
schoolmaster and a quack doctor mixed, asks very kindly how you do, and on hearing you are
still in an indifferent state of health owing to bad digestion, instantly turns round and observes
that ‘All that will be remedied in his plan; that indeed he thinks too much attention has been
paid to the mind, and not enough to the body; that in his system, which he has now perfected
and which will shortly be generally adopted, he has provided effectually for both; that he has
been long of opinion that the mind depends altogether on the physical organisation, and
where the latter is neglected or disordered the former must languish and want its due vigour;
that exercise is therefore a part of his system, with full liberty to develop every faculty of
mind and body; that two Objections had been made to his New View of Society, viz. its want
of relaxation from labour, and its want of variety; but the first of these, the too great restraint,
he trusted he had already answered, for where the powers of mind and body were freely
exercised and brought out, surely liberty must be allowed to exist in the highest degree; and
as to the second, the monotony which would be produced by a regular and general plan of co-
operation, he conceived he had proved in his New View and Addresses to the Higher Classes,
that the co-operation he had recommended was necessarily conducive to the most extensive
improvement of the ideas and faculties, and where this was the case there must be the greatest
possible variety instead of a want of it.’ And having said this, this expert and sweeping orator
takes up his hat and walks downstairs after reading his lecture of truisms like a playbill or an
apothecary’s advertisement; and should you stop him at the door to say, by way of putting in
a word in common, that Mr. Southey seems somewhat favourable to his plan in his late Letter
to Mr. William Smith, he looks at you with a smile of pity at the futility of all opposition and
the idleness of all encouragement. People who thus swell out some vapid scheme of their own
into undue importance seem to me to labour under water in the head—to exhibit a huge
hydrocephalus! They may be very worthy people for all that, but they are bad companions
and very indifferent reasoners. Tom Moore says of someone somewhere, ‘that he puts his
hand in his breeches pocket like a crocodile.’ The phrase is hieroglyphical; but Mr. Owen and
others might be said to put their foot in the question of social improvement and reform much
in the same unaccountable manner.
I am not for ‘a collusion’ but ‘an exchange’ of ideas. It is well to hear what other people
have to say on a number of subjects. I do not wish to be always respiring the same confined
atmosphere, but to vary the scene, and get a little relief and fresh air out of doors. Do all we
can to shake it off, there is always enough pedantry, egotism, and self-conceit left lurking
behind; we need not seal ourselves up hermetically in these precious qualities, so as to think
of nothing but our own wonderful discoveries, and hear nothing but the sound of our own
voice. Scholars, like princes, may learn something by being incognito. Yet we see those who
cannot go into a bookseller’s shop, or bear to be five minutes in a stage-coach, without letting
you know who they are. They carry their reputation about with them as the snail does its
shell, and sit under its canopy, like the lady in the lobster. I cannot understand this at all.
What is the use of a man’s always revolving round his own little circle? He must, one should
think, be tired of it himself, as well as tire other people. A well-known writer says with much
boldness, both in the thought and expression, that ‘a Lord is imprisoned in the Bastille of a
name, and cannot enlarge himself into man’; and I have known men of genius in the same
predicament.
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron,
draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on
subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany
and political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He penned
essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy
tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and
architectural structures and ornamentation.
The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer
language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he
emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
He was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War.
After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with
the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are
widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843),
an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M. W. Turner in which he argued that the
principal role of the artist is “truth to nature”. From the 1850s he championed the Pre-
Raphaelites who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and
political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin
became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established
the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly “letters to the workmen and
labourers of Great Britain”, published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the
course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his
ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organization that endures
today.
Unto This Last (Section I)

-John Ruskin
John Ruskin rose to prominence in nineteenth-century England as a critic of art and
architecture, the author of highly esteemed works like Modern Painters and The Stones of
Venice.
Over time, however, Ruskin became concerned about life in newly-industrialized England,
and worried that unrestrained capitalism had created a vast and poor working class, led to
deplorable living conditions, and placed little value on human life beyond its ability to
convert labor into profit.
Unto this Last offers Ruskin’s passionate responses to these socio-economic problems. It first
appeared as a series of four long essays in Cornhill Magazine (1860). Ruskin’s fascination
with things like the intricacies of architecture and medieval guilds of craftsman like
stonemasons and carpenters made him have a deep respect for the labor of all workers. Unto
this Last also shows the influence of Ruskin’s Christian faith. For starters, the title of the
book references one of Jesus’ parables in the Bible (Matthew 20:14 - providing the same pay
for all). On a deeper level, the book’s emphasis on respect for others, equality for all, concern
for one’s neighbors, and an insistence on justice for all are directly connected to Christian
values. Despite this, Unto this Last was highly controversial when first published. Ruskin’s
ideas were condemned, and he was labeled a socialist. Originally, Ruskin had planned on
having seven magazine essays, but because of the controversy, the publisher only allowed
four essays to be published.
The first essay in Unto this Last, ‘The Roots of Honor’, describes the relationship between
employer and employee. In the second, ‘The Veins of Wealth,’ Ruskin analyzes the standard
definition of wealth and offers an alternative. The third essay, ‘Qui Judicatis Terram’ (Latin
for ‘They Who Judge on Earth’), explains how justice is critical to Ruskin’s view of political
economy. The final essay, ‘Ad Valorem’ (‘According to Value’), provides a definition of
value that doesn’t rely strictly on money and the exchange of labor.
Wages and Wealth
Ruskin declares that wealth is not simply the accumulation of money, possessions, or
property: ‘What is really desired, under the name of riches, is, essentially, power over men,’
he writes in ‘The Veins of Wealth.’ In an economy based on free market capitalism
(capitalism without government intervention), according to Ruskin, employers strive to keep
wages as low as possible and to make people compete to work for the least amount of money.
Think of it this way, if one person will mow your lawn for $30, while another wants to charge
$50, who would you choose? The effect of this, Ruskin argues, is that the average worker’s
wage goes down while powerful employers’ profits rise. This might sound familiar since this
is a version of the argument still talked about today that, in an unrestrained capitalist
economy, the rich will get ever richer while the poor will get ever poorer.
Unto this Last suggested what originally seemed a ridiculous alternative to this model:
political powers (the government), employers, and individuals should all ensure that workers
doing the same work are paid the same for the same. For example, all people mowing lawns
would be paid $40 for their labor, no matter what. This is a version of what we would now
call fair wages. Enforcing this, Ruskin argues, would lead to more equal work opportunities,
a fairer distribution of wealth, and greater opportunities for individuals and families to
improve their lives.
Education and the Economy

Echoes of Ruskin’s ideas can be heard in contemporary debates. For instance, some argue
that raising the minimum wage to a fair living wage will lead to overall social improvement,
while others fear that it will decrease business opportunities and incentives to work harder,
better, and faster in order to move up the social ladder. Should workers who are just bad at
their job, or lazy, or criminals be paid the same as someone who works hard and honestly?
Ruskin anticipated such concerns, and believed that free, compulsory education, designed to
help people find the skills and jobs that they are best at and enjoy the most, will help them
work to the best of their abilities. Society overall would benefit. In an unrestrained capitalist
economy, Ruskin argues, bad workers and criminals are manufactured, too, as a result of
greedy and unethical practices: ‘Let us reform our schools,’ he writes, and we shall find little
reform needed in our prisons.’
Unit-V
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, was a British philosopher, logician,
mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various
points in his life, Russell considered himself a liberal, a socialist and a pacifist, but he also
admitted that he had “never been any of these things, in any profound sense”. Russell was
born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United
Kingdom.
In the early 20th century, Russell led the British “revolt against idealism.” He is considered
one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege,
colleague G.E. Moore and protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein. He is widely held to be one of the
20th century’s premier logicians. With A.N. Whitehead he wrote Principia Mathematica, an
attempt to create a logical basis for mathematics. His philosophical essay “On Denoting” has
been considered a “paradigm of philosophy”. His work has had a considerable influence on
mathematics logic, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer
science and philosophy.
Russell was a prominent anti-war activist and he championed anti-imperialism. Occasionally,

he advocated preventive nuclear war, before the opportunity provided by the atomic
monopoly had passed and “welcomed with enthusiasm” world government. He went to
prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, Russell concluded war against Adolf
Hitler was a necessary “lesser of two evils” and criticized Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked
the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War and was an outspoken proponent of
nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the “Nobel Prize in Literature” in
recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals
and freedom of thought.
The Ethics of War

-Bertrand Russell
This essay, which was written exactly a century ago in 1915, with the First World War in full
swing, asks the question whether war is ever justified, and if so under what circumstances.
Knowing that Bertrand Russell’s pacifism had cost him six months in Brixton Prison in 1918,
I didn’t expect any surprises here – but in that I was much mistaken. He makes it plain from
the start that he does not consider the current war justified, but neither does he take “the
extreme Tolstoyan view that war is under all circumstances a crime”. He is a utilitarian, and
considers that war is justified if it is for the good of mankind as a whole, a viewpoint which
can lead to some (for me) unexpected consequences…
He says that wars cannot, in any case, be justified as people usually try to justify them, i.e.
from a juridical standpoint: a question of the existence of some treaty or convention, or the
fact that some country has broken one. He sees the juridical point of view as an illegitimate
transference, to the relations between States, of principles properly applicable to the relation
between individuals within a State, where we have laws, contracts and a police force to
ensure that the law is applied and contracts are kept.
The chief gain derived from the law and the police is the abolition of private wars, and this
gain is independent of the question whether the law as it stands is the best possible. It is
therefore in the public interest that the man who goes against the law should be considered in
the wrong, not because of the excellence of the law, but because of the importance of
avoiding the resort to force as between individuals within the State.
Russell was taken to task for this ‘cynical’ view of treaties and international law by the
American philosopher Ralph Barton Perry in his essay “Non-Resistance and the Present War
—A Replay to Mr Russell.
The chief crime of Germany in invading Belgium lies less in the fact that a treaty was broken
than in the fact that terrible cruelty was inflicted on an unoffending nation.
Russell points out how patriotism blinds people to the evils of war, which are inevitable no
matter which side wins. First the immediate and most obvious evils, those suffered by the
soldiers themselves and by the populations of war-torn areas. He shows how the evils of war
serve as an excuse for even more war.
No surprises so far, but we now arrive at the central question posed by the essay: do any wars
ever achieve so much for the good of mankind as to outweigh all the previously considered
evils. Russell begins by dividing wars into four kinds.
I had to read that passage several times before I’d managed to convince myself that I hadn’t
misunderstood it. That certainly wouldn’t have been the judgement I would have given as to
what sort of wars might be justified! When he comes to define a “war of colonization” it gets
even worse.
What are nowadays called colonial wars do not aim at the complete occupation of a country
by a conquering race; they aim only at securing certain governmental and trading advantages.
They belong, in fact, rather with what I call wars of prestige, than with wars of colonization
in the old sense.
Times have changed since 1915, and I doubt if many people today would agree with Russell’s
views, even given that final exclusion of the sort of ‘colonial wars’ which the British had
undertaken in, say, India or Africa. I personally find this very much a change for the better,
but is this view justified? Might Russell in fact be correct?
First of all, we have to remember that when the purpose or effect of a war is to “drive out the
whole population of some territory and replace it by an invading population of a different
race”, the term “drive out” is almost always a euphemism for exterminate. After all, where
can the original population be driven to ? When that isn’t literally into the sea, it’s generally
away from whatever fertile land they’ve been living on for thousands of years and ever
further into the desert to die of starvation. Or else it’s into slavery, and if they prove
unsuitable for that purpose, into an early grave through over-work, disease or simple
genocide. There’s plenty of evidence for the view that the enormity of the massacre of North-
and South-American natives by the European colonisers far outweighs what the Nazis did to
the Jews, not only in terms of absolute numbers of victims, but also regarding the
effectiveness of the extermination (percentage killed, level of cultural suppression), and the
general cruelty of the methods used. The colonisers of America regarded the natives as sub-
human, in fact as vermin to be exterminated as quickly as possible, perhaps even more so
than the Nazis did with regard to the Jews.
Russell seemingly regards the European civilisation which was spread by “wars of
colonization” as having been sufficiently better than the civilisations which were destroyed in
the process, to justify events which, in themselves, few people would describe as civilised. In
1915 even those who did not consider such wars justified will undoubtedly have at least
agreed that European civilisation was better than that of the ‘savages’, but even that is an
opinion which many would not share today. So, in what way would Russell have been using
the term better ? Being a utilitarian he was presumably aiming for “the greatest happiness of
the greatest number”, but it is extremely dubious whether the average American native was
less happy that the average European colonist. Bob Black, in his excellent essay “The
Abolition of Work” (which makes essentially the same points made by Russell himself in “In
Praise of Idleness”), cites the work of anthropologist Marshall Sahlins to paint an
unexpectedly positive picture of how the life of a ‘primitive’ hunter-gatherer compares to that
of his ‘civilised’ counterpart.
But even if the average European colonist was no more happy, and quite possibly less so,
than the average American native, we still have the numerical argument: the Europeans
cultivated the land they conquered and used it more efficiently, eventually allowing a much
larger population to be supported by the same area. Utilitarianism of the crudest type would
simply multiply the average happiness by the number of individuals, with the result that the
life of the average ‘civilised’ individual would have to be a very miserable one indeed before
the sum total of happiness fell below the level of that of the original population, even were
they to have led improbably idyllic lives. But this sort of utilitarianism leads straight to the
mere addition paradox, and it’s difficult to imagine Bertrand Russell attaching so much
importance to simple population figures.
And for the Bertrand Russell of 1915 it is presumably better to be a ‘civilised’ European
dissatisfied than a ‘savage’ American native satisfied. What this comes down to is that he has
decided that what is really important in life is some super-human principle along the lines of
‘the progress of mankind’ or some such, and that his own type of civilisation and culture,
seen in the light of this principle, is in itself so vastly superior to that of another group of
human beings as to justify their annihilation. I wonder what he would think of the scenario in
which vastly superior alien beings land on Earth and decide to wipe out the human race and
colonise the planet with their own species – which, more or less, is how it must have felt for
the victims of Russell’s ‘justified’ wars of colonisation. This all goes to show, as far as I’m
concerned, that Bertrand Russell was, in this respect at least, very much a man of his time.
Hopefully his ideas changed somewhat in later life.
“Education and Discipline”

-Bertrand Russell
Summary
The essay “Education and Discipline” by the Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, was first
published in his collection of essays titled, In Praise of Idleness, in 1935. Educational
theories generally focus on how learning occurs, and they seek to understand, analyse, and
prescribe educational practices. According to Bertrand Russell, the real purpose of education
is civilisation, which includes both individual and social aspects. On the individual front, it
consists of intellectual and moral qualities, and, on the moral front, it consists of the virtues of
impartiality, kindliness, and self-control. Moreover, civilisation also demands respect for the
law, and the intelligent adaptation of means to the ends. If this is the purpose of education,
then psychologists should consider how to realise them, and analyse the degree of freedom
that is essential to make it more effective.
Three Main Schools of Thought on Freedom:
As far as the question of freedom in education is concerned, there are three main schools of
thought. The first school of thought says that children should be completely free, however
bad they may be. The second school of thought says that children should be completely
subject to authority.The third school of thought says that children should be free, but in spite
of freedom, they should be always good. According to Russell, complete liberty to the child,
ignores the importance of knowledge to the child, and also the positive purpose of education.
At the same time, he also believes that, authoritative education turns the students into timid
tyrants, incapable of either claiming or tolerating originality in word or deed. Too much
authoritarianism can also lead to over-submissive and timid children or it can also make them
rebels. Thus there is danger in both the extremes of liberty and authority.
The Need of the Hour in Education:
Hence, what is wanted is neither submissiveness nor rebellion, but good nature and general
friendliness both to people and to new ideas. By developing children with “good nature”
Russell stresses on the importance of raising students who can be well-adapted and self-
content in their later life. This requires a balance between cultivating the child’s individuality
and preparing him/her to be a social being.
Educationists all over the world rarely recognize this conflict. While the famous educationist
John Dewey over emphasized socialization, Montessori, over emphasized on
individualization. The more individualized you are, the less socialized you become, and vice
versa. But, according to Russell, ideally, individuality and sociality can and should peacefully
coexist in the same individual.
Individual and Social function of the Child:
Educational theorists should strive to give an education that teaches children to be

independent but also carry the wisdom to know how to do this as a social being. Hence, it is
important to recognize that being a well-functioning adult requires individual authenticity and
an ability to function in society.
Conclusion:
To achieve this fine balance, as far as children’s education is concerned, we require teachers
who develop spontaneous pleasure in the presence of children, without any ulterior purpose.
Unfortunately, it is utterly impossible for over-worked teachers to preserve an instinctive
liking for children. Hence, education should be undertaken for at most two hours a day by
teachers, whose remaining hours should be spent away from children. Spontaneous love for
children, produces the right impulse to treat naughty children, and the child feels easy to
respond, if they feel that you like them. Hence, Russell concludes by saying that, no rule,
however wise, can be a substitute for affection and tact, while dealing with children.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer who is considered one of the foremost
modernists of the twentieth century and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a
narrative device. Born in an affluent household in Kensington, London, she attended the
King’s College London and was acquainted with the early reformers of women’s higher
education.
Having been home-schooled for most part of her childhood, mostly in English classics and
Victorian literature, Woolf began writing professionally in 1900. During the interwar period,
Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential
Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. She published her first novel titled The Voyage Out in
1915, through the Hogarth Press, a publishing house that she established with her
husband, Leonard Woolf. Her best-known works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To
the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One’s Own
(1929), with its dictum, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write
fiction.”
Woolf became one of the central subjects of the 1970s movement of feminist criticism, and
her works have since garnered much attention and widespread commentary for “inspiring
feminism,” an aspect of her writing that was unheralded earlier. Her works are widely read all
over the world and have been translated into more than fifty languages. She suffered from
severe bouts of mental illness throughout her life and took her own life by drowning in 1941
at the age of 59.
A Room of One’s Own

- Virginia Woolf
Characters List
“I” - The fictionalized author-surrogate (“call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael
or by any name you please—it is not a matter of any importance”) whose process of
reflection on the topic “women and fiction” forms the substance of the essay.
The Beadle - An Oxbridge security official who reminds the narrator that only “Fellows and
Scholars” are permitted on the grass; women must remain on the gravel path.
Mary Seton - Student at Fernham College and friend of the narrator.
Mary Beton - The narrator’s aunt, whose legacy of five hundred pounds a year secures her
niece’s financial independence. (Mary Beton is also one of the names Woolf assigns to her
narrator, whose identity, she says, is irrelevant.)
Judith Shakespeare - The imagined sister of William Shakespeare, who suffers greatly and
eventually commits suicide because she can find no socially acceptable outlets for her genius.
Mary Carmichael - A fictitious novelist, contemporary with the narrator of Woolf’s essay.
In her first novel, she has “broken the sentence, broken the sequence” and forever changed
the course of women’s writing.
Mr. A - An imagined male author, whose work is overshadowed by a looming self-

consciousness and petulant self-assertiveness.
Summary:
The dramatic setting of A Room of One’s Own is that Woolf has been invited to lecture on the
topic of Women and Fiction. She advances the thesis that “a woman must have money and a
room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Her essay is constructed as a partly-fictionalized
narrative of the thinking that led her to adopt this thesis. She dramatizes that mental process
in the character of an imaginary narrator (“call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary
Carmichael or by any name you please—it is not a matter of any importance”) who is in her
same position, wrestling with the same topic.
The narrator begins her investigation at Oxbridge College, where she reflects on the different
educational experiences available to men and women as well as on more material differences
in their lives. She then spends a day in the British Library perusing the scholarship on
women, all of which has written by men and all of which has been written in anger. Turning
to history, she finds so little data about the everyday lives of women that she decides to
reconstruct their existence imaginatively. The figure of Judith Shakespeare is generated as an
example of the tragic fate a highly intelligent woman would have met with under those
circumstances. In light of this background, she considers the achievements of the major
women novelists of the nineteenth century and reflects on the importance of tradition to an
aspiring writer. A survey of the current state of literature follows, conducted through a
reading the first novel of one of the narrator’s contemporaries. Woolf closes the essay with an
exhortation to her audience of women to take up the tradition that has been so hardly
bequeathed to them, and to increase the endowment for their own daughters.
George Orwell (1903-1950)

Eric Arthur Blair better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist,
essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social
injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.
Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction, and polemical journalism. He is best known
for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
(1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his
experience of working class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an
account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, are widely acclaimed, as are his essays
on politics, literature, language, and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list
of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”.
Orwell’s work continues to influence popular and political culture, and the term Orwellian –
descriptive of totalitarian or authoritarian social practices – has entered the language together
with many of his neologisms, including Big Brother, Thought Police, Room 101, memory
Hole, newspeak, doublethink.
Politics and the English Language

-George Orwell
“Politics and the English Language” (1946) is an essay by George Orwell that criticises the
“ugly and inaccurate” written English of his time and examines the connection between
political orthodoxies and the debasement of language.
The essay focuses on political language, which, according to Orwell, “is designed to make
lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure
wind.” Orwell believed that the language used was necessarily vague or meaningless because
it was intended to hide the truth rather than express it. This unclear prose was a “contagion”
which had spread to those who did not intend to hide the truth, and it concealed a writer’s
thoughts from himself and others. Orwell encourages concreteness and clarity instead of
vagueness, and individuality over political conformity.
Orwell relates what he believes to be a close association between bad prose and oppressive
ideology:
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things
like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the
dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which
are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of
political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-
begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the
inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire
with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their
farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called
transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without
trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is
called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name
things without calling up mental pictures of them. One of Orwell’s points is:
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and
one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms,
like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
The insincerity of the writer perpetuates the decline of the language as people (particularly
politicians, Orwell later notes) attempt to disguise their intentions behind euphemisms and
convoluted phrasing. Orwell says that this decline is self-perpetuating. He argues that it is
easier to think with poor English because the language is in decline, as the language declines,
“foolish” thoughts become even easier, reinforcing the original cause:
A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more
completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English
language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the
slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.
Orwell discusses “pretentious diction” and “meaningless words”. “Pretentious diction” is

used to make biases look impartial and scientific, while “meaningless words” are used to stop
the reader from seeing the point of the statement. According to Orwell: “In certain kinds of
writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long
passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.”
Five passages
Orwell chooses five passages of text which “illustrate various of the mental vices from which
we now suffer.” The samples are: by Harold Laski (“five negatives in 53 words”), Lancelot
Hogben (mixed metaphors), an essay by Paul Goodman on psychology in the July 1945 issue
of Politics (“simply meaningless”), a communist pamphlet (“an accumulation of stale
phrases”) and a reader’s letter in Tribune (in which “words and meaning have parted
company”). From these, Orwell identifies a “catalogue of swindles and perversions” which he
classifies as “dying metaphors”, “operators or verbal false limbs”, “pretentious diction” and
“meaningless words”.
Orwell notes that writers of modern prose tend not to write in concrete terms but use a
“pretentious latinized style”. He claims writers find it is easier to gum together long strings of
words than to pick words specifically for their meaning, particularly in political writing,
where Orwell notes that “[o]rthodoxy ... seems to demand a lifeless, imitative style.” Political
speech and writing are generally in defence of the indefensible and so lead to a euphemistic
inflated style.
Orwell criticises bad writing habits which spread by imitation. He argues that writers must
think more clearly because thinking clearly “is a necessary first step toward political
regeneration”. He later emphasises that he was not “considering the literary use of language,
but merely language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing
thought.”
Remedy of Six Rules
Orwell said it was easy for his contemporaries to slip into bad writing of the sort he had
described and that the temptation to use meaningless or hackneyed phrases was like a “packet
of aspirins always at one’s elbow”. In particular, such phrases are always ready to form the
writer’s thoughts for him to save him the bother of thinking—or writing—clearly. However,
he concluded that the progressive decline of the English language was reversible, and
suggested six rules which, he claimed, would prevent many of these faults although, “one
could keep all of them and still write bad English”.
Ø Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in
print. (Examples which Orwell gives of breaking this rule include ring the changes,
Achilles’ heel, swan song, and hotbed. He describes these as “dying metaphors” , and
argues that these phrases are used without knowing what is truly being said. Furthermore,
he says that using metaphors of this kind makes the original meaning of the phrases
meaningless, because those using the phrases do not know their original meaning. Orwell
states that “some metaphors now current have been twisted out of their original meaning
without those who use them even being aware of the fact.”)
Ø Never use a long word where a short one will do.

Ø If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Ø Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Ø Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an
everyday English equivalent.
Ø Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Reflections on Gandhi
-George Orwell
Summary
Gandhi is the central figure in Orwell’s essay. Gandhi is known for his effective use of non-
violent resistance, Satyagraha, that he deployed against the British as he led India in its
struggle for independence. Gandhi was born in the state of Gujarat, in northwestern India, in
1869. He was raised in as a Hindu but was attracted to Jainism. In his early adult years
Gandhi moved to England, where he trained as a lawyer. It was in South Africa, while
practicing as a lawyer, that Gandhi first deployed his tactics of nonviolent civil disobedience
in attempt to secure rights for disenfranchised Indians. Upon returning to India in 1915, he
developed the concept of Satyagraha as a political tool that he then used to organize
widespread resistance against British rule. As Orwell notes, the philosophy behind
Satyagraha is fundamentally of a religious (Hindu/Jain) nature. For Gandhi it entailed a ethic
of asceticism and self-sacrifice. In 1947, Indian independence was achieved by nonviolent
means; however the partitioning of India between Muslim and Hindu regions incited mass
violence. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist who opposed Gandhi’s
philosophies of religious pluralism.
George Orwell’s essay “Reflections on Gandhi” examines Gandhi’s principal of non-

violence, or Satyagraha (“holding on to the truth”), as a political tool. Orwell attempts to
evaluate non-violence as a method of political leverage outside of the unique circumstances
in which Gandhi successfully deployed his method. Orwell discusses the particular context
that gave Satyagraha political force: the struggle for national self-determination in colonial
India. He compares this to other political circumstances where, he says, Satyagraha would
not have had the same effect—for example, under a totalitarian regime where it would not
have had the publicity it needed to galvanize the populations of England and India.
Satyagraha needed a free press in order to be an effective political tool. It thus wouldn’t work
as a resistance to a totalitarian force where free speech is suppressed and dissidents detained.
Nonetheless, Orwell does not dismiss Gandhi’s method. Published during rising nuclear
tensions of the early Cold War, Orwell looks to Gandhi’s method as a reference for what he
feels is a necessary discussion of alternative methods of political resistance.
PAPER-II

(5 Credits)
MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-III Eng 203: English Fiction (5 credits)
Unit I Background
The Rise of Novel; The Gothic Novel; Realism-Naturalism; Bildungsroman;
Stream of Consciousness; Magic Realism
Unit II Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

Jane Austen Emma
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Unit III Charles Dickens Hard Times

Thomas Hardy Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
Unit IV DH Lawrence Sons and Lovers

William Golding Lord of the Flies
Zadie Smith White Teeth
Unit V Short Stories

Rudyard Kipling “Lispeth”, “Thrown Away”
“The New Accelerator”, “The Man Who Could Work
HG Wells Roald Miracles”
Dahl “The Umbrella Man”, “Lamb to the Slaughter”
Semester-II
Paper-III
Unit-I
Background
The Rise of Novel

The English novel is an important part of English literature. It mainly concerns novels,
written in English, by novelists who were born or have spent a significant part of their lives
in England, or Scotland, or Wales, or Northern Ireland (or Ireland before 1922). However,
given the nature of the subject, this guideline has been applied with common sense, and
reference is made to novels in other languages or novelists who are not primarily British
where appropriate.
The English novel has generally been seen as beginning with Daniel Defoe’s Robinson
Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722), though John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
(1678) and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko (1688) are also contenders, while earlier works such as
Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’ Arthur, and even the “Prologue” to Geoffrey Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales have been suggested. Another important early novel is Gulliver’s Travels
(1726, amended 1735), by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, which is both a satire
of human nature, as well as a parody of travellers’ tales like Robinson Crusoe. The rise of the
novel as an important literary genre is generally associated with the growth of the middle
class in England.
Other major 18th-century English novelists are Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), author of
the epistolary novels Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and Clarissa (1747–48); Henry
Fielding (1707–1754), who wrote Joseph Andrews (1742) and The History of Tom Jones, a
Foundling (1749); Laurence Sterne (1713–1768), who published Tristram Shandy in parts
between 1759 and 1767; Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), author of The Vicar of Wakefield
(1766); Tobias Smollett (1721–1771), a Scottish novelist best known for his comic
picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of
Humphry Clinker (1771), who influenced Charles Dickens and Fanny Burney (1752–1840),
whose novels “were enjoyed and admired by Jane Austen,” wrote Evelina (1778), Cecilia
(1782) and Camilla (1796).
A noteworthy aspect of both the 18th- and 19th- century novel is the way the novelist directly
addressed the reader. For example, the author might interrupt his or her narrative to pass
judgment on a character, or pity or praise another, and inform or remind the reader of some
other relevant issue.
The phrase Romantic novel has several possible meanings. Here it refers to novels written
during the Romantic era in literary history, which runs from the late 18th century until the
beginning of the Victorian era in 1837. But to complicate matters there are novels written in
the romance tradition by novelists like Walter Scott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Meredith.
In addition the phrase today is mostly used to refer to the popular pulp-fiction genre that
focuses on romantic love. The Romantic period is especially associated with the poets
William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Byron, P.B. Shelly, and John
Keats, though two major novelists, Jane Austen and Walter Scott, also published in the early
19th century.
Horace Walpole’s 1764 novel, The Castle of Otranto, invented the Gothic fiction genre. The
word gothic was originally used in the sense of medieval. This genre combines “the macabre,
fantastic, and supernatural” and usually involves haunted castles, graveyards and various
picturesque elements. Later novelist Ann Radcliffe introduced the brooding figure of the
Gothic villain which developed into the Byronic Hero. Her most popular and influential
work, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), is frequently described as the archetypal Gothic
novel. Vathek (1786), by William Beckford, and The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, were
further notable early works in both the Gothic and horror genres.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818), as another important Gothic novel as well as
being an early example of science fiction. The vampire genre fiction began with John
William Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819). This short story was inspired by the life of Lord
Byron and his poem The Giaour. An important later work is Varney the Vampire (1845),
where many standard vampire conventions originated: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture
wounds on the neck of his victims, and has hypnotic powers and superhuman strength.
Varney was also the first example of the “sympathetic vampire”, who loathes his condition
but is a slave to it.
Among more minor novelists in this period Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) and Thomas Love
Peacock (1785–1866) are worthy of comment. Edgeworth’s novel Castel Rackrent (1800) is
“the first fully developed regional novel in English” as well as “the first true historical novel
in English” and an important influence on Walter Scott. Peacock was primarily a satirist in
novels such as Nightmare Abbey (1818) and The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829).
Jane Austen’s (1775–1817) works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the
18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots, though
fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social
standing and economic security. Austen brings to light the hardships women faced, who
usually did not inherit money, could not work and where their only chance in life depended
on the man they married. She reveals not only the difficulties women faced in her day, but
also what was expected of men and of the careers they had to follow. This she does with wit
and humour and with endings where all characters, good or bad, receive exactly what they
deserve. Her work brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her
lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her nephew’s A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her
to a wider public, and by the 1940s she had become accepted as a major writer. The second
half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the emergence of a
Janeite fan culture. Austen’s works include Pride and Prejudice (1813) Sense and Sensibility
(1811), Mansfield Park, Persuasion and Emma.
The other major novelist at the beginning of the early 19th century was Sir Walter Scott
(1771–1832), who was not only a highly successful British novelist but “the greatest single
influence on fiction in the 19th century ... [and] a European figure”. Scott established the
genre of the historical novel with his series of Waverley Novels, including Waverley (1814),
The Antiquary (1816), and The Heart of Midlothian (1818). However, Austen is today widely
read and the source for films and television series, while Scott is less often read.
Victorian
It was in the Victorian era (1837–1901) that the novel became the leading literary genre in
English. Another important fact is the number of women novelists who were successful in the
19th century, even though they often had to use a masculine pseudonym. At the beginning of
the 19th century most novels were published in three volumes. However, monthly
serialization was revived with the publication of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers in twenty
parts between April 1836 and November 1837. Demand was high for each episode to
introduce some new element, whether it was a plot twist or a new character, so as to maintain
the readers’ interest. Both Dickens and Thackeray frequently published this way.
The 1830s and 1840s saw the rise of social novel, also known as social problem novel, that
“arose out of the social and political upheavals which followed the Reform Act of 1832.”
This was in many ways a reaction to rapid industrialization, and the social, political and
economic issues associated with it, and was a means of commenting on abuses of government
and industry and the suffering of the poor, who were not profiting from England’s economic
prosperity. Stories of the working class poor were directed toward middle class to help create
sympathy and promote change. An early example is Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. (1837–
38).
Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene in the 1830s with the two novels already
mentioned. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and struggles of the poor, but in a good-
humoured fashion, accessible to readers of all classes. One of his most popular works to this
day is A Christmas Carol (1843). In more recent years Dickens has been most admired for his
later novels, such as Dombey and Son (1846–48), Great Expectations (1860–61), Bleak
House (1852–53) and Little Dorrit (1855–57) and Our Mutual Friend (1864–65). An early
rival to Dickens was William Makepeace Thackeray, who during the Victorian period ranked
second only to him, but he is now much less read and is known almost exclusively for Vanity
Fair (1847). In that novel he satirizes whole swaths of humanity while retaining a light touch.
It features his most memorable character, the engagingly roguish Becky Sharp.
The Bronte sisters were other significant novelists in the 1840s and 1850s. Their novels
caused a sensation when they were first published but were subsequently accepted as classics.
They had written compulsively from early childhood and were first published, at their own
expense in 1846 as poets under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. The sisters
returned to prose, producing a novel each the following year: Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s
Wuthering Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey. Later, Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
and Charlotte’s Villette (1853) were published. Elizabeth Gaskell was also a successful writer
and first novel, Mary Barton, was published anonymously in 1848. Gaskell’s North and
South contrasts the lifestyle in the industrial north of England with the wealthier south. Even
though her writing conforms to Victorian conventions, Gaskell usually frames her stories as
critiques of contemporary attitudes: her early works focused on factory work in the Midlands.
She always emphasized the role of women, with complex narratives and dynamic female
characters.
Anthony Trollope’s (1815–82) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English
novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works are set in the imaginary county
of Barsetshire, including The Warden (1855) and Barchester Towers (1857). He also wrote
perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters,
including The Way with Live Now (1875). Trollope’s novels portrayed the lives of the
landowning and professional classes of early Victorian England.
George Eliot’s (Mary Ann Evans (1819–80) first novel Adam Bede was published in 1859.
Her works, especially Middlemarch (1871–72), are important examples of literary realism,
and are admired for their combination of high Victorian literary detail combined with an
intellectual breadth that removes them from the narrow geographic confines they often depict.
An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside
is seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). A Victorian realist, in the tradition of
George Eliot, he was also influenced both in his novels and poetry by Romanticism,
especially by William Wordsworth. Charles Darwin is another important influence on
Thomas Hardy. Like Charles Dickens he was also highly critical of much in Victorian
society, though Hardy focussed more on a declining rural society. While Hardy wrote poetry
throughout his life, and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not
published until 1898, so that initially he gained fame as the author of such novels as, Far
from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the
d’Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). He ceased writing novels following
adverse criticism of this last novel. In novels such as The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of
the d’Urbervilles Hardy attempts to create modern works in the genre of tragedy, that are
modelled on the Greek drama, especially Aeschylus and Sophocles, though in prose, not
poetry, a novel not drama, and with characters of low social standing, not nobility. Another
significant late 19th-century novelist is George Gissing (1857–1903) who published 23
novels between 1880 and 1903. His best known novel is New Grub Street (1891).
Important developments occurred in genre fiction in this era. Although pre-dated by John
Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River in 1841, the history of the modern fantasy genre is
generally said to begin with George MacDonald, the influential author of The Princess and
the Goblin and Phantastes (1858). William Morris was a popular English poet who also
wrote several fantasy novels during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Wilkie Collins’
epistolary novel The Moonstone (1868), is generally considered the first detective novel in the
English language, while The Woman in White is regarded as one of the finest sensation
novels. H.G. Wells’s (1866–1946) writing career began in the 1890s with science fiction
novels like The Time Machine (1895), and The War of the Worlds (1898) which describes an
invasion of late Victorian England by Martians, and Wells is seen, along with Frenchman
Jules Verne (1828–1905), as a major figure in the development of the science fiction genre.
He also wrote realistic fiction about the lower middle class in novels like Kipps (1905) and
The History of Mr Polly (1910).
th
20 century
The major novelists writing in Britain at the start of the 20th century were:
August Wilson
His novels present a picture of modern twentieth century life and its problems. But he uses
the traditional form of novel. His novels contain various sorts of characters, but all of them
belong to the same middle class social group. His stories, which belong to his earlier
collections, are satirical and express moral judgments indirectly. His Anglo Saxon Attitude is
about a historian’s life who is compelled by some events to tell the truth. His another novel
The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot is about a woman’s life who makes herself familiar with the
outside world around her, in spite of the family’s suggestion to live a lonely life after her
husband. Her other novels are No Laughing Matter and As If By Magic.
Rudyard Kipling
He was born and brought up in India. He spent most of his adult life there when it was under
the rule of the British Empire. In his best works, The Jungle Book and Kim he has written
with great confidence about Indian wildlife, British army, Navy, power and glory of the
British Empire. At this time the power and influence of British Empire was at its height.
Kipling wrote with the hope that the beliefs and values of his stories are accepted and shared
completely by his readers.
E. M. Forster
Forster wrote novels a short time later than Kipling. He held the different view of India and
the British Empire. The main theme of this novel was human relationship. Howard’s End
explores the relation between inward feeling and outward behavior. There are two families
The Wilcoxes and the Schlegel, who believes in two different aspects of life, material and
spiritual, respectively. Foster’s theme is how to connect these two aspects of life, the outer
and the inner. Only this connection will make human love of a higher and greater kind.
A Passage to India is a Forster’s masterpiece in which he takes the relations between the
English and the Indians in the early 1920’s. Adela Quested, and English girl comes to India to
marry an English officer. She makes friendship with some Indians and travels with them.
Once she accuses an Indian of sexually attacking her in the cave. The case begins in the court.
This incidence breaks the relationship between the English and the Indians. Forster as a
liberal humanist is on the side of Indian independence. His main theme in this novel is the
importance of bringing together opposites in order to create unity.
Arnold Bennett
He used the traditional form of the novel, but with realistic presentation of the details of the
characters. Most of his novels are set in the five towns, the center of English Pottery industry.
His novels deal with the lives of the same sort of people of the industrial society. They
present the dull and difficult picture of life. His famous novels include, Clayhanger, Hilda
Lessways and These Twain.
H. G. Wells
He also often took characters from a lower social level, but many of his characters are given a
chance of happiness. Kipps and The History of Mr Polly both deal with men working in
shops. They think that money and running away change their lives. But they do not bring
them what they hoped for. At the end of the novels they know better what they need to be
happy. Wells also used modern scientific advances in his novels in a new way. The Time
Machine, The War of the Worlds and The First Men on the Moon, use the material of science.
He also wrote Ann Veronicaabout a girl who wants to choose for herself what to do in life,
which in many ways also looks ahead to the women’s movement much later this century.
Somerset Maugham
He is good novelist, but his popularity as a story writer is even higher. His first novel, Lisa of
Lambeth presents a realistic picture of slum life. Of Human Bondage is his autobiographical
novel which shows the difficulties that the writer met in his early life. In The Moon and
Sixpence a French artist tries to break away and fight against the conventional society.
Maugham satirizes the social and literary life of the English people in Cakes and Ale.
Ashendenis his well known collection of short stories. His stories often have a bitter or
unexpected ending.
D. H. Lawrence
He created a new kind of novel. He believed that a novelist’s duty is to show how a person’s
view of his own personality is influenced by the conventions of language, family and religion
and how a person’s relation with other people is always changing. Sons and Lovers is his
autobiographical novel, which deals about his attachment to his mother. Paul Morel, the hero
of the novel is brought in the English Midlands as Lawrence was brought up. The novel is
mainly concerned with the relationship between Paul and his mother. Paul wants to be a
creative artist, but for this he has to free himself from the influence of his mother and take his
own decisions in his personal matters. The novel ends with the mother’s death and a sort of
liberation for the hero.
The Rainbow deals with the story of three couples of families of different ages. He takes three
generations and explores all the basic human relationship- relationship between man and his
environment, men and woman, intellect and instinct and different generations. The first
couple has a deep and loving understanding of each other, the second couple has a physical
passion for each other, and the third couple use language as a wall to keep them apart and
each tries to force their own wishes on the other.
James Joyce
He was born and brought up in Ireland. He is noted for his experimental use of language and
exploration of new literary method. Dubliners are his collection of short stories which gives
the realistic pictures of Dublin life with symbolic meaning. The Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man is his autobiographical novel in which Joyce has appeared in the form of his hero,
Stephan Dedalus, who is under the influence of Irish nationality, politics and religion. But he
realizes that the artist must be outside the society in order to be objective. So to make himself
free he escapes from Dublin life.
James Joyce’s Ulysses is one of the strangest novels written in English. Stephen Dedalus also
appears as a character in Ulysses. The central character, Leopold Bloom is an antihero rather
than a hero. The characters and some events of the novel have been derived from Old Greek
stories, as the title suggests. The novel is concerned with the artist and the nature of the
artistic creation. Joyce has used stream of consciousness technique a new style of writing, in
this novel. It is funny, satirical and partly realistic work and it contains many literary
references and many kinds of language.
Virginia Woolf
She has also used the technique of stream of consciousness in her novels. But unlike Joyce
she is interested to explore the consciousness in her novels. But unlike Joyce she is interested
to explore the consciousness of her novels. To the Lighthouse has an abrupt opening without
any background of setting. A family is on holiday in Scotland. The intense of James Ramsay,
a six year boy to visit to the lighthouse by boat is prevented by his father, Mr. Ramsay. The
novel ends with the revisiting of the house by the same family ten years later. James Ramsay
finally goes to the lighthouse with his father unwillingly. He hates his father both for
preventing him to go at the earlier time as well as insisting him to go at last. The novel
presents a fine pattern of symbolic relations and the study of the moral and psychological
problems.
Woolf’s Orlando might be called a symbolic biography of the author’s friend, Victoria
Saukville-West, with the hero, Orlando. In the novel, Orlando begins as a man in the
sixteenth century and ends as a man in 1928. It is a lively and humorous work containing a
considerable number of private jokes. Woolf also wrote other novels and critical writings.
Graham Greene
He divides his many books into two groups. In the first group there are sophisticated
adventure stories which he calls entertainments. His next group contains serous novels in
which he explores the difference between human decency and religious virtue, between moral
intention and irreligious act. The characters, which are seen nearer to God, are failure than
those who are successful in worldly affairs. Brighton Rock and The Power and the Glory are
his famous novels.
William Golding
He is a symbolic novelist. His first and well known novel Lord of the Flies has been probably
the most powerful English novel written since the war. It is the story told with clear realism
and symbolic meaning of a group of small children wrecked on a desert island. The novel
shows how the effects of civilization break down and they return to their essential animal
nature. For, Golding it is the essential nature of all human beings. His later novels also
contain his sense of human inadequacy and his own vision of man.
Anthony Burgess
He wrote various sorts of novels. He praised Joyce and imitated his way of using language.
His early three novels, which have the setting of Malaya take a lot form Forster’s A Passage
to India. A Clockwork Orange is his most famous novel, which present the picture of the
future in which a character named Alex willingly chooses the evil course in his life. He
intends to hurt the people and to make them suffer the pain because he takes delight in doing
so. Later he is taken to the doctor for cure. Burgess here wants to make a moral point that
Alex can choose both the options, either good or evil. The language of the novel contains
words from other languages, particularly Russian. The Wanting Seed is his satirical novel,
which has the setting of the future England.
Evelyn Waugh
He is famous as the greatest comic novelist of the century. He satirizes the unpleasant
situations by presenting comic events of characters who are often treated unkindly. The
events of comic situations are impossible to believe, but they are very amusing indeed. His
first novel Decline and Fall is about a young man’s innocence and the world’s dishonesty.
Scoop is a very humorous novel in which a wrong British reporter is sent to East Africa
during the war. When he returns another man is rewarded for the act which the first
man did not do. His later novels Men at Armsand Officers and Gentleman are serious and
religious.
George Orwell
He became a very famous writer, mainly because of his political and critical writing. His best
works are written on the political subjects. There is no doubt that he is considered to be the
most important political writer after the war. Orwell presents with great clarity, the realities of
social and political life of this time.
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four he describes how government uses language in order to
hide the truth and betray the people. The novel gives a picture of a future world where the
state provides a kind of television for the people to watch. The state slowly changes people’s
language and only such words are left in use among the people, which are suitable for the
purpose of the state. Thus, the language and action are controlled in order to control the
people by the state Orwell realizes that people must be given their freedom and the state
should not control them so strictly.
Animal Farm is his best-known novel. It is a political allegory which presents wrong political
events and revolution which were carried out just to capture the power and rule over the
country. He satirizes the absolute power holders who always believed in suppressing the
people and fulfilling their selfish desires. This is very well done by the novelist by using the
animal characters. In the story of the novels the animals on the farm are led by the pigs to
dismiss their master Jones. But when they hold the power, they become as selfish and cruel as
their master Jones.
Women Writers of Twentieth Century Novels and Prose

One of the interesting development in the twentieth century literature is the remarkable
increase in the number of women writers especially novelist. Some woman novelist, generally
deals with the same kind of subjects as men do, for example, Virginia Woolf and Iris
Murdoch.
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Her novels deal with the family life in a very original way. She presents the reality of
Victorian family life in her novels. Mostly her cruel and evil characters succeed where as
good characters remain unsuccessful in their lives. No force form outside or inside can
change her characters. The bad are never punished and good are never rewarded. In her
novels she deals with the traditions of the Victorian family to show that the realities of their
lives are basically cruel and destructive. Her famous novels include Brothers and Sisters,
Parents and Children and A Heritage and its History.
Doris Lessing
She is mainly concerned with the women’s problems in her novels. Her first novel, The Grass
is Singing is about the sad life of a poor white farmer’s wife. It has the setting of Southern
Africa. In Children of Violence the central character, Martha Quest, tries to break away from
old social ideas and traditions in order to live a free life. In her famous novel, The Golden
Notebook, Lessing deals with women’s lives, beliefs and problems with her great courage,
power and honesty. She explores how the pressures of the social and political events have
been put on women. The people in the novel are seen hostile and unfriendly towards women.
They hurt and treat female characters cruelly because they themselves are weak.
Margaret Drabble
Her novels also present women as main characters. But they do not express ideas and feelings
much about themselves; rather they are concerned mainly to receive higher education. In her
novels, The Millstone and The Waterfall the central characters who find themselves in
loneliness and frustration are brought into the happy world with love and human feelings.
Drabble creates a picture of unhappy in The Ice Age. The people in the novel are seen
unhappy because they only live in one part of their personality. It is shown as a danger to the
whole of society.
Over a few decades there has been a tremendous interest in the books written by and about
women. Virago Press has helped in this field by publishing the books about women and their
experience. Several important women writers from the first half of the country include
Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen, Storm Jameson and Rosamond Lehman. They have found a
new audience in this way.
Many writers who have been mentioned in terms of their other work have also written
science fiction. One of such writers is H.G. Wells. He was very interested in the scientific
advances of his age and looked ahead to imagine what the result might be in the future. He
was optimistic about the advantages of science. Many of his novels present a struggle
between two ways of life, the human and the non-human. Like Wells there are other writers
who have written in the area of science fiction, such as E. M. Forster, Aldous Huxley,
Kingsley Amis and Doris Lessing. George Orwell and Anthony Burgess also give pictures of
a future world in their work.
There is another group of writers who have mainly written science fiction. John Wyndham in
The Day of the Triffidsand The Krakam Wakes show a different world after the destruction of
present society. Brian Aldiss has written many books in this area. His Graybeard presents a
group of people trying to be alive even after the destruction of most of the world. Arthur C.
Clarke has written many science fictions, including The City and the Stars. His 2001: A
Space Odyssey is about the exploration in the space.
The Gothic Novel

Gothic fiction, which is largely known by the subgenre of Gothic horror, is a genre or mode
of literature and film that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance. Its origin
is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto,
subtitled (in its second edition) “A Gothic Story”. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a
pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at
the time of Walpole’s novel. It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century
where, following Walpole, it was further developed by Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William
Thomas Beckford and Matthew Lewis. The genre had much success in the 19th century, as
witnessed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe as well as
Charles Dickens with his novella, A Christmas Carol. Another well known novel in this
genre, dating from the late Victorian era, is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The name Gothic refers
to the (pseudo)-medieval buildings, emulating Gothic architecture, in which many of these
stories take place. This extreme form of romanticism was very popular in England and
Germany. The English Gothic novel also led to new novel types such as the German
Schauerroman and the French Georgia.
Top Ten Gothic Novels
Ø The Monk by Matthew Lewis

Ø The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Ø Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Ø Dracula by Bram Stoker
Ø The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Ø Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf by George William MacArthur
Ø The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
Ø The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Ø Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Ø The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
Realism-Naturalism
In the literary sense, realism and naturalism are terms used to describe the styles and themes
of particular time periods in both the U.S. and Europe. While these terms are sometimes used
interchangeably, they describe slightly different kinds of fiction. We’ll look at some general
definitions of these terms, the time periods they represent, and some examples from both
European and American fiction.
Realism
Realism, as the name suggests, was an attempt to describe situations as they might actually
occur, as opposed to romanticism which told stories that conformed to particular narrative
conventions, appealed to emotions, and sometimes invoked the supernatural. Realism can be
seen as a response to romanticism, which had previously been the dominant literary aesthetic.
Literary realism coincided with major cultural changes in Europe and America, such as
industrialization and the emergence of the middle-class. Indeed, most realist literature
considered the changing society from a white middle-class perspective, as this was the
demographic that had the time and leisure of reading novels.
Naturalism
While realism offered supposedly objective descriptions of real conditions with the hope of
improving society, naturalism often focused on determinism, or the inability of human
beings to resist the biological, social, and economic forces that dictated their behavior and
their fate.
Naturalism is usually considered to be an outgrowth of realism in its pursuit of realistic

depictions, but naturalist fiction was more likely to depict base human impulses and violence
and veered away from middle-class concerns. Instead, it often depicted more marginal
members of society, particularly those of low-wage factory labor that was creating a more
urban, regimented, unhealthy, and bleak existence for great masses of people.
Bildungsroman
It means that a novel deals with one person’s formative years or spiritual education. In
literary criticism, a Bildungsroman is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and
moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood in which character change is
extremely important. A Bildungsroman relates the growing up or “coming of age” of a

sensitive person who goes in search of answers to life’s questions with the expectation that
these will result from gaining experience of the world. The genre evolved from folklore tales
of a dunce or youngest child going out in the world to seek their fortune. Usually in the
beginning of the story there is an emotional loss which makes the protagonist leave on his/her
journey. In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity, and the protagonist achieves it gradually
and with difficulty. The genre often features a main conflict between the main character and
society. Typically, the values of society are gradually accepted by the protagonist and he/she
is ultimately accepted into society—the protagonist’s mistakes and disappointments are over.
In some works, the protagonist is able to reach out and help others after having achieved
maturity.
There are many variations and subgenres of Bildungsroman that focus on the growth of an
individual. An Entwicklungsroman (“development novel”) is a story of general growth rather
than self-cultivation. An Erziehungsroman (“education novel”) focuses on training and
formal schooling, while a Kunstlerroman (“artist novel”) is about the development of an artist
and shows a growth of the self. Furthermore, some memoirs and published journals can be
regarded as Bildungsroman although being predominantly factual (an example being The
Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto “Che” Guevara). The term is also more loosely used to
describe coming-of-age films and related works in other genres.
Stream of Consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or device that depicts the
multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind. The term was coined by
William James in 1890 in his The Principles of Psychology, and in 1918 the novelist May
Sinclair (1863-1946) first applied the term stream of consciousness, in a literary context,
when discussing Dorothy Richardson’s (1873-1957) novels. Pointed Roofs (1915), the first
work in Richardson’s series of 13 semi-autobiographical novels titled Pilgrimage, is the first
complete stream of consciousness novel published in English.
Stream of consciousness is a narrative device that attempts to give the written equivalent of
the character’s thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue (see below), or in
connection to his or her actions. Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a
special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in thought and
lack of some or all punctuation. Stream of consciousness and interior monologue are
distinguished from dramatic monologue and soliloquy, where the speaker is addressing an
audience or a third person, which are chiefly used in poetry or drama. In stream of
consciousness the speaker’s thought processes are more often depicted as overheard in the
mind (or addressed to oneself); it is primarily a fictional device.
Magic Realism
Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a genre of narrative fiction and,
more broadly, art (literature, painting, film, theatre, etc.) that, while encompassing a range of
subtly different concepts, expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also
adding or revealing magical elements. It is sometimes called fabulism, in reference to the
conventions of fables, myths, and allegory. “Magical realism”, perhaps the most common
term, often refers to fiction and literature in particular, with magic or the supernatural
presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting.
The terms are broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. Matthew Strecher defines
magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by
something too strange to believe”. Many writers are categorized as “magical realists”, which
confuses the term and its wide definition. Magical realism is often associated with Latin
American literature, particularly authors including genre founders Miguel Angel Asturias,
Jorge Luis Borges, Elena Garro, Juan Rulfo, Romulo Gallegos, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and
Isabel Allende. In English literature, its chief exponents include Salman Rushdie, Alice
Hoffman and Nick Joaquin.
Unit-II
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

Daniel Defoe was born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and
spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, which is second only to the Bible in
its number of translations. Defoe is noted for being one of the earliest proponents of the
novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and
Samuel Richardson, and is among the founders of the English novel. Defoe wrote many
political tracts and often was in trouble with the authorities, including prison time.
Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted
with him.
Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books,
pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage,
psychology, and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic
journalism.
Robinson Crusoe
-Daniel Defoe
Characters:
Robinson Crusoe- The narrator of the story. Crusoe sets sail at nineteen years of age, despite
his father’s demand that he stay at home and be content with his “middle station” in life.
Crusoe eventually establishes a farm in Brazil and realizes he is living the life his father
planned for him, but he is half a world away from England. Crusoe agrees to sail to the
Guinea Coast to trade for slaves, but when a terrible storm blows up, he is marooned on an
island, alone. He spends 35 years there, and his time on the island forms the basis of the
novel.
Captain’s Widow- The wife of the first captain to take young Crusoe under his wing. Crusoe
leaves his savings with the widow, who looks after his money with great care. Crusoe sees
her again after he leaves the island and returns to England; she encourages him to settle in
England.
Xury- A servant on the ship on which young Crusoe is a slave; Xury is loyal to Crusoe when
the two escape. Xury’s devotion to Crusoe foreshadows the role Friday later plays, although
young Crusoe later sells Xury back into slavery for a profit.
The Captain of the Ship -The captain of the ship that rescues young Crusoe and Xury; this
man befriends young Crusoe and offers him money and guidance. They reunite after
Crusoe’s 35 years on the island.
Friday -A “savage” whom Crusoe rescues from certain death at the hands of cannibals.
Friday is handsome, intelligent, brave, and loyal, none of which are qualities usually
associated with “savages.” He serves Crusoe faithfully throughout his life.
Summary:
Robinson Crusoe, as a young and impulsive wanderer, defied his parents and went to sea. He
was involved in a series of violent storms at sea and was warned by the captain that he should
not be a seafaring man. Ashamed to go home, Crusoe boarded another ship and returned from
a successful trip to Africa. Taking off again, Crusoe met with bad luck and was taken prisoner
in Sallee. His captors sent Crusoe out to fish, and he used this to his advantage and escaped,
along with a slave.
He was rescued by a Portuguese ship and started a new adventure. He landed in Brazil, and,
after some time, he became the owner of a sugar plantation. Hoping to increase his wealth by
buying slaves, he aligned himself with other planters and undertook a trip to Africa in order
to bring back a shipload of slaves. After surviving a storm, Crusoe and the others were
shipwrecked. He was thrown upon shore only to discover that he was the sole survivor of the
wreck.
Crusoe made immediate plans for food, and then shelter, to protect himself from wild
animals. He brought as many things as possible from the wrecked ship, things that would be
useful later to him. In addition, he began to develop talents that he had never used in order to
provide himself with necessities. Cut off from the company of men, he began to communicate
with God, thus beginning the first part of his religious conversion. To keep his sanity and to
entertain himself, he began a journal. In the journal, he recorded every task that he performed
each day since he had been marooned.
As time passed, Crusoe became a skilled craftsman, able to construct many useful things, and
thus furnished himself with diverse comforts. He also learned about farming, as a result of
some seeds which he brought with him. An illness prompted some prophetic dreams, and
Crusoe began to reappraise his duty to God. Crusoe explored his island and discovered
another part of the island much richer and more fertile, and he built a summer home there.
One of the first tasks he undertook was to build himself a canoe in case an escape became
possible, but the canoe was too heavy to get to the water. He then constructed a small boat
and journeyed around the island. Crusoe reflected on his earlier, wicked life, disobeying his
parents, and wondered if it might be related to his isolation on this island.
After spending about fifteen years on the island, Crusoe found a man’s naked footprint, and
he was sorely beset by apprehensions, which kept him awake many nights. He considered
many possibilities to account for the footprint and he began to take extra precautions against a
possible intruder. Sometime later, Crusoe was horrified to find human bones scattered about
the shore, evidently the remains of a savage feast. He was plagued again with new fears. He
explored the nature of cannibalism and debated his right to interfere with the customs of
another race.
Crusoe was cautious for several years, but encountered nothing more to alarm him. He found
a cave, which he used as a storage room, and in December of the same year, he spied
cannibals sitting around a campfire. He did not see them again for quite some time.
Later, Crusoe saw a ship in distress, but everyone was already drowned on the ship and
Crusoe remained companionless. However, he was able to take many provisions from this
newly wrecked ship. Sometime later, cannibals landed on the island and a victim escaped.
Crusoe saved his life, named him Friday, and taught him English. Friday soon became
Crusoe’s humble and devoted slave.
Crusoe and Friday made plans to leave the island and, accordingly, they built another boat.
Crusoe also undertook Friday’s religious education, converting the savage into a Protestant.
Their voyage was postponed due to the return of the savages. This time it was necessary to
attack the cannibals in order to save two prisoners since one was a white man. The white man
was a Spaniard and the other was Friday’s father. Later the four of them planned a voyage to
the mainland to rescue sixteen compatriots of the Spaniard. First, however, they built up their
food supply to assure enough food for the extra people. Crusoe and Friday agreed to wait on
the island while the Spaniard and Friday’s father brought back the other men.
A week later, they spied a ship but they quickly learned that there had been a mutiny on
board. By devious means, Crusoe and Friday rescued the captain and two other men, and after
much scheming, regained control of the ship. The grateful captain gave Crusoe many gifts
and took him and Friday back to England. Some of the rebel crewmen were left marooned on
the island.
Crusoe returned to England and found that in his absence he had become a wealthy man.
After going to Lisbon to handle some of his affairs, Crusoe began an overland journey back
to England. Crusoe and his company encountered many hardships in crossing the mountains,
but they finally arrived safely in England. Crusoe sold his plantation in Brazil for a good
price, married, and had three children. Finally, however, he was persuaded to go on yet
another voyage, and he visited his old island, where there were promises of new adventures
to be found in a later account.
Jane Austen (1775-1817)

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which
interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.
Austen’s plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of
favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility
of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary
realism. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned
her acclaim among critics and scholars.
With the publications of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield
Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two
additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818,
and began another, eventually titled Sandition, but died before its completion. Her novels
have rarely been out of print, although they were published anonymously and brought her
little fame during her lifetime.
A significant transition in her posthumous reputation occurred in 1833, when her novels were
republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series, illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering, and
.
sold as a set. They gradually gained wider acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two
years after her death, her nephew’s publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a
compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience.
Austen has inspired a large number of critical essays and literary anthologies. Her novels
have inspired many films, from 1940’s Pride and Prejudice to more recent productions like
Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Love and Friendship (2016).
Emma
-Jane Austen
Characters:
Emma Woodhouse - The protagonist of the novel. In the well-known first sentence of the
novel, the narrator describes Emma as “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home
and happy disposition.” In some ways, the twenty-year-old Emma is mature for her age.
Because her mother is dead and her older sister married, she is already the head of her
father’s household. She cares for her father and oversees the social goings-on in the village of
Highbury. Emma’s misplaced confidence in her abilities as a matchmaker and her prudish
fear of love constitute the central focus of the novel, which traces Emma’s mistakes and
growing self-understanding.
Mr. George Knightley - Emma’s brother-in-law and the Woodhouses’ trusted friend and
advisor. Knightley is a respected landowner in his late thirties. He lives at Donwell Abbey
and leases property to the Martins, a family of wealthy farmers whom he likes and counsels.
Knightley is the only character who is openly critical of Emma, pointing out her flaws and
foibles with frankness, out of genuine concern and care for her. In this respect, he acts as a
stand-in for Austen’s and the reader’s judgments of Emma.
Mr. Woodhouse - Emma’s father and the patriarch of Hartfield, the Woodhouse estate.
Though Mr. Woodhouse is nervous, frail, and prone to hypochondria, he is also known for his
friendliness and his attachment to his daughter. He is very resistant to change, to the point
that he is unhappy to see his daughters or Emma’s governess marry. In this sense, he impedes
Emma’s growth and acceptance of her adult destiny. He is often foolish and clearly not
Emma’s intellectual equal, but she comforts and entertains him with insight and affection.
Harriet Smith - A pretty but unremarkable seventeen-year-old woman of uncertain

parentage, who lives at the local boarding school. Harriet becomes Emma’s protégé and the
object of her matchmaking schemes.
Frank Churchill - Mr. Weston’s son and Mrs. Weston’s stepson. Frank Churchill lives at
Enscombe with his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Churchill. He is considered a potential
suitor for Emma, but she learns that though Frank is attractive, charming, and clever, he is
also irresponsible, deceitful, rash, and ultimately unsuited to her.
Jane Fairfax - Miss Bates’s niece, whose arrival in Highbury irritates Emma. Jane rivals
Emma in accomplishment and beauty; she possesses a kind heart and a reserved
temperament. Because Jane lacks Emma’s fortune, she must consider employment as a
governess, but her marriage to Frank Churchill saves her from that fate.
Mrs. Weston - Formerly Miss Taylor, Emma’s beloved governess and companion. Known
for her kind temperament and her devotion to Emma, Mrs. Weston lives at Randalls with her
husband, Frank Churchill’s father.
Mr. Weston - The widower and proprietor of Randalls, who has just married Miss Taylor
when the novel begins. Mr. Weston has a son, Frank, from his first marriage to Miss
Churchill (Frank was raised by Miss Churchill’s sister and brother-in-law). Mr. Weston is
warm, sociable, and perpetually optimistic.
Mr. Elton - The village vicar, a handsome and agreeable man considered a welcome addition
to any social gathering. When he reveals his indifference to Harriet and his desire to marry
Emma, only to take a bride at Bath shortly thereafter, he comes to seem proud, conceited, and
superficial.
Mr. Robert Martin - A twenty-four-year-old farmer. Mr. Martin is industrious and good-
hearted, though he lacks the refinements of a gentleman. He lives at Abbey-Mill Farm, a
property owned by Knightley, with his mother and sisters.
Miss Bates - Friend of Mr. Woodhouse and aunt of Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates is a middle-aged
spinster without beauty or cleverness but with universal goodwill and a gentle temperament.
Emma’s impatient treatment of her reveals the less attractive parts of Emma’s character.
Isabella Knightley - Emma’s older sister, who lives in London with her husband, Mr. John
Knightley, and their five children. Isabella is pretty, amiable, and completely devoted to her
family, but slow and diffident compared to Emma. Her domesticity provides a contrast to the
independent celibacy Emma imagines for herself.
Mr. John Knightley - Emma’s brother-in-law, and Mr. George Knightley’s brother. As a
lawyer, John Knightley is clear-minded but somewhat sharp in temper, and Emma and her
father are sometimes displeased with his severity.
Mrs. Elton - Formerly Augusta Hawkins, Mrs. Elton hails from Bristol and meets Mr. Elton
in Bath. She is somewhat attractive and accomplished; she has some fortune and a well-
married sister, but her vanity, superficiality, and vulgar over familiarity offset her admirable
qualities.
Mrs. Churchill - Mr. Weston’s ailing former sister-in-law and Frank Churchill’s aunt and
guardian. She is known to be capricious, ill-tempered, and extremely possessive of Frank.
Frank is able to marry Jane Fairfax, as he desires, only after Mrs. Churchill’s death.
Colonel Campbell - A friend of Jane Fairfax’s father who lives in London and who takes
charge of orphaned Jane when she is eight years old. Colonel Campbell feels great affection
for Jane but is unable to provide her with an inheritance.
Mrs. Dixon - The Campbells’ daughter and Jane’s friend. Mrs. Dixon lacks beauty and lives
with her husband in Ireland.
Mr. Dixon - Husband to the Campbells’ daughter. Emma suspects that Mr. Dixon had a
romance with Jane Fairfax before his marriage.
Mrs. Goddard - Mistress of the local boarding school. Mrs. Goddard introduces Harriet
Smith to the Woodhouses.
Mrs. Bates - Mother to Miss Bates and friend of Mr. Woodhouse. An elderly woman, Mrs.
Bates is quiet, amiable, and somewhat deaf.
Mr. Perry - An apothecary and associate of Emma’s father. Mr. Perry is highly esteemed by
Mr. Woodhouse for his medical advice even though he is not a proper physician, and Mr.
Woodhouse argues with his daughter Isabella over Perry’s recommendations.
Elizabeth Martin - Mr. Martin’s kind sister, with whom Harriet was good friends before
meeting Emma and turning down Mr. Martin’s marriage proposal. Harriet’s feelings of guilt
and her desire to rekindle her relationship with Elizabeth pose a dilemma for Emma, who
finds the Martins pleasant, worthy people, but worries that Harriet may be tempted to accept
Mr. Martin’s offer if she again grows close with the family.
Mr. and Mrs. Cole - Tradespeople and longtime residents of Highbury whose good fortune
of the past several years has led them to adopt a luxurious lifestyle that is only a notch below
that of the Woodhouses. Offended by their attempt to transcend their “only moderately
genteel” social status, Emma has long been preparing to turn down any dinner invitation from
the Coles in order to teach them their folly in thinking they can interact socially with the likes
of her family. Like the Martins, the Coles are the means through which Emma demonstrates
her class-consciousness.
Summary:
Emma Woodhouse, the main character in the novel, never marries. She is a precocious
twenty-year-old resident of the village of Highbury, imagines herself to be naturally gifted in
conjuring love matches. After self-declared success at matchmaking between her governess
and Mr. Weston, a village widower, Emma takes it upon herself to find an eligible match for
her new friend, Harriet Smith. Though Harriet’s parentage is unknown, Emma is convinced
that Harriet deserves to be a gentleman’s wife and sets her friend’s sights on Mr. Elton, the
village vicar. Meanwhile, Emma persuades Harriet to reject the proposal of Robert Martin, a
well-to-do farmer for whom Harriet clearly has feelings.
Harriet becomes infatuated with Mr. Elton under Emma’s encouragement, but Emma’s plans
go awry when Elton makes it clear that his affection is for Emma, not Harriet. Emma realizes
that her obsession with making a match for Harriet has blinded her to the true nature of the
situation. Mr Knightley, Emma’s brother-in-law and treasured friend, watches Emma’s
matchmaking efforts with a critical eye. He believes that Mr. Martin is a worthy young man
whom Harriet would be lucky to marry. He and Emma quarrel over Emma’s meddling, and,
as usual, Mr. Knightley proves to be the wiser of the pair. Elton, spurned by Emma and
offended by her insinuation that Harriet is his equal, leaves for the town of Bath and marries a
girl there almost immediately.
Emma is left to comfort Harriet and to wonder about the character of a new visitor expected
in Highbury—Mr. Weston’s son, Frank Churchill. Frank is set to visit his father in Highbury
after having been raised by his aunt and uncle in London, who have taken him as their heir.
Emma knows nothing about Frank, who has long been deterred from visiting his father by his
aunt’s illnesses and complaints. Mr. Knightley is immediately suspicious of the young man,
especially after Frank rushes back to London merely to have his hair cut. Emma, however,
finds Frank delightful and notices that his charms are directed mainly toward her. Though she
plans to discourage these charms, she finds herself flattered and engaged in a flirtation with
the young man. Emma greets Jane Fairfax, another addition to the Highbury set, with less
enthusiasm. Jane is beautiful and accomplished, but Emma dislikes her because of her reserve
and, the narrator insinuates, because she is jealous of Jane.
Suspicion, intrigue, and misunderstandings ensue. Mr. Knightley defends Jane, saying that
she deserves compassion because, unlike Emma, she has no independent fortune and must
soon leave home to work as a governess. Mrs. Weston suspects that the warmth of Mr.
Knightley’s defense comes from romantic feelings, an implication Emma resists. Everyone
assumes that Frank and Emma are forming an attachment, though Emma soon dismisses
Frank as a potential suitor and imagines him as a match for Harriet. At a village ball,
Knightley earns Emma’s approval by offering to dance with Harriet, who has just been
humiliated by Mr. Elton and his new wife. The next day, Frank saves Harriet from Gypsy
beggars. When Harriet tells Emma that she has fallen in love with a man above her social
station, Emma believes that she means Frank. Knightley begins to suspect that Frank and Jane
have a secret understanding, and he attempts to warn Emma. Emma laughs at Knightley’s
suggestion and loses Knightley’s approval when she flirts with Frank and insults Miss Bates,
a kindhearted spinster and Jane’s aunt, at a picnic. When Knightley reprimands Emma, she
weeps.
News comes that Frank’s aunt has died, and this event paves the way for an unexpected
revelation that slowly solves the mysteries. Frank and Jane have been secretly engaged; his
attentions to Emma have been a screen to hide his true preference. With his aunt’s death and
his uncle’s approval, Frank can now marry Jane, the woman he loves. Emma worries that
Harriet will be crushed, but she soon discovers that it is Knightley, not Frank, who is the
object of Harriet’s affection. Harriet believes that Knightley shares her feelings. Emma finds
herself upset by Harriet’s revelation, and her distress forces her to realize that she is in love
with Knightley. Emma expects Knightley to tell her he loves Harriet, but, to her delight,
Knightley declares his love for Emma. Harriet is soon comforted by a second proposal from
Robert Martin, which she accepts. The novel ends with the marriage of Harriet and Mr.
Martin and that of Emma and Mr. Knightley, resolving the question of who loves whom after
all.
Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

Charlotte Bronte was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Bronte sisters who
survived into adulthood and whose novels have become classics of English literature. She
first published her works (including her best known novel, Jane Eyre) under the pen name
Currer Bell. A writer all her life, Brontë published her first novel, Jane Eyre, in 1847 under
the manly pseudonym Currer Bell. Though controversial in its criticism of society’s treatment
of impoverished women, the book was an immediate hit. She followed the success with
Shirley in 1848 and Villette in 1853.
Jane Eyre
-Charlotte Bronte
Characters:
Jane Eyre - The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-
featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she
meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at
asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She
also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social
equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor.
Edward Rochester - Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, Rochester is a wealthy,
passionate man with a dark secret that provides much of the novel’s suspense. Rochester is
unconventional, ready to set aside polite manners, propriety, and consideration of social class
in order to interact with Jane frankly and directly. He is rash and impetuous and has spent
much of his adult life roaming about Europe in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his
youthful indiscretions. His problems are partly the result of his own recklessness, but he is a
sympathetic figure because he has suffered for so long as a result of his early marriage to
Bertha.
St. John Rivers - Along with his sisters, Mary and Diana, St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”)
serves as Jane’s benefactor after she runs away from Thornfield, giving her food and shelter.
The minister at Morton, St. John is cold, reserved, and often controlling in his interactions
with others. Because he is entirely alienated from his feelings and devoted solely to an
austere ambition, St. John serves as a foil to Edward Rochester.
Mrs. Reed - Mrs. Reed is Jane’s cruel aunt, who raises her at Gateshead Hall until Jane is
sent away to school at age ten. Later in her life, Jane attempts reconciliation with her aunt, but
the old woman continues to resent her because her husband had always loved Jane more than
his own children.
Bessie Lee - The maid at Gateshead, Bessie is the only figure in Jane’s childhood who
regularly treats her kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Bessie later marries
Robert Leaven, the Reeds’ coachman.
Mr. Lloyd - Mr. Lloyd is the Reeds’ apothecary, who suggests that Jane be sent away to
school. Always kind to Jane, Mr. Lloyd writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane’s
story about her childhood and clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed’s charge that she is a liar.
Georgiana Reed - Georgiana Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters.
The beautiful Georgiana treats Jane cruelly when they are children, but later in their lives she
befriends her cousin and confides in her. Georgiana attempts to elope with a man named Lord
Edwin Vere, but her sister, Eliza, alerts Mrs. Reed of the arrangement and sabotages the plan.
After Mrs. Reed dies, Georgiana marries a wealthy man.
Eliza Reed - Eliza Reed is Jane’s cousin and one of Mrs. Reed’s two daughters (along with
her sister, Georgiana). Not as beautiful as her sister, Eliza devotes herself somewhat self-
righteously to the church and eventually goes to a convent in France where she becomes the
Mother Superior.
John Reed - John Reed is Jane’s cousin, Mrs. Reed’s son, and brother to Eliza and
Georgiana. John treats Jane with appalling cruelty during their childhood and later falls into a
life of drinking and gambling. John commits suicide midway through the novel when his
mother ceases to pay his debts for him.
Helen Burns - Helen Burns is Jane’s close friend at the Lowood School. She endures her
miserable life there with a passive dignity that Jane cannot understand. Helen dies of
consumption in Jane’s arms.
Mr. Brocklehurst - The cruel, hypocritical master of the Lowood School, Mr. Brocklehurst
preaches a doctrine of privation, while stealing from the school to support his luxurious
lifestyle. After a typhus epidemic sweeps Lowood, Brocklehurst’s shifty and dishonest
practices are brought to light and he is publicly discredited.
Maria Temple - Maria Temple is a kind teacher at Lowood, who treats Jane and Helen with
respect and compassion. Along with Bessie Lee, she serves as one of Jane’s first positive
female role models. Miss Temple helps clear Jane of Mrs. Reed’s accusations against her.
Miss Scatcherd - Jane’s sour and vicious teacher at Lowood, Miss Scatcherd behaves with
particular cruelty toward Helen.
Alice Fairfax - Alice Fairfax is the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. She is the first to tell
Jane that the mysterious laughter often heard echoing through the halls is, in fact, the laughter
of Grace Poole—a lie that Rochester himself often repeats.
Bertha Mason - Rochester’s clandestine wife, Bertha Mason is a formerly beautiful and
wealthy Creole woman who has become insane, violent, and bestial. She lives locked in a
secret room on the third story of Thornfield and is guarded by Grace Poole, whose occasional
bouts of inebriation sometimes enable Bertha to escape. Bertha eventually burns down
Thornfield, plunging to her death in the flames.
Grace Poole - Grace Poole is Bertha Mason’s keeper at Thornfield, whose drunken
carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape. When Jane first arrives at Thornfield, Mrs.
Fairfax attributes to Grace all evidence of Bertha’s misdeeds.
Adèle Varens - Jane’s pupil at Thornfield, Adèle Varens is a lively though somewhat spoiled
child from France. Rochester brought her to Thornfield after her mother, Celine, abandoned
her. Although Celine was once Rochester’s mistress, he does not believe himself to be
Adèle’s father.
Celine Varens - Celine Varens is a French opera dancer with whom Rochester once had an
affair. Although Rochester does not believe Celine’s claims that he fathered her daughter
Adèle, he nonetheless brought the girl to England when Celine abandoned her. Rochester had
broken off his relationship with Celine after learning that Celine was unfaithful to him and
interested only in his money.
Sophie - Sophie is Adèle’s French nurse at Thornfield.
Richard Mason - Richard Mason is Bertha’s brother. During a visit to Thornfield, he is

injured by his mad sister. After learning of Rochester’s intent to marry Jane, Mason arrives
with the solicitor Briggs in order to thwart the wedding and reveal the truth of Rochester’s
prior marriage.
Mr. Briggs - John Eyre’s attorney, Mr. Briggs helps Richard Mason prevent Jane’s wedding
to Rochester when he learns of the existence of Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife. After John
Eyre’s death, Briggs searches for Jane in order to give her her inheritance.
Blanche Ingram - Blanche Ingram is a beautiful socialite who despises Jane and hopes to
marry Rochester for his money.
Diana Rivers - Diana Rivers is Jane’s cousin, and the sister of St. John and Mary. Diana is a
kind and intelligent person, and she urges Jane not to go to India with St. John. She serves as
a model for Jane of an intellectually gifted and independent woman.
Mary Rivers - Mary Rivers is Jane’s cousin, the sister of St. John and Diana. Mary is a kind
and intelligent young woman who is forced to work as a governess after her father loses his
fortune. Like her sister, she serves as a model for Jane of an independent woman who is also
able to maintain close relationships with others and a sense of meaning in her life.
Rosamond Oliver - Rosamond is the beautiful daughter of Mr. Oliver, Morton’s wealthiest
inhabitant. Rosamond gives money to the school in Morton where Jane works. Although she
is in love with St. John, she becomes engaged to the wealthy Mr. Granby.
John Eyre - John Eyre is Jane’s uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune of 20,000 pounds.
Uncle Reed - Uncle Reed is Mrs. Reed’s late husband. In her childhood, Jane believes that
she feels the presence of his ghost. Because he was always fond of Jane and her mother (his
sister), Uncle Reed made his wife promise that she would raise Jane as her own child. It is a
promise that Mrs. Reed does not keep.
Summary:
Jane Eyre is a young orphan being raised by Mrs. Reed, her cruel, wealthy aunt. A servant
named Bessie provides Jane with some of the few kindnesses she receives, telling her stories
and singing songs to her. One day, as punishment for fighting with her bullying cousin John
Reed, Jane’s aunt imprisons Jane in the red-room, the room in which Jane’s Uncle Reed died.
While locked in, Jane, believing that she sees her uncle’s ghost, screams and faints. She
wakes to find herself in the care of Bessie and the kindly apothecary Mr. Lloyd, who suggests
to Mrs. Reed that Jane be sent away to school. To Jane’s delight, Mrs. Reed concurs.
Once at the Lowood School, Jane finds that her life is far from idyllic. The school’s
headmaster is Mr. Brocklehurst, a cruel, hypocritical, and abusive man. Brocklehurst
preaches a doctrine of poverty and privation to his students while using the school’s funds to
provide a wealthy and opulent lifestyle for his own family. At Lowood, Jane befriends a
young girl named Helen Burns, whose strong, martyrlike attitude toward the school’s
miseries is both helpful and displeasing to Jane. A massive typhus epidemic sweeps Lowood,
and Helen dies of consumption. The epidemic also results in the departure of Mr.
Brocklehurst by attracting attention to the insalubrious conditions at Lowood. After a group
of more sympathetic gentlemen takes Brocklehurst’s place, Jane’s life improves dramatically.
She spends eight more years at Lowood, six as a student and two as a teacher.
After teaching for two years, Jane yearns for new experiences. She accepts a governess
position at a manor called Thornfield, where she teaches a lively French girl named Adèle.
The distinguished housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax presides over the estate. Jane’s employer at
Thornfield is a dark, impassioned man named Rochester, with whom Jane finds herself
falling secretly in love. She saves Rochester from a fire one night, which he claims was
started by a drunken servant named Grace Poole. But because Grace Poole continues to work
at Thornfield, Jane concludes that she has not been told the entire story. Jane sinks into
despondency when Rochester brings home a beautiful but vicious woman named Blanche
Ingram. Jane expects Rochester to propose to Blanche. But Rochester instead proposes to
Jane, who accepts almost disbelievingly.
The wedding day arrives, and as Jane and Mr. Rochester prepare to exchange their vows, the
voice of Mr. Mason cries out that Rochester already has a wife. Mason introduces himself as
the brother of that wife—a woman named Bertha. Mr. Mason testifies that Bertha, whom
Rochester married when he was a young man in Jamaica, is still alive. Rochester does not
deny Mason’s claims, but he explains that Bertha has gone mad. He takes the wedding party
back to Thornfield, where they witness the insane Bertha Mason scurrying around on all fours
and growling like an animal. Rochester keeps Bertha hidden on the third story of Thornfield
and pays Grace Poole to keep his wife under control. Bertha was the real cause of
the mysterious fire earlier in the story. Knowing that it is impossible for her to be with
Rochester, Jane flees Thornfield.
Penniless and hungry, Jane is forced to sleep outdoors and beg for food. At last, three siblings
who live in a manor alternatively called Marsh End and Moor House take her in. Their names
are Mary, Diana, and St. John (pronounced “Sinjin”) Rivers, and Jane quickly becomes
friends with them. St. John is a clergyman, and he finds Jane a job teaching at a charity
school in Morton. He surprises her one day by declaring that her uncle, John Eyre, has died
and left her a large fortune: 20,000 pounds. When Jane asks how he received this news, he
shocks her further by declaring that her uncle was also his uncle: Jane and the Riverses are
cousins. Jane immediately decides to share her inheritance equally with her three newfound
relatives.
St. John decides to travel to India as a missionary, and he urges Jane to accompany him—as
his wife. Jane agrees to go to India but refuses to marry her cousin because she does not love
him. St. John pressures her to reconsider, and she nearly gives in. However, she realizes that
she cannot abandon forever the man she truly loves when one night she hears Rochester’s
voice calling her name over the moors. Jane immediately hurries back to Thornfield and finds
that it has been burned to the ground by Bertha Mason, who lost her life in the fire. Rochester
saved the servants but lost his eyesight and one of his hands. Jane travels on to Rochester’s
new residence, Ferndean, where he lives with two servants named John and Mary.
At Ferndean, Rochester and Jane rebuild their relationship and soon marry. At the end of her
story, Jane writes that she has been married for ten blissful years and that she and Rochester
enjoy perfect equality in their life together. She says that after two years of blindness,
Rochester regained sight in one eye and was able to behold their first son at his birth.
Unit-III
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of
the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist
of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by
the 20th century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and
short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was
incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly
journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction
articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and
campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens’s literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers.
Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour,
satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly
or weekly installments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the
dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications
kept readers in suspense. The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience’s
reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback.
For example, when his wife’s chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in
David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with
positive features. His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from
topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in happenings to have
each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas
Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver
Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke
images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and
Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised by fellow writers
—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose
style, unique characterizations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry
James and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a
vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is
reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive
characters.
Hard Times
-Charles Dickens
Summary:
Character List
Thomas Gradgrind - A wealthy, retired merchant in Coketown, England; he later becomes a
Member of Parliament. Mr. Gradgrind espouses a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and
cold, hard fact. He describes himself as an “eminently practical” man, and he tries to raise his
children—Louisa, Tom, Jane, Adam Smith, and Malthus—to be equally practical by
forbidding the development of their imaginations and emotions.
Louisa - Gradgrind’s daughter, later Bounderby’s wife. Confused by her coldhearted

upbringing, Louisa feels disconnected from her emotions and alienated from other people.
While she vaguely recognizes that her father’s system of education has deprived her
childhood of all joy, Louisa cannot actively invoke her emotions or connect with others. Thus
she marries Bounderby to please her father, even though she does not love her husband.
Indeed, the only person she loves completely is her brother Tom.
Thomas Gradgrind, Jr - Gradgrind’s eldest son and an apprentice at Bounderby’s bank,

who is generally called Tom. Tom reacts to his strict upbringing by becoming a dissipated,
hedonistic, hypocritical young man. Although he appreciates his sister’s affection, Tom
cannot return it entirely—he loves money and gambling even more than he loves Louisa.
These vices lead him to rob Bounderby’s bank and implicate Stephen as the robbery’s prime
suspect.
Josiah Bounderby - Gradgrind’s friend and later Louisa’s husband. Bounderby claims to be
a self-made man and boastfully describes being abandoned by his mother as a young boy.
From his childhood poverty he has risen to become a banker and factory owner in Coketown,
known by everyone for his wealth and power. His true upbringing, by caring and devoted
parents, indicates that his social mobility is a hoax and calls into question the whole notion of
social mobility in nineteenth-century England.
Cecelia Jupe - The daughter of a clown in Sleary’s circus. Sissy is taken in by Gradgrind
when her father disappears. Sissy serves as a foil, or contrast, to Louisa: while Sissy is
imaginative and compassionate, Louisa is rational and, for the most part, unfeeling. Sissy
embodies the Victorian femininity that counterbalances mechanization and industry. Through
Sissy’s interaction with her, Louisa is able to explore her more sensitive, feminine sides.
Mrs. Sparsit - Bounderby’s housekeeper, who goes to live at the bank apartments when
Bounderby marries Louisa. Once a member of the aristocratic elite, Mrs. Sparsit fell on hard
times after the collapse of her marriage. A selfish, manipulative, dishonest woman, Mrs.
Sparsit cherishes secret hopes of ruining Bounderby’s marriage so that she can marry him
herself. Mrs. Sparsit’s aristocratic background is emphasized by the narrator’s frequent
allusions to her “Roman” and “Coriolanian” appearance.
Stephen Blackpool - A Hand in Bounderby’s factory. Stephen loves Rachael but is unable to
marry her because he is already married, albeit to a horrible, drunken woman. A man of great
honesty, compassion, and integrity, Stephen maintains his moral ideals even when he is
shunned by his fellow workers and fired by Bounderby. Stephen’s values are similar to those
endorsed by the narrator.
Rachael - A simple, honest Hand who loves Stephen Blackpool. To Stephen, she represents
domestic happiness and moral purity.
James Harthouse - A sophisticated and manipulative young London gentleman who comes
to Coketown to enter politics as a disciple of Gradgrind, simply because he thinks it might
alleviate his boredom. In his constant search for a new form of amusement, Harthouse
quickly becomes attracted to Louisa and resolves to seduce her.
Mr. Sleary - The lisping proprietor of the circus where Sissy’s father was an entertainer.
Later, Mr. Sleary hides Tom Gradgrind and helps him flee the country. Mr. Sleary and his
troop of entertainers value laughter and fantasy whereas Mr. Gradgrind values rationality and
fact.
Bitzer - Bitzer is one of the successes produced by Gradgrind’s rationalistic system of

education. Initially a bully at Gradgrind’s school, Bitzer later becomes an employee and a spy
at Bounderby’s bank. An uncharacteristically pale character and unrelenting disciple of fact,
Bitzer almost stops Tom from fleeing after it is discovered that Tom is the true bank robber.
Mr. McChoakumchild - The unpleasant teacher at Gradgrind’s school. As his name

suggests, McChoakumchild is not overly fond of children, and stifles or chokes their
imaginations and feelings.
Mrs. Pegler - Bounderby’s mother, unbeknownst as such to all except herself and
Bounderby. Mrs. Pegler makes an annual visit to Coketown in order to admire her son’s
prosperity from a safe distance. Mrs. Pegler’s appearance uncovers the hoax that her son
Bounderby has been attesting throughout the story, which is that he is a self-made man who
was abandoned as a child.
Mrs. Gradgrind - Gradgrind’s whiny, anemic wife, who constantly tells her children to
study their “ologies” and complains that she’ll “never hear the end” of any complaint.
Although Mrs. Gradgrind does not share her husband’s interest in facts, she lacks the energy
and the imagination to oppose his system of education.
Slackbridge - The crooked orator who convinces the Hands to unionize and turns them
against Stephen Blackpool when he refuses to join the union.
Jane Gradgrind - Gradgrind’s younger daughter; Louisa and Tom’s sister. Because Sissy
largely raises her, Jane is a happier little girl than her sister, Louisa.
Summary:
Thomas Gradgrind, a wealthy, retired merchant in the industrial city of Coketown, England,
devotes his life to a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He raises his oldest
children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in
fanciful or imaginative pursuits. He founds a school and charitably takes in one of the
students, the kindly and imaginative Sissy Jupe, after the disappearance of her father, a circus
entertainer.
As the Gradgrind children grow older, Tom becomes a dissipated, self-interested hedonist,
and Louisa struggles with deep inner confusion, feeling as though she is missing something
important in her life. Eventually Louisa marries Gradgrind’s friend Josiah Bounderby, a
wealthy factory owner and banker more than twice her age. Bounderby continually trumpets
his role as a self-made man who was abandoned in the gutter by his mother as an infant. Tom
is apprenticed at the Bounderby bank, and Sissy remains at the Gradgrind home to care for
the younger children.
In the meantime, impoverished “Hand”— Dickens’s term for the lowest laborers in
Coketown’s factories—named Stephen Blackpool struggles with his love for Rachael,
another poor factory worker. He is unable to marry her because he is already married to a
horrible, drunken woman who disappears for months and even years at a time. Stephen visits
Bounderby to ask about a divorce but learns that only the wealthy can obtain them. Outside
Bounderby’s home, he meets Mrs. Pegler, a strange old woman with an inexplicable devotion
to Bounderby.
James Harthouse, a wealthy young sophisticate from London, arrives in Coketown to begin a
political career as a disciple of Gradgrind, who is now a Member of Parliament. He
immediately takes an interest in Louisa and decides to try to seduce her. With the unspoken
aid of Mrs. Sparsit, a former aristocrat who has fallen on hard times and now works for
Bounderby, he sets about trying to corrupt Louisa.
The Hands, exhorted by a crooked union spokesman named Slackbridge, try to form a union.
Only Stephen refuses to join because he feels that a union strike would only increase tensions
between employers and employees. He is cast out by the other Hands and fired by Bounderby
when he refuses to spy on them. Louisa, impressed with Stephen’s integrity, visits him before
he leaves Coketown and helps him with some money. Tom accompanies her and tells
Stephen that if he waits outside the bank for several consecutive nights, help will come to
him. Stephen does so, but no help arrives. Eventually he packs up and leaves Coketown,
hoping to find agricultural work in the country. Not long after that, the bank is robbed, and
the lone suspect is Stephen, the vanished Hand who was seen loitering outside the bank for
several nights just before disappearing from the city.
Mrs. Sparsit witnesses Harthouse declaring his love for Louisa, and Louisa agrees to meet
him in Coketown later that night. However, Louisa instead flees to her father’s house, where
she miserably confides to Gradgrind that her upbringing has left her married to a man she
does not love, disconnected from her feelings, deeply unhappy, and possibly in love with
Harthouse. She collapses to the floor, and Gradgrind, struck dumb with self-reproach, begins
to realize the imperfections in his philosophy of rational self-interest.
Sissy, who loves Louisa deeply, visits Harthouse and convinces him to leave Coketown
forever. Bounderby, furious that his wife has left him, redoubles his efforts to capture
Stephen. When Stephen tries to return to clear his good name, he falls into a mining pit called
Old Hell Shaft. Rachael and Louisa discover him, but he dies soon after an emotional
farewell to Rachael. Gradgrind and Louisa realize that Tom is really responsible for robbing
the bank, and they arrange to sneak him out of England with the help of the circus performers
with whom Sissy spent her early childhood. They are nearly successful, but are stopped by
Bitzer, a young man who went to Gradgrind’s school and who embodies all the qualities of
the detached rationalism that Gradgrind once espoused, but who now sees its limits. Sleary,
the lisping circus proprietor, arranges for Tom to slip out of Bitzer’s grasp, and the young
robber escapes from England after all.
Mrs. Sparsit, anxious to help Bounderby find the robbers, drags Mrs. Pegler—a known
associate of Stephen Blackpool—in to see Bounderby, thinking Mrs. Pegler is a potential
witness. Bounderby recoils, and it is revealed that Mrs. Pegler is really his loving mother,
whom he has forbidden to visit him: Bounderby is not a self-made man after all. Angrily,
Bounderby fires Mrs. Sparsit and sends her away to her hostile relatives. Five years later, he
will die alone in the streets of Coketown. Gradgrind gives up his philosophy of fact and
devotes his political power to helping the poor. Tom realizes the error of his ways but dies
without ever seeing his family again. While Sissy marries and has a large and loving family,
Louisa never again marries and never has children. Nevertheless, Louisa is loved by Sissy’s
family and learns at last how to feel sympathy for her fellow human beings.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of
George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism,
especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society,
especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native
South West England.
While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his
first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author
of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge, (1886),
Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy’s
poetry was acclaimed by younger poets who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his
poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W.H. Auden and Philop Larkin.
Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social
circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based
on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Hardy’s Wessex eventually came to include the
counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in
southwest and south central England. Two of his novels, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Far
from the Madding Crowd, were listed in the top 50 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read.
Tess of the d’Urbervilles

-Thomas Hardy
Characters:
Tess Durbeyfield - The novel’s protagonist. Tess is a beautiful, loyal young woman living
with her impoverished family in the village of Marlott. Tess has a keen sense of responsibility
and is committed to doing the best she can for her family, although her inexperience and lack
of wise parenting leave her extremely vulnerable. Her life is complicated when her father
discovers a link to the noble line of the d’Urbervilles, and, as a result, Tess is sent to work at
the d’Urberville mansion. Unfortunately, her ideals cannot prevent her from sliding further
and further into misfortune after she becomes pregnant by Alec d’Urberville. The terrible
irony is that Tess and her family are not really related to this branch of the d’Urbervilles at
all: Alec’s father, a merchant named Simon Stokes, simply assumed the name after he retired.
Angel Clare - An intelligent young man who has decided to become a farmer to preserve his
intellectual freedom from the pressures of city life. Angel’s father and his two brothers are
respected clergymen, but Angel’s religious doubts have kept him from joining the ministry.
He meets Tess when she is a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy and quickly falls in love with
her.
Alec d’Urberville - The handsome, amoral son of a wealthy merchant named Simon Stokes.
Alec is not really a d’Urberville—his father simply took on the name of the ancient noble
family after he built his mansion and retired. Alec is a manipulative, sinister young man who
does everything he can to seduce the inexperienced Tess when she comes to work for his
family. When he finally has his way with her, out in the woods, he subsequently tries to help
her but is unable to make her love him.
Mr. John Durbeyfield - Tess’s father, a lazy peddler in Marlott. John is naturally quick, but
he hates work. When he learns that he descends from the noble line of the d’Urbervilles, he is
quick to make an attempt to profit from the connection.
Mrs. Joan Durbeyfield - Tess’s mother. Joan has a strong sense of propriety and very
particular hopes for Tess’s life. She is continually disappointed and hurt by the way in which
her daughter’s life actually proceeds. But she is also somewhat simpleminded and naturally
forgiving, and she is unable to remain angry with Tess—particularly once Tess becomes her
primary means of support.
Mrs. d’Urberville - Alec’s mother, and the widow of Simon Stokes. Mrs. d’Urberville is
blind and often ill. She cares deeply for her animals, but not for her maid Elizabeth, her son
Alec, nor Tess when she comes to work for her. In fact, she never sees Tess as anything more
than an impoverished girl.
Marian, Izz Huett, and Retty Priddle - Milkmaids whom Tess befriends at the Talbothays
Dairy. Marian, Izz, and Retty remain close to Tess throughout the rest of her life. They are all
in love with Angel and are devastated when he chooses Tess over them: Marian turns to
drink, Retty attempts suicide, and Izz nearly runs off to Brazil with Angel when he leaves
Tess. Nevertheless, they remain helpful to Tess. Marian helps her find a job at a farm called
Flintcomb-Ash, and Marian and Izz write Angel a plaintive letter encouraging him to give
Tess another chance.
Reverend Clare - Angel’s father, a somewhat intractable but principled clergyman in the
town of Emminster. Mr. Clare considers it his duty to convert the populace. One of his most
difficult cases proves to be none other than Alec d’Urberville.
Mrs. Clare - Angel’s mother, a loving but snobbish woman who places great stock in social
class. Mrs. Clare wants Angel to marry a suitable woman, meaning a woman with the proper
social, financial, and religious background. Mrs. Clare initially looks down on Tess as a
“simple” and impoverished girl, but later grows to appreciate her.
Reverend Felix Clare - Angel’s brother, a village curate.
Reverend Cuthbert - Clare Angel’s brother, a classical scholar and dean at Cambridge.
Cuthbert, who can concentrate only on university matters, marries Mercy Chant.
Eliza Louisa Durbeyfield - Tess’s younger sister. Tess believes Liza-Lu has all of Tess’s
own good qualities and none of her bad ones, and she encourages Angel to look after and
even marry Liza-Lu after Tess dies.
Sorrow - Tess’s son with Alec d’Urberville. Sorrow dies in his early infancy, after Tess
christens him herself. She later buries him herself as well, and decorates his grave.
Mercy Chant - The daughter of a friend of the Reverend Clare. Mr. Clare hopes Angel will
marry Mercy, but after Angel marries Tess, Mercy becomes engaged to his brother Cuthbert
instead.
Summary:
The poor peddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to learn that he is the descendent of an ancient
noble family, the d’Urbervilles. Meanwhile, Tess, his eldest daughter, joins the other village
girls in the May Day dance, where Tess briefly exchanges glances with a young man. Mr.
Durbeyfield and his wife decide to send Tess to the d’Urberville mansion, where they hope
Mrs. d’Urberville will make Tess’s fortune. In reality, Mrs. d’Urberville is no relation to Tess
at all: her husband, the merchant Simon Stokes, simply changed his name to d’Urberville
after he retired. But Tess does not know this fact, and when the lascivious Alec d’ Urberville,
Mrs. d’Urberville’s son, procures Tess a job tending fowls on the d’Urberville estate, Tess
has no choice but to accept, since she blames herself for an accident involving the family’s
horse, its only means of income.
Tess spends several months at this job, resisting Alec’s attempts to seduce her. Finally, Alec
takes advantage of her in the woods one night after a fair. Tess knows she does not love Alec.
She returns home to her family to give birth to Alec’s child, whom she christens Sorrow.
Sorrow dies soon after he is born, and Tess spends a miserable year at home before deciding
to seek work elsewhere. She finally accepts a job as a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy.
At Talbothays, Tess enjoys a period of contentment and happiness. She befriends three of her
fellow milkmaids—Izz, Retty, and Marian—and meets a man named Angel Clare, who turns
out to be the man from the May Day dance at the beginning of the novel. Tess and Angel
slowly fall in love. They grow closer throughout Tess’s time at Talbothays, and she
eventually accepts his proposal of marriage. Still, she is troubled by pangs of conscience and
feels she should tell Angel about her past. She writes him a confessional note and slips it
under his door, but it slides under the carpet and Angel never sees it.
After their wedding, Angel and Tess both confess indiscretions: Angel tells Tess about an
affair he had with an older woman in London, and Tess tells Angel about her history with
Alec. Tess forgives Angel, but Angel cannot forgive Tess. He gives her some money and
boards a ship bound for Brazil, where he thinks he might establish a farm. He tells Tess he
will try to accept her past but warns her not to try to join him until he comes for her.
Tess struggles. She has a difficult time finding work and is forced to take a job at an
unpleasant and unprosperous farm. She tries to visit Angel’s family but overhears his brothers
discussing Angel’s poor marriage, so she leaves. She hears a wandering preacher speak and is
stunned to discover that he is Alec d’Urberville, who has been converted to Christianity by
Angel’s father, the Reverend Clare. Alec and Tess are each shaken by their encounter, and
Alec appallingly begs Tess never to tempt him again. Soon after, however, he again begs Tess
to marry him, having turned his back on his -religious ways.
Tess learns from her sister Liza-Lu that her mother is near death, and Tess is forced to return
home to take care of her. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies soon after.
When the family is evicted from their home, Alec offers help. But Tess refuses to accept,
knowing he only wants to obligate her to him again.
At last, Angel decides to forgive his wife. He leaves Brazil, desperate to find her. Instead, he
finds her mother, who tells him Tess has gone to a village called Sandbourne. There, he finds
Tess in an expensive boardinghouse called The Herons, where he tells her he has forgiven her
and begs her to take him back. Tess tells him he has come too late. She was unable to resist
and went back to Alec d’Urberville. Angel leaves in a daze, and, heartbroken to the point of
madness, Tess goes upstairs and stabs her lover to death. When the landlady finds Alec’s
body, she raises an alarm, but Tess has already fled to find Angel.
Angel agrees to help Tess, though he cannot quite believe that she has actually murdered
Alec. They hide out in an empty mansion for a few days, then travel farther. When they come
to Stonehenge, Tess goes to sleep, but when morning breaks shortly thereafter, a search party
discovers them. Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is
raised over the prison, signaling Tess’s execution.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write
in the English language. He joined the British merchant marine in 1878, and was granted
British citizenship in 1886. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he
was a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He
wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in
the midst of an impassive, inscrutable universe.
Conrad is considered an early modernist, though his works still contain elements of 19th-
century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced numerous
authors, and many films have been adapted from, or inspired by, his works.
Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew on, among other things, his native
Poland’s national experiences and his own experiences in the French and British merchant
navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world
—including imperialism and colonialism and that profoundly explore the human psyche.
After his sea-faring years, Conrad began to put down roots on land. In 1896 he married Jessie
Emmeline George, daughter of a bookseller; they had two sons. He also had friendships with
prominent writers such as John Galsworthy, Ford Madox Ford and H.G. Wells.
Conrad began his own literary career in 1895 with the publication of his first novel,
Almayer’s Folly, an adventure tale set in the Borneo jungles. Before the turn of the century he
wrote two of his most famous and enduring novels. Lord Jim (1900) is the story of an outcast
young sailor who comes to terms with his past acts of cowardice and eventually becomes the
leader of a small South Seas country. Heart of Darkness (1902) is a novella describing a
British man’s journey deep into the Congo of Africa, where he encounters the cruel and
mysterious Kurtz, a European trader who has established himself as a ruler of the native
people there.
Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness contain the signature elements of Conrad’s writing: faraway
settings; dramatic conflicts between human characters and the brutal forces of nature; and
themes of individualism, the violent side of human nature and racial prejudice. Conrad was
interested in showing “psycho-political” situations that drew parallels between the inner lives
of single characters and the broader sweep of human history.
Conrad continued to achieve success as an author, publishing such further novels as

Nostromo (1904) and The Secret Agent (1907), short-story collections and a memoir
titled A Personal Record (1912). Many of his major works first appeared as serialized pieces
in magazines, followed by the publication of the complete novel. As his career progressed,
Conrad also collected income through reprints of his novels and the sale of film rights for
several books.
Over the last two decades of his life, Conrad produced more autobiographical writings and
novels, including The Arrow of Gold and The Rescue. His final novel, The Rover, was
published in 1923. Conrad died of a heart attack on August 3, 1924, at his home in
Canterbury, England.
Conrad’s work influenced numerous later 20th century writers, from T.S. Eliot and Graham
Greene to Virginia Woolf, Albert Camus and William Faulkner. His books have been
translated into dozens of languages and are still taught in schools and universities.
Heart of Darkness
-Joseph Conrad
Character List
Marlow - The protagonist of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is philosophical, independent-

minded, and generally skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent
and able to draw his listeners into his tale. Although Marlow shares many of his fellow
Europeans’ prejudices, he has seen enough of the world and has encountered enough debased
white men to make him skeptical of imperialism.
Kurtz - The chief of the Inner Station and the object of Marlow’s quest. Kurtz is a man of
many talents—we learn, among other things, that he is a gifted musician and a fine painter—
the chief of which are his charisma and his ability to lead men. Kurtz is a man who
understands the power of words, and his writings are marked by an eloquence that obscures
their horrifying message. Although he remains an enigma even to Marlow, Kurtz clearly
exerts a powerful influence on the people in his life. His downfall seems to be a result of his
willingness to ignore the hypocritical rules that govern European colonial conduct: Kurtz has
“kicked himself loose of the earth” by fraternizing excessively with the natives and not
keeping up appearances; in so doing, he has become wildly successful but has also incurred
the wrath of his fellow white men.
General Manager - The chief agent of the Company in its African territory, who runs the
Central Station. He owes his success to a hardy constitution that allows him to outlive all his
competitors. He is average in appearance and unremarkable in abilities, but he possesses a
strange capacity to produce uneasiness in those around him, keeping everyone sufficiently
unsettled for him to exert his control over them.
Brickmaker - The brickmaker, whom Marlow also meets at the Central Station, is a favorite
of the manager and seems to be a kind of corporate spy. He never actually produces any
bricks, as he is supposedly waiting for some essential element that is never delivered. He is
petty and conniving and assumes that other people are too.
Chief accountant - An efficient worker with an incredible habit of dressing up in spotless

whites and keeping himself absolutely tidy despite the squalor and heat of the Outer Station,
where he lives and works. He is one of the few colonials who seems to have accomplished
anything: he has trained a native woman to care for his wardrobe.
Pilgrims - The bumbling, greedy agents of the Central Station. They carry long wooden
staves with them everywhere, reminding Marlow of traditional religious travelers. They all
want to be appointed to a station so that they can trade for ivory and earn a commission, but
none of them actually takes any effective steps toward achieving this goal. They are obsessed
with keeping up a veneer of civilization and proper conduct, and are motivated entirely by
self-interest. They hate the natives and treat them like animals, although in their greed and
ridiculousness they appear less than human themselves.
Cannibals - Natives hired as the crew of the steamer, a surprisingly reasonable and well-
tempered bunch. Marlow respects their restraint and their calm acceptance of adversity. The
leader of the group, in particular, seems to be intelligent and capable of ironic reflection upon
his situation.
Russian trader - A Russian sailor who has gone into the African interior as the trading
representative of a Dutch company. He is boyish in appearance and temperament, and seems
to exist wholly on the glamour of youth and the audacity of adventurousness. His brightly
patched clothes remind Marlow of a harlequin. He is a devoted disciple of Kurtz’s.
Helmsman - A young man from the coast trained by Marlow’s predecessor to pilot the
steamer. He is a serviceable pilot, although Marlow never comes to view him as much more
than a mechanical part of the boat. He is killed when the steamer is attacked by natives hiding
on the riverbanks.
Kurtz’s African mistress - A fiercely beautiful woman loaded with jewelry who appears on
the shore when Marlow’s steamer arrives at and leaves the Inner Station. She seems to exert
an undue influence over both Kurtz and the natives around the station, and the Russian trader
points her out as someone to fear. Like Kurtz, she is an enigma: she never speaks to Marlow,
and he never learns anything more about her.
Kurtz’s Intended - Kurtz’s naïve and long-suffering fiancée, whom Marlow goes to visit
after Kurtz’s death. Her unshakable certainty about Kurtz’s love for her reinforces Marlow’s
belief that women live in a dream world, well insulated from reality.
Aunt - Marlow’s doting relative, who secures him a position with the Company. She believes
firmly in imperialism as a charitable activity that brings civilization and religion to suffering,
simple savages. She, too, is an example for Marlow of the naïveté and illusions of women.
The men aboard the Nellie - Marlow’s friends, who are with him aboard a ship on the
Thames at the story’s opening. They are the audience for the central story of Heart of
Darkness, which Marlow narrates. All have been sailors at one time or another, but all now
have important jobs ashore and have settled into middle-class, middle-aged lives. They
represent the kind of man Marlow would have likely become had he not gone to Africa: well
meaning and moral but ignorant as to a large part of the world beyond England. The narrator
in particular seems to be shaken by Marlow’s story. He repeatedly comments on its obscurity
and Marlow’s own mysterious nature.
Fresleven - Marlow’s predecessor as captain of the steamer. Fresleven, by all accounts a

good-tempered, nonviolent man, was killed in a dispute over some hens, apparently after
striking a village chief.
Summary:
Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the
Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a
job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the
Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread
inefficiency and brutality in the Company’s stations. The native inhabitants of the region have
been forced into the Company’s service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill
treatment at the hands of the Company’s agents. The cruelty and squalor of imperial
enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white
man’s settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness.
Marlow arrives at the Central Station, run by the general manager, an unwholesome,
conspiratorial character. He finds that his steamship has been sunk and spends several months
waiting for parts to repair it. His interest in Kurtz grows during this period. The manager and
his favorite, the brickmaker, seem to fear Kurtz as a threat to their position. Kurtz is rumored
to be ill, making the delays in repairing the ship all the more costly. Marlow eventually gets
the parts he needs to repair his ship, and he and the manager set out with a few agents (whom
Marlow calls pilgrims because of their strange habit of carrying long, wooden staves
wherever they go) and a crew of cannibals on a long, difficult voyage up the river. The dense
jungle and the oppressive silence make everyone aboard a little jumpy, and the occasional
glimpse of a native village or the sound of drums works the pilgrims into a frenzy.
Marlow and his crew come across a hut with stacked firewood, together with a note saying
that the wood is for them but that they should approach cautiously. Shortly after the steamer
has taken on the firewood, it is surrounded by a dense fog. When the fog clears, the ship is
attacked by an unseen band of natives, who fire arrows from the safety of the forest. The
African helmsman is killed before Marlow frightens the natives away with the ship’s steam
whistle. Not long after, Marlow and his companions arrive at Kurtz’s Inner Station, expecting
to find him dead, but a half-crazed Russian trader, who meets them as they come ashore,
assures them that everything is fine and informs them that he is the one who left the wood.
The Russian claims that Kurtz has enlarged his mind and cannot be subjected to the same
moral judgments as normal people. Apparently, Kurtz has established himself as a god with
the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the surrounding territory in search of ivory. The
collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts around the station attests to his
“methods.” The pilgrims bring Kurtz out of the station-house on a stretcher, and a large group
of native warriors pours out of the forest and surrounds them. Kurtz speaks to them, and the
natives disappear into the woods.
The manager brings Kurtz, who is quite ill, aboard the steamer. A beautiful native woman,
apparently Kurtz’s mistress, appears on the shore and stares out at the ship. The Russian
implies that she is somehow involved with Kurtz and has caused trouble before through her
influence over him. The Russian reveals to Marlow, after swearing him to secrecy, that Kurtz
had ordered the attack on the steamer to make them believe he was dead in order that they
might turn back and leave him to his plans. The Russian then leaves by canoe, fearing the
displeasure of the manager. Kurtz disappears in the night, and Marlow goes out in search of
him, finding him crawling on all fours toward the native camp. Marlow stops him and
convinces him to return to the ship. They set off down the river the next morning, but Kurtz’s
health is failing fast.
Marlow listens to Kurtz talk while he pilots the ship, and Kurtz entrusts Marlow with a
packet of personal documents, including an eloquent pamphlet on civilizing the savages
which ends with a scrawled message that says, “Exterminate all the brutes!” The steamer
breaks down, and they have to stop for repairs. Kurtz dies, uttering his last words—”The
horror! The horror!”—in the presence of the confused Marlow. Marlow falls ill soon after
and barely survives. Eventually he returns to Europe and goes to see Kurtz’s Intended (his
fiancée). She is still in mourning, even though it has been over a year since Kurtz’s death,
and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement. She asks what his last words
were, but Marlow cannot bring himself to shatter her illusions with the truth. Instead, he tells
her that Kurtz’s last word was her name.
Unit-IV
DH Lawrence (1885-1930)
Born in England in 1885, D.H. Lawrence is regarded as one of the most influential writers of
the 20th century. He published many novels and poetry volumes during his lifetime,
including Sons and Lovers and Women in Love, but is best known for his infamous Lady
Chatterley’s Lover. The graphic and highly sexual novel was published in Italy in 1928, but
was banned in the United States until 1959 and in England until 1960. Garnering fame for his
novels and short stories early on in his career, Lawrence later received acclaim for his
personal letters, in which he detailed a range of emotions, from exhilaration to depression to
prophetic brooding. He died in France in 1930.
Author D.H. Lawrence, regarded today as one of the most influential writers of the 20th
century, was born David Herbert Lawrence on September 11, 1885, in the small mining town
of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England. His father, Arthur John Lawrence, was a coal miner,
and his mother, Lydia Lawrence, worked in the lace-making industry to supplement the
family income. Lawrence’s mother was from a middle-class family that had fallen into
financial ruin, but not before she had become well-educated and a great lover of literature.
She instilled in young D.H. a love of books and a strong desire to rise above his blue-collar
beginnings.
Lawrence’s hardscrabble, working-class upbringing made a strong impression on him, and he

later wrote extensively about the experience of growing up in a poor mining town. “Whatever
I forget,” he later said, “I shall not forget the Haggs, a tiny red brick farm on the edge of the
wood, where I got my first incentive to write.”
As a child, Lawrence often struggled to fit in with other boys. He was physically frail and
frequently susceptible to illness, a condition exacerbated by the dirty air of a town surrounded
by coal pits. He was poor at sports and, unlike nearly every other boy in town, had no desire
to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a miner. However, he was an excellent student,
and in 1897, at the age of 12, he became the first boy in Eastwood’s history to win a
scholarship to Nottingham High School. But at Nottingham, Lawrence once again struggled
to make friends. He often fell ill and grew depressed and lethargic in his studies, graduating
in 1901 having made little academic impression. Reflecting back on his childhood, Lawrence
said, “If I think of my childhood it is always as if there was a sort of inner darkness, like the
gloss of coal in which we moved and had our being.”
In the summer of 1901, Lawrence took a job as a factory clerk for a Nottingham surgical
appliances manufacturer called Haywoods. However, that autumn, his older brother William
suddenly fell ill and died, and in his grief, Lawrence also came down with a bad case of
pneumonia. After recovering, he began working as a student teacher at the British School in
Eastwood, where he met a young woman named Jessie Chambers, who became his close
friend and intellectual companion. At her encouragement, he began writing poetry and also
started drafting his first novel, which would eventually become The White Peacock.
‘The White Peacock’ & ‘The Trespasser’
In the fall of 1906, Lawrence left Eastwood to attend the University College of Nottingham to
obtain his teacher’s certificate. While there, he won a short-story competition for “An
Enjoyable Christmas: A Prelude,” which was published in the Nottingham Guardian in 1907.
In order to enter multiple stories in the competition, he entered “An Enjoyable Christmas: A
Prelude” under Jessie Chambers’s name, and although it was published as such, people soon
discovered that Lawrence was its true author.
In 1908, having received his teaching certificate, Lawrence took a teaching post at an
elementary school in the London suburb of Croydon. He also continued to write, and in 1909
he received his big break when Jessie Chambers managed to get some of his poems published
in the English Review. The publishers at the English Review took a great interest in
Lawrence’s work, recommending his draft of The White Peacock to another publisher,
William Heinemann, who printed it in 1911. Set in his childhood hometown of Eastwood, the
novel foreshadowed many of the themes that would pervade his later work, such as
mismatched marriages and class divides.
A year later, Lawrence published his second novel, The Trespasser, a story based on the
experiences of a fellow teacher who had an affair with a married man who then committed
suicide. Around the same time, Lawrence became engaged to an old friend from college
named Louie Burrows.
‘Sons and Lovers’
However, in the spring of 1912, Lawrence’s life changed suddenly and irrevocably when he
went to visit an old Nottingham professor, Ernest Weekley, to solicit advice about his future
and his writing. During his visit, Lawrence fell desperately in love with Weekley’s wife,
Frieda von Richthofen. Lawrence immediately resolved to break off his engagement, quit
teaching, and try to make a living as a writer, and, by May of that year, he had persuaded
Frieda to leave her family. The couple ran off to Germany, later traveling to Italy. While
traveling with his new love, Lawrence continued to write at a furious pace. He published his
first play, The Daughter-in-Law, in 1912. A year later, he published his first volume of
poetry: Love Poems and Others.
Later in 1913, Lawrence published his third novel, Sons and Lovers, a highly
autobiographical story of a young man and aspiring artist named Paul Morel, who struggles to
transcend his upbringing in a poor mining town. The novel is widely considered
Lawrence’s first masterpiece, as well as one of the greatest English novels of the 20th
century.
‘The Rainbow’ & ‘Women in Love’
Lawrence and Frieda von Richtofen soon returned to England, where they married on July 13,
1914. That same year, Lawrence published a highly regarded short-story collection, The
Prussian Officer, and in 1915 he published another novel, The Rainbow, which was quite
sexually explicit for the time. Critics harshly condemned The Rainbow for its sexual content,
and the book was soon banned for obscenity.
Feeling betrayed by his country but unable to travel abroad because of World War I,
Lawrence retreated to Cornwall at the far southwestern edge of Great Britain. However, the
local government considered the presence of a controversial writer and his German wife so
near the coast to be a wartime security threat, and it banished him from Cornwall in 1917.
Lawrence spent the next two years moving among friends’ apartments. However, despite the
tumult of the period, Lawrence managed to publish four volumes of poetry between 1916 and
1919: Amores(1916), Look! We Have Come Through! (1919), New Poems (1918) and Bay: A
Book of Poems (1919).
In 1919, with the First World War finally ended, Lawrence once again departed England for
Italy. There, he spent two highly enjoyable years traveling and writing. In 1920, he revised
and published Women in Love, which he considered the second half of The Rainbow. He also
edited a series of short stories that he had written during the war, which were published under
the title My England and Other Stories in 1922.
Determined to fulfill a lifelong dream of traveling to America, in February 1922, Lawrence

left Europe and traveled east. By the end of the year—after stays in both Ceylon (modern day
Sri Lanka) and Australia—he landed in the United States, settling in Taos, New Mexico.
While in New Mexico, Lawrence completed Studies in Classic American Literature, a book
of highly regarded and influential literary criticism of great American authors such as
Benjamin Franklin, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville.
Over the next several years, Lawrence split his time between a ranch in New Mexico and
travels to New York, Mexico and England. His works during this period includes a novel,
Boy in the Bush (1924); a story collection about the American continent, St. Mawr (1925);
and another novel, The Plumed Serpent (1926).
‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ & Final Works
Having fallen ill with tuberculosis, Lawrence returned to Italy in 1927. There, in his last great
creative burst, he wrote Lady Chatterley’s Lover, his best-known and most infamous novel.
Published in Italy in 1928, Lady Chatterley’s Lover explores in graphic detail the sexual
relationship between an aristocratic lady and a working-class man. Due to its graphic content,
the book was banned in the United States until 1959, and in England until 1960, when a jury
found Penguin Books not guilty of violating Britain’s Obscene Publications Act and allowed
the company to publish the book.
At the highly publicized British obscenity trial, the prosecuting attorney infamously asked the
jurors, “Is it a book that you would have lying around the house? Is it a book you would wish
your wife or servants to read?” The jury’s decision to allow publication of Lady Chatterley’s
Lover is considered a turning point in the history of freedom of expression and the open
discussion of sex in popular culture. As British poet Philip Larkin quipped in one of his
poems, “Sexual intercourse began/In 1963/Between the end of the ‘Chatterley’ ban/And the
Beatles’ first LP.”
Increasingly hobbled by his tuberculosis, Lawrence wrote very little near the end of his life.
His final works were a critique of Western religion titled Apocalypse andLast Poems, both of
which were published in 1930.
Death and Legacy
D.H. Lawrence died in Vence, France, on March 2, 1930, at the age of 44.
Reviled as a crude and pornographic writer for much of the latter part of his life, Lawrence is
now widely considered—alongside James Joyce and Virginia Woolf—as one of the great
modernist English-language writers. His linguistic precision, mastery of a wide range of
subject matters and genres, psychological complexity and exploration of female sexuality
distinguish him as one of the most refined and revolutionary English writers of the early 20th
century.
Lawrence himself considered his writings an attempt to challenge and expose what he saw as
the constrictive and oppressive cultural norms of modern Western culture. He once said, “If
there weren’t so many lies in the world . . . I wouldn’t write at all.”
Sons and Lovers

-DH Lawrence
Characters:
Gertrude Morel - The first protagonist of the novel. She becomes unhappy with her husband
Walter and devotes herself to her children.
Paul Morel - Paul Morel takes over from his mother as the protagonist in the second half of
the book. After his brother William’s death, Paul becomes his mother’s favorite and struggles
throughout the novel to balance his love for her with his relationships with other women.
Walter Morel - Gertrude’s husband, a coal miner.
William Morel - Their first son, who is Mrs. Morel’s favorite until he falls ill and dies.
Annie Morel - Paul’s older sister. When their mother lies dying toward the end of the novel,
she and Paul decide to give her an overdose of morphia pills.
Arthur Morel - Paul’s younger brother, not central to the plot.
Miriam Leivers - The daughter of the family at Willey Farm. She befriends Paul and
becomes his first love.
Clara Dawes - A friend of Miriam’s, she is a suffragette, who is separated from her husband.
She becomes Paul’s second love, and they have a passionate affair.
Baxter Dawes - Clara’s husband. He fights with Paul, but they later become friends while he
is ill.
Mrs. Radford - Clara’s mother.

Thomas Jordan - The owner of the factory where Paul works. Paul dislikes him from their
first interview because he is rude and makes Paul look foolish. He later fires Baxter Dawes
because he knocks him down a flight of stairs.
Louisa Lily Denys Western - A girl William sees in London, and to whom he becomes
engaged. The rest of the family is less than impressed with her when he brings her home, and
William shortly becomes sick of her as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Leivers, Agatha, Edgar, Geoffrey, Maurice - The family who live at Willey
Farm.
Fanny - A hunchback who works in the finishing-off room at the factory, who likes to have
Paul come visit her to sing or talk. She organizes the other girls to get Paul a birthday present.
John Field - A man with whom Gertrude is friendly when she is nineteen. He gives her a
Bible, which she keeps for the rest of her life. From John she learns that “being a man isn’t
everything.”
Jerry Purdy - Walter Morel’s bosom friend. Walter goes for a walk to Nottingham with
Jerry, during which he takes the nap on the ground that eventually causes an illness.
Mr. Heaton - The Congregational clergyman who visits with Mrs. Morel every day after
Paul is born. He is Paul’s godfather and teaches him French, German, and mathematics.
Beatrice Wyld - A friend of the Morel family who ridicules Miriam and flirts with Paul. She
eventually marries Arthur when he returns from the army.
Summary:
The first part of the novel focuses on Mrs. Morel and her unhappy marriage to a drinking
miner. She has many arguments with her husband, some of which have painful results: on
separate occasions, she is locked out of the house and hit in the head with a drawer. Estranged
from her husband, Mrs. Morel takes comfort in her four children, especially her sons. Her
oldest son, William, is her favorite, and she is very upset when he takes a job in London and
moves away from the family. When William sickens and dies a few years later, she is
crushed, not even noticing the rest of her children until she almost loses Paul, her
second son, as well. From that point on, Paul becomes the focus of her life, and the two seem
to live for each other.
Paul falls in love with Miriam Leivers, who lives on a farm not too far from the Morel
family. They carry on a very intimate, but purely platonic, relationship for many years. Mrs.
Morel does not approve of Miriam, and this may be the main reason that Paul does not marry
her. He constantly wavers in his feelings toward her.
Paul meets Clara Dawes, a suffragette who is separated from her husband, through Miriam.
As he becomes closer with Clara and they begin to discuss his relationship with Miriam, she
tells him that he should consider consummating their love and he returns to Miriam to see
how she feels.
Paul and Miriam sleep together and are briefly happy, but shortly afterward Paul decides that
he does not want to marry Miriam, and so he breaks off with her. She still feels that his soul
belongs to her, and, in part agrees reluctantly. He realizes that he loves his mother most,
however.
After breaking off his relationship with Miriam, Paul begins to spend more time with Clara
and they begin an extremely passionate affair. However, she does not want to divorce her
husband Baxter, and so they can never be married. Paul’s mother falls ill and he devotes
much of his time to caring for her. When she finally dies, he is broken-hearted and, after a
final plea from Miriam, goes off alone at the end of the novel.
William Golding (1911-1993)

Sir William Gerald Golding was born September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor,
Cornwall, England. In 1935 he started teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury. He
temporarily left teaching in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. In 1954 he published his first novel,
Lord of the Flies. In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. On June 19, 1993,
he died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England.
Early Life
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall,
England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. His mother,
Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. His father, Alex,
worked as a schoolmaster.
William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar
School. When William was just 12 years old, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel.
A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Later in life, William would
describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.”
After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His
father hoped he would become a scientist, but William opted to study English literature
instead. In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of
poetry aptly entitled Poems. The collection was largely overlooked by critics.
Teaching
After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. Eventually, he
decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English
and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Golding’s experience teaching
unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies.
Although passionate about teaching from day one, in 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned
the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II.
Royal Navy
Golding spent the better part of the next six years on a boat, except for a seven-month stint in
New York, where he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. While in
the Royal Navy, Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea.
During World War II, he fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended
off submarines and planes. Lieutenant Golding was even placed in command of a rocket-
launching craft.
Of his World War II experiences, Golding has said, “I began to see what people were capable
of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces
evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head.” Like his teaching
experience, Golding’s participation in the war would prove to be fruitful material for his
fiction.
In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing.
Lord of the Flies
In 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the
Flies. The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted
island after a plane wreck. Lord of the Flies explored the savage side of human nature as the
boys, let loose from the constraints of society, brutally turned against one another in the face
of an imagined enemy. Riddled with symbolism, the book set the tone for Golding’s future
work, in which he continued to examine man’s internal struggle between good and evil. Since
its publication, the novel has been widely regarded as a classic, worthy of in-depth analysis
and discussion in classrooms around the world.
In 1963, the year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of
the critically acclaimed novel. Two decades later, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the
1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1988 he was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1990 a new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released, bringing the book to the
attention of a new generation of readers.
Death and Legacy
Golding spent the last few years of his life quietly living with his wife, Ann Brookfield, at
their house near Falmouth, Cornwall, where he continued to toil at his writing. The couple
had married in 1939 and had two children, David (b. 1940) and Judith (b. 1945).
On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. After Golding
died, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.
Among the most successful novels of Golding’s writing career were Rites of Passage(winner
of the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize), Pincher Martin, Free Fall and The Pyramid. While
Golding was mainly a novelist, his body of work also includes poetry, plays, essays and short
stories.
Lord of the Flies

-William Golding
Characters List
Ralph - The novel’s protagonist, the twelve-year-old English boy who is elected leader of the
group of boys marooned on the island. Ralph attempts to coordinate the boys’ efforts to build
a miniature civilization on the island until they can be rescued. Ralph represents human
beings’ civilizing instinct, as opposed to the savage instinct that Jack embodies.
Jack - The novel’s antagonist, one of the older boys stranded on the island. Jack becomes the
leader of the hunters but longs for total power and becomes increasingly wild, barbaric, and
cruel as the novel progresses. Jack, adept at manipulating the other boys, represents the
instinct of savagery within human beings, as opposed to the civilizing instinct Ralph
represents.
Simon - A shy, sensitive boy in the group. Simon, in some ways the only naturally “good”
character on the island, behaves kindly toward the younger boys and is willing to work for the
good of their community. Moreover, because his motivation is rooted in his deep feeling of
connectedness to nature, Simon is the only character whose sense of morality does not seem
to have been imposed by society. Simon represents a kind of natural goodness, as opposed to
the unbridled evil of Jack and the imposed morality of civilization represented by Ralph and
Piggy.
Piggy - Ralph’s “lieutenant.” A whiny, intellectual boy, Piggy’s inventiveness frequently

leads to innovation, such as the makeshift sundial that the boys use to tell time. Piggy
represents the scientific, rational side of civilization.
Roger - Jack’s “lieutenant.” A sadistic, cruel older boy who brutalizes the littluns and
eventually murders Piggy by rolling a boulder onto him.
Sam and Eric - A pair of twins closely allied with Ralph. Sam and Eric are always together,
and the other boys often treat them as a single entity, calling them “Samneric.” The easily
excitable Sam and Eric are part of the group known as the “bigguns.” At the end of the novel,
they fall victim to Jack’s manipulation and coercion.
The Lord of the Flies - The name given to the sow’s head that Jack’s gang impales on a
stake and erects in the forest as an offering to the “beast.” The Lord of the Flies comes to
symbolize the primordial instincts of power and cruelty that take control of
Summary:
In the midst of a raging war, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot
down over a deserted tropical island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch
shell on the beach, and Piggy realizes it could be used as a horn to summon the other boys.
Once assembled, the boys set about electing a leader and devising a way to be rescued. They
choose Ralph as their leader, and Ralph appoints another boy, Jack, to be in charge of the
boys who will hunt food for the entire group.
Ralph, Jack, and another boy, Simon, set off on an expedition to explore the island. When
they return, Ralph declares that they must light a signal fire to attract the attention of passing
ships. The boys succeed in igniting some dead wood by focusing sunlight through the lenses
of Piggy’s eyeglasses. However, the boys pay more attention to playing than to monitoring
the fire, and the flames quickly engulf the forest. A large swath of dead wood burns out of
control, and one of the youngest boys in the group disappears, presumably having burned to
death.
At first, the boys enjoy their life without grown-ups and spend much of their time splashing
in the water and playing games. Ralph, however, complains that they should be maintaining
the signal fire and building huts for shelter. The hunters fail in their attempt to catch a wild
pig, but their leader, Jack, becomes increasingly preoccupied with the act of hunting.
When a ship passes by on the horizon one day, Ralph and Piggy notice, to their horror, that
the signal fire—which had been the hunters’ responsibility to maintain—has burned out.
Furious, Ralph accosts Jack, but the hunter has just returned with his first kill, and all the
hunters seem gripped with a strange frenzy, reenacting the chase in a kind of wild dance.
Piggy criticizes Jack, who hits Piggy across the face. Ralph blows the conch shell and
reprimands the boys in a speech intended to restore order. At the meeting, it quickly becomes
clear that some of the boys have started to become afraid. The littlest boys, known as
“littluns,” have been troubled by nightmares from the beginning, and more and more boys
now believe that there is some sort of beast or monster lurking on the island. The older boys
try to convince the others at the meeting to think rationally, asking where such a monster
could possibly hide during the daytime. One of the littluns suggests that it hides in the sea—a
proposition that terrifies the entire group.
Not long after the meeting, some military planes engage in a battle high above the island. The
boys, asleep below, do not notice the flashing lights and explosions in the clouds. A
parachutist drifts to earth on the signal-fire mountain, dead. Sam and Eric, the twins
responsible for watching the fire at night, are asleep and do not see the parachutist land.
When the twins wake up, they see the enormous silhouette of his parachute and hear the
strange flapping noises it makes. Thinking the island beast is at hand, they rush back to the
camp in terror and report that the beast has attacked them.
The boys organize a hunting expedition to search for the monster. Jack and Ralph, who are
increasingly at odds, travel up the mountain. They see the silhouette of the parachute from a
distance and think that it looks like a huge, deformed ape. The group holds a meeting at
which Jack and Ralph tell the others of the sighting. Jack says that Ralph is a coward and that
he should be removed from office, but the other boys refuse to vote Ralph out of power. Jack
angrily runs away down the beach, calling all the hunters to join him. Ralph rallies the
remaining boys to build a new signal fire, this time on the beach rather than on the mountain.
They obey, but before they have finished the task, most of them have slipped away to join
Jack.
Jack declares himself the leader of the new tribe of hunters and organizes a hunt and a
violent, ritual slaughter of a sow to solemnize the occasion. The hunters then decapitate the
sow and place its head on a sharpened stake in the jungle as an offering to the beast. Later,
encountering the bloody, fly-covered head, Simon has a terrible vision, during which it seems
to him that the head is speaking. The voice, which he imagines as belonging to the Lord of
the Flies, says that Simon will never escape him, for he exists within all men. Simon faints.
When he wakes up, he goes to the mountain, where he sees the dead parachutist.
Understanding then that the beast does not exist externally but rather within each individual
boy, Simon travels to the beach to tell the others what he has seen. But the others are in the
midst of a chaotic revelry—even Ralph and Piggy have joined Jack’s feast—and when they
see Simon’s shadowy figure emerge from the jungle, they fall upon him and kill him with
their bare hands and teeth.
The following morning, Ralph and Piggy discuss what they have done. Jack’s hunters attack
them and their few followers and steal Piggy’s glasses in the process. Ralph’s group travels to
Jack’s stronghold in an attempt to make Jack see reason, but Jack orders Sam and Eric tied up
and fights with Ralph. In the ensuing battle, one boy, Roger, rolls a boulder down the
mountain, killing Piggy and shattering the conch shell. Ralph barely manages to escape a
torrent of spears.
Ralph hides for the rest of the night and the following day, while the others hunt him like an
animal. Jack has the other boys ignite the forest in order to smoke Ralph out of his hiding
place. Ralph stays in the forest, where he discovers and destroys the sow’s head, but
eventually, he is forced out onto the beach, where he knows the other boys will soon arrive to
kill him. Ralph collapses in exhaustion, but when he looks up, he sees a British naval officer
standing over him. The officer’s ship noticed the fire raging in the jungle. The other boys
reach the beach and stop in their tracks at the sight of the officer. Amazed at the spectacle of
this group of bloodthirsty, savage children, the officer asks Ralph to explain. Ralph is
overwhelmed by the knowledge that he is safe but, thinking about what has happened on the
island, he begins to weep. The other boys begin to sob as well. The officer turns his back so
that the boys may regain their composure.
Zadie Smith (1975- )

Zadie Smith is a British novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her début novel, White
Teeth (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. Her most
recent book is Swing Time (2016).
Smith’s début novel White Teeth was introduced to the publishing world in 1997, before it
was completed. On the basis of a partial manuscript, an auction for the rights was begun:
Hamish Hamilton won. Smith completed White Teeth during her final year at Cambridge.
Published in 2000, the novel immediately became a best-seller. It was praised internationally
and won a number of awards, among them the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the
Betty Trask Award. The novel was adapted for television in 2002. Smith served as writer-in-
residence at the ICA in London and subsequently published, as editor, an anthology of sex
writing, Piece of Flesh, as the culmination of this role.
In interviews, Smith reported that the hype surrounding her first novel had caused her to
suffer briefly from writer’s block. Nevertheless, her second novel, The Autograph Man, was
published in 2002 and was a commercial success, although it was not as well received by
critics as White Teeth had been.
After the publication of The Autograph Man, Smith visited the United States as a Fellow of
the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She started work on a still-
unreleased book of essays, The Morality of the Novel (a.k.a. Fail Better), in which she
considers a selection of 20th-century writers through the lens of moral philosophy. Some
portions of this book presumably appear in the essay collection Changing My Mind,
published in November 2009.
Smith’s third novel, On Beauty, was published in September 2005. It is set largely in and
around Greater Boston. It attracted more acclaim than The Autograph Man: it was shortlisted
for the Man Booker Prize and won the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf
Book Awards.
Later in the same year, Smith published Martha and Hanwell, a book that pairs two short
stories about two troubled characters, originally published in Granta and The New Yorker
respectively. Penguin published Martha and Hanwell with a new introduction by the author
as part of their pocket series to celebrate their 70th birthday. The first story, “Martha,
Martha”, deals with Smith’s familiar themes of race and postcolonial identity, while
“Hanwell in Hell” is about a man struggling to cope with the death of his wife. In December
2008 she guest-edited the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
Smith’s novel NW was published in 2012. It is set in the Kilburn area of north-west London,
the title being a reference to the local postcode, NW6. NW was shortlisted for the Royal
Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
In 2015 it was announced that Smith, along with her husband Nick Laird, was writing the
screenplay for a science fiction movie to be directed by French filmmaker Claire Denis.
Smith later claimed that her involvement had been overstated and that she had simply helped
to polish the English dialogue for the film.
Smith’s fifth novel, Swing Time, was published in November 2016. It was long-listed for the
Man Booker Prize 2017.
Between March and October 2011, Smith was the monthly New Books reviewer for Harper’s
Magazine. She is also a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books. In 2010, The
Guardian newspaper asked Smith for her “10 rules for writing fiction”. Among them she
declared: “Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to
the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.”
White Teeth
-Zadie Smith
Characters
Alfred Archibald Jones
Archie is mediocre and indecisive, preferring to make his most important decisions with the
flip of a coin. Archie’s ex-wife is Ophelia Diagilo, whom he supposedly drove insane with
his mediocrity. He later marries Clara, a Jamaican woman less than half his age, with whom
he has a daughter, Irie. Archie’s best friend is Samad Iqbal. The two men served together in
World War II in the British Army and frequently visit O’Connell’s pub.
Samad Miah Iqbal
Archie’s best friend, a middle-aged World War II veteran with a crippled right hand. Samad
was born in Bangladesh and met Archie when they were soldiers in Eastern Europe. He
works as a waiter at an Indian restaurant, where he receives few tips. His wife is Alsana
Begum, and his twin sons are Magid and Millat. More than anything, Samad wants his sons
to grow into religious, traditional Bengali Muslim men. To ensure this, he goes to great
lengths, even sending Magid to be raised in Bangladesh (for all intents and purposes, this was
a kidnapping). Samad is religious and outspoken, relishes control although he is a staunch
believer in destiny, and fancies himself to be more worldly and intellectual than others give
him credit for. Samad’s plot revolves around the difficulties he finds adapting to British
culture while still holding on to his Bangladeshi heritage, and also raising his second-
generation immigrant sons while they become a product of cross-cultural identity.
Clara Jones
Clara Jones, née Bowden, was an awkward, unpopular Jehovah’s Witness who spent her
adolescence canvassing door-to-door. When she meets the equally unappealing Ryan Topps,
she abandons her religion and takes up his rebellious ways, though Ryan becomes a staunch
Jehovah’s Witness himself. When Ryan and Clara crash into a tree on Ryan’s scooter, Clara’s
top teeth are knocked out. She meets Archie Jones and marries him, even though she finds
him unimpressive and he is more than twice her age. Archie and Clara have a daughter named
Irie.
Alsana Begum
Alsana Iqbal, née Begum, is the young wife of Samad Iqbal, to whom she was promised
before her birth. They have twin sons, Magid and Millat. To help pay bills, she sews clothing
on her home sewing machine for an S&M shop called Domination in Soho. Although
charismatic and judgemental by nature, she thinks marriage is best handled with silence.
However, she has a volcanic temper and generally wins fights with Samad by injuring him.
Irie Ambrosia Jones
Irie – whose name means “OK, cool, peaceful” in Patois – is the daughter of Clara and Archie
Jones. Irie has been friends with Magid and Millat Iqbal since birth. After struggling with her
sexuality and racial identity, Irie finds answers in her grandmother, Hortense Bowden. She
resolves to go into the field of dentistry and, despite her best efforts to prevent it, ends up
with Joshua Chalfen. Having slept with both Magid and Millat, Irie gives birth to a daughter
whose father can never be known, as the twins have exactly the same DNA.
Millat Zulfikar Iqbal
Millat, born 2 minutes later than his twin brother Magid, is the younger son of Samad and
Alsana. After Magid is sent to Bangladesh, Millat comes into his own as a trouble-making,
pot-smoking, womanising rebel. However, Millat eventually rejects this lifestyle in favour of
fundamentalist Islam, becoming a major driving force of KEVIN. At the FutureMouse
conference, he tries to shoot Dr Perret, but instead shoots Archie in the thigh. Millat may or
may not be the father of Irie’s baby.
Magid Mahfooz Murshed Mubtasim Iqbal
Magid is the elder son of Samad and Alsana, and twin brother of Millat. Magid is
intellectually precocious and insists on dressing and acting like an adult, even at a very young
age. Magid resents his heritage and wishes he and his family were more “normal” and
English. Samad essentially kidnaps Magid and sends him to be raised traditionally in
Bangladesh. To his father’s unhappiness, Magid becomes a suit-wearing, secular, English
intellectual. When he finally returns to London, he joins Marcus Chalfen’s FutureMouse
programme. Magid is fascinated by the certainty of fate genetic engineering offers, and by
having the power to choose another creature’s path, as his was chosen for him. Magid may or
may not be the father of Irie’s baby.
Marcus Chalfen
Marcus Chalfen is a Jewish genetic engineer and husband of Joyce Chalfen. His controversial
FutureMouse experiment involves genetically altering a mouse so that it develops cancers at
specific times and sites. Marcus loses interest in mentoring Irie when he begins corresponding
with Magid.
Joyce Chalfen
Joyce is a horticulturalist, writer, and the wife of Marcus Chalfen. She has four sons, all of
whom adore her fiercely. Joyce is a natural nurturer and constantly feels the need to care for
things and people. From the moment they meet, Millat entrances Joyce, and she feels the need
to mother him and pander to his needs.
Joshua Chalfen
Joshua is the son of Joyce and Marcus Chalfen. Originally interested in his studies at Glenard
Oak School, Joshua rebels against the Chalfens (particularly his father) by joining the animal-
rights groups FATE. Joshua has a long-standing crush on Irie and, later, on Joely. He stays in
FATE largely as an excuse to remain close to her.
Summary:
Zadie Smith prefaces White Teeth with the following quote: “What is past is prologue”-
Inscription in Washington, D.C., museum. This statement sets the thematic mood for the
novel, in which three different families of mixed ethnicity struggle with issues of heritage and
legacy. Some characters, such as Samad, cling to the past obsessively, while others, such as
Magid, attempt to reject it. The preface suggests that the past is inescapable, and encourages
attention to details. By letting the wise words of the past speak before her, Smith
acknowledges that “What is past is prologue” applies to writers as well. Thus, the ideas she
examines in the next 500 pages have developed out of her own personal consideration of the
past. In that sense, the preface credits all the authors who have inspired Smith to write this,
her first novel.
The novel’s main story spans the years 1975 to 2000, but in a flashback reaches as far back as
1907 and beyond. In the style of hysterical realism, Smith cuts between incidents, points of
view, and eras with movie-like deftness, weaving these disparate stories into one narrative. In
Smith’s novel, past is not just prologue as the preface suggests, but is sometimes barely
distinguishable from the present.
White Teeth is set mainly in Willesden, North London. On New Year’s Day, 1975, Alfred
Archibald Jones (Archie) attempts to gas himself to death in his car. The butcher, Mo
Hussein-Ishmael, saves Archie, and for the first time in his life, he feels worthwhile. In his
new spirit of enthusiasm, Archie joins an End of the World party at a commune where he
meets Clara Bowden, a gorgeous and captivating Jamaican woman who is missing her upper
teeth. Although Archie is twice Clara’s age, the two wed soon after this first meeting.
Smith takes us to Clara’s teenage years, when she was an awkward and unattractive
Jehovah’s Witness. She strayed from her religion when she began dating a boy named Ryan
Topps. Ironically, Ryan eventually became a Jehovah’s Witness and tried to win Clara back
to the Church. While riding on his scooter, they crashed into a tree, knocking out Clara’s
upper teeth.
In 1975, Archie and Clara are married as Samad and Alsana Iqbal look on. Samad and Archie
met when they served together in World War II, and are best friends. Samad works at an
Indian restaurant, and Alsana sews clothing for an S&M shop. Because of racial differences,
the Iqbal’s and Jones’s are unlikely friends. Clara soon becomes pregnant with a daughter,
Irie, and Alsana becomes pregnant with twin boys, Magid and Millat. Soon, both women
realize that they know very little about their older husbands.
Smith takes us back to World War II, when Archie and Samad first meet. They become
friends out of proximity and necessity after all the other men in their tank are killed. Without
a radio, they do not know the war is over, and therefore police the local Bulgarian village.
Along with a platoon of Russian soldiers, they capture Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret, a scientist and
Nazi conspirator. Samad wins custody of Dr. Perret in a poker game and devises a plan for he
and Archie to become heroes by killing him. While Samad is high on morphine, Archie
marches Dr. Perret away with the intention of killing him. Samad hears a shot ring out, and
Archie returns with a bullet lodged in his thigh.
In the present, Irie, Magid, and Millat attend the same elementary school. Samad takes
overzealous control of his sons’ educations, demanding changes at every governer’s meeting
(note that the British spelling is “governer”, rather than the American “governor”). After one
meeting, Samad meets the children’s music teacher, Poppy Burt-Jones and is attracted to her
immediately. Samad pursues a relationship with her until one day; Magid and Millat catch
him with her. He decides that the only way to make sure his sons grow up to be honorable
traditional men is to send them to Bangladesh. However, a lack of funds forces him to choose
only one son to send away. He kidnaps Magid with Archie’s help, and sends him to be raised
with his family in Bangladesh. When Alsana discovers his actions, she resolves never to give
Samad a straight answer to another question.
Time passes and the children enter their teenage years. Letters from Magid show that he
continues to be a precocious, thoughtful boy. In one letter, Magid mentions he broke his nose.
Samad taunts Millat, whom he thinks is a “good-for-nothing,” saying that now the brothers
look different as well as being different. Millat laughs so hard that he trips and breaks his
own nose. During a terrible hurricane, the Iqbal’s flee to the Jones’s supposedly weatherproof
house. When a tree crashes through the roof, the adults scramble to re-secure the house while
Irie and Millat sneak out to go walking in the storm.
We flash forward two years: Millat burns books and other property at a protest. After
witnessing this on television, Alsana burns all of Millat’s belongings to teach him a lesson.
We flash forward to New Year’s Eve, 1998: At O’Connell’s pub, Samad convinces Mickey to
hang a portrait of his great-grandfather, Mangal Pande, on the wall. Samad recounts the story
of how Pande shot the first bullet in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. He takes responsibility for
spreading word of Pande’s legacy, since history remembers him as a “pandy,” the word
coined after him. Samad recalls how he wept with joy when he finally found an account of
Pande’s story that valorized him. Samad also notes that he does not approve of resorting to
violence, as any man can be driven to kill. Just as the clock strikes midnight, Archie says
mysteriously: “And there will be people he will save.”
The year is 1990. In her desire to attract Millat, the now full-figured Irie attempts to have her
hair straightened. However, the procedure burns off all of her hair. She gets fake hair to
replace it, but it rips out of her head. Irie goes looking for Millat at Glenard Oak School to
warn him about the new Raid Committee against marijuana. When Millat dismisses her, she
walks away with his joint and stops to talk to a “nerd” named Joshua Chalfen. Millat comes
upon them just as Irie is passing the joint to Joshua. They all get caught by the Raid
Committee, and as punishment are forced to study together twice a week at Joshua’s house.
At the Chalfen’s, Millat becomes the pet project of Joshua’s mother, Joyce Chalfen, an
extremely nurturing horticulturalist. Irie becomes friends with Joshua’s father, Marcus
Chalfen, a genetic engineer preparing to present a project called FutureMouse, in which he
has altered a mouse’s genes so that it develops certain cancers at specific times in its life.
Meanwhile, Alsana and Clara worry that their children spend too much time with the
Chalfen’s. However, the children’s grades improve so much that the Iqbal’s and Jones’s
throw a party. Clara goes to the Chalfen’s house to thank Joyce, who rudely asserts that Irie’s
intellect could not come from her parents. In shock, Clara says it must come from her own
grandfather, Captain Charlie Durham. She regrets this as soon as she says it, because in her
words, he was really a “no-good djam fool bwoy.”
Smith brings us back to early-20th century Jamaica. Clara’s grandmother, Ambrosia, begins
taking lessons from Captain Charlie Durham, who impregnates her. When he is called away
on a mission, he leaves her in the hands of Sir Edmund Flecker Clenard who later founds the
Glenard Oak School that Irie, Magid and Millat attend. When Ambrosia’s pregnancy
becomes obvious, she is passed along to a Jehovah’s Witness named Mrs. Brenton and soon
becomes an ardent member of the faith. On the day of the 1907 earthquake, Glenard tries to
fondle Ambrosia in a church. Just then, the earthquake hits: Ambrosia gives birth to Hortense
Bowden as a falling pillar kills Glenard. Durham returns for Ambrosia, but cannot get
permission for her to board a rescue ship with him. As a result of his complaints to the
Jamaican governer, the American aid ships are sent away from Jamaica, dooming thousands.
In the present, Magid and Marcus Chalfen become pen pals and establish a mutual
admiration. Meanwhile, Millat leaves his love of Western pop culture and promiscuity behind
and becomes a prominent member of the Islamic fundamentalist group, KEVIN. Irie
discovers that Marcus has rejected her when she reads one of their letters. In it, he states that
the only science for which she is suited is dentistry. Irie resolves to become a dentist and
decides to volunteer in Africa before attending dental school. When she approaches Clara,
who is in bed, to ask her permission, she knocks over the glass containing Clara’s false teeth
and they bite into her foot. Irie, who until then does not know her mother’s teeth are false,
takes this as proof that her parents do not respect her, and flees to her grandmother’s house.
Upon arriving at Hortense’s house, she discovers that Ryan Topps lives with Hortense and
helps care for her. Irie is not tempted to become a Jehovah’s Witness, but feels connected to
her heritage by looking through family pictures and other memorabilia. She is overjoyed
when Hortense invites her to Jamaica for Judgment Day, 2000. Meanwhile, Joshua Chalfen
betrays his father by joining one of his staunchest enemies, the animal rights group, FATE.
Magid returns to London for the first time since his childhood. Millat refuses to see him
because he supports FutureMouse, which Millat and KEVIN are protesting. Magid stays with
the Chalfen’s, where he becomes Marcus’s prodigy. Irie is assigned the task of bringing the
twins together. When she goes to see Millat, the two have sex on his prayer mat, after which
he is ashamed. Furious, Irie marches straight to Magid and has sex with him too. After that,
the twins finally meet, but discover that their differences are irreconcilable.
The characters prepare for the FutureMouse opening conference in their respective ways.
Millat helps KEVIN plot a protest and Joshua does the same with FATE. Hortense and Ryan
prepare to stage a hunger strike and try to warn Irie not to be friends with Marcus Chalfen,
while Magid accepts genetic engineering as the new God. The novel concludes on the day of
the FutureMouse conference, New Year’s Eve, 1992. The characters head to the conference
with their respective groups and plans. Joshua plans to humiliate his father, Millat plans to
follow through with violence in a way Pande never could, Magid plans to support his mentor,
and Irie, the Iqbal’s, and the Jones’s plan to quench their curiosity. Irie is pregnant and even a
paternity test cannot tell whether the father is Magid or Millat, since their genes are identical.
The FutureMouse conference takes place at the Perret Institute. As Marcus Chalfen delivers
his speech, Joshua and Millat wait to make their moves. Hortense and the other Jehovah’s
Witnesses sing loudly in the hallway. Samad goes out to hush them, but when he arrives,
doesn’t have the heart to make them stop. When he returns, it suddenly strikes him that the
founder of the Perret Institute and the oldest scientist on Marcus Chalfen’s panel is Dr. Perret,
the nazi he captured during World War II. Enraged that Archie did not kill him all those years
ago, Samad runs over and begins cursing Archie. Just then, Millat advances on the table of
scientists with a gun. Without thinking, Archie jumps in front of him and takes a bullet in the
thigh. As he falls, he knocks over the mouse’s glass cage, and it escapes. At the novel’s end,
the narrator presents us with different “endgames” in the style of television. Magid and Millat
both serve community service for Millat’s crime, since witnesses identify both as the culprit.
Joshua and Irie end up together and join Hortense in Jamaica in the year 2000. Mickey opens
up the previously men’s-only O’Connell’s pub to women, and Archie and Samad finally
invite their wives along with them. Smith leaves us with Archie’s thoughts as the mouse
escapes at the FutureMouse conflict. Even though he knows the mouse is doomed to a life of
various cancers, he watches it escape thinking: “Go on my son!”
Unit V
Short Stories
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay, India. He was
educated in England but returned to India in 1882. A decade later, Kipling married Caroline
Balestier and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote The Jungle Book (1894),
among a host of other works that made him hugely successful. Kipling was the recipient of
the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in 1936.
Considered one of the great English writers, Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on December
30, 1865, in Bombay (now called Mumbai), India. At the time of his birth, his parents, John
and Alice, were recent arrivals in India as part of the British Empire. The family lived well,
and Kipling was especially close to his mother. His father, an artist, was the head of the
Department of Architectural Sculpture at the Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Bombay.
For Kipling, India was a wondrous place. Along with his younger sister, Alice, he reveled in
exploring the local markets with his nanny. He learned the language and, in this bustling city
of Anglos, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, connected with the country and its culture.
However, at the age of 6, Kipling’s life was torn apart when his mother, wanting her son to
receive a formal British education, sent him to Southsea, England, where he attended school
and lived with a foster family named the Holloways.
These were hard years for Kipling. Mrs. Holloway was a brutal woman who quickly grew to
despise her foster son. She beat and bullied the youngster, who also struggled to fit in at
school. His only break from the Holloways came in December, when Kipling, who told
nobody of his problems at school or with his foster parents, traveled to London to stay with
relatives for the month.
Kipling’s solace came in books and stories. With few friends, he devoted himself to reading.
He particularly adored the work of Daniel Defoe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Wilkie Collins.
When Mrs. Holloway took away his books, Kipling snuck in literature time, pretending to
play in his room by moving furniture along the floor while he read.
By the age of 11, Kipling was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A visitor to his home
saw his condition and immediately contacted his mother, who rushed back to England and
rescued her son from the Holloways. To help relax his mind, Alice took her son on an
extended vacation and then placed him in a new school in Devon. There, Kipling flourished
and discovered his talent for writing, eventually becoming editor of the school newspaper.
The Young Writer
In 1882, Kipling returned to India. It was a powerful time in the young writer’s life. The
sights and sounds, even the language, which he’d believed he’d forgotten, rushed back to him
upon his arrival.
Kipling made his home with his parents in Lahore and, with his father’s help, found a job
with a local newspaper. The job offered Kipling a good excuse to discover his surroundings.
Nighttime, especially, proved to be valuable for the young writer. Kipling was a man of two
worlds, somebody who was accepted by both his British counterparts and the native
population. Suffering from insomnia, he roamed the city streets and gained access to the
brothels and opium dens that rarely opened their doors to common Englishmen.
Kipling’s experiences during this time formed the backbone for a series of stories he began to
write and publish. They were eventually assembled into a collection of 40 short stories called
Plain Tales From the Hills, which gained wide popularity in England.
In 1889, seven years after he had left England, Kipling returned to its shores in hopes of
leveraging the modest amount of celebrity his book of short stories had earned him. In
London, he met Wolcott Balestier, an American agent and publisher who quickly became one
of Kipling’s great friends and supporters. The two men grew close and even traveled together
to the United States, where Balestier introduced his fellow writer to his childhood home of
Brattleboro, Vermont.
Life in America
Around this time, Kipling’s star power started to grow. In addition to Plain Tales From the
Hills, Kipling published a second collection of short stories, Wee Willie Winkie (1888), and
American Notes (1891), which chronicled his early impressions of America. In 1892, he also
published the poetry work Barrack-Room Ballads.
Kipling’s friendship with Balestier changed the young writer’s life. He soon got to know
Balestier’s family, in particular his sister, Carrie. The two appeared to be just friends, but
during the Christmas holiday in 1891, Kipling, who had traveled back to India to see his
family, received an urgent cable from Carrie. Wolcott had died suddenly of typhoid fever and
Carrie needed Kipling to be with her.
Kipling rushed back to England, and within eight days of his return, the two married at a
small ceremony attended by American writer Henry James.
Fame With ‘Jungle Book’ and ‘Naulahka’
Following their wedding, the Kiplings set off on an adventurous honeymoon that took them
to Canada and then Japan. But as was often the case in Kipling’s life, good fortune was
accompanied by hard luck. During the Japanese leg of the journey, Kipling learned that his
bank, the New Oriental Banking Corporation, had failed. The Kiplings were broke.
Left only with what they had with them, the young couple decided to travel to Brattleboro,
where much of Carrie’s family still resided. Kipling fell in love with life in the states, and the
two decided to settle there. In the spring of 1891, the Kiplings purchased from Carrie’s
brother Beatty a piece of land just north of Brattleboro and had a large home constructed,
which they called the Naulahka.
Kipling seemed to adore his new life, which soon saw the Kiplings welcome their first child,
a daughter named Josephine (born in 1893), and a second daughter, Elsie (born in 1896). A
third child, John, was born in 1897, after the Kiplings had left America.
As a writer, too, Kipling flourished. His work during this time included The Jungle Book
(1894), The Naulahka: A Story of West and East (1892) and The Second Jungle Book (1895),
among others. Kipling was delighted to be around children—a characteristic that was
apparent in his writing. His tales enchanted girls and boys all over the English-speaking
world.
But life again took another dramatic turn for the family when Kipling had a major falling out
with Beatty. The two men quarreled, and when Kipling made noise about taking his brother-
in-law to court because of threats Beatty had made to his life, newspapers across America
broadcast the spat on their front pages.
The gentle Kipling was embarrassed by the attention and regretful of how his celebrity had
worked against him. As a result, in 1896 he and his family left Vermont for a new life back in
England.
Family Tragedy
In the winter of 1899, Carrie, who was homesick, decided that the family needed to travel
back to New York to see her mother. But the journey across the Atlantic was brutal, and New
York was frigid. Both Kipling and young Josephine arrived in the states gravely ill with
pneumonia. For days, the world kept careful watch on the state of Kipling’s health as
newspapers reported on his condition.
Kipling did recover, but his beloved Josephine did not. The family waited until Kipling was
strong enough to hear the news, but even then, Carrie could not bear to break it to him, asking
his publisher, Frank Doubleday, to do so instead. To those who knew him, it was clear that
Kipling never recovered from Josephine’s death. He vowed never to return to America.
Over time, Kipling would become known for harboring a sense of English imperialism and
views on certain cultures that would draw much objection and be seen as disturbingly racist.
Yet even as Kipling grew more rigid in his viewpoints as he got older, aspects of his earlier
work would still be celebrated.
Life in England
The turn of the century saw the publication of another novel that would become quite
popular, Kim (1901), which featured a youth’s adventure on the Grand Trunk Road. In 1902,
the Kiplings bought a large estate in Sussex known as Bateman’s. The property had been
erected in 1634, and for the private Kiplings, it offered the kind of isolation they now
cherished. Kipling revered the new home, with its lush gardens and classic details. ”Behold
us,” he wrote in a November 1902 letter, “lawful owners of a grey stone, lichened house—
A.D. 1634 over the door—beamed, paneled, with old oak staircase and all untouched and
unfaked.”
At Bateman’s, Kipling found some of the happiness he thought he had forever lost following
the death of Josephine. He was dedicated as ever to his writing, something Carrie helped
ensure. Adopting the role of the head of the household, she held reporters at bay when they
came calling and issued directions to both staff and children. Kipling’s books during his years
at Bateman’s include Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906), Actions and Reactions (1909), Debts and
Credits (1926), Thy Servant a Dog (1930) and Limits and Renewals (1932). The same year he
purchased Bateman’s, Kipling also published his Just So Stories, which were greeted with
wide acclaim.
World War I
As much of Europe braced for war with Germany, Kipling proved to be an ardent supporter
of the fight. In 1915, he even traveled to France to report on the war from the trenches. He
also encouraged his son, John, to enlist. Since Josephine’s death, Kipling and John had grown
tremendously close.
In October of 1915, the Kiplings received word that John had gone missing in France. The
news devastated the couple. Kipling, perhaps feeling guilty about his push to make his son a
soldier, set off for France to find John. But nothing ever came of the search, and John’s body
was never recovered. A distraught and drained Kipling returned to England to once again
mourn the loss of a child.
Final Years
While Kipling continued to write for the next two decades, he never again returned to the
bright, cheery children’s tales he had once so delighted in crafting. Health issues eventually
caught up to both Kipling and Carrie, the result of age and grief. Over his last few years,
Kipling suffered from a painful ulcer that eventually took his life on January 18, 1936.
Kipling’s ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey in Poets’ Corner next to the graves of
Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens.
Disney Adaptations
Kipling’s work entered the realm of mass popular entertainment in the Disney film adaptation
of The Jungle Book, a 1967 animated musical loosely based on the original tale. A live-
action/CGI version of the movie was later released in 2016, with direction by Jon Favreau
and the vocal talents of Idris Elba, Ben Kingley, Luptia Nyong’o and Scarlett Johansson.
“Lispeth”
-Rudyard Kipling
“Lispeth” is a short story by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in the Civil and Military
Gazette on 29 November 1886; its first appearance in book form was in the first Indian
edition of Plain Tales from the Hills in 1888, and it later appeared in subsequent editions of
that collection. The tale is an interesting example of Kipling’s attitudes to different races and
cultures, which is less simple than many accounts of his beliefs allow.
The story is set in Kotgarh, a valley about 55 miles (89 km) by road from Simla, the “summer
seat of the British Government of India”. It is the home of Sonoo and his wife Jadeh, who,
after the maize fails and bears raid their opium poppy field, turn Christian. Lispeth is their
daughter, and “‘Lispeth’ is the Hill or Pahari pronunciation.” Cholera kills Sonoo and Jadeh,
and Lispeth becomes servant/companion to the Chaplain’s wife at Kotgarh. She grows very
lovely, “a stately goddess, five feet ten in her shoes”. One day on her walk (“a little
constitutional” of 20–30 miles (32–48 km) says Kipling, with fine irony and huge admiration
of the hill people) she finds an unconscious Englishman whom she carries back to the
Mission, announcing that she has found her husband. This scandalises the Chaplain and his
wife, and they “lectured her severely on the impropriety of her conduct”.
The stranger, a traveller hunting plants and butterflies, recovers, but enjoys prolonging his
convalescence by flirting with Lispeth, although he is engaged to an English “girl at Home”.
He is told of her matrimonial plan, and is amused; on leaving, he takes the Chaplain’s wife’s
advice to say he will return to marry Lispeth. (The wife is a “good Christian” and hates
scandal. On the other, ironic, hand, Lispeth “being a savage by birth, [...] took no trouble to
conceal her feelings.”) Of course the Englishman does not return, and after three months of
Lispeth’s waiting and weeping, the Chaplain’s wife tells the truth, saying “it was very wrong
and improper of Lispeth to think of marriage with an Englishman, who was of superior
clay...” “Then you have lied to me,” says Lispeth, and reverts to her own people, marrying a
wood-cutter “who beat her after the manner of paharis.” “‘There is no law whereby you can
account for the vagaries of the heathen,’ said the Chaplain’s wife”, which shows the
ambivalence of Kipling at the end of a story in which the ‘native’ is shown as honest, simple
and admirable, and it is the Christians who are the hypocrites and liars. It is not quite as
simple as that: Kipling also suggests that he has heard this story from Lispeth herself, who
“when she was sufficiently drunk could sometimes be induced to tell the story of her first
love-affair” - which may seem a rather patronising “European” attitude to “the natives”.
“Thrown Away”
-Rudyard Kipling
“Thrown Away” is a short story by British author Rudyard Kipling. It was published in the
first Indian edition of Plain Tales from the Hills (1888), and in subsequent editions of that
collection.
“Thrown Away” tells of an unnamed ‘Boy’, a product of the English “sheltered life system”
that Kipling abhors:
“Let a puppy eat the soap in the bath-room or chew a newly-blacked boot. He chews and
chuckles until, by and by, he finds out that blacking and Old Brown Windsor make him very
sick; so he argues that soap and boots are not wholesome. Any old dog about the house will
soon show him the unwisdom of biting big dogs’ ears. Being young, he remembers and goes
abroad, at six months, a well-mannered little beast with a chastened appetite. If he had been
kept away from boots, and soap, and big dogs till he came to the trinity full-grown and with
developed teeth, just consider how fearfully sick and thrashed he would be! Apply that
motion to the “sheltered life,” and see how it works.”
Having been protected from all unpleasantness, the Boy has not been toughened and has not
learned “the proper proportions of things”. The Boy is sent to India, not having met his
parents’ expectations at Sandhurst, and becomes a subaltern in an Indian regiment. “This Boy
— the tale is as old as the hills — came out and took all things seriously”: he quarrels, and
remembers disagreements; he gambles; he flirts, and is too serious; he loses money and
health; he is reprimanded by his Colonel. When, finally, he is insulted (thoughtlessly) by a
woman, he contemplates, and then asks for shooting leave, to go after Big Game where only
partridge are to be found. He takes a revolver.
A Major (also nameless) who has taken an interest in the Boy returns from his own leave, and
fearing the worst presses the narrator to go with him to visit the Boy. (“‘Can you lie?’”, the
Major asks; “‘You know best,’ I answered. ‘It’s my profession’” says the journalist Kipling,
ever self-deprecating.) After a furious drive, they find the Boy dead, by suicide — as the
Major had feared. They discreetly bury him, concocting a story of cholera. They discover
letters that the Boy has written to the Colonel, to the Boy’s mother, and to a girl in England.
They are moved to tears by reading the letters, but they burn them, and concoct a letter to the
Boy’s mother, telling the lie about cholera, and others about his great promise etc., which
earns her undying gratitude - “the obligation she would be under to us as long as she lived.”
“All things considered, she was under an obligation, but not exactly as she meant.” The Major
reveals the cause of his concern — he too had despaired when he was young, and he
sympathised with the Boy.
The story has keen psychological observations (the conspirators’ combined laughter and
choking fits as they prepare their lies) and telling narrative detail. For example, although they
are tired, the Major and the narrator remember to “put away [the Boy’s] revolver with the
proper amount of cartridges in the pouch” in his room.
HG Wells (1866-1946)
Born in England in 1866, Herbert George Wells’s parents were shopkeepers in Kent,
England. His first novel, The Time Machine was an instant success and Wells produced a
series of science fiction novels which pioneered our ideas of the future. His later work
focused on satire and social criticism. Wells laid out his socialist views of human history in
his Outline of History. He died in 1946.
Visionary writer H.G. Wells was born Herbert George Wells on September 21, 1866, in
Bromley, England. Wells came from a working class background. His father played
professional cricket and ran a hardware store for a time. Wells’s parents were often worried
about his poor health. They were afraid that he might die young, as his older sister had. At the
age of 7, Wells had an accident that left him bedridden for several months. During this time,
the avid young reader went through many books, including some by Washington Irving and
Charles Dickens.
After Wells’s father’s shop failed, his family, which included two older brothers, struggled
financially. The boys were apprenticed to a draper, and his mother went to work on an estate
as a housekeeper. At his mother’s workplace, Wells discovered the owner’s extensive library.
He read the works of Jonathan Swift and some of the important figures of the Enlightenment,
including Voltaire.
In his early teens, Wells also went to work as a draper’s assistant. He hated the job and
eventually quit, much to his mother’s dismay. Turning to teaching, Wells soon found a way to
continue his own studies. He won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science where he
learned about physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology, among other subjects.
Wells also devoted much of his time to becoming a writer. During college, he published a
short story about time travel called “The Chronic Argonauts,” which foreshadowed his future
literary success.
Literary Success
In 1895, Wells became an overnight literary sensation with the publication of the novel The
Time Machine. The book was about an English scientist who develops a time travel machine.
While entertaining, the work also explored social and scientific topics, from class conflict to
evolution. These themes recurred in some of his other popular works from this time.
Wells continued to write what some have called scientific romances, but others consider early
examples of science fiction. In quick succession, he published the The Island of Doctor
Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). The Island of
Doctor Moreau told the story of a man who encounters a scientist conducting the gruesome
experiments on animals, creating new species of creatures. In The Invisible Man, Wells
explores the life of another scientist who undergoes a dark personal transformation after
turning himself invisible. The War of the Worlds, a novel about an alien invasion, later caused
a panic when an adaptation of the tale was broadcast on American radio. On Halloween night
of 1938, Orson Welles went on the air with his version of The War of the Worlds, claiming
that aliens had landed in New Jersey.
In addition to his fiction, Wells wrote many essays, articles and nonfiction books. He served
as a book reviewer for the Saturday Review for several years, during which time he promoted
the careers of James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. In 1901, Wells published a non-fiction book
called Anticipations. This collection of predictions has proved to be remarkably accurate.
Wells forecasted the rise of major cities and suburbs, economic globalization, and aspects of
future military conflicts. Remarkably, considering his support for women and women’s
rights, Wells did not predict the rise of women in the workplace.
Politically, Wells supported socialist ideals. For a time, he was a member of the Fabian
Society, a group that sought social reform and believed that the best political system was
socialism. Wells explored issues of social class and economic disparity in a number of his
works, including Kipps (1905). Kipps was one of Wells’s favorites of his own work.
Over the years, he wrote several more comedies, including 1916’s Mr. Britling Sees It
Through. This wildly popular novel looks at a writer living in a small English village before,
during and after World War I. Also around this time, Wells again demonstrated his affinity
for predictions. He foresaw the splitting of atom and the creation of atomic bombs in The
World Set Free (1914).
Later Works
In 1920, H.G. Wells published The Outline of History, perhaps his best selling work during
his lifetime. This three-volume tome began with prehistory and followed the world’s events
up through World War I. Wells believed there would be another major war to follow, and
included his ideas for the future. Lobbying for a type of global socialism, he suggested the
creation of a single government for the entire world. Around this time, Wells also tried to
advance his political ideas in the real world. He ran for Parliament as a Labour Party
candidate in 1922 and 1923, but both efforts ended in failure.
Wells branched out into film in the 1930s. Traveling to Hollywood, he adapted his 1933
novel The Shape of Things to Come for the big screen. His 1936 film, called Things to Come,
took audiences on a journey from the next world war into the distant future. Around this same
time, Wells worked on the film version of one of his short stories, “The Man Who Could
Work Miracles.”
An internationally famous intellectual and author, Wells traveled widely. He visited Russia in
1920 where he met with Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. More than a decade later, Wells
had the opportunity to talk with Josef Stalin and American president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He also lectured and went on speaking tours, gaining notoriety for his radical social and
political views. Taking a break from war-torn London in 1940, Wells came to the United
States. He delivered a talk entitled “Two Hemispheres—One World.”
Personal Life
In 1891, Wells married his cousin, Isabel Mary Wells, but the union didn’t last. Wells soon
took up with Amy Catherine “Jane” Robbins and the pair married in 1895 after he officially
divorced Isabel. He and Jane had two children together, sons George Philip and Frank.
A free thinker about sex and sexuality, Wells did not let marriage stop him from having other
relationships. He had numerous affairs and later lived apart from Jane. His involvement with
Amber Reeves resulted in the birth of their daughter Anna-Jane in 1909. Wells later
developed feelings for feminist writer Rebecca West, and they had a son, Anthony, together.
Jane died of cancer in 1927.
Death and Legacy
For roughly 50 years, Wells devoted his life to writing and his output during this time was
amazing. Some even criticized Wells for his tremendous volume of work, saying that he
spread his talent too thin. Wells wrote, on average, three books a year for a time. And each of
his works went through several drafts before publication.
Wells remained productive until the very end of his life, but his attitude seemed to darken in
his final days. Among his last works was 1945’s “Mind at the End of Its Tether,” a
pessimistic essay in which Wells contemplates the end of humanity. Some critics speculated
that Wells’s declining health shaped this prediction of a future without hope. He died on
August 13, 1946, in London.
“The New Accelerator”

- HG Wells
“The New Accelerator” is a 1901 science fiction short story by H.G. Wells. The story
addresses an elixir, invented by a Prof. Gibberne, that accelerates all of an individual’s
physiological and cognitive processes by some orders of magnitude, such that although the
individual perceives no change in themselves, the external world appears almost frozen into
immobility and only the motion of most rapidly moving objects - such as the tip of a cracked
whip - can be perceived.
The exploration of the consequences of this is incomplete; for example, the inventor and his
companion find that while under the influence of the elixir they can easily singe their clothing
from the heat produced by friction against the air as they walk, such is the rapidity of their
motion; but this same air friction would render it impossible to breathe at a correspondingly
accelerated rate, and this difficulty is ignored.
The drug has considerable advantages as well as risks, drawing upon a trope present in other
of Wells’ literary works that describes the possibility of scientific discoveries to be both a
blessing and a curse.
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles”

- HG Wells
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles” is a British fantasy-comedy short story by H.G.
Wells first published in 1898 in The Illustrated London News. It carried the subtitle “A
Pantoum in Prose.”
The story is an early example of Contemporary fantasy (not yet recognized, at the time, as a
specific subgenre). In common with later works falling within this definition, the story places
a major fantasy premise (a wizard with enormous, virtually unlimited magic power) not in an
exotic semi-Medieval setting but in the drab routine daily life of suburban London, very
familiar to Wells himself.
In an English public house, George McWhirter Fotheringay vigorously asserts the
impossibility of miracles during an argument. By way of demonstration, Fotheringay
commands an oil lamp to flame upside down and it does so, to his own astonishment. His
acquaintances think it a trick and quickly dismiss it, but Fotheringay continues to use his new
power for other petty deeds.
After magically accomplishing his daily chores as an office clerk, Fotheringay quits early to a
park to practise further. He encounters a local constable, who is accidentally injured. In the
ensuing altercation, Fotheringay unintentionally sends the policeman to Hades; hours later,
Fotheringay relocates him safely to San Francisco.
Unnerved by these miracles, Fotheringay attends local Sunday church services. The
clergyman, Mr. Maydig, preaches about unnatural occurrences. Fotheringay is deeply moved,
and meets Maydig in his manse for advice. After a few petty demonstrations, the minister
becomes enthusiastic and suggests that Fotheringay should use these abilities to benefit
others. That night they walk the town streets, healing illness and vice and improving public
works.
Maydig plans to reform the whole world. He suggests that they could disregard their
obligations for the next day if Fotheringay could stop the night altogether. Fotheringay agrees
and stops the motion of the Earth. His clumsy wording of the wish causes all objects on Earth
to be hurled from the surface with great force. Pandemonium ensues, but Fotheringay
miraculously ensures his own safety back on the ground. In fact (though he is not aware of
the enormity of what he had done) the whole of humanity except for himself had perished in a
single instant.
Fotheringay is unable to return the Earth to its prior state. He repents, and wishes that the
power be taken from him and the world restored to a time before he had the power.
Fotheringay immediately finds himself back in the public house, discussing miracles with his
friends as before, without any recollection of subsequent events.
The all-knowing narrator thus tells the reader that he or she had died “a year ago” (the story
was published in 1897) and was then resurrected - but has no recollection of anything special
having happened.
Roald Dahl (1916-1990)
Roald Dahl was a British author who penned 19 children’s books over his decades-long
writing career. In 1953 he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You and
married actress Patricia Neal. He published the popular book James and the Giant Peach in
1961. In 1964 he released another highly successful work, Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, which was later adapted for two films.
Over his decades-long writing career, Dahl composed 19 children’s books. Despite their
popularity, Dahl’s children’s books have been the subject of some controversy, as critics and
parents have balked at their portrayal of children’s harsh revenge on adult wrongdoers. In his
defense, Dahl claimed that children have a cruder sense of humor than adults, and that he was
merely trying to appeal to his readers.
Roald Dahl began his writing career with short stories; in all, he published nine short story
collections. Dahl first caught the writing bug while in Washington, D.C., when he met with
author C.S. Forrester, who encouraged him to start writing. Dahl published his first short
story in the Saturday Evening Post. He went on to write stories and articles for other
magazines, including The New Yorker.
Of his early writing career, Dahl told New York Times book reviewer Willa Petschek, “As I
went on the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic.” He went on to describe
his foray into writing as a “pure fluke,” saying, “Without being asked to, I doubt if I’d ever
have thought to do it.”
Dahl wrote his first story for children, The Gremlins, in 1942, for Walt Disney. The story
wasn’t terribly successful, so Dahl went back to writing macabre and mysterious stories
geared toward adult readers. He continued in this vein into the 1950s, producing the best-
selling story collection Someone Like You in 1953, and Kiss, Kiss in 1959.
“The Umbrella Man”

-Roald Dahl
The narrator of this story is a 12-year-old girl who has gone to London with her mother to
visit the dentist. The girl has a tooth filled, and then she and her mother go to a café
afterwards. When it’s time to go home, they discover that it’s pouring rain and they have no
umbrella. They decide to get a taxi. While they’re watching for a cab, an old gentleman
sheltering under an umbrella approaches them. He asks for a favor. The girl’s mother is very
distrustful of strange men. The old man explains that he has forgotten his wallet and would
like to sell them his umbrella in return for taxi fare back to his home. He explains that it’s a
very nice silk umbrella worth twenty pounds, but his legs are weak and he simply must take a
taxi home. The mother likes the sound of the deal, but the little girl worries that they’re taking
advantage of the old man. The mother offers to simply give him the cab fare, but he insists
that they take the umbrella. The transaction is made and everyone is happy.
As the mother is proudly explaining the importance of correctly judging people, the daughter
notices that the old man has quickly crossed the street and is hurrying away. “He doesn’t look
very tired to me,” she said. The mother is displeased. “He’s up to something.” They decide to
follow him and find out. They quickly follow him as he rushes through the rainy streets.
Eventually they find themselves at a pub called “The Red Lion” and watch through the
window as the old man enters and uses the pound note to pay for a triple whiskey. “That’s a
jolly expensive drink,” said the little girl. “It cost him a twenty-pound silk umbrella!” They
watch as the old man finishes his drink and goes to retrieve his coat and hat. Just before he
leaves the pub, he smoothly plucks a wet umbrella from the coat rack and takes it with him.
“So that’s his game!” the mother explained. They see him head back to the main street and
sell the umbrella to another unsuspecting person. Then he heads off in another direction for
another pub. “He could be doing this all night,” the girl says. “Yes, of course,” says the
mother. “But I’ll be he prays like mad for rainy days.”
Lamb to the Slaughter

-Roald Dahl
The scene is warm and cozy. There are two lamps, two chairs, and two glasses on the table,
and drinks and fresh ice ready to be mixed. Mary Maloney is at home alone, sitting across
from an empty chair and waiting for her husband to return from work.
Six months pregnant and happy with her life, Mary works on her sewing and eagerly awaits
her husband’s arrival. She is described in bodily terms — in terms of her body: the position
of her head is “curiously tranquil,” her skin translucent, her mouth soft, her eyes placid, large,
and dark.
When her husband arrives home, Mary greets him with a kiss and an endearment, hangs his
coat up for him, and prepares drinks for them both, a strong one for him and a weaker one for
herself, before returning to her sewing as he sits down with his whiskey.
For Mary, this post-work ritual is “blissful,” despite her husband’s silence, which she
accommodates and mirrors. She has been home alone all day and she “loved to luxuriate in
the presence of this man, and to feel—almost as a sunbather feels the sun—that warm male
glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.”
Note
students for UGC NET / SET in English subject and M.A (English), M.Phil and Ph.D
Entrance examinations also.
PAPER-IV
Eng 204 A: Women’s

Writing
(4 Credits)
MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-IV Eng 204 A: Women’s Writing (4 credits)
Unit I Background
Sex and Gender; Women’s Liberation Movement; Feminisms; Women and the
Canon; Gynocriticism
Unit II Poetry
Aemilia Lanyer “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women”
Sylvia Plath “Lady Lazarus”, “The Applicant”, “Daddy”
Grace Nichols “Waterpot”, “A Praise Song for Mother”,
Luci Tapahonso “Blue Horses Rush In”, “Leda and the Cowboy”,
“Raisin Eyes”
Unit III Fiction

Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea
Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye
Chimamanda Adichie Americanah
Unit IV Prose
Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Introduction and Chapter 2)
Adrienne Rich “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-
Vision”
Suniti Namjoshi From Feminist Fables
1. From the Panchatantra
2. The Little Princess
3. The Gods
4. Perseus and Andomeda
5. Case History
6. The Runner
Semester-II
Paper-IV
ENG 204 A: Women’s Writing
Unit –I
Background
Sex and Gender
The distinction between sex and gender differentiates sex (the anatomy of an individual’s
reproductive system, and secondary sex characteristics from gender, which can refer to either
social roles based on the sex of the person or personal identification of one’s own gender
based on an internal awareness. In some circumstances, an individual’s assigned sex and
gender do not align, and the person may be transgender. In other cases, an individual may
have biological sex characteristics that complicate sex assignment, and the person may be
intersex. The sex and gender distinction is not universal. In ordinary speech, sex and gender
are often used interchangeably. Some dictionaries and academic disciplines give them
different definitions while others do not. Among scientists, the term sex differences (as
compared to gender differences) is typically applied to sexually dimorphic traits that are
hypothesized to be evolved consequences of sexual selection.
Sex
Anisogamy, or the size differences of gametes (sex cells), is the defining feature of the two
sexes. By definition, males have small, mobile gametes: females have large and generally
immobile gametes. In humans, typical male or female sexual differentiation includes the
presence or absence of a Y chromosome, the type of gonads, the sex hormones, the internal
reproductive anatomy (such as the uterus in females), and the external genitalia. People with
mixed sex factors are intersex. People whose internal psychological experience differs from
their assigned sex are transgender or transsexual.
The consensus among scientists is that all behaviors are phenotypes—complex interactions of
both biology and environment—and thus nature vs. nurture is a misleading categorization.
The term sex differences is typically applied to sexually dimorphic traits that are
hypothesized to be evolved consequences of sexual selection. For example, the human “sex
difference” in height is a consequence of sexual selection, while the “gender difference”
typically seen in head hair length (women with longer hair) is not. Scientific research shows
an individual’s sex influences his or her behavior.
Sex is annotated as different from gender in the Oxford English Dictionary, where it says sex
“tends now to refer to biological differences.” The World Health Organization (WHO)
similarly states that “‘sex’ refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define
men and women” and that “‘male’ and ‘female’ are sex categories”. The American Heritage
Dictionary, however, lists sex as both “Either of the two divisions, designated female and
male, by which most organisms are classified on the basis of their reproductive organs and
functions” and “One’s identity as either female or male,” among other definitions.
Gender
In the Oxford English Dictionary, gender is defined as, “[i]n mod[ern] (esp[escially] feminist)
use, a euphemism for the sex of a human being, often intended to emphasize the social and
cultural, as opposed to the biological, distinctions between the sexes.”, with the earliest
example cited being from 1963. The American Heritage Dictionary (5th edition), in addition
to defining gender the same way that it defines biological sex, also states that gender may be
defined by identity as “neither entirely female nor entirely male”; its Usage Note adds:
Some people maintain that the word sex should be reserved for reference to the biological
aspects of being male or female or to sexual activity, and that the word gender should be used
only to refer to sociocultural roles. ... In some situations this distinction avoids ambiguity, as
in gender research, which is clear in a way that sex research is not. The distinction can be
problematic, however. Linguistically, there isn’t any real difference between gender bias and
sex bias, and it may seem contrived to insist that sex is incorrect in this instance.
Women’s Liberation Movement

The women’s liberation movement was a collective struggle for equality that was most active
during the late 1960s and 1970s. It sought to free women from oppression and male
supremacy. The movement consisted of women’s liberation groups, advocacy, protests,
consciousness raising, feminist theory, and a variety of diverse individual and group actions
on behalf of women and freedom. The term was created as a parallel to other liberation and
freedom movements of the time. The root of the idea was rebellion against colonial powers or
a repressive national government to win independence for a national group and to end
oppression.
Parts of the racial justice movement of the time had begun calling themselves the ”black
liberation.” The term “liberation” resonates not just with independence from oppression and
male supremacy for individual women, but with solidarity among women seeking
independence and ending oppression for women collectively. It was often held in contrast to
individualistic feminism. The individuals and groups were loosely tied together by common
ideas, although there were also significant differences between groups and conflicts within
the movement.
The term “women’s liberation movement” is often used synonymously with “women’s
movement” or second wave feminism,” although there were actually many different types of
feminist groups. Even within the women’s liberation movement, women’s groups held
differing beliefs about organizing tactics and whether working within the patriarchal
establishment could effectively bring about desired change.
Not “Women’s Lib”

The term “women’s lib” was used largely by those who opposed the movement as a way of
minimizing, belittling, and making a joke of it.
Women’s Liberation vs. Radical Feminism
The women’s liberation movement is also sometimes seen as being synonymous with radical
feminism because both were concerned with freeing members of society from oppressive
social structure. Both have sometimes been characterized as a threat to men, particularly
when the movements use rhetoric about “struggle” and “revolution.” However, feminist
theorists overall are actually concerned with how society can eliminate unfair sex roles. There
is more to women’s liberation than the anti-feminist fantasy that feminists are women who
want to eliminate men.
The desire for freedom from oppressive social structure in many women’s liberation groups
led to internal struggles with structure and leadership. The idea of full equality and
partnership being expressed in a lack of structure is credited by many with the weakening
power and influence of the movement. It led to later self-examination and further
experimentation with leadership and participation models of organization.
Putting Women’s Liberation in Context
The connection with a black liberation movement is significant because many of those
involved in creating the women’s liberation movement had been active in the civil rights
movement and the growing black power and black liberation movements.
They had experienced disempowerment and oppression there as women. The “rap group” as
a strategy for consciousness within the black liberation movement evolved into
consciousness-raising groups within the women’s liberation movement. The Combahee River
Collective formed around the intersection of the two movements in the 1970s.
Many feminists and historians trace the roots of the women’s liberation movement to the
New Left and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. Women who worked
in those movements often found that they were not treated equally, even within liberal or
radical groups that claimed to fight for freedom and equality. Feminists of the 1960s had
something in common with feminists of the 19th century in this respect: Early women’s
rights activists such as Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Station were inspired to organize
for women’s rights after being excluded from men’s anti-slavery societies and abolitionist
meetings.
Writing About the Women’s Liberation Movement

Women have written fiction, non-fiction and poetry about ideas of the 1960s’ and 1970s’
women’s liberation movement. A few of these feminist writers were Frances M. Beal,
Simone de Beauvior, Shulamith Firestone, Carol Hanisch etc. In her classic essay on
women’s liberation, Jo Freeman commented on the tension between the Liberation Ethic and
the Equality Ethic. “To seek only equality, given the current male bias of the social values, is
to assume that women want to be like men or that men are worth emulating.... It is just as
dangerous to fall into the trap of seeking liberation without due concern for equality.”
Freeman also commented on the challenge of radicalism versus reformism which was a
tension in the women’s movement. “This is a situation the politicos frequently found
themselves in during the early days of the movement. They found repugnant the possibility of
pursuing ‘reformist’ issues which might be achieved without altering the basic nature of the
system, and thus, they felt, only strengthen the system. However, their search for a
sufficiently radical action and/or issue came to naught and they found themselves unable to
do anything out of fear that it might be counterrevolutionary. Inactive revolutionaries are a
good deal more innocuous than active ‘reformists.’”
Timeline:
Ø 1949– Simone de Beauvoir’s book, The Second Sex, was published in the United
States. The term “women’s liberation” was first used in the book.
Ø 1960 – The Federal Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills. They
were available on the market the following year.
Ø 1961 – President Kennedy created the President’s Commission on the Status of
Women chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Ø 1963 – The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was amended. This prohibited sex-based wage
discrimination between men and women in the same establishment doing similar
work.
Ø 1963 – Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. The book questioned the
belief that woman were happy with their marriages and with motherhood.
Ø 1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by Congress and signed by President
Johnson. This prohibited discrimination in the work environment based on gender.
Ø 1965 - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioners (EEOC) were appointed
to oversee the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act.
Ø 1965 – President Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 ordered “federal agencies and
federal contractor’s to take ‘affirmative action ‘ in overcoming employment
discrimination”.
Ø 1966 – Because the EEOC was unable to enforce the Civil Rights Act, 28 women
formed the National Organization for Women (NOW). Betty Friedan was elected the
first national president of the Organization at the founding conference held in
Washington D.C.
Ø 1967 – The National Organization for Women was formally incorporated.
Membership was up to 1035.
Ø 1968 – One hundred women protested the Miss America Beauty Pageant because it
promoted “physical attractiveness and charm as the primary measure of a woman’s
worth”. (Sawhney)
Ø 1971 – The initial Equal Rights Amendment (in its original form) passed the House of
Representatives.
Ø 1972 – The Equal Rights Amendment passed the Senate and was sent to be ratified by
the states. This was a major victory for women’s rights movements.
Ø 1973 – Judge Harry A. Blackmun wrote the decision for Rowe vs. Wade which
legalized first trimester abortions.
Ø 1973 - NOW’s Task Force on Rape was formed to redefine rape as a crime of
violence against women and to laws dealing with rape and how it was handled at trial.
Ø 1974 – The first “March for Life” pro-life rally against abortion took place in
Washington D.C. The march was organized by Nellie Gray.
Ø 1975 – Joanne Little was acquitted on the murder Clarence Alligood. This set a
precedent for the rape victim’s right of self-defense in sexual assault cases.
Ø 1978 – In August, over 100,000 people marched in Washington D.C. to extend the
time limit to ratify the ERA.
Ø 1979 – The National Organization for Women membership was 100,000 members
strong.
Feminisms
Feminism advocates social, political, economic, and intellectual equality for women and men.
Feminism defines a political perspective; it is distinct from sex or gender.
Feminism means very different things to different people. The many variants of feminism are
associated with a variety of philosophical and political outlooks. Sue V. Rosser has
distinguished at least ten different feminist approaches to science and technology (Rosser,
2008).
Many people in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere practice feminism without self-identifying as
“feminists.” The vast majority of Europeans and Americans are feminists, at least liberal
feminists—that is to say, they support equality and professional opportunities for women. It is
important to recognize that what is labeled “feminist” in one time and place becomes business
as usual in another. It is a curious phenomenon that when feminist practices or points of view
become widely accepted in science, medicine, engineering, or the culture more generally,
they are no longer considered “feminist,” but simply “just” or “true.” The result is that the
term “feminist” continues to refer to people and policies on the radical cutting edge.
Here we present four broad feminist approaches. Although these approaches differ, they are
not mutually exclusive, nor does one supersede any other. These approaches represent basic
strategies guiding research, legislation, and policies.
1. Liberal Feminism, or the Equality Approach, has been the leading form of feminism in
the U.S. and much of Western Europe since English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s vigorous
call for equality for women in her 1792 Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It has informed
major legislation guaranteeing women equal rights, education, pay, and opportunity (in
Europe the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999; in the U.S., the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title IX of the
Education Act Amendments of 1972, and the Equal Opportunity Employment Act of 1972.
Liberal feminism has been criticized for not recognizing sex and gender differences. It is
often considered “assimilationist,” meaning that women, and not society or culture, are
required to change in order for women to succeed.
2. Difference Feminism represents a broad spectrum of feminisms that emphasize

differences between women and men. This approach arose in the 1980s and 1990s in efforts
to revalue qualities traditionally devalued as “feminine”—such as subjectivity, caring,
feeling, or empathy. This approach identifies bias in science and technology by seeing what
has been left out from feminine perspectives—sometimes expressed as “women’s ways of
knowing.” Difference feminisms have been criticized as being essentialist. Difference
feminism tends to romanticize traditional femininity and masculinity and to reinforce
conventional stereotypes. This approach fails to take into account that women and men across
classes and cultures hold many different perspectives and values.
3. Co-Constructionism analyzes how science/technology and gender mutually shape each

other (Faulkner, 2001; Oudshoorn et al., 2004). Gender identities are produced
simultaneously with science and technologies; neither precedes the other. Gender is
understood to be material, discursive, and social; it permeates artifacts, culture, and social
identities. Co-constructionism seeks to avoid both technological determinism (seeing
technology as the prime driver of modernity) and gender essentialism (seeing gender
characteristics as innate and unchangeable).
4. Sex and Gender Analysis enriches science, health & medicine, and engineering research
by analyzing how sex and gender influence all phases of research, including setting priorities,
making funding decisions, establishing project objectives and methods, gathering and
analyzing data, evaluating results, developing patents, and transferring ideas to markets
(Schiebinger et al., 2011). This approach prioritizes analysis (not prescription) to guide
efforts to achieve gender equality. Simultaneously, this approach employs sex and gender
analysis as a resource to stimulate creativity in science and technology, and by doing so
enhance the lives of both women and men.
Women and the Canon

The academic discipline of Women’s Writing as a discrete area of literary studies is based
on the notion that the experience of women, historically, has been shaped by their gender, and
so women writers by definition are a group worthy of separate study: “Their texts emerge
from and intervene in conditions usually very different from those which produced most
writing by men.” It is not a question of the subject matter or political stance of a particular
author, but of her gender, i.e. her position as a woman within the literary world. Women’s
writing, as a discrete area of literary studies and practice, is recognized explicitly by the
numbers of dedicated journals, organizations, awards, and conferences which focus mainly or
exclusively on texts produced by women. The study of women’s writing developed in the
1970s and since. The majority of English and American literature programmes offer courses
on specific aspects of literature by women, and women’s writing is generally considered an
area of specialization in its own right.
In most cases, the addition of women writers to the canon has proceeded by arguing that a
particular woman writer meets the standards generally applied to male authors, that she
evinces similar values, that she contributes something important to an understanding of
(white, male) Western culture.
Gynocriticism
`Elaine Showalter’s A Literature of Their Own, which describes three stages in the history of
women’s literature, also proposes a similar multi-part model of the growth of feminist theory.
First, according to Showalter, comes an androgynist poetics. Next, a feminist critique and
female Aesthetic, accompanied by gynocritics, follows, and these are closely pursued by
gynesic poststructuralist feminist criticism and gender theory.
However, from the 1970s on, most feminist critics reject the genderless mind, finding that the
“imagination” cannot evade the conscious or unconscious structures of gender. Gender, it
could be said, is part of that culture-determination which Oates says serves as inspiration.
Such a position emphasizes “the impossibility of separating the imagination from a socially,
sexually, and historically positioned self.” This movement of thought allowed for a feminist
critique as critics attacked the meaning of sexual difference in a patriarchal society/ideology.
Images of male-wrought representations of women (stereotypes and exclusions) came under
fire, as was the “‘division, oppression, inequality, [and] interiorized inferiority for women.’”
There are problems with the Female Aesthetic, which feminist critics recognized. Even its
most fervent fans avoided defining exactly what constituted the style of l’écriture feminine, as
any definition would then categorize it and safely subsume it as a genre under the linear
patriarchal structure. It is very restlessness and ambiguity defied identification as part of its
identity. Needless to say, some feminists and women writers could feel excluded by the
surreality of the Female Aesthetic and its stress on the biological forms of female experience,
which, as Showalter says, also bears close resemblance to sexist essentialism. Men may try
their hand at writing woman’s bodies, but according to the feminist critique and Aesthetic,
only woman whose very biology gave her an edge, could read these texts successfully --
risking marginalization and ghettoization of both women’s literature and theory. Lastly, the
Female Aesthetic was charged with racism, as it rarely referred to racial or class differences
between women and largely referred to a white woman’s literary tradition.
Gynocritics, which developed shoulder-to-shoulder with the Female Aesthetic, attempted to

resolve some of these problems, by agreeing that women’s literature lay as the central
concern for feminist criticism, but “rejected the concept of an essential female identity and
style.” One branch of gynocriticism sought to revise Freudian structures and take the edge off
of an adversarial methodology of criticism. These critics emphasized a Pre-Oedipal phase
wherein the daughter’s bond to her mother inscribes the key factor in gender identity.
Matriarchal values desolve intergenerational conflicts and build upon a female tradition of
literature rather than the struggle of Oedipus and Lais at the crossroads.
Common Space in Feminist Theories

Though a number of different approaches exist in feminist criticism, there exist some areas of
commonality. This list is excerpted from Tyson:
Ø Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and

psychologically; patriarchal ideology is the primary means by which they are kept so
Ø In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she is marginalized,
defined only by her difference from male norms and values
Ø All of western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology,
for example, in the biblical portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world
Ø While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture determines our gender
(masculine or feminine)
Ø All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism, has as its
ultimate goal to change the world by prompting gender equality
Ø Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience,
including the production and experience of literature, whether we are consciously
aware of these issues or not (91).
Feminist criticism has, in many ways, followed what some theorists call the three waves of
feminism:
Wave Feminism - late 1700s-early 1900’s: writers like Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication
of the Rights of Women, 1792) highlight the inequalities between the sexes. Activists like
Susan B. Anthony and Victoria Woodhull contribute to the women’s suffrage movement,
which leads to National Universal Suffrage in 1920 with the passing of the Nineteenth
Amendment
Second Wave Feminism - early 1960s-late 1970s: building on more equal working
conditions necessary in America during World War II, movements such as the National
Organization for Women (NOW), formed in 1966, cohere feminist political activism. Writers
like Simone de Beauvoir (Le deuxième sexe, 1972) and Elaine Showalter established the
groundwork for the dissemination of feminist theories dove-tailed with the American Civil
Rights movement.
Third Wave Feminism - early 1990s-present: resisting the perceived essentialist (over
generalized, over simplified) ideologies and a white, heterosexual, middle class focus of
second wave feminism, third wave feminism borrows from post-structural and contemporary
gender and race theories (see below) to expand on marginalized populations’ experiences.
Writers like Alice Walker work to “...reconcile it [feminism] with the concerns of the black
community...[and] the survival and wholeness of her people, men and women both, and for
the promotion of dialog and community as well as for the valorization of women and of all
the varieties of work women perform” (Tyson 97).
Unit –II
Poetry
Aemilia Lanyer (1569–1645)

Emilia Lanier, also spelled Lanyer, was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a
professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611).[2]
Born Aemilia Bassano and part of the Lanier family tree, she was a member of the minor
gentry through her father’s appointment as a royal musician, and was apparently educated in
the household by Susan Bertie, Countess of Kent. She was for several years the mistress of
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, first cousin of Elizabeth I of England. She was married to
court musician Alfonso Lanier in 1592 when she became pregnant by Hunsdon, and the
marriage was reportedly unhappy.
As the author of the collection of poetry known as “Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum” (1611)
Emelia was the first woman in England to publish a book of original poetry. Her volume
centres on the title poem, a long narrative work of over 200 stanzas. It tells the story of
Christ’s passion satirically and almost entirely from the point of view of the women who
surround him. The main poem is prefaced by ten shorter dedicatory works, all to aristocratic
women, beginning with the queen. There is also a prose preface addressed to the reader,
comprising a vindication of “virtuous women” against detractors of the sex. After the central
poem there is a verse “Description of Cookham,” dedicated to Margaret, Countess of

Cumberland and her daughter Lady Anne Clifford. This last is the first published country
house poem in English (Ben Jonson’s more famous “To Penshurst” may have been written
earlier but was first published in 1616). Her inspiration came from a visit to Cookham Dean,
where Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland, and her daughter Lady Anne Clifford
lived. While visiting the residence she says to have received a spiritual awakening, inspired
by the piety of Margaret. At the age of 42, in 1611, she published Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum
(Hail, God, King of the Jews). At the time that she published her book, it was extremely
unusual for an Englishwoman to publish work and to do so as a means of making a living was
even more unusual. The book was radical for its time, although the topics of virtue and
religion were considered to be suitable themes for women. It was viewed as radical because it
addressed topics such as the maltreatment of women. Layner defends Eve, and womankind in
general, arguing that Eve has been wrongly blamed for the original sin of eating the forbidden
fruit, while no blame has been pointed at Adam. She argues that Adam shares most of the
guilt by concluding that Adam was stronger than Eve, and thus, he should have been able to
resist the temptation. She also defends women by pointing out the dedication of the female
followers of Christ who stayed with Him throughout the Passion, and looked for him first
after the burial and resurrection. She also draws attention to Pilate’s wife who attempted to
intervene and prevent the unjust trial and crucifixion of Christ. Layner reproaches mankind
by accusing them of crucifying Christ. She also notes the male apostles that forsook and even
denied Christ during His crucifixion and Passion.
Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women

- Aemilia Lanyer
Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women is a poem by Aemilia Lanyer (1569-1645) that comes
from her work Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum and when I first read it I was fascinated – the
poem basically makes an argument that blaming all women for Eve’s sin is silly, and that if
she is to be blamed then Adam is just as at fault. She also makes a defense for Eve’s actions.
Lanyer is very bold with this work and that’s what I like about it. She turns societal notions
about women upside down by using them in her argument. Here are some excerpts from the
poem:
“Till not your indiscretion sets us free,

And makes our former fault much less appear;
Our mother Eve, who tasted of the tree,
Giving to Adam what she held most dear,
Was simply good and had no power to see;
The after-coming harm did not appear:
The subtle serpent that our sex betrayed
Before our plot had laid”
Here, the speaker argues for Even’s innocence – she was ignorant of the consequences and
only offered Adam the apple out of love for him.
“But surely Adam cannot be excused;

Her fault though great, yet he was most to blame.
What weakness offered, strength might have refused;

Being lord of all, the greater was his shame;
Although the serpent’s craft had her abused,
God’s holy word ought all his actions frame;
For he was lord and king of all the earth,
Before poor Eve had either life or breath,”

So, basically Adam is more at fault because he should have known better. Still, it could be
that the speaker’s goal is to show if you’re going to blame one, you can blame the other. The
conclusion should be that either both are punished for their actions or no one takes the blame
for what another committed.
“Whom, if unjustly you condemn to die,

Her sin was small to what you do commit,
All mortal sins that do for vengeance cry
Are not to be compared unto it;
If many worlds would altogether r try
By all their sins the wrath of God to get,
This sin of yours surmounts them all as far
As doth the sun another little star
The speaker’s argument turns to discussing how it was men who betrayed Jesus — the
greatest sin of all.
“Then let us have our liberty again,

And challenge to yourselves no sovereignty.
You came not in the world without our pain,
Make that a bar against your cruelty
Your fault being greater, why should you disdain
Our being your equals, free from tyranny?
If one weak woman did offend,
This sin of yours hath no excuse nor end.”
Again, this emphasis that men have committed a greater sin – and that if women are to be
punished for there’s then men should be punished as well.
This poem is a pretty harsh one but I didn’t really get “punish men” out of it, I got the idea
that entire groups shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a biblical figure. I imagine this was
a radical idea in Lanyer’s time.
Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 27, 1932. Plath met and married
British poet Ted Hughes, although the two later split. The depressive Plath committed suicide
in 1963, garnering accolades after her death for the novel The Bell Jar, and the poetry
collections The Colossus and Ariel. In 1982, Plath became the first person to win a
posthumous Pulitzer Prize.
Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sylvia Plath was a gifted and troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work.
Her interest in writing emerged at an early age, and she started out by keeping a journal.
After publishing a number of works, Plath won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950.
While she was a student, Sylvia Plath spent time in New York City during the summer of
1953 working for Mademoiselle magazine as a guest editor. Soon after, Plath tried to kill
herself by taking sleeping pills. She eventually recovered, having received treatment during a
stay in a mental health facility. Plath returned to Smith and finished her degree in 1955.
A Fulbright Fellowship brought Sylvia Plath to Cambridge University in England. While

studying at the university’s Newnham College, she met the poet Ted Hughes. The two
married in 1956 and had a stormy relationship. In 1957, Plath spent time in Massachusetts to
study with poet Robert Lowell and met fellow poet and student Ann Sexton. She also taught
English at Smith College around that same time. Plath returned to England in 1959.
A poet on the rise, Sylvia Plath had her first collection of poetry, The Colossus, published in
England in 1960. That same year, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Freida.
Two years later, Plath and Hughes welcomed a second child, a son named Nicholas.
Unfortunately, the couple’s marriage was failing apart.
After Hughes left her for another woman in 1962, Sylvia Plath fell into a deep depression.
Struggling with her mental illness, she wrote The Bell Jar (1963), her only novel, which was
based on her life and deals with one young woman’s mental breakdown. Plath published the
novel under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. She also created the poems that would make up
the collection Ariel (1965), which was released after her death. Sylvia Plath committed
suicide on February 11, 1963.
“Lady Lazarus”,
-Sylvia Plath
I have done it again.

One year in every ten
I manage it——
A sort of walking miracle, my skin

Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.
Peel off the napkin

O my enemy.
Do I terrify?——
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?

The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
Soon, soon the flesh

The grave cave ate will be
At home on me
And I a smiling woman.

I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.
This is Number Three.

What a trash
To annihilate each decade.
What a million filaments.

The peanut-crunching crowd
Shoves in to see
Them unwrap me hand and foot——

The big strip tease.
Gentlemen, ladies
These are my hands
My knees.
I may be skin and bone,
Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman.

The first time it happened I was ten.
It was an accident.
The second time I meant

To last it out and not come back at all.
I rocked shut
As a seashell.
They had to call and call
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.
Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.

I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I’ve a call.
It’s easy enough to do it in a cell.

It’s easy enough to do it and stay put.
It’s the theatrical
Comeback in broad day

To the same place, the same face, the same brute
Amused shout:
‘A miracle!’
That knocks me out.
There is a charge
For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge

For the hearing of my heart——
It really goes.
And there is a charge, a very large charge

For a word or a touch
Or a bit of blood
Or a piece of my hair or my clothes.

So, so, Herr Doktor.
So, Herr Enemy.
I am your opus,
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby
That melts to a shriek.

I turn and burn.
Do not think I underestimate your great concern.
Ash, ash—
You poke and stir.
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there——
A cake of soap,
A wedding ring,
A gold filling.
Herr God, Herr Lucifer

Beware
Beware.
Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.
Summary:
“Lady Lazarus’ is a poem commonly understood to be about suicide. It is narrated by a

woman, and mostly addressed to an unspecified person.
The narrator begins by saying she has “done it again.” Every ten years, she manages to
commit this unnamed act. She considers herself a walking miracle with bright skin, her right
foot a “paperweight,” and her face as fine and featureless as“Jew linen”. She addresses an
unspecified enemy, asking him to peel the napkin from her face, and inquiring whether he is
terrified by the features he sees there. She assures him that her “sour breath” will vanish in a
day.
She is certain that her flesh will soon be restored to her face after having been sacrificed to
the grave, and that she will then be a smiling, 30 year-old woman. She will ultimately be able
to die nine times, like a cat, and has just completed her third death. She will die once each
decade. After each death, a “peanut-crunching crowd” shoves in to see her body unwrapped.
She addresses the crowd directly, showing them she remains skin and bone, unchanged from
who she was before.
The first death occurred when she was ten, accidentally. The second death was intentional -
she did not mean to return from it. Instead, she was as “shut as a seashell” until she was
called back by people who then picked the worms off her corpse. She does not specifically
identify how either death occurred.
She believes that “Dying / Is an art, like everything else,” and that she does it very well. Each
time, “it feels real,” and is easy for her. What is difficult is the dramatic comeback, the return
to the same place and body, occurring as it does in broad daylight before a crowd’s cry of “A
miracle!” She believes people should pay to view her scars, hear her heart, or receive a word,
touch, blood, hair or clothes from her.
In the final stanzas, she addresses the listener as “Herr Dockter” and “Herr Enemy,” sneering
that she is his crowning achievement, a “pure gold baby.” She does not underestimate his
concern, but is bothered by how he picks through her ashes. She insists there is nothing there
but soap, a wedding ring, and a gold filling. She warns “Herr God, Herr Lucifer” to beware of
her because she is going to rise out of the ash and “eat men like air.”
The Applicant
-Sylvia Plath
First, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,
Stitches to show something’s missing? No, no? Then

How can we give you a thing?
Stop crying.
Open your hand.
Empty? Empty. Here is a hand
To fill it and willing

To bring teacups and roll away headaches
And do whatever you tell it.
Will you marry it?
It is guaranteed
To thumb shut your eyes at the end

And dissolve of sorrow.
We make new stock from the salt.
I notice you are stark naked.
How about this suit——
Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.

Will you marry it?
It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof
Against fire and bombs through the roof.
Believe me, they’ll bury you in it.
Now your head, excuse me, is empty.

I have the ticket for that.
Come here, sweetie, out of the closet.
Well, what do you think of that?
Naked as paper to start
But in twenty-five years she’ll be silver,

In fifty, gold.
A living doll, everywhere you look.
It can sew, it can cook,
It can talk, talk, talk.
It works, there is nothing wrong with it.

You have a hole, it’s a poultice.
You have an eye, it’s an image.
My boy, it’s your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it.
Summary:
The poem starts with a interviewer asking an applicant if he/she has anything missing. It is
later determined that the applicant is a ‘he’. The applicant has everything but a hand to hold
his hand i.e., he does not have a wife. The applicant is pretty desperate to acquire a wife. This
is seen by his crying when asked what was missing.
The interviewer seeing this gives the applicant a hand, a hand which brings him tea, soothes
him, and generally do whatever he tells it to. The hand will shut his eyes close at the end of a
tiring day and dissolve him of sorrow.
Then the interviewer asks if the applicant is ready for a marriage. Marriage comes with a
responsibility that is permanent, which cannot be destroyed, and which must be carried to the
grave. Then he says that the applicant head is a bit empty and to fill it, he calls from a closet a
woman. He dehumanises the woman and calls her ‘it’ throughout, saying how she has all the
qualities of a good wife.
She can complete him. And the applicant has no choice but to accept her. So will you marry
‘it’ the interviewer says.
Analysis:
The poem begins with a person asking the applicant the sort of person he/she is. At this point,
it is unclear as to the gender of the applicant. The interviewer asks if the applicant has a glass
eye, a false teeth, a crutch, a brace, a hook, rubber breasts or rubber crotch. All of these things
are things a person has if he has something missing. The interviewer, in short, is asking the
applicant if he/she has something missing.
The applicant replies in the negative. If he has nothing missing, then how can we give you
anything, the interviewer asks. The applicant starts crying. Then as if struck by an idea, the
interviewer asks the applicant to open his/her hand; and seeing that it was empty, the
interviewer gives the applicant a hand. This is a synecdoche. Hand here refers to a
man/woman suitable to the applicant. If we consider stereotypes, when the applicant starts
crying, we can assume that the applicant was a ‘she’.
“Daddy”
-Sylvia Plath
You do not do, you do not do

Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.
Daddy, I have had to kill you.

You died before I had time——
Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,
Ghastly statue with one gray toe
Big as a Frisco seal
And a head in the freakish Atlantic

Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off beautiful Nauset.
I used to pray to recover you.
Ach, du.
In the German tongue, in the Polish town

Scraped flat by the roller
Of wars, wars, wars.
But the name of the town is common.
My Polack friend
Says there are a dozen or two.

So I never could tell where you
Put your foot, your root,
I never could talk to you.
The tongue stuck in my jaw.
It stuck in a barb wire snare.

Ich, ich, ich, ich,
I could hardly speak.
I thought every German was you.
And the language obscene
An engine, an engine
Chuffing me off like a Jew.
A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.
I began to talk like a Jew.
I think I may well be a Jew.
The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna

Are not very pure or true.
With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit of a Jew.
I have always been scared of you,

With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat mustache

And your Aryan eye, bright blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You——
Not God but a swastika

So black no sky could squeak through.
Every woman adores a Fascist,
The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you.
You stand at the blackboard, daddy,

In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who
Bit my pretty red heart in two.

I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.
But they pulled me out of the sack,

And they stuck me together with glue.
And then I knew what to do.
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look
And a love of the rack and the screw.

And I said I do, I do.
So daddy, I’m finally through.
The black telephone’s off at the root,
The voices just can’t worm through.
If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two——

The vampire who said he was you
And drank my blood for a year,
Seven years, if you want to know.
Daddy, you can lie back now.
There’s a stake in your fat black heart

And the villagers never liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.
Summary:
“Daddy,” comprised of sixteen five-line stanzas, is a brutal and deadly poem commonly
understood to be about Plath’s deceased father, Otto Plath. The speaker begins by saying that
he “does not do anymore,” and that she feels like she has been a foot living in a black shoe
for thirty years, too timid to either breathe or sneeze. She insists that she needed to kill him
(she refers to him as “Daddy”), but that he died before she had time. She describes him as
heavy, like a “bag full of God,” resembling a statue with one big gray toe and its head
submerged in the Atlantic Ocean. She remembers how she at one time prayed for his return
from death, and gives a German utterance of grief (which translates literally to “Oh, you”).
She knows he comes from a Polish town that was overrun by “wars, wars, wars,” but one of
her Polack friends has told her that there are several towns of that name. Therefore, she
cannot uncover his hometown, where he put his “foot” and “root.”
She also discusses how she could never find a way to talk to him. Even before she could
speak, she thought every German was him, and found the German language “obscene.” In
fact, she felt so distinct from him that she believed herself a Jew being removed to a
concentration camp. She started to talk like a Jew and to feel like a Jew in several different
ways. She wonders in fact, whether she might actually be a Jew, because of her similarity to a
gypsy. To further emphasize her fear and distance, she describes him as the Luftwaffe, with a
neat mustache and a bright blue Aryan eye. She calls him a “Panzer-man,” and says he is less
like God then like the black swastika through which nothing can pass. In her mind, “Every
woman adores a Fascist,” and the “boot in the face” that comes with such a man.
When she remembers Daddy, she thinks of him standing at the blackboard, with a cleft chin
instead of a cleft foot. However, this transposition does not make him a devil. Instead, he is
like the black man who “Bit [her] pretty red heart in two.” He died when she was ten, and she
tried to join him in death when she was twenty. When that attempt failed, she was glued back
together. At this point, she realized her course - she made a model of Daddy and gave him
both a “Meinkampf look” and “a love of the rack and the screw.” She promises him that she
is “finally through;” the telephone has been taken off the hook, and the voices can no longer
get through to her. She considers that if she has killed one man, then she has in fact killed
two. Comparing him to a vampire, she remembers how he drank her blood for a year, but then
realizes the duration was closer to seven years. She tells him he can lie back now. There is a
stake in his heart, and the villagers who despised him now celebrate his death by dancing on
his corpse. She concludes by announcing, “Daddy, Daddy, you bastard, I’m through.”
Grace Nichols (1950- )

Grace Nichols (born 1950) is a Guyanese poet, who moved to Britain in 1977. Her first
collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Her
first collection of poetry, I is a Long-Memoried Woman won the 1983 Commonwealth Poetry
Prize. She has written several further books of poetry and a novel for adults, Whole of a
Morning Sky, 1986. Her books for children include collections of short stories and poetry
anthologies. Her latest work, of new and selected poems, is Startling the Flying Fish, 2006.
Her religion is Christianity after she was influenced by the UK’s many religions and multi-
cultural society.
Waterpot
-Grace Nichols
The daily going out

and coming in
always being hurried
along
like like ... cattle.
In the evenings
returning from the fields
she tried hard to walk
like a woman.
She tried very hard
pulling herself erect
with every three or four
steps
pulling herself together
holding herself like
royal cane.
And the overseer
hurrying them along
in the quickening darkness.
And the overseer sneering
them along in the quickening
darkness
sneered at the pathetic
the pathetic display
of dignity
O but look
there’s a waterpot growing
from her head.
Summary:
Grace Nichols explains, “One familiar visual image of Africa is that of women bearing
waterpots on their heads, which requires a great sense of balance and poise. In the poem,
Waterpot, this suggestion is carried forward that even in slavery the woman carries herself
with human dignity, as if she were carrying a waterpot on her head.”
This poem sends a few messages to me, also carrying a theme of diligence, hard working,
exhaustion, and, like the others, determination; again, too, and I could interpret this wrongly,
I cannot help but suspect an allusion to past slavery, such as the slaves seeming like the
referred “cattle,” watched over by some “sneering overseer.” I doubt if the poem primarily
refers to women, as opposed to “Tropical Death,” but, similar to “Tropical Death,” an
element of pride comes in my mind, as she holds herself like a “royal cane.” Noticing this, the
poet has a great optimism that, though the moral behind slavery seems wrong, she makes the
best of her situation, in a way; this seems also suggested when the overseer remarks the
“pathetic display / of dignity.”
The “waterpot growing / from her head” seems slightly confusing, and I could emphasize a
few different questionable points. The “waterpot” may suggest a sense of balance and
equilibrium; though the poet seems in this miserable state, she maintains her peace of mind,
good will, and determination, hence representing an odd stability. The “waterpot” may also
suggest something more like a kettle, as if a great amount of anger has built over time, and
the anger nearly drivers her to boiling the “waterpot,” if that makes sense, though I perceive
no elements of anger from the writer/narrator, yet only from the overseer.
A Praise Song for Mother

-Grace Nichols
You were
water to me
deep and bold and fathoming
You were
moon’s eye to me
pull and grained and mantling
You were
sunrise to me
rise and warm and streaming
You were
the fishes red gill to me
the flame tree’s spread to me
the crab’s leg/the fried plantain smell replenishing replenishing
Go to your wide futures, you said
Summary:
A praise song is a traditional African form in several traditions, increasingly made relevant to
Western world in recent decades, used to list and explore the attributes of a person. There is
an easily grasped relationship behind this one, which really invites a reader to consider their
own relationship with their mother.
The poem is written in the past tense, prompting a question. When written, was the poet’s
mother dead or simply so distant that the memory of what she once was had priority over
what she still was? But this means that either way, the poem is an exploration of memory and
descriptive power.
The poem has five brief stanzas of uneven length, the first three regular, the fourth extended
and the fifth very brief. The lines themselves are not metrically regular, making this really a
piece of free verse. The poem is strongly repetitive but also has a strong shape on the page
and when spoken aloud. There is a real sense of growth as the lines increase in length, then
contract again, something like waves on the sea.
The poem is a collection of metaphors, each depicting the subject from a different point of
view. ‘Water’ is the easiest place to start – life-giving, flowing, liquid and expressive – and it
prompts the poet to describe her mother with three words ‘deep and bold and fathoming’. To
call a person ‘deep’ may now have the sense of complexity or seriousness, but here it
summons up deep sea water, ‘bold’ the braveness of waves. ‘Fathoming’ is slightly
nonsensical. To fathom something is to sound it – to test its depth – but is the poet’s mother
trying her own depth? No – rather she is being fathoms deep. She is active, not passive.
The way the poet stretches the sense of this word is itself repeated. ‘Mantling’ must be an
action related to a ‘mantle’ or cloak, but how? Did the mother wrap herself around her
daughter in protection? Did she clothe her daughter with her own resources, her own wealth,
her own skills? Nichols is very ambiguous with her language here.
To be ‘rise’ is another of these tests. The poet’s mother was, we are told, the rise that brought
as much to her daughter as the sun rising in the morning, yet the exact manner of what that
gift was and how it was brought is hidden from us, both by the inability of language to really
express it and by the shield of privacy that the poet holds. Yet she seems to let these go as the
poem continues.
The next images will all have very personal connotations, and perhaps that is the point. The
poem describes a generic feeling of awe, love and gratitude to a parent while keeping a little
specific mystery. The ‘fishes red gill’ seems to me to be another image of vitality, since the
oxygen-rich gills quickly fade in colour once a fish has been taken out of the water. The
‘flame-tree’s spread’ implies a degree of shelter, although an exotic one, and the ‘crab’s-leg’
a favourite, well-loved family treat. I would interpret the / marking as an indication of quick
movement – of one idea breaking in on another, and the image – or flavour – of fried plantain
over-taking the poet’s imagination and demanding priority! Even tastier than crab – even
more precious – fried plantain! And all of this is the mother’s habit of ‘replenishing’ – filling
up her daughter – filling her up so full that even the word is repeated.
Yet finally the mother’s greatest gift is the freedom she gives her daughter to leave and live
her own life. The ‘wide futures’ might well be outside traditional African or Caribbean
heritage, yet however far the poet has travelled, and however far she has ended up from her
mother, she has remained able to talk to her directly, privately, colourfully, humorously, and
with love.
The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping

-Grace Nichols
Shopping in London winter
is a real drag for the fat black woman
going from store to store
in search of accommodating clothes
and de weather so cold
Look at the frozen thin mannequins
fixing her with grin
and de pretty face salesgals
exchanging slimming glances
thinking she don’t notice
Lord is aggravating
Nothing soft and bright and billowing

to flow like breezy sunlight
when she walking
The fat black woman curses in Swahili/Yoruba
and nation language under her breathing
all this journeying and journeying
The fat black woman could only conclude
that when it come to fashion
the choice is lean
Nothing much beyond size 14
Summary:
It seems like that our poet is using her sarcastic sense of humour to complain about the
difficulties in finding clothes of her size in cold winter in London. However, it is clear that
London does not sell clothes of her size although she is a British. Moreover, sales girls are
making fun of her appearance.
Nichols’ language is colloquial which sounds like a daily conversation. It is also dramatic and
jaunty which is close to Stevie Smith’s ‘the jungle husband’. She deliberately typed ‘de’
instead ‘the’, labelled her identity (diction).
Fat black woman appeared 3 times in this poem. Her image is impressive, as I would like to
think that she represents black women in the UK.
‘Store to store’ is responding to ‘journeying to journeying’, effectively delivering the sad

truth is that she lives in London but it does not sell clothes of her size. In a cold winter, she
must have worn a lot in order to keep warm but as stores don’t have her size, her clothes may
look outdated and perhaps shabby. The reality made her feel sick, exhausted and tired.
Journeying to journeying may offer a double meaning which renders the fact that racial
prejudice and discrimination has existed in London for a long time, and ridiculously, this
journey has no end. Her conclusion is polite and sarcastic, open to multiple interpretations. Of
course, poet just chose fashion as a window to articulate discrimination but it is not limited to
fashion.
Luci Tapahonso (1953- )
Luci Tapahonso is a Navajo poet and a lecturer in Native American Studies. She is the first
poet laureate of the Navajo Nation, succeeded by Laura Tohe. Silko helped Tapahonso
publish her first story, “The Snake Man”, in 1978. Her first collection of poetry, One More
Shiprock Night (assembled when she was still an undergraduate), was published in 1981, but
did not make much impact. Following Silko’s lead, Tapahonso’s early work is often mystical
and places much importance on the idea of the feminine as a source of power and balance in
the world. She also frequently uses her family and childhood friends in her poetry. Several
more collections followed, as well as many individual poems which have been anthologized
in others’ collections, activist literature, and writing in magazines. Her 1993 collection Saánii
Dahataal (the women are singing), written in Navajo and English, was the first to gain her an
international reputation, a reputation then cemented by 1997’s blue horses rush in.
Tapahonso’s writing, unlike that of most Native American writers, is a translation from
original work she has created in her tribe’s native tongue. Her Navajo work includes original
songs and chants designed for performance. For this reason, her English work is strongly
rhythmic and uses syntactical structures unusual in English language poetry.
In a personal statement, Luci Tapahonso describes herself:
I was born in Shiprock, New Mexico, where I lived until my early twenties. I grew up in a
large, extended household where Navajo was the primary language, and we learned English
in later childhood. Though I am now in a predominantly English-functioning environment, I
consider Navajo language to be the undercurrent, the matrix which everything in my life
filters through. It is the language that soothes, comforts, and cradles for me the extremes of
expression, sheer happiness and unbearable grief. Yet I use English to function in American
society.
This writing is, at times, an exhilarating challenge because I must, as near as possible, find
the
English version of what are essentially Navajo concepts. It is the beauty of the Navajo
language—the sounds, the pauses, the rhythm of songs, prayers, conversation, and oratory
that infuses every aspect of my daily life, and provides sustenance away from the Navajo
community. For me, writing is a way of sharing the memories and voices of family and
relatives, and a way of surviving. It is, at once, selfish, and it is also a celebration of, and a
sharing with others the nurturing sense of equanimity that the traditional Navajo lifestyle is
rooted in. As an English professor, my community is made up of students, colleagues, and the
city of Lawrence, Kansas; my community is also that of my mother and father's relatives, my
siblings' children, my own children and their children, and that of the Navajo people, and the
common history and beliefs we represent.
Blue Horses Rush In

-Luci Tapahonso
Blue Horses Rush In takes its title from a poem about the birth of her granddaughter Chamisa,
whose heart "pounded quickly and we recognized / the sound of horses running: / the
thundering of hooves on the desert floor." Through such personal insights, this collection
follows the cycle of a woman's life and underlines what it means to be Navajo in the late
twentieth century. The book marks a major accomplishment in American literature for its
successful blending of Navajo cultural values and forms with the English language, while at
the same time retaining the Navajo character. Here, Luci Tapahonso walks slowly through an
ancient Hohokam village, recalling stories passed down from generation to generation. Later
in the book, she may tell a funny story about a friend, then, within a few pages, describe
family rituals like roasting green chiles or baking bread in an outside oven. Throughout,
Tapahonso shares with readers her belief in the power of pollen and prayer feathers and
sacred songs.
Many of these stories were originally told in Navajo, taking no longer than ten minutes in the
telling. "Yet, in recreating them, it is necessary to describe the land, the sky, the light, and
other details of time and place," writes Tapahonso. "In this way, I attempt to create and
convey the setting for the oral text. In writing, I revisit the place or places concerned and try
to bring the reader to them, thereby enabling myself and other Navajos to sojourn mentally
and emotionally in our home, Dinétah.
Leda and the Cowboy

-Luci Tapahonso
A few months back, when the night sky was darker
than Leda had ever seen, she stepped through the
worn door frame of the Q lounge.
The suddenness of thick smoky air left her slightly faint
After that, it was easy enough, Leda saw him across

the damp just-wiped bar—she did nothing but hold
the glance a second too long.
Sure enough, as if she had called out his name,
he walked over—a slight smile and straw hat.
Even then, as they danced, the things he told her

Were fleeting, Leda smiled and a strange desperation
Engulfed hi, “I have to leave,” she said,
Remerbering the clean, empty air outside.
He followed her, holding her shoulder lightly,
And outside, he bent over: his body an arc in the street light,
And it was clear he didn’t know the raw music she lived.
But for now, he is leaning across the table, smiling,

and telling Leda things; he wants to take her on a
picnic, it might rain tonight
and she can phone him anytime.
He thinks he is leaving for a rodco 400 miles to the north

in a few hours. His pickup is loaded with saddles, clothes,
and a huge ice chest. Leda notices the parking lot outside
is stained with oil, twisted cigarettes, and small bits of
Colored glass. He leans toward her, hat titled, and in that
low morning voice says he has been tracking her all night.
In this desert cityh of half a million people, he drove

over cooled asphalt trails searching smoky dance halls,
small Indian bars, the good Mexican place that serves
until II, and when he found her at a table near
the dance floor, she was laughing, But Leda saw his
straw hat and half smile as he watched from the
bar. When they danced, it was flawless.
He thinks he has done this many times before.
His shirt carried the scent of the hot night breezes outside.
East of here, above the dry the fields of the

Hoohookamki, the starts are sparse, and as he follows
Leda through the stark beauty of the old stories,
he has already left his own life behind.
Raisin Eyes
-Luci Tapahonso
Luci Tapahonso’s “Raisin Eyes” (Saanii Dahataal: The Women Are Singing, 1993) describes
the timeless rift between good and bad when it comes to matters of the heart.
I saw my frined Ella
With a tall cowboy at the store

The other day in Shiprock.
Later, I asked her,

Who’s that guy anyway?
Oh, Luci, she said (I knew what was coming)

its’ terrible. He lives with me
And my money and my car
But just for a while.
He’s in AIRCA and rodoes a lot.
And I still work.
This rodeo business is getting to me, you know,

and I’m going to leave him.
Because I think all this I’m doing now
will pay off better somewhere else.
but I just stay with him and it’s hard
because
he just smiles that way, you know,
and then I end up paying entry fees
and putting shiny Tony Lamas on lay-away again
It’s not hard.
But he doesn’t know when

I’ll leave him and I’ll drive across the flat desert
from Red Valley in blue morning light
straight to Shiprock so easily
Unit-III
Fiction
Jean Rhys (1890-1979)

Jean Rhys was a mid-20th-century novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean
island of Dominica, though she was mainly resident in England from the age of 16. She is
best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), written as a prequel to Charltte Bronte’s
Jane Eyre.
In 1924 Rhys came under the influence of the English writer Ford Madox Ford. After she met
Ford in Paris, Rhys wrote short stories under his patronage. Ford recognized that her
experience as an exile gave Rhys a unique viewpoint, and he praised her “singular instinct for
form”. “Coming from the West Indies, he declared, ‘with a terrifying insight and ... passion
for stating the case of the underdog, she has let her pen loose on the Left Banks of the Old
World’.” It was Ford who suggested that she change her name to Jean Rhys (from Ella
Williams). At the time her husband was in jail for what Rhys described as currency
irregularities.
Rhys moved in with Ford and his longtime partner, Stella Bowen. An affair with Ford ensued,
which, in fictionalized form, she portrayed in her novel Quartet. With Voyage in the Dark
(1934) Rhys continued to portray the mistreated, rootless woman. In this novel her
protagonist is a young chorus girl who grew up in the West Indies and is living in England,
feeling alienated. In Good Morning, Midnight published in 1939, Rhys uses modified stream
of consciousness to voice the experiences of an ageing woman.
After a long absence from the public eye she published Wide Sargasso Sea in 1966, having
spent years drafting and perfecting it. She intended it as the account of the woman whom
Rochester married and kept in his attic in Jane Eyre. Begun well before she settled in Bude,
the book won the prestigious WH Smith Literary Award in 1967. In Wide Sargasso Sea Rhys
returned to themes of dominance and dependence, especially in marriage, depicting the
mutually painful relationship between a privileged English man and a Creole woman from
Dominica made powerless on being duped and coerced by him and others. Both the man and
woman enter into marriage under mistaken assumptions about the other. Her female lead
marries Mr Rochester and deteriorates in England as the “madwoman in the attic”. Rhys
portrays this woman from quite a different perspective than that drawn in Jane Eyre.
Wide Sargasso Sea

-Jean Rhys
Characters
Antoinette - The daughter of ex-slave owners and the story’s principal character, based on
the madwoman Bertha from Charlotte Brontë’s gothic novel Jane Eyre. Antoinette is a
sensitive and lonely young Creole girl who grows up with neither her mother’s love nor her
peers’ companionship. In a convent school as a young woman, Antoinette becomes
increasingly introspective and isolated, showing the early signs of her inherited emotional
fragility. Her arranged marriage to an unsympathetic and controlling English gentleman
exacerbates her condition and pushes her to fits of violence. Eventually her husband brings
her to England and locks her in his attic, assigning a servant woman to watch over her.
Delusional and paranoid, Antoinette awakes from a vivid dream and sets out to burn down the
house.
Annette - Antoinette’s young and beautiful mother. Annette is the second wife first to
Alexander Cosway and later to Mr. Mason. The white Jamaican women ostracize Annette
because of her beauty and outsider status—she is originally from Martinique. A disembodied
presence throughout the book, Annette shows signs of madness and melancholy in her
daughter’s earliest recollections. Often the subject of gossip, she feels abandoned, scared, and
persecuted. After the fire, Mr. Mason leaves Annette in the care of a black couple who
reportedly humiliate her and mock her condition. Annette dies when Antoinette is at the
convent school.
Rochester - Antoinette’s English husband who, though never named in the novel, narrates at
least a third of the story. Rochester, the youngest son of a wealthy Englishman, travels to the
West Indies for financial independence, as his older brother will inherit his father’s estate.
When Rochester arrives in Spanish Town he comes down with a fever almost immediately.
He is pressured into marrying Antoinette, although he has only just met her and knows
nothing of her family. He soon realizes the mistake he has made when he and Antoinette
honeymoon on one of the Windward Islands. Eventually, they abandon the Caribbean
lifestyle Rochester has come to abhor. They move back to England, where he locks his
deranged wife in an upstairs garret.
Christophine - A servant given to Annette as a wedding present by her first husband,

Alexander Cosway. Christophine, like her mistress, comes from Martinique and is therefore
treated as an outsider by the Jamaican servant women. A wise and ageless figure,
Christophine is loyal to both Annette and her daughter, and she exercises an unspoken
authority within the household. Christophine practices obeah, a Caribbean black magic, with
which she tries to help Antoinette regain first her husband’s love and then her sanity.
Mr. Mason - One of the elegant English visitors who visits Antoinette’s mother at Coulibri
Estate. Mr. Mason is a wealthy Englishman who comes to the West Indies to make money.
Captivated by his second wife’s beauty, he intends to become even more prosperous by
restoring Coulibri.
Aunt Cora - The widow of a prosperous slave owner. Aunt Cora lives alone in Spanish
Town. Unlike Antoinette’s own mother Annette, Cora nurtures and cares for Antoinette, and
eventually enrolls her in a convent school. But eventually Cora, too, abandons Antoinette
when she moves to England for a year. On her return, Cora tries to ensure Antoinette’s
financial independence by giving her a silk pouch and two of her treasured rings. Ill and in
bed, Cora tells her niece that she does not trust Richard and that she fears that the Lord has
forsaken them.
Alexander Cosway - Antoinette’s deceased father. Alexander Cosway was a debased ex-
slave owner known for fathering illegitimate children, squandering the family’s money, and
drinking himself into a stupor. His family lived on Jamaica for several generations as detested
plantation owners; according to his bastard child, Daniel, madness ran in their genes. By the
time Mr. Cosway died, leaving his second wife and their two children on their own, the
Emancipation Act had led to the ruin of his sugar plantation and the end of his fortune.
Amelie - A young half-caste servant who accompanies Antoinette and her husband to
Granbois. The lovely and cunning Amelie snickers at her newlywed employers with a sort of
knowing contempt, using her thinly veiled amusement to unsettle them. When Antoinette
slaps Amelie for an impudent comment, Amelie slaps Antoinette back, calling her a “white
cockroach” and smiling suggestively at her husband. Later, Amelie feeds and comforts
Antoinette’s husband, then sleeps with him. When he offers Amelie a gift of money the
following morning, she refuses it and announces that she is going to leave Massacre and go to
Rio, where she will find rich, generous men.
Sandi Cosway - One of Alexander Cosway’s bastard children. Sandi helps his half-sister,
Antoinette, when she is harassed on her way to school. Although Antoinette would like to call
him “Cousin Sandi,” Mr. Mason scolds her for acknowledging her black relatives. According
to Daniel Cosway, Sandi is “more handsome than any white man” and is well received by
polite white society. Daniel also suggests that Sandi and Antoinette were sexually involved as
young children. Indeed, Antoinette’s fragmented memory of a goodbye kiss with Sandi
supports this possibility that the two may have been intimate at some point.
Daniel Cosway - Another of Alexander Cosway’s bastard chidren. Daniel writes a letter to
Rochester that informs him of the madness that runs in Antoinette’s family. The half-white,
half-black Daniel is a racially split counterpart to the culturally split Antoinette.
Richard Mason - Mr. Mason’s son by his first marriage. After studying for several years in
the Barbados, Richard moves to Spanish Town, where he negotiates Antoinette’s marriage
arrangements after his father’s death. He persuades the nameless English gentleman to marry
his stepsister, offering him £30,000 and rights over the girl’s inheritance. Later, Richard visits
the couple in England and hardly recognizes Antoinette as the madwoman locked in the attic.
She flies at him in a delusional rage, cutting him with a secretly obtained knife.
Tia - Maillotte’s daughter and Antoinette’s only childhood friend. At the water pool, Tia
betrays Antoinette by taking her pennies and stealing her clothes. Tia’s disloyalty manifests
the allure and corrupting power of money in the text. Like Mr. Mason and Mr. Rochester, she
appears to covet money more than a loving relationship, whether it be a childhood friendship
or a marriage.
Pierre - Antoinette’s mentally and physically disabled younger brother. While not explicitly
stated, it is suggested that Pierre’s illness is a result of inbreeding and physical decline in the
Cosway family. When the house at Coulibri is set on fire, Pierre is trapped in his burning
room for some time, and he dies soon after.
Mr. Luttrell - One of Annette Cosway’s only friends after the death of her husband. Mr.
Luttrell lives at Nelson’s Rest, the estate that neighbors the Cosway home. Suffering financial
hardship in the wake of the Emancipation Act, in sudden desperation he shoots his dog and
swims out to sea, never to be seen again. Distant relatives finally reclaim Mr. Luttrell’s
abandoned estate.
Summary
Antoinette’s story begins when she is a young girl in early nineteenth- century Jamaica. The
white daughter of ex-slave owners, she lives on a run-down plantation called Coulibri Estate.
Five years have passed since her father, Mr. Cosway, reportedly drunk himself to death, his
finances in ruins after the passage of the Emancipation Act of 1833, which freed black slaves
and led to the demise of many white slave owners. Throughout Antoinette’s childhood,
hostility flares between the crumbling white aristocracy and the impoverished servants they
employ.
As a young girl, Antoinette lives at Coulibri Estate with her widowed mother, Annette, her
sickly younger brother, Pierre, and gossiping servants who seem particularly attuned to their
employers’ misfortune and social disrepute. Antoinette spends her days in isolation. Her
mother, a beautiful young woman who is ostracized by the Jamaican elite, spends little time
with her, choosing to pace listlessly on the house’s glacis (the covered balcony) instead of
nurturing her child. Antoinette’s only companion, Tia, the daughter of a servant, turns against
her unexpectedly.
One day, Antoinette is surprised to find a group of elegant visitors calling on her mother from
Spanish Town, the island’s version of a sophisticated metropolis. Among them is an English
man named Mr. Mason who, after a short courtship, asks for Annette’s hand in marriage.
When Mr. Mason and Annette honeymoon in Trinidad, Antoinette and Pierre stay with their
Aunt Cora in Spanish Town.
In the interim, Mr. Mason has had the estate repaired and restored to it to its former grandeur,
and has bought new servants. Discontent, however, is rising among the freed blacks, who
protest one night outside the house. Bearing torches, they accidentally set the house on fire,
and Pierre is badly hurt. As the family flees the house, Antoinette runs desperately towards
Tia and her mother. Tia throws a jagged rock at Antoinette, cutting her forehead and drawing
blood.
The events of the night leave Antoinette dangerously ill for six weeks. She wakes to find
herself in Aunt Cora’s care. Pierre has died. Annette’s madness, which has revealed itself
gradually over the years, has fully surfaced after the trauma of the fire. When Antoinette
visits her mother, who has been placed in the care of a black couple, she hardly recognizes
the ghostlike figure she encounters. When Antoinette approaches, Annette violently flings her
away.
Antoinette then enrolls in convent school along with other young Creole girls. For several
years, she lives at the school with the nuns, learning everything from proper ladylike
deportment to the tortured histories of female saints. Antoinette’s family has all but deserted
her: Aunt Cora has moved to England for a year, while Mr. Mason travels for months away
from Jamaica, visiting only occasionally.
When Antoinette is seventeen, Mr. Mason announces on his visit that friends from England
will be coming the following winter. He means to present Antoinette into society as a
cultivated woman, fit for marriage. At this point, the end of Part One, Antoinette’s narration
becomes increasingly muddled, jumping from present- tense descriptions of her life in the
convent to muddled recollections of past events.
Antoinette’s husband, an Englishman who remains nameless, narrates Part Two. After a
wedding ceremony in Spanish Town, he and Antoinette honeymoon on one of the Windward
Islands, at an estate that once belonged to Antoinette’s mother. He begins to have misgivings
about the marriage as they approach a town ominously called Massacre. He knows little of his
new wife, having agreed to marry her days before, when Mr. Mason’s son, Richard Mason,
offered him £30,000 if he proposed. Desperate for money, he agreed to the marriage.
When the couple arrives at Granbois, Antoinette’s inherited estate, the man feels increasingly
uncomfortable around the servants and his strange young wife. Hostility grows between the
man and Christophine, Antoinette’s surrogate mother and a servant who wields great power
in the house. The man soon receives a menacing letter from Daniel Cosway, one of old
Cosway’s illegitimate children. Venomous in tone, letter warns of Antoinette’s depravity,
saying that she comes from a family of derelicts and has madness in her blood. After reading
this letter, the man begins to detect signs of Antoinette’s insanity.
Antoinette, sensing that her husband hates her, asks Christophine for a magic love potion.
Christophine grudgingly agrees. That night, when the man confronts Antoinette about her
past, they argue passionately. He awakes the next morning believing he has been poisoned,
and he later sleeps with the servant girl, Amelie, who helps him recover. Sitting in the next
room, Antoinette hears everything.
The next morning, Antoinette leaves for Christophine’s. When she returns, she seems to be
totally mad. Drunk and raving, she pleads with the man to stop calling her “Bertha,” a name
he has given her without explanation. Antoinette then bites her husband’s arm, drawing
blood. After she collapses and falls in bed, Christophine rails at him for his cruelty. That
night, he decides to leave Jamaica with Antoinette.
Antoinette narrates Part Three from England, where she is locked away in a garret room in
her husband’s house, under the watch of a servant, Grace Poole. A hidden captive, Antoinette
has no sense of time or place; she does not even believe she is in England when Grace tells
her so. Violent and frenzied, Antoinette draws a knife on her stepbrother, Richard Mason,
when he visits her. Later she has no memory of the incident. Antoinette has a recurring dream
about taking Grace’s keys and exploring the house’s downstairs quarters. In this dream, she
lights candles and sets the house ablaze. One night, she wakes from this dream and feels she
must act on it. The novel ends with Antoinette holding a candle and walking down from her
upstairs prison.
Toni Morrison (1931- )
Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931) is an American novelist,
essayist, editor, teacher, and professor emeritus at Princeton University. Morrison won the
Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved. The novel was adapted
into a film of the same name. Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. In
1996, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the
U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities. She was honored
with the 1996 National Book Foundation’s Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American
Letters. Morrison wrote the libretto for a new opera, Margaret Garner, first performed in
2005.
The Bluest Eye

- Toni Morrison
Characters:
Pecola Breedlove - The protagonist of the novel, an eleven-year-old black girl who believes
that she is ugly and that having blue eyes would make her beautiful. Sensitive and delicate,
she passively suffers the abuse of her mother, father, and classmates. She is lonely and
imaginative.
Claudia MacTeer - The narrator of parts of the novel. An independent and strong-minded
nine-year-old, Claudia is a fighter and rebels against adults’ tyranny over children and against
the black community’s idealization of white beauty standards. She has not yet learned the
self-hatred that plagues her peers.
Cholly Breedlove - Pecola’s father, who is impulsive and violent—free, but in a dangerous
way. Having suffered early humiliations, he takes out his frustration on the women in his life.
He is capable of both tenderness and rage, but as the story unfolds, rage increasingly
dominates.
Pauline (Polly) Breedlove - Pecola’s mother, who believes that she is ugly; this belief has
made her lonely and cold. She has a deformed foot and sees herself as the martyr of a terrible
marriage. She finds meaning not in her own family but in romantic movies and in her work
caring for a well-to-do white family.
Frieda MacTeer - Claudia’s ten-year-old sister, who shares Claudia’s independence and
stubbornness. Because she is closer to adolescence, Frieda is more vulnerable to her
community’s equation of whiteness with beauty. Frieda is more knowledgeable about the
adult world and sometimes braver than Claudia.
Mrs. MacTeer - Claudia’s mother, an authoritarian and sometimes callous woman who
nonetheless steadfastly loves and protects her children. She is given to fussing aloud and to
singing the blues.
Darlene - The first girl that Cholly likes. She is pretty, playful and affectionate.
Mr. MacTeer - Claudia’s father, who works hard to keep the family fed and clothed. He is
fiercely protective of his daughters.
Henry Washington - The MacTeers’ boarder, who has a reputation for being a steady
worker and a quiet man. Middle-aged, he has never married and has a lecherous side.
Sammy Breedlove - Pecola’s fourteen-year-old brother, who copes with his family’s
problems by running away from home. His active response contrasts with Pecola’s passivity.
China, Poland, Miss Marie - The local whores, Miss Marie (also known as the Maginot
Line) is fat and affectionate, China is skinny and sarcastic, and Poland is quiet. They live
above the Breedlove apartment and befriend Pecola.
Mr. Yacobowski - The local grocer, a middle-aged white immigrant. He has a gruff manner
toward little black girls.
Rosemary Villanucci - A white, comparatively wealthy girl who lives next door to the
MacTeers. She makes fun of Claudia and Frieda and tries to get them into trouble, and they
sometimes beat her up.
Maureen Peal - A light-skinned, wealthy black girl who is new at the local school. She
accepts everyone else’s assumption that she is superior and is capable of both generosity and
cruelty.
Geraldine - A middle-class black woman who, though she keeps house flawlessly and diligently
cares for the physical appearances of herself and her family (including her husband, Louis, and
her son, Junior), is essentially cold. She feels real affection only for her cat.
Junior - Geraldine’s son, who, in the absence of genuine affection from his mother, becomes
cruel and sadistic. He tortures the family cat and harasses children who come to the nearby
playground.
Soaphead Church - Born Elihue Micah Whitcomb, he is a light-skinned West Indian

misanthrope and self-declared “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams.” He hates all
kinds of human touch, with the exception of the bodies of young girls. He is a religious
hypocrite.
Aunt Jimmy - The elderly woman who raises Cholly. She is affectionate but physically in
decay.
Samson Fuller - Cholly’s father, who abandoned Cholly’s mother when she got pregnant. He
lives in Macon, Georgia, and is short, balding, and mean.
Blue Jack - A co-worker and friend of Cholly’s during his boyhood. He is a kind man and
excellent storyteller.
M’Dear - A quiet, elderly woman who serves as a doctor in the community where Cholly
grows up. She is tall and impressive, and she carries a hickory stick.
Summary:
Nine-year-old Claudia and ten-year-old Frieda MacTeer live in Lorain, Ohio, with their
parents. It is the end of the Great Depression, and the girls’ parents are more concerned with
making ends meet than with lavishing attention upon their daughters, but there is an
undercurrent of love and stability in their home. The MacTeers take in a boarder, Henry
Washington, and also a young girl named Pecola. Pecola’s father has tried to burn down his
family’s house, and Claudia and Frieda feel sorry for her. Pecola loves Shirley Temple,
believing that whiteness is beautiful and that she is ugly.
Pecola moves back in with her family, and her life is difficult. Her father drinks, her mother
is distant, and the two of them often beat one another. Her brother, Sammy, frequently runs
away. Pecola believes that if she had blue eyes, she would be loved and her life would be
transformed. Meanwhile, she continually receives confirmation of her own sense of ugliness
—the grocer looks right through her when she buys candy, boys make fun of her, and a light-
skinned girl, Maureen, who temporarily befriends her makes fun of her too. She is wrongly
blamed for killing a boy’s cat and is called a “nasty little black bitch” by his mother.
We learn that Pecola’s parents have both had difficult lives. Pauline, her mother, has a lame
foot and has always felt isolated. She loses herself in movies, which reaffirm her belief that
she is ugly and that romantic love is reserved for the beautiful. She encourages her husband’s
violent behavior in order to reinforce her own role as a martyr. She feels most alive when she
is at work, cleaning a white woman’s home. She loves this home and despises her own.
Cholly, Pecola’s father, was abandoned by his parents and raised by his great aunt, who died
when he was a young teenager. He was humiliated by two white men who found him having
sex for the first time and made him continue while they watched. He ran away to find his
father but was rebuffed by him. By the time he met Pauline, he was a wild and rootless man.
He feels trapped in his marriage and has lost interest in life.
Cholly returns home one day and finds Pecola washing dishes. With mixed motives of
tenderness and hatred that are fueled by guilt, he rapes her. When Pecola’s mother finds her
unconscious on the floor, she disbelieves Pecola’s story and beats her. Pecola goes to
Soaphead Church, a sham mystic, and asks him for blue eyes. Instead of helping her, he uses
her to kill a dog he dislikes.
Claudia and Frieda find out that Pecola has been impregnated by her father, and unlike the
rest of the neighborhood, they want the baby to live. They sacrifice the money they have been
saving for a bicycle and plant marigold seeds. They believe that if the flowers live, so will
Pecola’s baby. The flowers refuse to bloom, and Pecola’s baby dies when it is born
prematurely. Cholly, who rapes Pecola a second time and then runs away, dies in a
workhouse. Pecola goes mad, believing that her cherished wish has been fulfilled and that she
has the bluest eyes.
Chimamanda Adichie (1977- )
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, and nonfiction. In
2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. She was described in the Times Literary
Supplement as “the most prominent” of a “procession of critically acclaimed young
anglophone authors [who] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African
literature”.
Adichie published a collection of poems in 1997 (Decisions) and a play (For Love of Biafra)
in 1998. She was shortlisted in 2002 for the Caine Prize for her short story “You in America”
and her story “That Harmattan Morning” was selected as a joint winner of the 2002 BBC
World Service Short Story Awards. In 2003, she won the O. Henry Award for “The American
Embassy”, and the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center
Award). Her stories were also published in Zoetrope: All-Story, and Topic Magazine.
Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), received wide critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for
the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize for
Best First Book (2005). Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), named after the flag
of the shortlived nation of Biafra, is set before and during the Nigerian Civil War. It received
the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. Half of a Yellow Sun
has been adapted into a film of the same title directed by Biyi Bandele, and was released in
2014.
Adichie’s book, The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), is a collection of 12 stories that explore
the relationships between men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United
States. In 2010 she was listed among the authors of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” Fiction
Issue. Adichie’s story “Ceiling”, was included in the 2011 edition of The Best American
Short Stories. Her third novel, Americanah (2013), an exploration of a young Nigerian
encountering race in America, was selected by The New York Times as one of “The 10 Best
Books of 2013”.
In a 2014 interview, Adichie said on feminism and writing, “I think of myself as a storyteller,
but I would not mind at all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer... I’m very
feminist in the way I look at the world, and that world view must somehow be part of my
work.”
In March 2017, Americanah was picked as the winner for the “One Book, One New York”
program, part of a community reading initiative encouraging all city residents to read the
same book. Her most recent book was published in March 2017 entitled Dear Ijeawele, or a
Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions.
Characters
Ifemelu - Ifemelu is the protagonist of Americanah. She’s born in Lagos, Nigeria, where
she’s raised in a small apartment by her mother and father. Her childhood is difficult. Her
mother gets taken in by a zealous evangelical church and begins an unhealthy habit of fasting
until she gets sick. Ifemelu’s father loses his job at an unnamed government agency, and the
family struggles to make ends meet.
Obinze - Obinze was raised in Nsukka. His mother, a professor at Nsukka University, taught
him how to cook (a rare thing among Nigerian men) and fostered his love of books. His
upbringing opens many doors for him, and his refined beliefs and mannerisms attract Ifemelu
to him all the more.
Obinze’s Mother - Obinze’s mother is a professor at Nsukka University. When Ifemelu and
Obinze first meet, a rumor is circulating that his mother attacked a fellow professor. In fact,
that professor (a man) slapped her in a meeting because he couldn’t bear to be accused of
professional wrongdoing by a woman.
Ifemelu’s Mother and Father - Ifemelu’s mother is a devout Christian and a member of
Pastor Gideon’s evangelical church. Ifemelu is ten years old when her mother comes home
one day, convinced that she must fast in order to drive the Devil out of her family’s life.
Ifemelu’s father is powerless to stop her.
Aunty Uju - When we’re first introduced to Aunty Uju, she’s the General’s mistress and
lives in style. On at least one occasion, she asks him for money to help Ifemelu’s parents pay
their bills. Her relationship with the General lasts several years, until finally Aunty Uju
decides to have a child, Dike.
Dike -Dike is Aunty Uju’s son. His father, the General, disowns him, refusing to take
responsibility for Aunty Uju and their child, financially or otherwise. Dike is just a child
when his mother moves him to the United States in search of a better life. He lives first in
New York, then Massachusetts, where he’s bullied in school by the white children.
The General -The General is Aunty Uju’s “mentor,” as Obinze’s mother euphemistically
calls him. In truth, Aunty Uju is the General’s mistress, and he keeps her living in comfort—
that is, until their illegitimate son, Dike, is born. Shortly after the birth, the General throws
Aunty Uju and Dike out, and the two move to America, where Aunty Uju pursues a career as
a doctor.
Curt - Curt is Ifemelu’s first American boyfriend and Kimberly’s cousin. Ifemelu and Curt
meet while she works as a nanny for Kimberly. At first, Ifemelu doesn’t think of Curt as
dating material, in part because he’s white. Later, after he dives into some bushes after a lost
frisbee, Ifemelu reconsiders.
Blaine - Blaine is Ifemelu’s second American boyfriend. Blaine and Ifemelu first meet on a
train while she’s living with Curt but reunite several years later at a conference in
Washington, D.C. He’s an assistant professor at Yale and writes a blog about race and
popular culture.
Shan - Shan is Blaine’s sister, whom he describes as being capable of and doing everything.
She’s also a writer but is hypercritical of other writers, including Ifemelu. She subtly puts
down Ifemelu’s blog at a party only to have her own book (a memoir about race) panned by
critics.
Kosi - Kosi is Obinze’s wife and the mother of his child. Obinze doesn’t love Kosi but stays
with her out of a sense of obligation to his family. Their marriage is comfortable without
being passionate, and it’s clear that Kosi is more invested in the relationship than her
husband.
Buchi -Buchi is Obinze and Kosi’s only child. Little is said about her except that her parents
dote on her.
Ginika - Ginika is one of Ifemelu’s childhood friends. She moves to the United States before
Ifemelu and gets established in Pittsburgh, where she later helps Ifemelu acclimate to
American life.
Mariama - Mariama is the owner and proprietor of the hair salon Mariama African Hair
Braiding.
Aisha - Aisha is one of the stylists at Mariama African Hair Braiding. She has large pink
sores on her arms that disgust Ifemelu. Aisha also has two Igbo boyfriends. She asks
Ifemelu’s advice on how to make one of them marry her; she doesn’t care which one.
Summary
Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman living in America, gets her hair braided at an African salon. She
interacts with the women there and remembers her past. Meanwhile Obinze, a rich man living
in Nigeria, emails Ifemelu and remembers his own past. The chapters are also scattered with
posts from Ifemelu’s blog about race in America.
Ifemelu grows up in Lagos, Nigeria. She is close with her Aunty Uju, who becomes the
mistress of The General, a wealthy married man. Ifemelu meets Obinze at school and they
fall in love. Obinze introduces Ifemelu to his mother, a professor. Aunty Uju gets pregnant
and has The General’s baby, named Dike. The General dies and Uju flees with Dike to
America.
Ifemelu and Obinze go to university together. They start having sex and Ifemelu has a
pregnancy scare. There are many strikes and the university is shut down. Ifemelu considers
going to America, and she gets a visa and a scholarship to a university in Philadelphia.
When Ifemelu arrives she stays in Brooklyn for the summer with Aunty Uju and Dike. Uju
seems stressed out and unhappy. She gives Ifemelu a fake identity card to find work, and
Ifemelu goes to Philadelphia for school. Ginika, her friend from Nigeria, helps introduce
Ifemelu to American culture and its racial politics. Ifemelu can’t find a job, and she starts
using an American accent. She makes friends with some African students.
Ifemelu’s money runs out, and she accepts a job helping a tennis coach “relax.” He touches
her sexually and gives her $100. Ifemelu goes home and feels guilty and depressed. She
breaks off contact with Obinze, and stops eating and sleeping. Ginika finds her a job
babysitting for a wealthy woman named Kimberly.
Kimberly and Ifemelu become friends. Ifemelu visits Aunty Uju who has gotten married and
moved to Massachusetts, and flirts with a young man named Blaine on the trip there. Ifemelu
starts dating Kimberly’s cousin Curt, a rich, handsome white man. Curt takes Ifemelu on
many trips and helps her get a good job and a green card.
Meanwhile Obinze is hurt by Ifemelu’s sudden silence. He graduates and moves to England.
He stays with friends but can’t find a good job, and his visa expires. He rents an identity card
and finds menial work. He makes friends with a boss and coworker, but then is turned in as
an illegal immigrant. Obinze borrows money from Emenike, an old friend who has gotten
rich in England, and pays for a green-card marriage with a girl named Cleotilde. On the day
of his wedding, though, Obinze is arrested and sent back to Nigeria.
Ifemelu, feeling the pressure of her interracial relationship, cheats on Curt and he breaks up
with her. She gets depressed again. Her parents visit. Ifemelu starts her race blog and it gets
very popular. She becomes well-known and is asked to give talks. She meets Blaine again
and they start dating. He is a professor at Yale and very principled. Ifemelu also meets his
domineering sister Shan.
Ifemelu and Blaine start following Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. They have a fight
when Ifemelu skips a protest Blaine arranges. They get back together, but are mostly united
by their shared passion for Obama. Ifemelu wins a fellowship to live at Princeton. After a
while she grows restless and decides to quit her blog, break up with Blaine, and move back to
Nigeria.
It is a week before she plans to return to Nigeria when Ifemelu goes to the hair salon. As she
leaves the hair salon, Aunty Uju calls to tell her that Dike tried to kill himself. Ifemelu rushes
to be with him.
Obinze has gotten rich selling real estate. He is married to the beautiful Kosi and has a
daughter.
Ifemelu spends lots of time with Dike and then goes to Lagos. Her old friend Ranyinudo
helps her readjust, teasing her about being an “Americanah.” Ifemelu goes to a club for
Nigerians back from living abroad. She starts working for a women’s magazine but then quits
and starts a new blog about life in Lagos. Dike visits her.
Ifemelu finally calls Obinze and they meet up. They start seeing each other daily and rekindle
their romance. They spend blissful weeks together, but then break up again in the face of his
marriage. Obinze tries to divorce Kosi, but she won’t accept it. After seven months Obinze
shows up at Ifemelu’s door, saying he is leaving Kosi and wants to try again with Ifemelu.
She invites him in.
Unit IV
Prose
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights.
During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French
Revolution, a conduct book, and a children’s book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally
inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both
men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on
reason. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft’s life, which encompassed several
unconventional personal relationships, received more attention than her writing. After two ill-
fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay (by whom she had a daughter, Fanny
Imlay), Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the
anarchist movement. Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38, eleven days after giving birth to
her second daughter, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts. This daughter, Mary
Wollstonecraft Godwin, became an accomplished writer herself, as Mary Shelley, the author
of Frankenstein.
After Wollstonecraft’s death, her widower published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing
her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century.
However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century,
Wollstonecraft’s advocacy of women’s equality and critiques of conventional femininity
became increasingly important. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding
feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and work as important influences.
Vindication of the Rights of the Women

-Mary Wollstonecraft
Introduction
Ø Wollstonecraft begins Vindication by saying that she’s been feeling depressed lately.
After looking at the history of humanity, she has decided that men and women are
either very different or history has been extremely unfair to women.
Ø In the end, she decides that the lack of good education for women is the biggest cause
of misery in the world.
Ø For the most part, Wollstonecraft believes that women’s poor education teaches them
to be superficial and ignorant, which only makes life more miserable for their future
husbands and children.
Ø Wollstonecraft admits that it looks as though men are physically stronger than
women. But she insists that in a modern civilization, physical strength shouldn’t count
for much.
Ø Women should therefore be treated just as well as men because they have just as
much intelligence.
Ø She already knows that men will criticize her argument by saying that giving women
the same education as men will make them too “manly.” Wollstonecraft argues that
reason and logic don’t favor one gender over the other, though.
Ø Wollstonecraft warns her female readers that she’s going to speak to them directly and
rationally, which might offend some women who are used to being addressed with all
kinds of silly politeness.
Ø Wollstonecraft admits that women’s education has become a more widely discussed
topic in her time. But she’s disappointed that this education always focuses on making
women as pleasing as possible to men instead of developing their rational minds.
Ø It is clear to Wollstonecraft that women have been unnaturally stunted in their
development by a society that tries to keep them as weak and ignorant as possible. In
the end, she’s confident that rational argument will prove that it’s in everyone’s
interest for women to receive better education.
Chapter 2
Ø There are many men who have argued over the ages that women don’t have enough
mental strength to become morally good on their own: they need the guidance of men.
But Wollstonecraft believes that if women have souls, then they must have the same
rational powers as men. The only other option is for men to claim that women don’t
have souls, which even the worst misogynists in the world would hesitate to argue.
Ø The biggest challenge to women’s education seems to be the belief that women
should be kept innocent like children and taught nothing other than the skills for
pleasing their future husbands.
Ø Wollstonecraft agrees that to some extent, young children should be kept innocent.
But the same can’t be said for women. There comes a time for all human beings when
they should be encouraged to think for themselves.
Ø She thinks that parents should prepare their children for the day when they begin to
think for themselves. But she also admits that to some extent, people are always
products of the societies they live in. So all education should strive toward making the
individual as independent a thinker as possible.
Ø Wollstonecraft blames the men of her time (especially Jean Jacques Rousseau) for
promoting a type of education that makes women completely useless as members of
society.
Ø Rousseau thinks that men are so perfectly rational that women should follow their
guidance. But Wollstonecraft argues that many (if not most) men are just overgrown
children.
Ø In the current system, women are only able to learn about the world by looking at the
surfaces of things. They are never taught how to figure out larger patterns from
individual observations, so they all just end up being superficial and shallow. The
same is true of military soldiers, who are taught only how to follow orders and who
don’t have any core reason or virtue guiding what they do. They live on the surface of
life, according to Wollstonecraft.
Ø Wollstonecraft brings us back once again to the decision we have to make. Either
women are so weak that they need to be guided completely by men, or they are
rational people who are capable of thinking for themselves.
Ø Here, Wollstonecraft wants to clarify that she doesn’t want to reverse the order of
things and place women above men. She just wants women to have the independence
they need to develop their minds fully.
Ø Even though it might anger some men, Wollstonecraft believes that women were
made for something more than making men fall in love. Yes, there’s a time for
thoughtless love when a person is young. But those years should also be spent
preparing for the more important and mature years of life, when reason is most
important.
Ø Wollstonecraft next critiques the work of a guy named Dr. Gregory, who has written a
book on how he chooses to raise his daughters.
Ø For starters, Dr. Gregory instructs his daughters to learn how to dress nicely. This
actually seems like the most important thing in his books. Wollstonecraft finds it
strange that Dr. Gregory thinks that liking dresses is “natural” for women, since this
presupposes that the soul (a completely intangible thing) somehow possessed a love
for dress before it entered a human body.
Ø The truth is that women like to dress nicely because looking good is where they get
their power in society.
Ø The second piece of advice Dr. Gregory gives his daughters is for them to hide their
true emotions whenever they can. It’s a woman’s duty not to let her frustrations show.
Ø The truest bond between men and women, according to Wollstonecraft, is not love.
It’s friendship. Love is something Wollstonecraft connects to sex and romance. But
friendship is a bond between two people who respect one another’s intellects. Besides,
the shine wears off on love fairly quickly, but friendship lasts a lifetime.
Ø If we went nowhere after we died, then Wollstonecraft would agree that the only point
of life is to pursue pleasure. But she believes in an afterlife, and therefore thinks that
we have to spend our time on Earth doing the right thing.
Ø If Dr. Gregory’s advice is right, then a woman’s purpose in life ends the moment she
gets married and has children. There is nothing left for her to accomplish.
Ø The truth is that we won’t really know what women are capable of until we offer them
all of the same social respect and education that we offer to men. In Wollstonecraft’s
time, society was still a long way from achieving this goal.
Ø If men are truly superior to women, then let them prove it by giving women an equal
playing field. In a worst case scenario, you’re still going to wind up with a bunch of
women who are better than they used to be.
Ø Men have about as much right to oppress women as kings have to oppress men. And
when Wollstonecraft was writing this text, men were definitely turning against the
idea of political oppression. Notice here how she’s capitalizing on a political
movement for democracy by applying the same logic to women’s rights.
Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)
Adrienne Cecile Rich was an American poet, essayist and radical feminist. She was called
“one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century”, and
was credited with bringing “the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic
discourse.” Her first collection of poetry, A Change of World, was selected by renowned poet
W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. Auden went on to write the
introduction to the published volume. She famously declined the National Medal of Arts,
protesting the vote by House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end funding for the National
Endowment for the Arts.
When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision

-Adrienne Rich
“When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision,” originally published in College English

in the fall of 1972, is an essay by American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer Adrienne Rich
(1929-2012). It discusses several concepts needed by women writers to enable them to
overcome the conditioning of a patriarchal sense of literary aesthetics and history. The essay,
originally a lecture delivered by Rich at a women’s writer convention, emphasizes the need
for re-visioning of old texts, renaming of the various aspects of women which have been
distorted by a male point of view, and developing a new form of writing that is free of the
haunting male gaze, of convention and propriety and of the ‘male’ language and its
implications.
Rich says that the act of re-visioning would help women to analyze and to act on “how we
live, how we have been living, how we have been led to imagine ourselves, how our language
has trapped as well as liberated us, how the very act of naming has been till now a male
prerogative, how we can begin to see and name – and therefore live – afresh
The essay by Rich was written to support her gender, to let women know that they need to
break from the roles that society has placed on them. “Until we can understand the
assumptions in which we are drenched we cannot know ourselves.” Rich stood up for the
fact that women had a chance to no longer be afraid to embrace who they are, their
individuality; the person that they were other than when they were conforming to societies
norms. Rich invested in the term, “fresh eyes” with which she wanted women to see the
world with “fresh eyes,” or seeing the world with a new outlook. An outlook is where
women do not have to be dominated by men, an outlook where women have a voice and
have control as well. Finally, writing the essay was an attempt for Rich’s own self-
knowledge, in which she works to find her own self-identification. Although she wanted to
motivate women in a male-dominated society, she was also motivating herself to refuse self-
destructiveness in the male-dominated world.
The title of the essay is from the play When We Dead Awaken by Henrik Ibsen. The theme of
Ibsen’s play is the desire and appreciation of life. The play surrounds Irena, a former model
and mysterious character, and her idea that although they have been alive, they have not been
living. “When we dead awaken we find that we have never lived.”
The theme of living as opposed to just being alive can be connected to Rich’s theme about
women being degraded by society. Although the women that she writes for have been alive,
they have not been living their lives. Her essay’s goal is to motivate women, including
herself, to stand up for their rights as human beings: to be equal to the men in a society ruled
by men. As Ibsen did in his play, Rich encourages women to “live,” to break out of their
closed shells and to do what they want to do rather than what society tells them they must.
Adrienne Rich was married and had three children during the 1950s. Rich described the
fifties as a time when “middle-class women were making careers of domestic perfection”.
After having her third child, Rich feared she lost touch with whoever she had been prior to
assuming the traditional gender role of wife and mother. The wife-mother role according to
Rich required a “putting aside” of the imaginative activity necessary in creative writing. This
imaginative activity requires a “freedom of the mind” that transcends and transforms daily
experiences by questioning, challenging and conceiving alternatives in regards to reality.
Rich states that being “a female human being trying to fulfill traditional female functions in a
traditional way is in direct conflict with the subversive functions of the imagination.”
Rich desired time to think and to write, but she felt that there was never enough time due to
the full-time job of being a mother and a wife. The fifties and the early sixties were “years of
revelations” for Rich and she needed to think for herself and about her relationship to the
ideas of “pacifism and dissent and violence, poetry and society”. Rich was beginning to feel
that politics was not simply external, but also internal and “of the essence of her condition.
She then began to write directly about her experiences as a woman whenever she had the
time. It was at this point that Rich noticed the “fragments and scraps” had “a common theme
and a common consciousness” that she had been unwilling to put on paper before, as she had
been taught that poetry had to be “universal”. This “universal” style meant “non-female” and
connected to Rich’s previous acknowledgement of her style as having been formed at first by
male poets. Before this, she tried hard not to identify herself as a female poet. The common
themes she found in her work at this time included resistance and rebellion regarding gender
roles and stereotypes.
Suniti Namjoshi (1941- )
Suniti Namjoshi is a poet and a fabulist. She grew up in India, worked in Canada and at
present lives in the southwest of England with English writer Gillian Hanscombe. Her work
is playful, inventive and often challenges prejudices such as racism, sexism, and
homophobia. She has written many collections of fables and poetry, several novels, and more
than a dozen children’s books. Her work has been translated into several languages, including
Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Korean and Hindi.
Having passed the IAS in 1964, she worked as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service
before pursuing further education. She studied Public Administration and earned her Master’s
degree from the University of Missouri and earned a PhD from McGill University on Ezra
Pound.
Namjoshi taught in the Department of English at the University of Tornto from 1972 to 1987.
She wrote Feminist Fables in 1981. It was described in Feminism, one of her voices as a
minor feminist classic and the work for which Namjoshi, who the article said produced a
“brilliant body of work, marked by sparkling wit, word play and inventive power, emerged”,
is best known. She began writing full-time in 1987, publishing fiction and poetry works.
Kaliyug - Circles Of Paradise (play) and Flesh And Paper (poetry) were written in
collaboration Gillian Hanscombe. Namjoshi has been influenced by Virgiia Woolf, Adrienne
Rich, her friend Hilary Clare, and Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics. She has been active in the
feminist movement and gay liberation movements.
Namjoshi was Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Studies at Exeter
University in England from 1995 to 2001, and was a member of the Literary Panel of the Arts
Council of England from 1993 to 1996.
In 1996 Namjoshi published Building Babel, a postmodern novel about building cultures,
whose story continues online with a collaborative project that enables readers’ contributions.
Namjoshi currently lives and writes in Devon, United Kingdom.
From the Panchatantra (From Feminist Fables)

-Suniti Namjoshi
Feminist Fables is a collection of ninety-nine fables dealing with women’s problems from a
feminist perspective. All the fables are in the tradition of Indian storytelling. They are in a
didactic form as well as in a satiric form dealing with the social issues of morality. Suniti
Namjoshi is a radical feminist and her feminist agenda can be seen in her Feminist Fables.
The opening story “From the Panchtantra” is taken from a Sanskrit book of fables and it
contains both Brahmins and beasts. Lord Vishnu grants a poor Brahmin’s wish for a son. Out
of absentmindedness, Lord Vishnu gives the Brahmin a daughter. In a very short period Lord
Vishnu appears again and the Brahmin once again makes his earnest request for a son. Lord
Vishnu says, “Next time around” (FF 1). In his next incarnation the Brahmin was a woman
and she became the mother of eight boys. In the next birth, the Brahmin girl asks for “human
status” but Lord Vishnu knows the difficulty in granting “human status” to females; so the
girl’s request remains unfulfilled. Lord Vishnu appoints a committee to look into the matter.
Suniti Namjoshi comments on Vishnu’s prediction about the status of woman, and it is in
favour of patriarchy. Even religions marginalize women. Namjoshi attacks on caste and
gender hegemony prevalent in the society.
The Little Prince (From Feminist Fables )

-Suniti Namjoshi
In “The Little Prince”, the wicked stepmother married a king who already had a son. The
queen gave birth to a girl and she wanted her daughter to be on the throne. Therefore, she
requested to the king to do a small favour but the king rejected her request and decided to
teach a lesson to the princess. The tests in hunting, drinking, tennis, mathematics and the law
were conducted in which the prince failed and the princess passed. Then the king allowed the
princess to rule. “Fortunately, the citizens had some more sense” (FF 15) and they did not
want to be ruled by a woman. The citizens hauled out the prince and set him on the throne,
and resisted the rule by a woman. Though the little princess has administrative ability, male-
domination does not allow her to rule them. They set the prince on the throne. “The Little
Prince” is a bitter criticism of patriarchy. The wicked queen and her unlucky daughter were
exiled forever. Thus, the princess was marginalized due to gender discrimination. The gender
discrimination is also shown in „The Female Swan‟ through swans and ducks.
Critical Analysis of the Short Story “The Little Prince” by Suniti Namjoshi using
Feminist Approach
The story “The Little Prince” is set in a time where the monarchy is the ultimate form of
government and thus power comes from a single person alone. In a monarchy, the crown is
being passed from one person to another by bloodline and this crown is only given to the
firstborn male of the royal family. This type of government vindicates the role of men in the
society and diminishes what little spotlight given to women.
Women have never been kings, they are always the queen and queens never get to rule the
kingdom. They sit beside the King, but despite so, they are not allowed nor given the chance
to help in the affairs of the kingdom. This condition shows the inequality between men and
women and is apparent in the story The Little Prince. ‘The King rarely saw them, he was
immersed in the affairs of the kingdom..’
This line shows that only the King is absorbed in the ruling of the kingdom and the queen has
no say in it. This is because women are not meant to rule alongside the men, they are not
expected to be seen in high courts, but instead, they are expected to be seen at home and take
care of the children as shown in the last line of the first paragraph:
‘...to this end she brought up the children’.

These two lines emphasizes that only the men are decisive and strong to be rulers and women
are not. The story The Little Prince is seemingly putting women at a disadvantage even using
negative adjectives such as naggers, ambitious, unlucky and wicked. Just by reading the first
line of the story, the Queen is already referred to as wicked all because she wants something
better for her daughter. Although it can be said that what she did is a deviation from the norm,
but seeing the fair manner of achieving her goal, calling her ambitious and wicked cannot be
justified.
This short story portrays the unequal power given to men and women in the society. It shows
that women are meant to be ruled and men are meant to rule and this hierarchy can never be
broken despite fair competition. This shows that men always have had and always will have
the upper hand in the society, no matter how incapable they might be.
The Gods (From Feminist Fables )
-Suniti Namjoshi
In “The Gods”, the old childless couple was granted a daughter and they became very happy.
When she grew up, she became a remarkable child in manners, singing, running and her
studies. But one wrong thing is that she “is not womanly (FF 35). In “Sheherazade”, the
Caliph’s steed and the princess‟ mare mate in the garden. The mare submits to the stallion
submissively. In the similar manner, the princess submits herself to the Caliph and gives
pleasure to him. The Caliph and the stallion abide by the law of Allah. In the Caliph’s palace
there are 1000 women and the stallion has 1000 mares to serve them respectively. Thus, this
fable highlights the victimization, oppression and suppression of women in the male-
dominated society. In “Her Mother’s Daughter”, the daughter is a feminist who says to her
mother, “I am going to avenge the wrongs that you have suffered. I will not hurt or hate or
kill, but I will try to change things‟ (FF 99). The daughter regards her own mother as
submissive in particular and all women in general are dependent on men. As a matter of fact,
women only exist in relation to men and this is a sordid reality. The daughter protests the
male-domination.
Perseus and Andomeda (From Feminist Fables)

-Suniti Namjoshi
In “Perseus and Andromeda”, the duties of the prince, the princess, and the dragon are to
fight the dragon, to serve as bait, and to take the blame respectively. But, their roles are
reversed and they have to perform their duties accordingly. The ambitious princess asks the
prince to serve as the bait and she will fight the dragon. The prince objects to this being a
stronger and manlier. Then, there is a fight between the dragon and the prince and the prince
loses the fight.
Case History (From Feminist Fables)

-Suniti Namjoshi
“Case History” is odd and disjointed and the best story in the entire section. With simple,
abrupt phrasing Suniti Namjoshi manages to convey the ultimate plight of the oppressed in
society, namely that speaking up to the unfairness or wrongness inherent in the system simply
gets you ignored, or worse, treated as a mental deviant.
The Runner (From Feminist Fables)

-Suniti Namjoshi
“The Runner” is a travesty of the mythological story of Atlanta, a Beautiful princess, an

indefatigable runner who challenges her suitors to defeat her in the running contest. As she
cannot be vanquished, they try to discract her attention from her goal, Atlanta is tricked into
losing by the device of dropping three golden apples which she pauses to pick up. Finally she
is defeated and she gets married.
PAPER-IV
Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century

Literary Criticism and Theory
(4 Credits)
MA (Previous)
Semester-II
Paper-IV Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory (4 credits)
Unit I Background
New Criticism; New Historicism; Structuralism and Poststructuralism;
Reader Response Theories; Psychoanalytical Criticism
Unit II Cleanth Brooks “The Language of Paradox”

(from The Well Wrought Urn)
Northrop Fry “Archetypes of Literature” (from Fables of
Identity)
Mikhail Bakhtin “Discourse in the Novel”
(from The Dialogic Imagination)
Unit III Michel Foucault “The Unities of Discourse”

(from The Archaeology of Knowledge)
Roland Barthes “The Death of the Author” (from Image-Music-
Text)
Raymond Williams “Literature” (from Marxism and Literature)
Unit IV Edward Said “Introduction” (from Orientalism)

Elaine Showalter “Feminist Criticism in Wilderness”
(from The New Feminist Criticism)
Henry Louis Gates Jr. “Editor’s Introduction: Writing ‘Race’ and the
Difference It Makes” (Sec 1-5)
Semester-II
Paper-V
Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory
Unit-I
Background
New Criticism/ Formalism

The formalist movement began in England with the publication of I.A. Richards’ Practical
Criticism (1929). American critics (such as John Crowe Ransom, Robert Penn Warren, and
Cleanth Brooks) adapted formalism and termed their adaptation “New Criticism.” New
Criticism varied from formalism in that New Criticism focuses on image, symbol, and
meaning. Traditional formalists often attacked New Critics for their lack of attention to the
form of the work.
Seminal works on New Criticism include John Crowe Ransom’s The New Criticism (1941)
and Cleanth Brooks’ The Well Wrought Urn (1947). Today, few critics adhere only to the
formalist or New Criticism theory. However, its back-to-the-basics approach pervades many
other critical theories.
New Historicism
New historicist critics view literature as part of history, and furthermore, as an expression of
forces on history. New historicism compares literary analysis to a dynamic circle: The work
tells us something about the surrounding ideology (slavery, rights of women, etc.) Study of
the ideology tells us something about the work.
New historicism takes two forms:
Ø Analysis of the work in the context in which it was created
Ø Analysis of the work in the context in which it was critically evaluated.
New historicists assert that literature “does not exist outside time and place and cannot be
interpreted without reference to the era in which it was written” Readers are influenced by
their culture, so no objective reading of a work is possible. Critics should consider how their
own culture affects their interpretation of the historical influence on a work.
Structuralism and Post-structuralism

Structuralism was a literary movement primarily concerned with understanding how language
works as a system of meaning production. That is to say, structuralism asked the following
question: How does language function as a kind of meaning machine? To answer this
question, structuralism turned its attention to form. Focusing on the form or structure of the
literary work, and the particular use of language in the work, would allow structuralists to
think of language as a kind of science. The primary theorist framing the ideas associated with
structuralism was Ferdinand de Saussure, who developed the idea that language was
composed of arbitrary units that were void of concept or meaning until they acquired meaning
through a language system that relied on differences between terms within their larger
linguistic and social contexts.
Post-structuralism, on the other hand, is less singularly defined as a movement than

structuralism. A number of literary theories fall under the larger umbrella of post-
structuralism, including gender theory and reader-response theories. These theories recognize
the overarching notion that meaning does not exist outside of the text and that meaning is not
fixed but rather contingent and unstable. Post-structuralism evolved alongside Jacques
Derrida’s theory of deconstruction, which emphasized this concept of unstable, unfixed
meaning as it functioned in language. According to Derrida, language is made up of units that
do not contain inherent meaning and relate to other units (or signifiers) through their
difference. Meaning, in deconstructionist theory, is therefore constantly deferred, never
landing in one place or becoming stable. Post-structuralism emerges in this context,
recognizing this lack of fixed or inherent meaning and yet also acknowledging the need for
language to acquire meaning.
Structuralism refers to an early twentieth-century literary movement primarily concerned

with understanding how language works as a system for producing meaning. That is to say,
structuralism asks the following question: How does language function as a kind of meaning
machine? To answer this question, structuralism turns its attention to form. Focusing on the
form or structure of a literary work and the particular use of language in that work allowed
structuralists to think of language as a kind of science. The primary theorist framing the ideas
associated with structuralism was Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who developed the
idea that language was composed of arbitrary units that were void of concept or meaning until
they acquired meaning through a language system that relied on differences between terms
within their larger linguistic and social contexts. Post-structuralism is less singularly defined
as a movement than is structuralism. A number of literary theories fall under the larger
umbrella of post-structuralism, including gender theory and reader-response criticism. These
theories advance the overarching notion that meaning does not exist outside a text, and, in
addition, that the meaning of a text is not fixed but rather contingent and unstable. Post-
structuralism evolved alongside French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s theory of
deconstruction, which emphasized this concept of unstable, unfixed meaning as it
functioned in language. According to Derrida, language is made up of units (or signifiers) that
do not contain inherent meaning and relate to other units through their difference. In
deconstructionist theory, meaning is therefore constantly deferred, never landing in one place
or becoming stable. Post-structuralism emerges in this context, recognizing this lack of fixed
or inherent meaning and yet also acknowledging the need for language to acquire meaning.
Some main differences can be listed as follows:
1. Origins: Structuralism derives ultimately from linguistics. It believes that if we

observe accurately, collect data systematically and make logical deductions then we
can reach reliable conclusions about language and the world. Structuralism believes in
this and also in the method, system and reason as being able to establish reliable
truths. By contrast, post-structuralism derives ultimately from philosophy which has
always tended to emphasize the difficulty of achieving secure knowledge about
things. They inherit the habit of scepticism and intensify it.
2. Attitude to language: Structuralists accept that the world is constructed through

language in the sense that we do not have access to reality other than through the
linguistic system. By contrast, post-structuralism is much more fundamental in
insisting upon the consequences of the view that, in effect, reality itself is textual.
Reader Response Theories
Reader-response criticism is a school of literary theory that focuses on the reader (or
“audience”) and their experience of a literary work, in contrast to other schools and theories
that focus attention primarily on the author or the content and form of the work.
Although literary theory has long paid some attention to the reader’s role in creating the
meaning and experience of a literary work, modern reader-response criticism began in the
1960s and ‘70s, particularly in the US and Germany, in work by Norman Holland, Stanley
Holland, Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser, Hans-Robert Jauss, Roland Barthes, and others.
Important predecessors were I. A. Richards, who in 1929 analyzed a group of Cambridge
undergraduates’ misreading; Lousie Rosenblatt, who, in Literature as Exploration (1938),
argued that it is important for the teacher to avoid imposing any “preconceived notions about
the proper way to react to any work”; and C.S. Lewis in An Experiment in Criticism (1961).
Reader-response theory recognizes the reader as an active agent who imparts “real existence”
to the work and completes its meaning through interpretation. Reader-response criticism
argues that literature should be viewed as a performing art in which each reader creates their
own, possibly unique, text-related performance. It stands in total opposition to the theories of
formalism and the New Criticism, in which the reader’s role in re-creating literary works is
ignored. New Criticism had emphasized that only that which is within a text is part of the
meaning of a text. No appeal to the authority or intention of the author, nor to the psychology
of the reader, was allowed in the discussions of orthodox New Critics.
Types
There are multiple approaches within the theoretical branch of reader-response criticism, yet
all are unified in their belief that the meaning of a text is derived from the reader through the
reading process. Lois Tyson endeavors to define the variations into five recognized reader-
response criticism approaches whilst warning that categorizing reader-response theorists

explicitly invites difficultly due to their overlapping beliefs and practices. Transactional
reader-response theory, led by Louise Rosenblatt and supported by Wolfgang Iser, involves
a transaction between the text’s inferred meaning and the individual interpretation by the
reader influenced by their personal emotions and knowledge. Affective stylistics, established
by Fish, believe that a text can only come into existence as it is read; therefore, a text cannot
have meaning independent of the reader. Subjective reader-response theory, associated
with David Bleich, looks entirely to the reader’s response for literary meaning as individual
written responses to a text are then compared to other individual interpretations to find
continuity of meaning. Psychological reader-response theory, employed by Norman
Holland, believes that a reader’s motives heavily affect how they read, and subsequently use
this reading to analyze the psychological response of the reader. Social reader-response
theory is Stanley Fish’s extension of his earlier work, stating that any individual
interpretation of a text is created in an interpretive community of minds consisting of
participants who share a specific reading and interpretation strategy. In all interpretive
communities, readers are predisposed to a particular form of interpretation as a consequence
of strategies used at the time of reading.
An alternative way of organizing reader-response theorists is to separate them into three
groups: those who focus upon the individual reader’s experience (“individualists”); those who
conduct psychological experiments on a defined set of readers (“experimenters”); and those
who assume a fairly uniform response by all readers (“uniformists”). One can therefore draw
a distinction between reader-response theorists who see the individual reader driving the
whole experience and others who think of literary experience as largely text-driven and
uniform (with individual variations that can be ignored). The former theorists, who think the
reader controls, derive what is common in a literary experience from shared techniques for
reading and interpreting which are, however, individually applied by different readers. The
latter, who put the text in control, derive commonalities of response, obviously, from the
literary work itself. The most fundamental difference among reader-response critics is
probably, then, between those who regard individual differences among readers’ responses as
important and those who try to get around them.
Individualists
In the 1960s, David Bleich’s pedagogically inspired literary theory entailed that the text is the
reader’s interpretation of it as it exists in their mind, and that an objective reading is not
possible due to the symbolization and resymbolization process. The symbolization and
resymbolization process consists of how an individual’s personal emotions, needs and life
experiences affect how a reader engages with a text; marginally altering the meaning. Bleich
supported his theory by conducting a study with his students in which they recorded their
individual meaning of a text as they experienced it, then response to their own initial written
response, before comparing it with other student’s responses to collectively establish literary
significance according to the classes “generated” knowledge of how particular persons
recreate texts. He used this knowledge to theorize about the reading process and to refocus
the classroom teaching of literature.
Michael Steig and Walter Slatoff have, like Bleich, shown that students’ highly personal
responses can provide the basis for critical analyses in the classroom. Jeffrey Berman has
encouraged students responding to texts to write anonymously and share with their classmates
writings in response to literary works about sensitive subjects like drugs, suicidal thoughts,
death in the family, parental abuse and the like. A kind of catharsis bordering on therapy
results. In general, American reader-response critics have focused on individual
readers’ responses. American magazines like Reading Research Quarterly and others publish
articles applying reader-response theory to the teaching of literature. In 1961, C. S. Lewis
published An Experiment in Criticism, in which he analyzed readers’ role in selecting
literature. He analyzed their selections in light of their goals in reading.
In 1967, Stanely Fish published Surprised by Sin, the first study of a large literary work
(Paradise Lost) that focused on its readers’ experience. In an appendix, “Literature in the
Reader”, Fish used “the” reader to examine responses to complex sentences sequentially,
word-by-word. Since 1976, however, he has turned to real differences among real readers. He
explores the reading tactics endorsed by different critical schools, by the literary
professoriate, and by the legal profession, introducing the idea of “interpretive communities”
that share particular modes of reading.
In 1968, Norman Holland drew on psychoanalytic psychology in The Dynamics of Literary
Response to model the literary work. Each reader introjects a fantasy “in” the text, then
modifies it by defense mechanisms into an interpretation. In 1973, however, having recorded
responses from real readers, Holland found variations too great to fit this model in which
responses are mostly alike but show minor individual variations.
Psychoanalytical Criticism
Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of “reading” employed by Freud and later
theorists to interpret texts. It argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret
unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the
author’s own neuroses. One may psychoanalyze a particular character within a literary work,
but it is usually assumed that all such characters are projections of the author’s psyche.
One interesting facet of this approach is that it validates the importance of literature, as it is
built on a literary key for the decoding. Freud himself wrote, “The dream-thoughts which we
first come across as we proceed with our analysis often strike us by the unusual form in
which they are expressed; they are not clothed in the prosaic language usually employed by
our thoughts, but are on the contrary represented symbolically by means of similes and
metaphors, in images resembling those of poetic speech” (26).
Like psychoanalysis itself, this critical endeavor seeks evidence of unresolved emotions,
psychological conflicts, guilts, ambivalences, and so forth within what may well be a
disunified literary work. The author’s own childhood traumas, family life, sexual conflicts,
fixations, and such will be traceable within the behavior of the characters in the literary work.
But psychological material will be expressed indirectly, disguised, or encoded (as in dreams)
through principles such as “symbolism” (the repressed object represented in disguise),
“condensation” (several thoughts or persons represented in a single image), and
“displacement” (anxiety located onto another image by means of association).
Despite the importance of the author here, psychoanalytic criticism is similar to New
Criticism in not concerning itself with “what the author intended.” But what the author never
intended (that is, repressed) is sought. The unconscious material has been distorted by the
censoring conscious mind.
Psychoanalytic critics will ask such questions as, “What is Hamlet’s problem?” or “Why
can’t Brontë seem to portray any positive mother figures?”
Unit-II
Cleanth Brooks (1906-1994)
Cleanth Brooks was an American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his
contributions to New Criticism in the mid-20th century and for revolutionizing the teaching
of poetry in American higher education. His best-known works, The Well Wrought Urn:
Studies in the Structure of Poetry (1947) and Modern Poetry and the Tradition (1939), argue
for the centrality of ambiguity and paradox as a way of understanding poetry. With his
writing, Brooks helped to formulate formalist criticism, emphasizing “the interior life of a
poem” (Leitch 2001) and codifying the principles of close reading.
Brooks was also the preeminent critic of Southern Literature, writing classic texts on William
Faulkner, and co-founder of the influential journal The Southern Review (Leitch 2001) wih
Robert Penn Warren.
Academic life and work
While attending the University of Oxford, Brooks continued his friendship with fellow
Vanderbilt graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Robert Penn Warren (Leitch 2001). In 1934,
Warren joined the English department at Louisiana State, leading Brooks and Warren to
collaborate on many works of criticism and pedagogy. In 1935, Brooks and Warren founded
The Southern Review. Until 1942, they co-edited the journal, publishing works by many
influential authors, including Eudora Welty, Kenneth Burke, and Ford Madox Ford. The
journal was known for its criticism and creative writing, marking it as one of the leading
journals of the time (Leitch 2001).
In addition, Brooks’s and Warren’s collaboration led to innovations in the teaching of poetry
and literature. At Louisiana State University, prompted by their students’ inability to interpret
poetry, the two put together a booklet that modeled close reading through examples (Leitch
2001). The booklet was a success and laid the foundation for a number of best-selling
textbooks:
An Approach to Literature (1936)
Understanding Poetry (1938)
Understanding Fiction (1943)
Modern Rhetoric (1949)
In collaboration with Robert Heilman, Understanding Drama (1945)
Brooks’ two most influential works also came out of the success of the booklet:
Modern Poetry and the Tradition (1939)
The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry (1947)
From 1941 to 1975, Brooks held many academic positions and received a number of
distinguished fellowships and honorary doctorates. In 1941, he worked as a visiting professor
at the University of Texas, Austin. From 1947 to 1975, he was an English professor at Yale
University, where he held the position of Gray Professor of Rhetoric and Gray Professor of
Rhetoric Emeritus from 1960 until his retirement, except 1964 to 1966 (Singh 1991). His
tenure at Yale was marked by ongoing research into Southern literature, which resulted in the
publication of Brooks’ studies of William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha Country (1963, 1978)
(Leitch 2001). At Yale, he accepted honorary membership in Manuscript Society.
The Language of Paradox (from The Well Wrought

Urn) -Cleanth Brooks
Cleanth Brooks, an active member of the New Critical movement, outlines the use of reading
poems through paradox as a method of critical interpretation. Paradox in poetry means that
tension at the surface of a verse can lead to apparent contradictions and hypocrisies. Brooks'
seminal essay, "The Language of Paradox", lays out his argument for the centrality of
paradox by demonstrating that paradox is "the language appropriate and inevitable to poetry".
The argument is based on the contention that referential language is too vague for the specific
message a poet expresses; he must "make up his language as he goes". This, Brooks argues, is
because words are mutable and meaning shifts when words are placed in relation to one
another.
In the writing of poems, paradox is used as a method by which unlikely comparisons can be
drawn and meaning can be extracted from poems both straightforward and enigmatic.
Brooks points to William Wordsworth’s poem "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free".He
begins by outlining the initial and surface conflict, which is that the speaker is filled with
worship, while his female companion does not seem to be. The paradox, discovered by the
poem's end, is that the girl is morefull of worship than the speaker precisely because she is
always consumed with sympathy for nature and not – as is the speaker – in tune with nature
while immersed in it.
In his reading of Wordsworth's poem, “Composed upon Westminiser Bridge”, Brooks
contends that the poem offers paradox not in its details, but in the situation which the speaker
creates. Though London is a man-made marvel, and in many respects in opposition to nature,
the speaker does not view London as a mechanical and artificial landscape but as a landscape
composed entirely of nature. Since London was created by man, and man is a part of nature,
London is thus too a part of nature. It is this reason that gives the speaker the opportunity to
remark upon the beauty of London as he would a natural phenomenon, and, as Brooks points
out, can call the houses "sleeping" rather than "dead", because they too are vivified with the
natural spark of life, granted to them by the men that built them.
Brooks ends his essay with a reading of John Donne’s poem “The Canonization”, which uses
a paradox as its underlying metaphor. Using a charged religious term to describe the speaker's
physical love as saintly, Donne effectively argues that in rejecting the material world and
withdrawing to a world of each other, the two lovers are appropriate candidates for
canonization. This seems to parody both love and religion, but in fact it combines them,
pairing unlikely circumstances and demonstrating their resulting complex meaning. Brooks
points also to secondary paradoxes in the poem: the simultaneous duality and singleness of
love, and the double and contradictory meanings of "die" in Metaphysical poetry (used here
as both sexual union and literal death). He contends that these several meanings are
impossible to convey at the right depth and emotion in any language but that of paradox. A
similar paradox is used in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet says "For saints have
hands that pilgrims' hands do touch and palm to palm is holy palmer's kiss."
Brooks' contemporaries in the sciences were, in the 40's and 50's, reorganizing university
science curricula into codified disciplines. The study of English, however, remained less
defined and it became a goal of the New Critical movement to justify literature in an age of
science by separating the work from its author and critic (see Wimsatt and Beardsley’s
Intentioanl fallacy and Affective fallacy) and by examining it as a self-sufficient artifact. In

Brooks's use of the paradox as a tool for analysis, however, he develops a logical case as a
literary technique with strong emotional effect. His reading of "The Canonization" in "The
Language of Paradox", where paradox becomes central to expressing complicated ideas of
sacred and secular love, provides an example of this development.
Although paradox and irony as New Critical tools for reading poetry are often conflated,
they are independent poetical devices. Irony for Brooks is "the obvious warping of a
statement by the context" whereas paradox is later glossed as "a special kind of qualification
which involves the resolution of opposites".
Irony functions as a presence in the text – the overriding context of the surrounding words
that make up the poem. Only sentences such as 2 + 2 = 4 are free from irony; most other
statements are prey to their immediate context and are altered by it (take, as an example, the
following joke. "A woman walks into a bar and asks for a double entendre. The bartender
gives it to her." This last statement, perfectly acceptable elsewhere, is transformed by its
context in the joke to an innuendo). Irony is the key to validating the poem because a test of
any statement grows from the context – validating a statement demands examining the
statement in the context of the poem and determining whether it is appropriate to that context.
Paradox, however, is essential to the structure and being of the poem. In The Well Wrought
Urn Brooks shows that paradox was so essential to poetic meaning that paradox was almost
identical to poetry. According to literary theorist Leroy Searle, Brooks' use of paradox
emphasized the indeterminate lines between form and content. "The form of the poem
uniquely embodies its meaning" and the language of the poem "affects the reconciliation of
opposites or contraries". While irony functions within the poem, paradox often refers to the
meaning and structure of the poem and is thus inclusive of irony. This existence of opposites
or contraries and the reconciliation thereof is poetry and the meaning of the poem.
R.S. Crane, in his essay "The Critical Monism of Cleanth Brooks", argues strongly against
Brooks' centrality of paradox. For one, Brooks believes that the very structure of poetry is
paradox, and ignores the other subtleties of imagination and power that poets bring to their
poems. Brooks simply believed that "'imagination' reveals itself in the balance or
reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities". Brooks, in leaning on the crutch of
paradox, only discusses the truth which poetry can reveal, and speaks nothing about the
pleasure it can give. (231) Also, by defining poetry as uniquely having a structure of paradox,
Brooks ignores the power of paradox in everyday conversation and discourse, including
scientific discourse, which Brooks claimed was opposed to poetry. Crane claims that, using
Brooks' definition of poetry, the most powerful paradoxical poem in modern history is
2
Einstein's formula E=mc , which is a profound paradox in that matter and energy are the
same thing. The argument for the centrality of paradox (and irony) becomes a reduction ad
absurdum and is therefore void (or at least ineffective) for literary analysis.
Cleanth Brooks, an eminent New Critic, advocates the centrality of paradox as a way of
understanding and interpreting poetry, in his best-known works, The Language of Paradox,
The Well Wrought Urn (1947) and “Modern Poetry and the Tradition” (1939). Brooks helped
to formulate formalist criticism by emphasizing “the interior life of a poem” and codifying
the principles of close reading. In The Language of Paradox, Brooks establishes the crucial
role of paradox-by demonstrating that paradox is “the language appropriate and inevitable to
poetry!’ This is because referential language is incapable of representing the specific message
of a poet and the poet must “make up his language as he goes,” since words are mutable and,
meaning shifts when words are placed in relation to one another.
Brooks illustrates the working of paradox by analyzing Composed upon Westminster Bridge,
in which the speaker is able to appreciate the beauty of industrialized London just as he
would appreciate any natural phenomena, as he views London as a part of nature, having
been built by man, who himself is a part of nature, and who attributes his spark of life to the
city. Brooks ends his essay with a reading of John Donne’s poem The Canonization, which
uses paradox as its underlying metaphor. In describing the speaker’s physical love as saintly,
and the two lovers as appropriate candidates for canonization, Donne seems to parody both
love and religion, but in fact it combines in a complex conceit. Brooks also points to
secondary paradoxes in the poem: the simultaneous duality and singleness of love, and the
double and contradictory •meanings of “die” in Metaphysical poetry (both sexual union and
literal death). He contends that these several meanings are impossible to convey at the right
depth and emotion in any Language but that of paradox.
In The Well Wrought Urn, Brooks shows that paradox is so essential to poet, meaning that it
is almost identical to poetry. According to literary theorist Leroy Searle, Brooks’ use of
paradox emphasized the indetermin: lines between form and content. While irony functions
within the poem e paradox often refers to the meaning and structure of the poem and is thus
inclusive of irony. , in his essay The Critical Monism of Cleanth Brooks; argues strongly
against Brooks’ centrality of paradox. For one, Brooks believes that the very structure of
poetry is paradox, and ignores the other subtleties of imagination and power that poets bring
to their poenris. Brooks, in leaning on the crutch of paradox, only discusses the truth which
poetry can re-veal, and speaks nothing about the pleasure it can give. Also, by defining poetry
as uniquely having a structure of paradox, Brooks ignores the power of paradox in everyday
conversation and discourse, including scientific discourse, which Brooks claimed was
opposed to poetry. Crane claims that, using Brooks’ definition of poetry, the most powerful
paradoxical poem in modern history is Einstein’s formula E=mc2 which is a profound
paradox in that matter and energy are the same thing. The argument for the centrality of
paradox (and irony) is therefore ineffective for literary analysis.
Northrop Frye (1912-1991)
Herman Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one
of the most influential of the 20th century.
Frye gained international fame with his first book, Fearful Symmetry (1947), which led to the
reinterpretation of the poetry of William Blake. His lasting reputation rests principally on the
theory of literary criticism that he developed in Anatomy of Criticism (1957), one of the most
important works of literary theory published in the twentieth century. The American critic
Harold Bloom commented at the time of its publication that Anatomy established Frye as “the
foremost living student of Western literature.” Frye’s contributions to cultural and social
criticism spanned a long career during which he earned widespread recognition and received
many honours.
Academic and writing career
Frye rose to international prominence as a result of his first book, Fearful Symmetry,
published in 1947. Until then, the prophetic poetry of William Blake had long been poorly
understood, and considered by some to be delusional ramblings. Frye found in it a system of
metaphor derived from Paradise Lost and the Bible. His study of Blake’s poetry was a major
contribution. Moreover, Frye outlined an innovative manner of studying literature that was to
deeply influence the study of literature in general. He was a major influence on Harold
Bloom, Margaret Atwood and others. In 1974–1975 Frye was the Norton professor at
Harvard University. Northrop Frye did not have a Ph.D.
The intelligence service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spied on Frye, watching his
participation in the anti-Vietnam War movement, an academic forum about China, and
activism to end South African apartheid.
Archetypes of Literature” (from Fables of Identity)

-Northrop Frye
Archetypal literary criticism is a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on
recurring myths and archetypes (from the Greek archē, “beginning”, and typos, “imprint”) in
the narrative, symbols, images and character types in literary work. As a form of literary
criticism, it dates back to 1934 when Maud Bodkin published Archetypal Patterns in Poetry.
Archetypal literary criticism’s origins are rooted in two other academic disciplines, social
anthropology and psychoanalysis; each contributed to literary criticism in separate ways, with
the latter being a sub-branch of critical theory. Archetypal criticism was at its most popular in
the 1940s and 1950s, largely due to the work of Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye.
Though archetypal literary criticism is no longer widely practiced, nor have there been any
major developments in the field, it still has a place in the tradition of literary studies.
Frazer
The anthropological origins of archetypal criticism can pre-date its analytical psychology
origins by over 30 years. The Golden Bough (1890–1915), written by the Scottish
anthropologist Sir James George Frazer, was the first influential text dealing with cultural
mythologies. Frazer was part of a group of comparative anthropologists working out of
Cambridge University who worked extensively on the topic. The Golden Bough was widely
accepted as the seminal text on myth that spawned numerous studies on the same subject.
Eventually, the momentum of Frazer’s work carried over into literary studies.
In The Golden Bough Frazer identifies practices and mythological beliefs shared among
primitive religions and modern religions. Frazer argues that the death-rebirth myth is present
in almost all cultural mythologies, and is acted out in terms of growing seasons and
vegetation. The myth is symbolized by the death (i.e., final harvest) and rebirth (i.e., spring)
of the god of vegetation. As an example, Frazer cites the Greek myth of Persephone, who was
taken to the Underworld by Hades. Her mother Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, was so
sad that she struck the world with fall and winter. While in the underworld Persephone ate six
of the twelve pomegranate seeds given to her by Hades; consequently, she was forced to
spend half the year, from then on, in the Underworld, representative of autumn and winter, or
the death in the death-rebirth myth. The other half of the year Persephone was permitted to be
with Demeter in the mortal realm, which represents spring and summer, or the rebirth in the
death-rebirth myth.
Jung
While Frazer’s work deals with mythology and archetypes in material terms, the work of Carl
Gustav Jung, the Swiss-born founder of analytical psychology, is, in contrast, immaterial in
its focus. Jung’s work theorizes about myths and archetypes in relation to the unconscious, an
inaccessible part of the mind. From a Jungian perspective, myths are the “culturally
elaborated representations of the contents of the deepest recess of the human psyche: the
world of the archetypes” (Walker 4)
Jungian analytical psychology distinguishes between the personal and collective unconscious,
the latter being particularly relevant to archetypal criticism. The collective unconscious, or
the objective psyche as it is less frequently known, is a number of innate thoughts, feelings,
instincts, and memories that reside in the unconsciousness of all people. Jung’s definition of
the term is inconsistent in his many writings. At one time he calls the collective unconscious
the “a priori, inborn forms of intuition,” (Lietch 998) while in another instance it is a series of
“experience(s) that come upon us like fate” (998). Regardless of the many nuances between
Jung’s definitions, the collective unconsciousness is a shared part of the unconscious.
To Jung, an archetype in the collective unconscious, as quoted from Leitch et al., is
“irrepresentable, but has effects which make visualizations of it possible, namely, the
archetypal images and ideas” (988), due to the fact they are at an inaccessible part of the
mind. The archetypes to which Jung refers are represented through primordial images, a term
he coined. Primordial images originate from the initial stages of humanity and have been part
of the collective unconscious ever since. It is through primordial images that universal
archetypes are experienced, and more importantly, that the unconscious is revealed.
With the same death-rebirth myth that Frazer sees as being representative of the growing
seasons and agriculture as a point of comparison, a Jungian analysis envisions the death-
rebirth archetype as a “symbolic expression of a process taking place not in the world but in
the mind. That process is the return of the ego to the unconscious—a kind of temporary death
of the ego—and its re-emergence, or rebirth, from the unconscious” (Segal 4).
By itself, Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious accounts for a considerable share of
writings in archetypal literary criticism; it also pre-dates the height of archetypal literary
criticism by over a decade. The Jungian archetypal approach treats literary texts as an avenue
in which primordial images are represented. It would not be until the 1950s when the other
branch of archetypal literary criticism developed.
Frye
Bodkin’s Archetypal Patterns in Poetry, the first work on the subject of archetypal literary
criticism, applies Jung’s theories about the collective unconscious, archetypes, and primordial
images to literature. It was not until the work of the Canadian literary critic Northrop
Frye that archetypal criticism was theorized in purely literary terms. The major work of
Frye’s to deal with archetypes is Anatomy of Criticism but his essay “The Archetypes of
Literature” is a precursor to the book. Frye’s thesis in “The Archetypes of Literature” remains
largely unchanged in Anatomy of Criticism. Frye’s work helped displace New Criticism as
the major mode of analyzing literary texts, before giving way to structuralism and semiotics.
Frye’s work breaks from both Frazer and Jung in such a way that it is distinct from its
anthropological and psychoanalytical precursors. For Frye, the death-rebirth myth, that Frazer
sees manifest in agriculture and the harvest, is not ritualistic since it is involuntary, and
therefore, must be done. As for Jung, Frye was uninterested about the collective unconscious
on the grounds of feeling it was unnecessary: since the unconscious is unknowable it cannot
be studied. How archetypes came to be was also of no concern to Frye; rather, the function
and effect of archetypes is his interest. For Frye, literary archetypes “play an essential role in
refashioning the material universe into an alternative verbal universe that is humanly
intelligible and viable, because it is adapted to essential human needs and concerns”
There are two basic categories in Frye’s framework, comedic and tragic. Each category is
further subdivided into two categories: Comedy and romance for the comedic: tragedy and
satire (or ironic) for the tragic. Though he is dismissive of Frazer, Frye uses the seasons in his
archetypal schema. Each season is aligned with a literary genre: comedy with spring,
romance with summer, tragedy with autumn, and satire with winter.
Comedy is aligned with spring because the genre of comedy is characterized by the birth of
the hero, revival and resurrection. Also, spring symbolizes the defeat of winter and darkness.
Romance and summer are paired together because summer is the culmination of life in the
seasonal calendar, and the romance genre culminates with some sort of triumph, usually a
marriage. Autumn is the dying stage of the seasonal calendar, which parallels the tragedy
genre because it is, above all, known for the “fall” or demise of the protagonist. Satire is
metonymized with winter on the grounds that satire is a “dark” genre; satire is a disillusioned
and mocking form of the three other genres. It is noted for its darkness, dissolution, the return
of chaos, and the defeat of the heroic figure.
The context of a genre determines how a symbol or image is to be interpreted. Frye outlines
five different spheres in his schema: human, animal, vegetation, mineral, and water. The
comedic human world is representative of wish-fulfillment and being community centred. In
contrast, the tragic human world is of isolation, tyranny, and the fallen hero. Animals in the
comedic genres are docile and pastoral (e.g. sheep), while animals are predatory and hunters
in the tragic (e.g. wolves). For the realm of vegetation, the comedic is, again, pastoral but also
represented by gardens, parks, roses and lotuses. As for the tragic, vegetation is of a wild
forest, or as being barren. Cities, a temple, or precious stones represent the comedic mineral
realm. The tragic mineral realm is noted for being a desert, ruins, or “of sinister geometrical
images” (Frye 1456). Lastly, the water realm is represented by rivers in the comedic. With the
tragic, the seas, and especially floods, signify the water sphere.
Frye admits that his schema in “The Archetypes of Literature” is simplistic, but makes room
for exceptions by noting that there are neutral archetypes. The example he cites are islands
such as Circe’s or Prospero’s which cannot be categorized under the tragic or comedic.
Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975)

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and
scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language. His writings,
on a variety of subjects, inspired scholars working in a number of different traditions
(Marxism, semiotics, structuralism, religious criticism) and in disciplines as diverse as
literary criticism, history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology and psychology. Although
Bakhtin was active in the debates on aesthetics and literature that took place in the Soviet
Union in the 1920s, his distinctive position did not become well known until he was
rediscovered by Russian scholars in the 1960s.
Toward a Philosophy of the Act was first published in the USSR in 1986 with the title K
filosofii postupka. The manuscript, written between 1919–1921, was found in bad condition
with pages missing and sections of text that were illegible. Consequently, this philosophical
essay appears today as a fragment of an unfinished work. Toward a Philosophy of the Act
comprises only an introduction, of which the first few pages are missing and part one of the
full text. However, Bakhtin’s intentions for the work were not altogether lost, for he provided
an outline in the introduction in which he stated that the essay was to contain four parts. The
first part of the essay deals with the analysis of the performed acts or deeds that comprise the
actual world; “the world actually experienced, and not the merely thinkable world.” For the
three subsequent and unfinished parts of Toward a Philosophy of the Act Bakhtin states the
topics he intends to discuss. He outlines that the second part will deal with aesthetic activity
and the ethics of artistic creation; the third with the ethics of politics; and the fourth with
religion.
Toward a Philosophy of the Act reveals a young Bakhtin who is in the process of developing
his moral philosophy by decentralizing the work of Kant. This text is one of Bakhtin’s early
works concerning ethics and aesthetics and it is here that Bakhtin lays out three claims
regarding the acknowledgment of the uniqueness of one’s participation in Being:
1. I both actively and passively participate in Being.

2. My uniqueness is given but it simultaneously exists only to the degree to which I
actualize this uniqueness (in other words, it is in the performed act and deed that has
yet to be achieved).
3. Because I am actual and irreplaceable I must actualize my uniqueness.
Bakhtin further states: “It is in relation to the whole actual unity that my unique thought arises
from my unique place in Being.” Bakhtin deals with the concept of morality whereby he
attributes the predominating legalistic notion of morality to human moral action. According
to Bakhtin, the I cannot maintain neutrality toward moral and ethical demands which manifest
themselves as one’s voice of consciousness.
It is here also that Bakhtin introduces an “architectonic” or schematic model of the human
psyche which consists of three components: “I-for-myself”, “I-for-the-other”, and “other-for-
me”. The I-for-myself is an unreliable source of identity, and Bakhtin argues that it is the I-
for-the-other through which human beings develop a sense of identity because it serves as an
amalgamation of the way in which others view me. Conversely, other-for-me describes the
way in which others incorporate my perceptions of them into their own identities. Identity, as
Bakhtin describes it here, does not belong merely to the individual, rather it is shared by all.
Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Poetics: polyphony and unfinalizability
During his time in Leningrad, Bakhtin shifted his view away from the philosophy
characteristic of his early works and towards the notion of dialogue. It is at this time that he
began his engagement with the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Art is
considered to be Bakhtin’s seminal work, a work in which Bakhtin introduces three important
concepts.
First concept is the unfinalizable self: individual people cannot be finalized, completely
understood, known, or labeled. Though it is possible to understand people and to treat them as
if they are completely known, Bakhtin’s conception of unfinalizability considers the
possibility that a person can change, and that a person is never fully revealed or fully known
in the world. Readers may find that this conception reflects the idea of the “soul”; Bakhtin
had strong roots in Christianity and in the Neo-Kantian school led by Hermann Cohen, both
of which emphasized the importance of an individual’s potentially infinite capability, worth,
and the hidden soul.
Second is the idea of the relationship between the self and others, or other groups. According
to Bakhtin, every person is influenced by others in an inescapably intertwined way, and
consequently no voice can be said to be isolated. In an interview with the Novy Mir Editorial
Staff (‘Response to a Question from Novy Mir Editorial Staff’), Bakhtin once explained that,
In order to understand, it is immensely important for the person who understands to be
located outside the object of his or her creative understanding—in time, in space, in culture.
For one cannot even really see one’s own exterior and comprehend it as a whole, and no
mirrors or photographs can help; our real exterior can be seen and understood only by other
people, because they are located outside us in space, and because they are others. ~New York
Review of Books, June 10, 1993.
As such, Bakhtin’s philosophy greatly respected the influences of others on the self, not
merely in terms of how a person comes to be, but also in how a person thinks and how a
person sees him- or herself truthfully.
Third, Bakhtin found a true representation of “polyphony” (i.e. many voices) in Dostoevsky’s
work. According to Dostoevsky, each character represents a voice that speaks for an
individual self, distinct from others. This idea of polyphony is related to the concepts of
unfinalizability and self-and-others, since it is the unfinalizability of individuals that creates
true polyphony.
Bakhtin briefly outlined the polyphonic concept of truth. He criticized the assumption that, if
two people disagree, at least one of them must be in error. He challenged philosophers for
whom plurality of minds is accidental and superfluous. For Bakhtin, truth is not a statement, a
sentence or a phrase. Instead, understanding is a number of mutually addressed, albeit
contradictory and logically inconsistent, statements. Understanding needs a multitude of
carrying voices. It cannot be held within a single mind, or be expressed by “a single mouth”.
The polyphonic truth requires many simultaneous voices. Bakhtin does not mean to say that
many voices carry partial truths that complement each other. A number of different voices do
not make the truth if simply “averaged” or “synthesized”. Rather, it is the fact of mutual
addressivity, of engagement, and of commitment to the context of a real-life event, that
distinguishes understanding from misunderstanding.
After Bakhtin’s Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Art (1929) was translated into English and
published in the West, a chapter on the concept of “carnival” was added to the book which
was published with the slightly different title, Problems of Dostoyevsky’s Poetics (1984).
According to Bakhtin, carnival is the context in which distinct individual voices are heard,
flourish and interact together. The carnival creates the “threshold” situations where regular
conventions are broken or reversed and genuine dialogue becomes possible. The notion of a
carnival was Bakhtin’s way of describing Dostoevsky’s polyphonic style: each individual
character is strongly defined, and at the same time the reader witnesses the critical influence
of each character upon the other. That is to say, the voices of others are heard by each
individual, and each inescapably shapes the character of the other.
The Dialogic Imagination: chronotope and heteroglossia
The Dialogic Imagination (first published as a whole in 1975) is a compilation of four essays
concerning language and the essay: “Epic and Novel” (1941), “From the Prehistory of
Novelistic Discourse” (1940), “Forms of Time and of the Chronotope in the Novel” (1937–
1938), and “Discourse in the Novel” (1934–1935). It is through the essays contained within
The Dialogic Imagination that Bakhtin introduces the concepts of heteroglossia, dialogism
and chronotope, making a significant contribution to the realm of literary scholarship.
Bakhtin explains the generation of meaning through the “primacy of context over text”
(heteroglossia), the hybrid nature of language (polyglossia) and the relation between
utterances (intertextuality). Heteroglossia is “the base condition governing the operation of
meaning in any utterance. To make an utterance means to “appropriate the words of others
and populate them with one’s own intention.” Bakhtin’s deep insights on dialogicality
represent a substantive shift from views on the nature of language and knowledge by major
thinkers such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Immanuel Kant.
In “Epic and Novel”, Bakhtin demonstrates the novel’s distinct nature by contrasting it with
the epic. By doing so, Bakhtin shows that the novel is well-suited to the post-industrial
civilization in which we live because it flourishes on diversity. It is this same diversity that
the epic attempts to eliminate from the world. According to Bakhtin, the novel as a genre is
unique in that it is able to embrace, ingest, and devour other genres while still maintaining its
status as a novel. Other genres, however, cannot emulate the novel without damaging their
own distinct identity. “From the Prehistory of Novelistic Discourse” is a less traditional essay
in which Bakhtin reveals how various different texts from the past have ultimately come
together to form the modern novel.
The final essay, “Discourse in the Novel”, is one of Bakhtin’s most complete statements
concerning his philosophy of language. It is here that Bakhtin provides a model for a history
of discourse and introduces the concept of heteroglossia. The term heteroglossia refers to the
qualities of a language that are extralinguistic, but common to all languages. These include
qualities such as perspective, evaluation, and ideological positioning. In this way most
languages are incapable of neutrality, for every word is inextricably bound to the context in
which it exists.
“Discourse in the Novel” (from The Dialogic Imagination)

-Mikhail Bakhtin
In “Epic and Novel,” Bakhtin argues that the novel flourishes on diversity, making it uniquely
suited to post-industrial society. The novel can “swallow” and ape other genres without losing
the integrity of its form (unlike the epic, for example). In “Discourse in the Novel,” Bakhtin
introduces his idea of heteroglossia, based on “extralinguistic” features common across
languages, like perspective, evaluation, and ideology, so that language cannot be fully
neutralized because it is always defined by context. The focus of this essay is the insistence
that literary study must neither be “formal” nor “ideological,” but that form and content are
unified in discourse. The fixation on style, cut off from the sociality of discourse, is flat and
abstract and the two must be put in conversation. “The novel as a whole is a phenomenon
multiform in style and variform in speech and voice” 1192. Its “structured artistic system” is
made up of direct narration, stylized narration, stylized everyday forms like the letter or diary,
other literary but extra-artistic forms like scientific or journalistic texts, and stylized
individual speech of characters 1192. They form together “a higher stylistic unity of the work
as a whole, a unity that cannot be identified with any single one of the unities subordinated to
it” 1192.
“The stylistic uniqueness of the novel as a genre consists precisely in the combination of
these subordinated, yet still relatively autonomous, unities (even at times comprised of
different languages) into the higher unity of the work as a whole… the language of a novel is
the system of its ‘languages’“ 1192.
“The novel orchestrates all its themes, the totality of the world of objects and ideas depicted
and expressed in it, by means of the social diversity of speech types and by the differing
individual voices that flourish under such conditions” 1192.
Because of this, critics often treat style or genre, not both, which the novel requires – the
novel is often treated as ‘epic,’ and is therefore undervalued. (I wonder if James Wood’s idea
of the novel isn’t as outdated as calling it an epic… the contemporary novel still adheres to
most of Bakhtin’s aesthetic categories, just differently so.)
“At the time when poetry was accomplishing the task of cultural, national and political
centralization of the verbal-ideological world… on the lower levels, on the stages of local
fairs and at buffoon spectacles, the heteroglossia of the clown sounded forth, ridiculing all
‘languages’ and dialects… all ‘languages’ were masks and where no language could claim to
be an authentic, incontestable face” 1200.
(It’s interesting to consider that he uses the word ‘face’ – also what about The Waste Land?)
The problem with readings of the novel, for Bakhtin, is that they seek the same unity in
diversity that languages themselves show, rather than dialogism between the text and outside
world.
“No living word relates to its object in a singular way: between the word and its object,
between the word and the speaking subject, there exists an elastic environment of other, alien
words about the same object, the same theme, and this is an environment that is often difficult
to penetrate… The word, directed toward its object, enters a dialogically agitated and tension-
filled environment of alien words, value judgments and accents, weaves in and out of
complex interrelationships… this may crucially shape discourse, may leave a trace” 1202.
“A word forms a concept of its own object in a dialogic way… It encounters an alien word
not only in the object itself: every word is directed toward an answer and cannot escape the
profound influence of the answering word that it anticipates… oriented toward the listener
and his answer” 1205.
For Bakhtin, poetic discourse is closed off to alien languages, indisputable, whereas
novelistic discourse is open to them, variable.
“At any given moment of its historical existence, language is heteroglot from top to bottom: it
represents the coexistence of socio-ideological contradictions between the present and the
past, between differing epochs of the past, between different socio-ideological groups in the
present, between tendencies, schools, circles, and so forth, all given a bodily form… each…
requires a methodology very different from the others” 1214.
(I wonder if you could consider The Wire as attempting to do this televisually.)

“The poet strips the word of others’ intentions, he uses only such words and forms (and only
in such a way) that they lose their link with concrete intentional levels of language and their
connection with specific contexts… Everything that enters the work must immerse itself in
Lethe, and forget its previous life in any other contexts: language may remember only its life
in poetic contexts” 1217.
This seems like a sort of “poetic suture” for Bakhtin. I think it is overstated, to be sure,
especially given the existence of Eliot, but it is interesting to think about how this could be
compared with the especially heteroglot, object-oriented worlds of the contemporary novel or
TV series, which take Bakhtin’s and Kristeva’s ideas about heteroglossia to their most fecund
point.
“When heteroglossia enters the novel it becomes subject to an artistic reworking. The social
and historical voices populating language, all its words and all its forms, which provide
language with its particular concrete conceptualizations, are organized in the novel into a
structured stylistic system that expresses the differentiated socio-ideological position of the
author amid the heteroglossia of his epoch” 1220.
Unit-III
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Paul-Michel Foucault generally known as Michel Foucault, was a French philpsopher,

historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic. Foucault’s theories primarily address the
relationship between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control
through societal institutions. Though often cited as a post-structuralist and post modernist,
Foucault rejected these labels, preferring to present his thought as a critical history of
modernity. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in sociology,
cultural studies, literary theory and critical theory. Activist groups have also found his
theories compelling.
He returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961).
After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont Ferrand, he
produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications which
displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced
himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was
developing called “archaeology”.
Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault
was admitted to the College de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also
became active in a number of left-wing groups involved in anti-racist campaigns, anti-human
rights abuses, and penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and
The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical
methods which emphasized the role that power plays in society. Foucault died in Paris of
neurological problems compounded by HIV/ AIDS; he became the first public figure in
France to die from the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his
memory.
The Unities of Discourse” (from The Archaeology of Knowledge)
- Michel Foucault
The primary historical problems to be examined in this book are listed as ‘discontinuity,
rupture, threshold, limit, series, and transformation.’ First, however, Foucault must perform
the ‘negative work’ of dismantling various received forms of continuity as they appear in
historical work. The primary example he gives is the notion of ‘tradition,’ with its attendant
themes of sameness, permanence, and origin (which is often linked with the idea of
innovative ‘genius’). Related ideas up for critique are those of influence (the linking of ideas
over time), development or evolution, and ‘spirit’ (as it serves to associate a period with a
collective consciousness, as in ‘spirit of the times’). In order to begin, we must replace history
as it is structured by these ‘ready-made syntheses’ with a mere ‘population of dispersed
events.’ Also to be thrown out are the extant categories by which historical materials and
events are divided up; this includes categories like literary genres, as well as broader
divisions like those between politics, philosophy, and literature. Foucault points out that such
categories are themselves historically contingent ‘facts of discourse.’
Two of the most important categories to dismantle are those of the book and of the oeuvre.
The book is a false unity because its boundaries are unstable and permeable. Is the unity of
the book the same, for example, in the case of an anthology, a volume of a history of France,
a transcript of a trial, or a novel? Do two books by two authors have the same relationship to
each other as two books in a single cycle by the same author? What about the relationship
between Joyce’s Ulysses and Homer’s Odyssey (on which Joyce’s novel is structured)? ‘The
frontiers of a book are never clear-cut,’ Foucault writes. Every book ‘is caught up in a system
of references to other books, other texts, other sentences: it is a node within a network…its
unity is variable and relative.’ Again, the idea of the book as a free-standing work is itself an
effect of the field of discourse of which it is a part.
The oeuvre (the totality of texts by a given author) is subject to even greater instability and
complexity. The name of the author is a sign attached to each of the texts, but it signifies in
different ways if the text is, for example, published under a pseudonym, extant only in
unfinished form, or merely a notebook. Should a translation of someone else’s text be
considered a part of an author’s oeuvre? What about a questionnaire he or she filled out?
What about works the author abandoned or disowned? In the end, the idea of an oeuvre
depends on the imagination of a certain ‘expressive function,’ a process that is highly
variable.
Two final, ‘linked, but opposite’ forms of continuity must be rejected. The first is a tendency
always to avoid ‘the eruption of a real event’ by implying or asserting a vague, fundamental,
‘secret origin’ that precedes it, ‘an ever- receding point that is never itself present in any
history.’ The second is a tendency to take actual statements and ‘manifest documents’ to be
expressions of a deeper, silent ‘already-said’ that makes statements possible. In contrast to
origin, we must look for irruption; in contrast to silent movements of collective thought or
spirit, we must look to actual statements, ‘as and when [they] occur.’
These forms of continuity are not simply to be thrown out as such, but to be interrogated as
effects within ‘the totality of all effective statements…in their dispersion as events.’ This
field of statement-events is the field of Foucault’s investigation. This project is not like that of
linguistics, which is concerned with finite statements only as instances of general, ‘infinite’
rules of language. Nor is it aligned with the history of thought, which seeks out generalized
‘discursive totalities.’ Rather, Foucault seeks to ‘grasp the statement in the exact
specificity of its occurrence,’ to account for the reasons why a given statement had to be that
precise statement and no other.
Even if we end up re-discovering the various forms of continuity via this new project, we will
have made at least three important steps. First, we will have advanced the understanding of
what a statement is, showing how it is linked to writing and speech, to its own repetitions and
transformations in future statements, and to a wide range of other statements that precede or
follow it, even while focusing our attention on the unique, irruptive specificity of the
statements themselves. Second, we will have removed links between statements from
linguistics and from conjectural histories of thought, avoiding restrictive links between the
statement and the speculations about the psychology of the author. Finally, this new project
will leave us free to discover new forms of continuity, this time via a set of ‘controlled
decisions’ rather than a blind acceptance of ‘secret’ wholenesses.
Roland Barthes (1915-1980)
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic and
semiotician. Barthes’ ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the
development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, design
theory, anthropology and post-structuralism.
Barthes spent the early 1960s exploring the fields of semiology and structuralism, chairing
various faculty positions around France, and continuing to produce more full-length studies.
Many of his works challenged traditional academic views of literary criticism and of
renowned figures of literature. His unorthodox thinking led to a conflict with a well-known
Sorbonne professor of literature, Raymond Picard, who attacked the French New Criticism (a
label that he inaccurately applied to Barthes) for its obscurity and lack of respect towards
France’s literary roots. Barthes’ rebuttal in Criticism and Truth (1966) accused the old,
bourgeois criticism of a lack of concern with the finer points of language and of selective
ignorance towards challenging theories, such as Marxism.
He wrote his best-known work, the 1967 essay “The Death of the Author,” which, in light of
the growing influence of Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction, would prove to be a transitional
piece in its investigation of the logical ends of structuralist thought.
In 1975 he wrote an autobiography titled Roland Barthes and in 1977 he was elected to the
chair of Sémiologie Littéraire at the College de France. In the same year, his mother,
Henriette Barthes, to whom he had been devoted, died, aged 85. They had lived together for
60 years. The loss of the woman who had raised and cared for him was a serious blow to
Barthes. His last major work, Camera Lucida, is partly an essay about the nature of
photography and partly a meditation on photographs of his mother. The book contains many
reproductions of photographs, though none of them are of Henriette.
On 25 February 1980, Roland Barthes was knocked down by a laundry van while walking
home through the streets of Paris. One month later, on March 26, he succumbed to the chest
injuries sustained in that accident.
The Death of the Author (from Image Music-Text)

-Roland Barthes
Summary
“The Death of the Author” is a 1967 essay by the French Literary critic and theorist Roland
Barthes (1915–80). Barthes’ essay argues against traditional literary criticism’s practice of
incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in an interpretation of a
text, and instead argues that writing and creator are unrelated. The title is a pun on Le Morte
d’ Arthur, a 15th-century compilation of smaller Arthurian legend stories, written by Sir
Thomas Malory.
The essay’s first English-language publication was in the American journal Aspen, no. 5–6 in
1967; the French debut was in the magazine Manteia, no. 5 (1968). The essay later appeared
in an anthology of Barthes’s essays, Image-Music-Text (1977), a book that also included his
“From Work To Text”.
In his essay, Barthes argues against the method of reading and criticism that relies on aspects
of the author’s identity—their political views, historical context, religion, ethnicity,
psychology, or other biographical or personal attributes—to distill meaning from the author’s
work. In this type of criticism, the experiences and biases of the author serve as a definitive
“explanation” of the text. For Barthes, this method of reading may be apparently tidy and
convenient but is actually sloppy and flawed: “To give a text an author” and assign a single,
corresponding interpretation to it “is to impose a limit on that text”.
Readers must thus separate a literary work from its creator in order to liberate the text from
interpretive tyranny. Each piece of writing contains multiple layers and meanings. In a well-
known quotation, Barthes draws an analogy between text and textiles, declaring that a “text is
a tissue [or fabric] of quotations”, drawn from “innumerable centers of culture”, rather than
from one, individual experience. The essential meaning of a work depends on the impressions
of the reader, rather than the “passions” or “tastes” of the writer; “a text’s unity lies not in its
origins”, or its creator, “but in its destination”, or its audience.
No longer the focus of creative influence, the author is merely a “scriptor” (a word Barthes
uses expressly to disrupt the traditional continuity of power between the terms “author” and
“authority”). The scriptor exists to produce but not to explain the work and “is born
simultaneously with the text, is in no way equipped with a being preceding or exceeding the
writing, [and] is not the subject with the book as predicate”. Every work is “eternally written
here and now”, with each re-reading, because the “origin” of meaning lies exclusively in
“language itself” and its impressions on the reader.
Barthes notes that the traditional critical approach to literature raises a thorny problem: how
can we detect precisely what the writer intended? His answer is that we cannot. He introduces
this notion of intention in the epigraph to the essay, taken from Honore de Balzac’s story
Sarrasine in which a male protagonist mistakes a castrato for a woman and falls in love with
him. When, in the passage, the character dotes over his perceived womanliness, Barthes
challenges his own readers to determine who is speaking, and about what. “Is it Balzac the
author professing ‘literary’ ideas on femininity? Is it universal wisdom? Romantic
psychology? … We can never know.” Writing, “the destruction of every voice,” defies
adherence to a single interpretation or perspective. (Barthes returned to Sarrasine in his book,
where he gave the story a rigorous close reading.)
Acknowledging the presence of this idea (or variations of it) in the works of previous writers,
Barthes cited in his essay the poet Stephane Mallarme, who said that “it is language which
speaks”. He also recognized Marcel Proust as being “concerned with the task of inexorably
blurring…the relation between the writer and his characters”; the Surrealist movement for
employing the practice of “automatic writing” to express “what the head itself is unaware of”;
and the field of linguistics as a discipline for “showing that the whole of enunciation is an
empty process”. Barthes’ articulation of the death of the author is a radical and drastic
recognition of this severing of authority and authorship. Instead of discovering a “single
‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God)”, readers of a text discover that
writing, in reality, constitutes “a multi-dimensional space”, which cannot be “deciphered”,
only “disentangled”. “Refusing to assign a ‘secret,’ ultimate meaning” to text “liberates what
may be called an anti-theological activity, an activity that is truly revolutionary since to
refuse meaning is, in the end, to refuse God and his hypostases—reason, science, law.”
Influences
Ideas presented in “The Death of the Author” were anticipated to some extent by the New
Criticism, a school of literary criticism important in the United States from the 1940s to the
1970s. New Criticism differs from Barthes’ theory of critical reading because it attempts to
arrive at more authoritative interpretations of texts. Nevertheless, the crucial New Critical
precept of the “intentional fallacy” declares that a poem does not belong to its author; rather,
“it is detached from the author at birth and goes about the world beyond his power to intend
about it or control it. The poem belongs to the public.” Barthes himself stated that the
difference between his theory and New Criticism comes in the practice of “disentangling.”
Barthes’ work has much in common with the ideas of the “Yale school” of deconstructionist
critics, which numbered among its proponents Paul de Man and Barbara Johnson in the
1970s, although they are not inclined to see meaning as the production of the reader. Barthes,
like the deconstructionists, insists upon the disjointed nature of texts, their fissures of
meaning and their incongruities, interruptions, and breaks.
Post-structuralist skepticism about the notion of the singular identity of the self has also been
important for some academics working in feminist theory and queer theory. These writers
find in Barthes’ work an anti-patriarchal, anti-traditional strain sympathetic to their own
critical work. They read “The Death of the Author” as a work that obliterates not only stable
critical interpretation but also stable personal identity.
Michel Foucault addressed the question of the author in critical interpretation. In his 1969
essay “What is an Author?” he developed the idea of “author function” to explain the author
as a classifying principle within a particular discursive formation. Foucault did not mention
Barthes in his essay but its analysis has been seen as a challenge to Barthes’ depiction of a
historical progression that will liberate the reader from domination by the author. Jacques
Derrida paid ironic homage to Barthes’s “The Death of the Author” in his essay “The Deaths
of Roland Barthes”.
Raymond Williams (1921-1988)

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential
figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass
media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the
arts. Some 750,000 copies of his books have sold in UK editions alone and there are many
translations available. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the
cultural materialist approach.
On the strength of his books, Williams was invited to return to Cambridge in 1961, where he
was elected a fellow of Jesus College, eventually becoming first Reader (1967-1974) then
Professor of Drama (1974–1983). He was Visiting Professor of Political Science at Stanford
University in 1973, an experience that he used to good effect in his still useful book
Television: Technology and Cultural Form (1974). A committed socialist, he was
greatly interested in the relationships between language, literature, and society and published
many books, essays and articles on these and other issues. Among the most important is The
Country and the City (1973), in which chapters about literature alternate with chapters of
social history. His tightly written Marxism and Literature (1977) is mainly for specialists, but
it also sets out his own approach to cultural studies, which he called cultural materialism.
This book was in part a response to structuralism in literary studies and pressure on Williams
to make a more theoretical statement of his own position against criticisms that it was a
humanist Marxism, based on unexamined assumptions about lived experience. He makes
considerable use of the ideas of Antonio Gramsci, though the book is uniquely Williams’s
and written in his own characteristic voice. For a more accessible version, see Culture
(1981/1982), which develops an important argument about cultural sociology, which he
hoped would become “a new major discipline”. Introducing the US edition, Bruce Robbins
identifies this book as “an implicit self-critique” of Williams’s earlier ideas, and a basis on
which “to conceive the oppositionality of the critic in a permanently fragmented society”
Williams was concerned to establish the changing meanings of the vocabulary used in
discussions of culture. He began with the word culture itself, and his notes on sixty
significant but often difficult words were to have appeared as an appendix to Culture and
Society in 1958. This was not possible and an extended version, with notes and short essays
on 110 words, appeared as Keywords in 1976. Words which were examined included
“Aesthetic”, “Bourgeois”, “Culture”, “Hegemony”, “Isms”, “Organic”, “Romantic”, “Status”,
“Violence” and “Work”. A revised version in 1983 added twenty-one new words, including
“Anarchism”, “Ecology”, “Liberation”and “Sex”. Williams wrote that The Oxford English
Dictionary (OED) “is primarily philological and etymological”, whilst his work was on
“meanings and contexts”. In 1981, Williams published Culture, in which the term is given
extended discussion. Here it is defined as “a realized signifying system”, and is supported by
chapters discussing “the means of cultural production, and the process of cultural
reproduction” (206).
“Literature” (from Marxism and Literature)

-Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams has been praised by critics like Edward Said for his disregard for
traditional academic boundaries, and the distinction between literature and Marxism. The
connection between Marxism and literature has been debated from times immemorial.
Marxists claim that literature reflects the social system of the times as determined by the
economic base. Yet Marxist critics themselves like Engels in a series of letters written in the
1890s recognized the relative autonomous nature of literature. Otherwise it would not explain
how literary classics that were generated by earlier capitalist systems still held relevance for
current generations.
Earlier on, it was deemed uncomplicated to categorize Marxism or literature as a static

concept with known characteristics. In “Marxism and Literature,” Raymond Williams states
how Marxism has experienced a recent revival– a related openness and flexibility of
theoretical development, especially with reference to cultural theory. The concept of
Literature, meanwhile, for related reasons, had become problematic in many ways. He states
how the aim of the book is to trace this development. Williams traces his earlier conceptions
of Marxism as he had been brought up in a working class family and how Marxism to him at
that juncture had political and economic connotations. The cultural and literary arguments
were merely an extension of the same.
As he joined Cambridge in 1939, he realized that it could also mean a style of thought, and
some defining propositions were picked up as part of a political commitment. This was
Williams’s position as a student between 1939 and 1941. He was aligned towards this radical
populism that aimed at making literature rather than judging the same. He was aware of the
political and economic part of it in the late forties and fifties. In specialized studies, material
Marxism encountered problems it could not digest, and therefore dismissed the same.
Meanwhile Williams continued to put forward his historical and political position, as well as
cultural and literary work at a conscious distance. This particular period is summed up in his
work Culture and Society.
In the mid-fifties, a new phenomenon was emerging that was termed as the New Left and had
affinities with William’s cultural and literary positions latent in works like Politics and
Letters in 1947 and 1948. Herbert Marcuse is known as the father of The New Left which
was a political movement in the 1960s and 1970s that stood in contrast to the vanguardist
approach of previous Marxisms and brought together educators, agitators to address issues
such as as gay rights, abortion, gender roles, and drugs. Williams found Marxist thinking that
was different from what he encountered in Britain. György Lukács, a Hungarian Marxist
philosopher, one of the founders of Western Marxism, practised an interpretive tradition that
departed from the Marxist ideological orthodoxy of the USSR. He contributed to Marxist
theory with developments of Karl Marx’s theory of class consciousness. He was particularly
influential with his concept of reification, his theorizing of realism and applying the same to
the novel and; in his The Theory of the Novel, he traces the history of the novel as a form.
Lukács, was not only a Marxist political thinker, but influential literary critic of the 20th
century. He wrote a lengthy introduction to The Theory of the Novel that was termed as
“romantic anti-capitalism” and would later develop into Marxism. In The Theory of the
Novel, he coins the term “transcendental homelessness,” defining the term as the “longing of
all souls for the place in which they once belonged, and the nostalgia… for utopian
perfection, a nostalgia that feels itself and its desires to be the only true reality” (Lukács 70).
Williams tried to trace the history of Marxism as systemized by Plekhanov with support from
the work of Engels, and popularized in Soviet Marxism. He could then read the Marxists of
the 1930s differently including Christopher Caudwell. He could actually trace the formation.
He later read other writers like Lukas. Strindberg was an obvious reference for any aspiring
literary critic in Europe between about 1900 and sometime during the 1960s–especially for
those intellectuals with a left-wing inclination. The time span can be illustrated with the
importance that Strindberg had for the young Georg Lukacs, on the one hand, and, on the
other, the strategic position he had for the British Marxist critic Raymond Williams in his
working out of what would become “Cultural Studies” (Olsson 249). Williams was
significantly also influenced by Brecht. Brecht integrated Marxist philosophy with his
dramatic techniques giving way to the epic theatre in collaboration with Erwin Piscator, the
father of political theatre. Brecht insisted that the audience should be intellectually stimulated
and not emotionally drained, with his insistence on acting in quotation marks, identifying
actions as happening in the past, and his utilizing episodic narratives so as to dispel the
willing suspension of disbelief.
Raymond Williams was also influenced by Althusser’s central premise of ideology based on
the Lacanian theories of psychoanalysis of how man loses his perception of reality as he
enters the realm of ideology, as the child loses its perception of prenatal reality as it enters the
symbolic realm as defined by language. Althusser, was also prominent as a structural Marxist
thereby effecting an integration of literary theory and Marxist political principles. According
to Althusser’s theory, society can be seen as a structure, and the various changes in society
function as causes for a single effect. Society, in such a stance, is seen as a structure capable
of transformation. His works For Marx and Reading Capital (written with Etienne Balibar)
exemplified the same. The next principle Althusser propounded was how structuralists
conceive of the self as not inner but the result of several cultural forces working inside us.
Goldmann was a formidable influence on Williams, as he integrated the “genetic

epistemology” of Jean Piaget with the Marxism of György Lukas, and was founder of the
theory known as genetic structuralism which he developed in the 1960s. Goldmann was also
influenced by Walter Benjamin’s theories of the aura of art and Levi-Strauss. Piaget
influenced Goldman as genetic epistemology and psychology seemed to establish the efficacy
of Marx’s anthropology through careful and systematic empirical research. Goldmann
comprehended that Piaget’s genetic research went as far as in providing a psychology which
would complement historical and dialectical materialism. The genesis of knowledge is
perceived as man receives knowledge from outside and assimilates and accommodates them
into inner structures. The subject tries to preserve his inner structures. In the process, he
endeavours to adapt these structures. The world is not easily assimilated, and the subject must
constantly adapt itself by creating new structures of thought and action (Goldmann 8-9).
Another prominent influence on Raymond Williams was Sartre. Sarte was not political before
but after World War II, his writing gained political overtones as his journal Les Temps
Modernes testifies. In the 1950s, Sartre was inclined towards Marxism and published Critique
of Dialectical Reason, Vol. 1 (1960). Sartre also presented a new critical theory of society
based on a synthesis of psychology and sociology, Critique qualified Sartre’s earlier, more
radical view of existential freedom. Sartre’s pioneering linking of Existentialism and
Marxism yielded a political philosophy uniquely sensitive to the tension between individual
freedom and the forces of history. As a Marxist, he believed that societies were best
understood as arenas of struggle between powerful and powerless groups. But being an
existentialist he professed that individuals were personally responsible for vast and apparently
authorless social ills. The chief existential virtue with reference to the individual would be
authenticity where he would analyse his or her social situation and accept personal
responsibility for the choices made. However, his facticity would also be a determinant in the
course of action as things would depend on where he was born and in what situation: The
basic concept which is thus engendered, utilizes the double property of the human being, who
is at once a facticity and a transcendence, These two aspects of human reality are and ought to
be capable of a valid coordination” (Sartre 56). Therefore unlike other Marxisms, Sartre’s
Existentialist-Marxism was a unique theory of individual agency and moral responsibility. He
was singular in his points of view as he embraced Marxism, but did not join the Communist
Party; and also while being a Marxist, Sartre attacked the violation of freedom and human
rights by the Soviet Union, and emphasized on the humanist values of Marx as visible in
Marx’s early works. This led to a dispute with Althusser who felt it was superseded by the
later scientific system of Marx. And Sartre applied his philosophy to his plays. Sartre’s 1948
play Les mains sales (Dirty Hands) in particular explored the problem of being a politically
“engaged” intellectual, thereby influencing Raymond Williams to formulate a theory merging
literature, culture and Marxism.
Edward Said in his Orientalism after making it impossible to divorce political knowledge
from pure knowledge, combines geo-political aspects with cultural studies to give way to
what he designates as humanistic study in his study of Orientalism. Likewise, after
comprehending the interrelatedness of the aspects of Marxism, culture and literary theory,
Raymond Williams proposes a new theory called cultural materialism marrying Marxist
history, and literary and cultural theory: “A theory of the specifities of material, cultural and
literary production within historical materialism” (Williams 5).
Cultural Materialism has often been treated as the British equivalent of the American New
Historicism with slight variations. Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore have adopted the
approach as exemplified through Political Shakespeare. The work illustrates how hegemonic
forces shape canonical works instilling in them values aimed at self-validation in the context
of cultural analysis. With regards to cultural materialism, Dollimore states:
One of the most important achievements of ’theory in English studies has been the making
possible of a truly inter-disciplinary approach to –some say exit from – the subject….With
the various structuralisms, Marxism, psychoanalysis, semiotics and post-structuralism, there
occurred a significant dismantling of barriers(barriers of exclusion as well as of containment)
and many critics discovered what they wanted to know for some time- how, for example,
history and philosophy could be retrieved from their ‘background’ status and become part of
the content and the perspective of criticism. (Dollimore 2)
In the chapter entitled “Literature,” Williams traces the evolution of the concept of ‘literature’
and how it has has varied in meaning over the times. He states that it has deteriorated from
being an abstraction formed from the conditions of production to being related with works
relating to lived experiences that have a self-reflexive quality rather than referring to the
circumstances of composition. ‘Literature’ like other concepts changed its original meaning
with the advent of capitalism. In comparison to the lived experiences portrayed in literature,
actual lived experiences of society and history prove to be less immediate owing to the
subliminal ideology that rendered people compliant as subjects and made them imbibe the
same. Williams asserts how readers hesitated to trace the history with reference to works like
Paradise Lost or Middlemarch, but it became imperative for them whenever they could not
divorce the study of a literary work without the study of the evolution of its genre. This
amounts to saying that the study of literature tracing history was limited to typological
functions. Robert Stamin’s Genre theory identifies four key problems with generic labels (in
relation to film): extension (the breadth or narrowness of labels); normativism (having
preconceived ideas of criteria for genre membership); monolithic definitions (as if an item
belonged to only one genre) and biologism (a kind of essentialism in which genres are seen as
evolving through a standardized life cycle) (qtd. In Chandler). William’s conception of genres
and literature falls in line with the fourth label – as evolving through social lifestyles.
The meaning of literature changed with the advent of capitalism. Under the influence of
capitalism, words like society was extended to civil society, economythat once meant the
running of household transformed to pertain to production and consumption, and culture that
once referred to agriculture eventually extended to the superstructure. Likewise, the word
‘literature’ also gathered capitalist overtones. In “Death of the Author,” Roland Barthes
foregrounded how the concept of author itself is a product of the capitalist ideology as the
producer of the text, when he stated: “It is thus logical that in literature it should be this
positivism, the epitome and culmination of capitalist ideology, which has attached the
greatest importance to the ‘person’ of the author” (Barthes 1466).
In its modern form, literature did not emerge until the eighteenth century and did not fully
th
develop until the 19 century. The word came into use in English in the fourteenth century
following Latin and French precedents; the root was the Latin littera, a letter of the alphabet.
Litterature in keeping with the common early spelling was a condition of reading. Therefore,
in the phrase ‘a man of letters,’ letter stands as an instance of polysemy as opposed to
homonymy as it has a common linguistic root. It was closer in meaning to the modern sense
of literacy which did not evolve until the late nineteenth century. ”The normal adjective
associated with literature was literate. Literary appeared in the sense of reading ability and
experience in the seventeenth century; and did not acquire its specialized modern meaning
until the eighteenth century” (Williams 46).
Literature as a new category was a kind of specialization formerly known as rhetoric and
grammar, as, throughout the Middle Ages as formal education began with the study of
language, grammar including the study of literature and dialectic. This sort of medieval
liberal arts was supposed to make a personal polite and endowed with a civic sense. Further,
literature was a form of learning exclusive to the social elite. It was a marker of social
distinction. And it was not limited to works of the imagination. We find that critics like F.R
.Leavis privileged literature with a similar function as he comprehended that it had a morally
edifying force as he extolls the same in his phrase “the Great Tradition” (Bilan 137).
Similarly Arnold in Culture and Anarchy (1869) exemplifies how literature is capable of
endowing a civilizing “sweetness and light” to society assuming the redemptive power that
was previously enjoyed by religion (Arnold 48).
From the seventeenth century, it came to mean metrical composition, but again it did not
allude to the making of poetry. This use can be seen in Bacon –“learned in all literature and
erudition, divine and human;” and as late as in Johnson: “Learned in all literature” referring
to a description of King James I in The Advancement of Learning. With the passing of time,
literature was a category of use or condition rather than production that referred to social
distinction. During this period, as Raymond Williams discerns “three complicating tendencies
can be distinguished: first a shift from learning to taste or sensibility as a criterion defining
literary quality; secondly an increasing specialization of literature to creative or imaginative
works; third a development of the concept of ‘tradition’ within national terms, resulting in the
more effective definition of a national literature” (Williams 48). It was a result of : “New
political concepts of the ‘nation’ and new valuations of the ‘vernacular’ interacted with a
persistent emphasis on ‘literature’ as reading in the ‘classical’ languages” (Williams 47)
Though the movement could be discerned starting from Renaissance, it came across
powerfully in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We find a similarity with Eliot’s
conception of tradition in “Tradition and the Individual Talent”” where he states his
perception of tradition encompasses the whole of literature of Europe to his own day
including the literature of his own country as they form one continuous literary tradition
(Eliot, Tradition and the Individual Talent). During this period, literature also referred to all
kinds of printed work.
Now, during eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the focus was on the work itself and there
was the narrowing of the essence of literature to fiction, tradition was now given nationalistic
overtones giving rise to nationalistic literatures. “The shift from learning to taste or sensibility
was in effect the final stage of shift from a para-national scholarly profession with its original
base in the church and then in the universities, and with the classical languages as its shared
material, to a profession increasingly defined by its class definition. Furthermore this taste
and theory was determined and prescribed by the elite: bourgeois categories,” which can refer
not only to literature, but also manners, wine, and poetry” (Williams 49). Reading therefore
got institutionalized at this point where it was determined on the basis of “conscious exercise
of ‘taste’, ‘sensibility’, and ‘discrimination’. It may be linked to Stanley Fish’s notion of
interpretative communities. (Fish). The major criticism against this field that it may turn the
academy into a policing force and adjudge from which number of perspectives reading will
proceed and give rise to a perception that does not judge but is judgmental.
Criticism evolved on a parallel with literature as it evolved from fault finding and
commentaries in the seventeenth century to an exercise of taste, sensibility and
discrimination. In keeping with this tendency, the focus shifted from the production of
literature to their consumption. And like movies, it was based on a formula of success- an
“emphasis on the use or (conspicuous) consumption of works, rather than on their
production” (Williams 49). In such a stance, literature proved to be merely a domain where
bourgeoisie prejudices could be exercised and realized. Hebert Marcuse had stated how
instead of an individual critically assessing his or her world, capitalism had stifled the
emergence of such a consciousness and imagination” (qtd. in Walsh 92). Bourgeois criticism
began to not only adjudge works but discriminate them based on what truly constituted
literature possessing literary values, particularly ones that arose from a nationalist
consciousness which was said to be the defining criteria for great works. We find affinities
with Plato’s theory of how literature should contribute to a better Republic; and treated other
forms of art as mimesis, and posed the poet as an empty singer of an idle day. “The reliance
on ‘sensibility’ as a special form of an attempted emphasis on whole ‘human’ response, had
its evident weaknesses in its tendency to separate ‘feeling” from ‘thought’ (with an associated
vocabulary of ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’, ‘unconscious’ and ‘conscious’, ‘private’ and
‘public’)” (Williams 49). We discern a similar phenomenon in the practice of writing as well
as Eliot’s theory of the dissociation of sensibility proffered in “The Metaphysical Poets.” It
states that the metaphysical poets thought and felt with a unified sensibility but the later poets
only thought or felt. The emphasis on immediate and lived experiences rendered class
comparatively weaker and foregrounded the weakness of concepts
as concepts. Criticism as a new conscious discipline in universities favoured the concept of

class on one hand, while insisting on objective scholarship on the other. In a more serious
vein, criticism was taken to be a natural definition of literary studies, alluding to a
specializing category of printed works of a certain quality of literature. Therefore, the forms
of literature and criticism as viewed in the context of historical social development
functioned as a class specialization and control of a general social practice.
In the latter nineteenth century, literature narrowed in scope to only imaginative or fictional
works as a response to the repressive aspects of capitalist production that was manifest
mainly in the form of automation that stifled human creative faculty. We find a similar idea
being expressed in Freud’s “Creative Writers and Day Dreaming” where he asserts that the
creative writer’s stifled repressions gets manifest in creative writing, it is a result of
repression- every single fantasy is the fulfillment of a wish, a correction of an unsatisfying
reality: ”Furthermore, he possess the mysterious power of shaping some material until it
becomes a faithful image of his fantasy; and he knows how, moreover, how to link so large a
yield of his of his representation of his unconscious phantasy, that for the time being at least
repressions are outweighed and lifted by it” (Freud 376). Fredrick Jameson in The Political
Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act mentions that what is unsaid is the
political unconscious, and a repository of repression. In such a context, art, aesthetics and
literature are being preserved into these forms rather than being destroyed by practical
activities. This functions opposite to the theory of the class nature of art, namely, Klassovost
in Marxist theory. “The practical specialization of work to the wage-labour production of
commodities; of ‘being’ to ‘work’ in these terms; of language to the passing of ‘rational’ or
‘informative’ ‘messages’; of social relations to functions within a systematic economic and
political order: all these pressures and limits were challenged in the name of a full arid
liberating ‘imagination’ or ‘creativity’” (Williams 50). Literature in this period acquired a
new resonance with central Romantic assertions.
Time saw the evolution of several concepts. The implication of art from a general human
skill transformed to an area defined by imagination and sensibility; aesthetic moved from a
sense of general perception to ‘artistic’ and the ‘beautiful;’ ‘Fiction’ and ‘myth’ (a new term
from the early nineteenth century) changed from the dominant class position as ‘fancies’ or
‘lies’ to the honourable bearers of ‘imaginative truth’, with ‘Romance’ and ‘romantic’ being
given new emphases. ‘Literature’ moved with all the corresponding connotations. There was
now attributed a specialized meaning with an elevated sense to aesthetic objects. This was
probably a consequence of the aesthetic movement in the later nineteenth century that upheld
the dictum of art’s for art’s sake.
Literature was still not primary reading ability and reading experience but the question that
whether texts meant to be performed could be called literature. Question also remained
whether literature was assigned to an imaginative dimension, access to a truth higher or
deeper than scientific or objective everyday reality. There were attempts to render beauty,
truth and the vitality of language synonymous. The categorization and arguments for
literature had their base in comparative arguments that functioned not as positive assertions
but negative with the result of judging other kinds of writing as either factual or discursive.
Now, it transformed into a self-defining area validating aesthetic objects. As per the
stipulated function, criticism assumed significance in validating this selective category.
“What had been claimed for ~art’ and the ‘creative imagination’ in the central Romantic
arguments was now .claimed for ‘criticism’,· as the central ‘humane’ activity and ‘discipline”
(Williams 51). To this was connected the elaboration of tradition and in turn the
conception of a national literature that began since the Renaissance. It soon ceased to be a
history and became a tradition.
According to Raymond Williams, the Marxist theory of practical consciousness had never
been applied to the realm of literature. Whenever application was made, it was limited to
three main kinds: an assimilation of literature to ideology which was slightly more than
banging one category against the other, inclusion of popular literature; and a persistent
attempt to relate literature to the social and economic history within which it had been
produced. Literature in terms of expressing a particular class identity has embraced ideology.
However, this has been positive in terms of including popular literature as something equally
canonical under the umbrella of “great” works as postulated by bourgeois critics.
Nevertheless, it still remains to strongly stage an attack on the bourgeois concepts of
literature, art, and aesthetics.
Williams concludes that Marxist literary theory translates as successful only if it can question
the canonical bourgeois concepts. This challenge must be initiated within the system itself
recognizing literature as a specializing social and historical category; for as part of history, it
is a key concept of culture and decisive in the development of language. More significantly,
language has moved beyond the limitation of the print medium to inner speech and verbal
thought. The statement of Williams finds affinities with Derrida’s inversion of
phonocentricism that emphasized the existence of the written language over the spoken one in
terms of arche-writing.
Therefore, Williams’s assertions are pertinent in the light of stressing the autonomy of the
written language, and the recognition of literature as a social and historical category. It
highlights how the study of the historicity of the text is as imperative as the textuality of
history. To quote Marx from The German Ideology: “From the start the “spirit” is afflicted
with the curse of being “burdened” with matter, which here makes its appearance in the form
of agitated layers of air, sounds, in short, of language. Language is as old as consciousness,
language is practical consciousness that exists also for other men, and for that reason alone it
really exists for me personally as well; language, like consciousness, only arises from the
need, the necessity, of intercourse with other men” (Marx). Raymond Williams seems to be
talking on a parallel in stressing the autonomy of language, and in turn literature.
Unit-IV
Edward Said (1935-2003)
Edward Wadie Said was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public

intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies. A Palestinian
American born in Mandatory Palestine, he was a citizen of the United States by way of his
father, a U.S. Army veteran.
Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education
and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding
between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in the Middle East;
As a cultural critic, Said is known for the book Orientalism (1978), a critique of the cultural
representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the
Orient. Said’s model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in
literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle-eastern Studies—how academics examine,
describe, and define the cultures being studied. As a foundational text, Orientalism was
controversial among the scholars of Oriental Studies, philosophy, and literature.
As a public intellectual, Said was a controversial member of the Palestinian National Council,
because he publicly criticized Israel and the Arab countries, especially the political and
cultural policies of Muslim régimes who acted against the national interests of their peoples.
Said advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state to ensure equal political and human
rights for the Palestinians in Israel, including the right of return to the homeland. He defined
his oppositional relation with the status quo as the remit of the public intellectual who has “to
sift, to judge, to criticize, to choose, so that choice and agency return to the individual” man
and woman.
In 1999, with his friend Daniel Barenboim, Said co-founded the West-Eastern Divan
Orchestra, based in Seville, which comprises young Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab musicians.
Besides being an academic, Said also was an accomplished pianist, and, with Barenboim, co-
authored the book Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society (2002), a
compilation of their conversations about music. Edward Said died of leukemia on 25
September 2003.
“Introduction” (from Orientalism)

-Edward Said
Said starts by asserting the fact that the Orient played an instrumental role in the construction
of the European culture as the powerful Other: “the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the
West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience.” (1-2) He then states that the
research subject of his book is Orientalism, by which he understands a combined
representation of the Orient in the Western culture, science, politics, etc. and, transcending
the borders of all these field of knowledge, it becomes “a style of thought based upon an
ontological and epistemological distinction made between “the Orient” and (most of the time)
“the Occident,”(2) and finally it transforms into a powerful political instrument of
domination: “Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having
authority over the Orient.” (3) As Said is a Marxist, there is no wonder that it is this third
incarnation of Orientalism, domination, that he cares most of all for.
In the Foucaultian tradition, Said suggests to look at Orientalism as a discourse: without

examining Orientalism as a discourse one cannot possibly understand the enonnously
systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage-and even produce-the
Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively
during the post-Enlightenment period. (3)
He then states that the Western image of the Orient—i.e. Orientalism—had little to do with
the “real” Orient. What is more important, Orientalism is not simply the work of European
imagination—it is all about power, domination, hegemony and authority. As such,
Orientalism was not “simply” a collection of misrepresentations about the Orient in Europe, it
“created body of theory and practice in which, for many generations, there has been a
considerable material investment,” (6) material investment here meaning academic

scholarship, art, literature, political writing, common sense, etc. In this way, Orientalism in
the European culture became an instrument for maintaining “content” (in Gramscian terms),
i.e. voluntary reproduction by the subjects of the social reality desired by the power. In this
way, Orientalism is a phenomenon of the same rank as the idea of Europe.
Said then ask how relevant it is on his side to consider as one phenomenon what was
supposed to be, actually, two: individual writing (particularly in case of literary fiction) and
hegemonic strategies. He then goes into a lengthy explanation of why he considers this to be
relevant. First, he asserts that there is no “pure” knowledge, but rather all knowledge is
shaped by ideological positions:
No one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from the circumstances of life,
from the fact of his involvement (conscious or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a
social position, or from the mere activity of being a member of a society. (10)
The same, he argues, is the case with literature. The link between ideology and writing is not
simplistic at all, but still it is unavoidable. He describes this link in the following way:
Orientalism is not a mere political subject matter or field that is reflected passively by culture,
scholarship, or institutions; nor is it a large and diffuse collection of texts about the Orient;
nor is it representative and expressive of some nefarious “Western” imperialist plot to hold
down the “Oriental” world. It is rather a distribution of geopolitical awareness into aesthetic,
scholarly, economic, sociological, historical, and philological texts, … it is, rather than
expresses, a certain will or intention to understand, in some cases to control, manipulate, even
to incorporate, what is a manifestly different (or alternative and novel) world; it is, above all,
a discourse that is by no means in direct, corresponding relationship political power in the
raw, but rather is produced and exists in an uneven exchange with various kinds of power,
shaped to a degree by the exchange with power political, … intellectual, … cultural …
moral… (12)
Hence Said’s research agenda: to study Orientalism “as a dynamic exchange between
individual authors and the large political concerns shaped by the three great empires-British,
French, American-in whose intellectual and imaginative territory the writing was produced.”
(15) His research question is, logically, “How did philology, lexicography, history, biology,
political and economic theory, novel-writing, and lyric poetry come to the service of
Orientalism’s broadly imperialist view of the world?” (15) as well as some other related to its
evolution in time and the relationship between the individual effort and this collective project.
Said then discusses his methodology. He, first, claims that there was a need to specify the
corpus of his sources, therefore, he focused on French and British, later American sources on
Islamic countries, and provides a rationale for this choice, Britain and France as the most
important imperial powers, the US as occupying their place after the WWII, Islam as the
“Near Orient,” which has been in contact with Europe for over a century.
As for his methodological focus, Said’s project is about fighting the dominant power:
There is nothing mysterious or natural about authority. It is formed, irradiated, disseminated;

it is instrumental, it is persuasive; it has status, it established canon of taste and value; it is
virtually indistinguishable from certain ideas it dignifies as true, and from traditions,
perceptions, and judgements it forms, transmits, reproduces. Above all, authority can, indeed
must, be analyzed. (20)
His technics of analysis involve strategic location, which is a way of describing the author’s
position in a text with regard to the Oriental material he writes about, and strategic formation,
which is a way of analyzing the relationship between texts and the way in which groups of
texts, types of texts, even textual genres, acquire mass, density, and referential power among
themselves and thereafter in the culture at large. (20)
He explains that every author writing about the Orient must take a position vis-à-vis the
Orient, which means that he or she should translate into his or her text the symbolic
constructions created by Orientalism in its previous or contemporary incarnations:
Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent.
some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which he refers and on which he relies. Additionally,
each work on the Orient affiliates itself with other works, with audiences, with institutions, with
the Orient itself. The ensemble of relationships between works, audiences, and some particular
aspects of the Orient therefore constitutes an analyzable formation… (20)
Any text about the Orient is always exterior to the object it describes (i.e., Orient). Therefore,
there are no “natural depictions” of the Orient, there are only representations of it. What is
important in this observation is that “these representations rely upon institutions, traditions,
conventions, agreed-upon codes of understanding for their effects, not upon a distant and
amorphous Orient,” (22) which means that Orientalist texts are always more about the West
than about the Orient.
1. Knowing the Oriental
Said starts by analyzing public speeches and writings of two British imperialists of the early
th
20 century about the Egypt, making an emphasis on how the stress that since the British
imperial authorities “know better” their country, they have a natural right to rule it:
British knowledge of Egypt is Egypt for Balfour, and the burdens of knowledge make such
questions as inferiority and superiority seem petty ones. Balfour nowhere denies British
superiority and Egyptian inferiority; he takes them for granted as he describes the
consequences of knowledge. (32)
Any doubt in this right is dangerous, as it destroys the faith of both “Arabs” and colonial
officers in what they are doing.
This mode of seeing the Orient turned into the dominant political vision: “The most
important thing about the theory during the first decade of the twentieth century was that it
worked, and worked staggeringly well. The argument, when reduced to its simplest form, was
dear, it was precise, it was easy to grasp. There are Westerners, and there are Orientals. The
former dominate; the latter must be dominated, which usually means having their land
occupied, their internal affairs rigidly controlled, their blood and treasure put at the disposal
of one or another Western power” (36)
Political domination had to be justified, therefore, in the course of the nineteenth century, a
bunch of theories turn up which persisted into the twentieth century and which constructed
the colonial subject as inferior to Europeans—in logic, culture, moral, etc. Many resources
were invented in this vision of Oriental people, as it justified and legitimized domination:
“The Orient was viewed as if framed by the classroom, the criminal court, the prison, the
illustrated manual.”
The reason why this domination emerged was that at that time Britain and France, two
leading colonial powers, divide between them (and other powers) the whole world, but only
between them—Middle East. In a way, they cooperated to secure cultural domination over
these lands:
And share they <Britain and France> did, in ways that we shall investigate presently. What
they shared, however, was not only land or profit or rule; it was the kind of intellectual power
I have been calling Orientalism. In a sense Orientalism was a library or archive of
information, commonly and, in some of its aspects, unanimously held. (41)
This cultural and academic project of Orientalizing the Orient was institutionalized in learned
societies, academic journals, conceptual views (like Darwinism or Marxism), etc. The link
between them and the Orientalism as the phenomenon for which they all worked was double-
folded: they drew on Orientalism and they gradually transformed it. That it was not a
transformation of liberation, but the one of intensification and improvement, is proven,
according to Said, by contemporary (1970s) speeches of American politicians who reproduce
in their writing the same Oriental myth of the nineteenth century. These myths are
represented to us as truth, and Said asks how this situation could emerge. The answer goes in
the following sections.
Elaine Showalter (1941- )
Elaine Showalter is an American literary critic, feminist, and writer on cultural and social
issues. She is one of the founders of feminist literary criticism in United States academia,
developing the concept and practice of gynocritics. Best known in academic and popular
cultural fields, she has written and edited numerous books and articles focused on a variety of
subjects, from feminist literary criticism to fashion, sometimes sparking widespread
controversy, especially with her work on illnesses. Showalter has been a television critic for
People magazine and a commentator on BBC radio and television.
Feminist theory and criticism

Duke-University based Toril Moi, in her 1985 book Sexual/Textual Politics, described
Showalter’s as a limited, essentialist view of women. Moi particularly criticized Showalter’s
ideas regarding the Female phase, and its notions of a woman’s singular autonomy and
necessary search inward for a female identity. In a predominantly, post-structuralist era is that
proposes that meaning is contextual and historical, and that identity is socially and
linguistically constructed, Moi claimed that there is no fundamental female self.
According to Moi, the problem of equality in literary theory does not lie in the fact that the
literary canon is fundamentally male and unrepresentative of female tradition, rather the
problem lies in the fact that a canon exists at all. Moi argues that a feminine literary canon
would be no less oppressive than the male canon because it would necessarily represent a
particular socio demographic class of woman; it could not possibly represent all women
because female tradition is drastically different depending on class, ethnicity, social values,
sexuality, etc. A female consciousness cannot exist for the same reasons. Moi objects to what
she sees as an essentialist position – that is, she objects to any determination of identity based
on gender. Moi’s criticism was influential as part of a larger debate between essentialist and
postmodern feminist theorists at the time.
Hysteria and “modern” illnesses
Showalter’s controversial take on illnesses such as dissociative identity disorder (formerly
called multiple personality disorder), Gulf War Syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome in
her book Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media (1997) has angered some in the
health profession and many who suffer from these illnesses. Writing in the New York Times,
psychologist Carol Tavris commented that “In the absence of medical certainty, the belief that
all such symptoms are psychological in origin is no improvement over the belief that none of
them are.” Showalter (who has no formal medical training) admits to receiving hate mail, but
has not been deterred from her position that these conditions are contemporary manifestations
of hysteria.
Feminist Criticism in Wilderness” (from The New Feminist Criticism)

-Elaine Showalter
The essay by Elaine Showalter is an attempt to study the field of literary criticism from the
feminist point of view. Showalter has tried to study the various aspects of feminist criticism
while also pointing out the aims it should be trying to attain, the problems it faces and the
reasons for these problems.
The essay considers the fact that like feminist creative writers, feminist critics also face
certain obstacles which have got highlighted after the rise of feminism. Showalter has tried to
analyze in detail the belief that feminist criticism is in wilderness, which means, feminist
critics are not capable enough to produce coherent speculations.
1. Pluralism and the Feminist Critique
Showalter begins this essay by pointing out a dialogue by Carolyn Heilbrun and Catherine
Stimpson. They had pointed out that two poles were identifiable in feminist literary criticism-
one concentrating on the errors of the past and the other focus on the beauty of imagination.
Both these aspects contribute in removing the effects of ‘female servitude’ that has existed in
the society since ages. She also quotes Matthew Arnold to state that criticism, as a process,
has to pass through a stage of wilderness to reach at the desired standards. Then, taking
support from Geoffrey Hartman’s quote, she forwards the belief that all criticism, and not
only feminist criticism, is in wilderness. Analyzing one of the reasons for this, so called,
wilderness in feminist criticism, she clarifies that the reason is lack of an exclusive theoretical
framework for feminist criticism. It is always seen in association with some other strategy
and, therefore, fails to work consistently. For instance, feminist critics supporting Marxism
treat feminist criticism differently than those opposing racism.
An early obstacle in establishment of the above mentioned theoretical framework was the
inability of many women to respond to the demand of openness required for the success of
feminist criticism. In some aspects of society, women had been locked out and in some others
they had been locked in. they were not allowed to participate in some aspects of social
interaction and forced to participate in some others. Thus, some believed feminism to be
equivalent to opposition to the establish canons.
Showalter says that what seemed to be ‘a theoretical impasse’ was actually an evolutionary
phase. During this stage, feminist criticism moved on from the stage of awakening to the
stage marked by ‘anxiety about the isolation of feminist criticism from a critical community’.
The definition of feminist criticism with reference to other feminist theories has been a
serious debate and feminist critics have been unable to address this issue. They fail to
understand the need to think beyond their own beliefs as well and to communicate with the
systems they wish to change. Although feminist critics have communicated with these
systems but the communication has been unclear being based entirely on the media of
feminist critics.
There are two modes of feminist criticism. Showalter calls the first one ‘feminist reading’ or
‘feminist critique’. It is concerned to the reading of texts to understand the image of woman
in literature and to work out the beliefs and stereotypes concerned to woman highlighted and
publicized by literary texts. This is a mode of interpretation and has been quite influential in
decoding the relationship of women to literature.
Showalter points out that feminist criticism is revisionist being dependent on male creative
theory, i.e. the creative works and interpretations produced on the basis of male experience.
Feminist critics try to analyze and respond to male creative theory. This need to be changed
to achieve feminist criticism that is ‘women centred, independent and intellectually coherent’.
2. Defining the Feminine: Gynocritics and the Woman’s Text
It is well accepted that a woman’s writing would always be feminine but defining ‘feminine’
has always been a problem. The second mode of feminist criticism concentrates on this
definition. It analyzes women as writers. It undertakes the study of ‘history, styles, themes,
genres, and structures of writing by women’. It also studies in details the various aspects of
female creativity and female literary tradition. Showalter has coined the term ‘gynocritics’ for
the ‘specialized critical discourse’ that uses women’s writings as its exclusive subject.
However, identifying the unique elements of women’s writings is again a problem. French
Feminist Criticism has identified the influence of female body on female language and texts.
However, the issue has been approached towards differently in different countries. Four basic
models of difference are being used most commonly-biological, linguistic, psychoanalytic
and cultural. Each of these models is like a school of gynocentric feminist criticism and has
its own preferences for texts, methods and beliefs.
3. Women’s Writing and Woman’s Body
It is one of the clearest statements of gender difference. Theories like that of better developed
frontal lobes in case of males and of the use of 20 percent of creative energy for physiological
functions in case of women have been used in the past to advocate the superiority of men
over women. Many critics have associated the act of creation of text to the generative process
which only male used to be considered capable of undertaking. The metaphor of literary
paternity used to be associated to penis and, thus, to male. Showalter, however, associates it
to womb comparing literary creativity to childbirth. The level and implication of the mention
of anatomy in text by male and female writers, respectively, has also been different.
However, study of biological imagery in women’s writings could be helpful only when other
factors affecting them are also kept in mind.
4. Women’s Writing and Women’s Language
This concept analyzes if men and women use language differently while creating texts. It studies
if factors like biology, social preferences and cultural beliefs could affect the language of a
gender. It also considers the concept of ‘the oppressor’s language’, the use of language by men to
dominate women. For woman, the popular language could be like a foreign language which she is
unable to be comfortable with. So, there is a call for development of separate feminine language.
However, the irony is that even in communities where women are believed to have developed a
separate language, their language is marked by secrecy.
The differences in male and female speech in terms of ‘speech, intonation and language use’
are the most obvious examples of difference in man’s and woman’s language. Feminist
criticism should, most importantly, work for providing women an access to language so that a
wide range of words is available to them. Language is sufficient enough to give expression to
women’s consciousness only if she is not denied access to all the resources of language.
5. Women’s Writing and Woman’s Psyche
This aspect deals with the connection between author’s psyche and creative process in
general. The difference in creative process in case of a male and a female is then studied on
the basis of this connection. Various psychological theories have suggested that female is
inferior in terms of creative capabilities. Critics have been trying to establish new principles
of feminist psychoanalysis which would try to differentiate gender identities rather than
following Freudian theories. Certain common emotional dimensions could be identified in
texts of women writers belonging to different countries.
6. Women’s Writing and Women’s Culture
The theory of culture as a factor affecting women’s writing is inclusive of the theories of
biology, language and psyche. The influence of all these factors is guided by the cultural
situation of a woman. History has not included female experience. Thus, history is inadequate
to understand women’s experience. Woman’s culture is not a sub-culture of main culture.
They are part of general culture itself. If patriarchal society applies restraints on them, they
transform it into complementarity. Thus, women experience duality of culture including
general culture and women’s culture. Women form ‘muted group’ in society and men form
‘dominant group’. Ardener suggested a diagram with two circles representing these two
groups respectively. All language of the dominant group is all acceptable language. So, the
muted group has to follow the same language. The part of the circle representing the muted
group which does not coincide with the other circle represents that part of women’s life
which has not found any expression in history. It represents the activities, experiences and
feelings of women which are unknown to men. Since they do not form part of men’s life, they
do not get representation in history. This ‘female zone’ is also known as ‘wild zone’ since it
is out of the range of dominant boundary. Women could not write on experiences belonging
exclusively on the wild zone. They have to give representation to the dominant culture in
their texts. There are other muted groups as well than women. For instance, literary identity
of a black American poet is forced upon her by the trends of the dominant group.
Feminist critics try to identify the aspects of women writers which do not follow the trends
established by the male writers. For instance, Woolf’s works show tendencies other than
those of modernism. However, these tendencies are visible in the sections which have so far
been considered obscure or imperfect. Feminist critics should attempt ‘thick description’ of
women’s writings. It is possible only when effect of gender and female literary tradition are
considered among the various factors that affect the meaning of the text.
Showalter concludes that the ‘promised land’ or situation when there would be no difference
in the texts written by man and woman could not be attained. Attainment of that situation
should not be the aim of feminist critics.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950- )
Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. is an American literary critic, teacher, historian, filmmaker
and public intellectual who currently serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor
and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard
University. He discovered what are considered the first books by African-American writers,
both women, and has published extensively on appreciating African-American literature as
part of the Western canon.
In addition to producing and hosting previous series on the history and genealogy of
prominent American figures, since 2012 Gates has been host for four seasons of the series
Finding Your Roots on PBS. It combines the work of expert researchers in genealogy,
history, and genetics historic research to tell guests about their ancestors’ lives and histories.
“Editor’s Introduction: Writing ‘Race’ and the Difference It Makes” (Sec

1-5)
-Henry Louis Gates
Jr.
th
1. Race has had no or very little bearing on the course of literary theory in 20 century. The
literary canon is now considered to contain works which reflect on the general human
th
condition and not particular groups. This has not always been so: in the 19 century literary
theory was interested in historical perspectives in literature. Literature was interpreted
according to the period in which and the people by whom it was written.
Race was important in criticism. It was considered to be the origins of man, the truths, ideas
and ideals held by the author as part of the race. These were expressed implicitly and
explicitly in the work. Race spans the history of the race and subsequent connected elements
resulting from this long history. Texts were considered important which elevated the
historical/racial element.
Blacks and whites in America, for instance were seen as irreconcilably different.
th
Even though in the 20 century emphasis in literary theory was put on the text, there was
some tendency to single out black authors.
2. Race is biologically meaningless. However we insist on distinguishing between different

races in an almost scientific manner. In the context of this distinction we attribute different
characteristics to different races. The African, then, receives an “otherness”. Hundreds are
murdered daily because of racial differences. These differences have been ingrained in
language so that they seem inherent and scientific (such as color descriptions for different
ethnicities – black red yellow etc). These descriptions become associated with derogatory
characteristics.
3. Gates brings the example of Phillis Wheatley, who had to prove to a panel of respectable
Boston residents in 1772 that she had in fact authored the poems she professed to have done.
Without these the public would not have believed her to be the author, due to her race. At the
time writing was considered the hallmark characteristic of the human and Africans, illiterate
as they were, were considered inhuman. After Wheatley’s book was published it began to be
argued that perhaps she, and so others of her race, were human.
4. Writing was the hallmark of reason and therefore humanity. Great measures were taken to
retain the inhumanness of slaves by preventing them from becoming literate. In 1705 Bosman
invented a myth to explain the “natural” inferiority of blacks. In 1748 Hume wrote a
philosophical treatise where he stated whites were the only civilized race. In 1764 Kant wrote
that blacks were stupid. Later, Hegel stated that blacks had no history because of their
illiteracy and without history there is no humanity.
5. Black writing emerged “as a response to allegations of its absence”. Writers represented
both themselves and their race. These writings were instrumental in the liberation of blacks.
Blacks faced the challenge of writing in the white language while retaining their own.
Literary theory needs to change, to adapt to account for the differences in racial background
or content.
About Writer
These notes are compiled by Dr. Adi Ramesh Babu for MA English Semester I (CBCS) of
examinations also.

FACULTY OF ARTS
M.A. English II Semester (CBCS) Examination
PAPER I
201- English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and Methods
Time: 3 Hours Maximum Marks: 80
Section-A (Marks: 5x4=20)
Write short notes on the following in about 100 words each
1. Woods Despatch
2. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
3. Suggestopedia
4. Teaching LSRW and their Sub-skills
5. Types of Language Testing
Section-B (Marks: 5x12=60)

Answer the following in about 300 words each
6. (a) Write about Radhakrishnan Commission (University Education Commission, 1948) and
Kothari Commission -Three Language Formula (1964-66)
(OR)
(b) What are the Objectives of Teaching English as a Second Language in India
7. (a) Chomsky’s Cognitive Theory-Competence vs Performance

(OR)
(b) Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning
8. (a) What is Community Language Learning? Write advantages and disadvantages of it?
(OR)
(b) What are the differences between Grammar Translation method and Direct Method?
Write with required examples
9. (a) Write the types of Syllabi.

(OR)
(b) Curriculum and Syllabus. Write the goals and objectives of it.
10. (a) What are the Validity, Reliability, Feasibility.

(OR)
(b) How do you test language skills? Write with examples.
FACULTY OF ARTS
PAPER II
202- English Prose
1. Satire
2. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
3. Joseph Addison’s The Aims of the Spectator
4. The influence of Ruskin’s Christian faith
5. Bertrand Russell’s Education and Discipline

6. (a) Origin and Development of the English Essay

(OR)
(b) What is Allegory? Write allegorical works with suitable examples?
7. (a) Write the importance of Francis Bacon’s essays “Of Studies”, “Of Truth”, “Of
Revenge”
(OR)
(b) What argument does Sidney make concerning the unity of place? Does his comment
seem fitting? Why or why not?
8. (a) Write the satirical elements from Jonathan Swift’s The Battle of the Books?
(OR)
(b) According to Samuel Johnson, why comedy is valued over tragedy in ‘Preface to
Shakespeare?”
9. (a) How does William Hazlitt describe The Indian Jugglers?

(OR)
(b) Write an essay on ‘humour’ and ‘pathos’ in Charles Lamb’s essays.
10. (a) What is Virginia Woolf’s purpose in A Room of One’s
Own? (OR)
(b) Write about the importance of politics and language from George Orwell essays
FACULTY OF ARTS
PAPER III
203- English Fiction
1. What is Gothic novel

2. Sketch the character ‘Friday’
3. Charles Dickens’s Hard Times
4. What is the significance of the novel’s title, White Teeth?
5. Write about Roald Dahl’s “The Umbrella Man”

6. (a) Write about Stream of Consciousness in the novels of twentieth century English writers
(OR)
(b) Give the rise of the nineteenth century English novels
7. (a) Possessiveness of Emma from Jane Austen’s Emma

(OR)
(b) Write Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in a feministic point of view
8. (a) Write pessimistic incidents of Tess

(OR)
(b) Colonial elements from Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
9. (a) The novel Sons and Lovers emerges intriguingly as both realist and modern. Would you
agree? Give reasons for your answer.
(OR)
(b) How Ralph’s character changes as a result of his experiences.
10. (a) Write the theme of Rudyard Kipling’s “Lispeth”

(OR)
(b) HG Wells’s “The Man Who Could Work Miracles”
FACULTY OF ARTS
PAPER IV
Eng 204: (A) Women’s Writing
1. Feminisms
2. Aemilia Lanyer’s “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women”
3. Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea
4. Adrienne Rich’s “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision”
5. (a) Write of Women’s Liberation Movement with detailed explanation

OR
(b) What Women and the Canon? Discuss with required examples
6. (a) ‘Plath’s provocative imagery serves to highlight the intense emotions expressed in her
poetry.’ To what extent do you agree or disagree with this assessment of her poetry
(b) Discuss the important elements in Grace Nichols’s poems?
7. (a) The Bluest Eye uses multiple narrators, including Claudia as a child, Claudia as an
adult, and an omniscient narrator. Which narrative point of view do you think is most central
to the novel and why?
OR
(b) Racial discrimination from Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah
8. (a) Which of Wollstonecraft’s arguments for women’s rights do you find the most
convincing? Why?
OR
(b) Write the important stories from Suniti Namjoshi’s Feminist Fables
FACULTY OF ARTS
PAPER V
Eng 205: (A) Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory
1. New Criticism
2. Northrop Fry’s “Archetypes of Literature”
3. Raymond Williams’s “Literature”
4. Elaine Showalter’s “Feminist Criticism in Wilderness”
5. (a) What is Structuralism and Post-structuralism and how do you differentiate them. Give
with suitable examples.
OR
(b) Write about Reader Response Theories? Substantiate with apt examples.
6. (a) Cleanth Brooks concept of “The Language of Paradox”
(b) Discuss Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of heteroglossia, based on “extralinguistic” features

common across languages
7. (a) According to Michel Foucault, what is it that unifies discourse? Is it self-evident, that
phenomena aggregate or cluster, perhaps on the basis of similarities? Discuss.
(b) Roland Barthes’ essay “The Death of the Author” argues that a literary work should
not be analyzed by the information about the real-life person who created it. Explain in your
words in detail.
8. (a) Edward Said opens his introduction to Orientalism by arguing that "The Orient was
almost a European invention." Write his arguments of the concept ‘Orientalism.’
OR
(b) What importance does “race” have as a meaningful category in the study of literature and
the shaping of critical theory? Discuss the point based on Henry Louis Gates’ “Editor’s
Introduction: Writing ‘Race’ and the Difference It Makes”

MA English II Sem OU Notes Final 2017-2018

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MA ENGLISH, II Semester Material, OU, TU, SU, MU, PU Compiled by Dr Adi Ramesh

SECOND SEMESTER (CBCS)

Written & Compiled by

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 1

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 2

Eng 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and Methods (5

a) History of English Language Teaching in India: Some Important Pre-Independence

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 3

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 4

Paper-III Eng 203: English Fiction (5 credits)

Unit II Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

Unit III Charles Dickens Hard Times

Unit IV DH Lawrence Sons and Lovers

Unit V Short Stories

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 5

Paper-IV Eng 204 A: Women’s Writing (4 credits)

Unit III Fiction

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 6

Unit II Cleanth Brooks “The Language of Paradox”

Unit III Michel Foucault “The Unities of Discourse”

Unit IV Edward Said “Introduction” (from Orientalism)

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 7

Dr Adi Ramesh Babu is presently working as Assistant Professor, Department of English,

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 8

Units Contents Page No

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 9

Eng 202: English Prose

Eng 203: English Fiction

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 10

Units Contents Page No

Eng 205 A: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Theory

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 11

Dr Adi Ramesh Babu is presently working as Assistant Professor, Department of English,

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 12

Eng 201: English Language

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 13

a) History of English Language Teaching in India: Some Important Pre-Independence

a) Approaches and Methods: Grammar Translation method, Direct Method, Reading

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 14

Eng 201: English Language Teaching: History, Approaches and

Ø The establishment of universities in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai in 1857 and in

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 16

Macaulay’s Minute-a critique

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 17

Main Aim of Introducing English System of Education in India

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 18

Result of Macaulay’s Minute

1. Indian culture and philosophy receded to the background

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 19

Oriental –Anglicists Controversy on the System of Education in India and Macaulay’s

Downward Filtration Theory of Education

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 20

Reasons for the Adoption of Filtration Theory

Evaluation of the Filtration Theory

Adam’s Report on Education

Adam’s First Report

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 21

number of such schools in Bengal is supposed to be very great. A distinguished member of

Adam’s Second Report

Adam’s Third Report

General Features of Indigenous Education As Observed By Adam

1. Types and agencies related to schools

Dr. ADI RAMESH BABU, Asst Professor of English, KDC, Hanamkonda 22