Thinking Activity : Transcendentalism

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on write my views on any Transcendentalist movie, poem, song or novel. So, I am writing on a Transcendental song, 'The Sound of Science' by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel. 

'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits-including 'The Sound of Silence'(1965), 'Mrs. Robinson' (1968), 'The Boxer'(1969), and 'Bridge over Troubled Water (1970).

Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize and began writing songs. In June 1965, a new version of 'The Sound of Silence' overdubbed with electric guitar and drums became a US AM radio hit. 

Simon and Garfunkel had a troubled relationship, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Their final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, was released that January, becoming one of the world's best-selling albums. After their breakup, Simon released a number of acclaimed albums, including 1986's Graceland. Garfunkel released solo hits such as 'All I Know' and briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in the Mike Nichols films Catch-22. The duo have reunited several times; their 1981 concert in Central Park attracted more than 500,000 people, one of the largest concert attendances in history.

Simon & Garfunkel won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They are among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 100 million records.

               'The sound of silence'

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a street lamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

No one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools" said I, "You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made

And the sign flashed out its warning

In the words that it was forming

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls

And whispered in the sounds of silence"

∆ Analysis of the song : 

The speaker woke up in the dark night and wanted to tell somebody about his dream. He addressed the darkness as his old friend and started to describe it as he had done before. He said that when he was sleeping a vision left its seeds and it was deeply rooted in his brain. He could still realize the vision, but had no words to express it.

The light would make the scene as if it had been in the daylight and explain the meaning of silence. In the light he would see more than ten thousand people. They were not using the voice, but they were expressing thoughts as if by words. They were not giving attention in hearing, but they were receiving sounds with the ears. They were writing songs although nobody was singing them. And no one had the courage to break the silence.

The speaker in his dream told the people fools and said that silence grows like a cancer. He asked them to hear his advice and to hold their arms, but his words were like silent raindrops and had no effect on them. 

The song 'The Sound of Silence' consists of five irregular stanzas where the poet presents the conflict between spiritual and material value in the modern world. The poetic persona is a visionary who warns against the lack of spiritual seriousness in modern people. The poem begins with an address by the poet persona to the darkness. He says that he has come to talk with the darkness, because a certain vision planted its seeds in his brain while he was sleeping. The vision still remains there as the sound of silence.

The poet wakes in his restless dream and walks alone. He arrives at a place where more than ten thousand people are talking without speaking and hearing without listening. They are writing songs that voices never shares and no one dares to break the silence. The poetic persona tells them that silence grows like cancer. He asks them to hear his words and to hold his hand. But his words do not touch them at all. Instead, the people pray and worship the neon signs. The neon sign flashes which say that “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement hall.”

The song can be interpreted as a bitter satire towards the materialistic tendency of the people in the modern world. People have forgotten the real meaning and value of life. They are running after material prosperity and physical luxury. They work hard and earn a lot. They accumulate a lot of wealth and things but this does not make them happy. Rather they are moving further and further away from true happiness because they have ignored the true goal of life. They debate and quarrel about worthless things. They listen to or watch meaningless things. This is what the poet probably means by talking without speaking and hearing without listening.

Word Count : 954

Thinking Activity : Indian Poetics

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on Indian Poetics. For that, Vinod Joshi sir's lecture was arranged in our department from 4th to 13th January. In which Vinod sir made us very well understood on the following topics and we understood well about various schools like Rasa, Dhvani, Auchitya, Vakrokti, Riti and Alankar.

∆ Introduction :

The Sanskrit word for poetics is 'Kavyashastra'. Another word used for Poetics is 'Kavyamimansa'. 'Mimansa' means study, discussion, inquiry. The word 'Kavyamimansa' was first used by 'Rajshekhara', a 10th century poet from Kashmir who wrote a treatise named 'Kavyamimansa'. The various schools of Indian aesthetics and poetics study different aspects of the language of literature. 

∆ Rasa - Bharat

∆ Dhvani - Anandvardhana

∆ Auchitya - Acharya Kshemendra

∆ Vakrokti - Kuntaka

∆ Riti - Vamana

∆ Alankar - Bhamah

∆ Rasa : 

Bharata was the first to write on aesthetics in Bharata's Natya Shastra. Bharata in search of true Beauty uses the word Rasa (the essence of life, juice, Amrit) rasa is only to be felt, it is the source of all life. We live on water and consider it to be the source of all life. In Natya Shastra Bharat discussed the Rasa is founded four types of acting :

→ Vachik :

•Verbal expression i.e. dialogue etc, like tone, pitch

→ Angik:

•Non verbal expression or gestures-to depict the emotion

→ Aaharya :

•Costume and other things, stage properties, etc,to enhance the emotion

→ Satvik :

•Involuntary nonverbal expression, like wide eyes, change of face colour, trembling of hands etc. 

Bharata writes: 

विभािानुभािव्यभभचारिसंयोगाद्रसननष्पवि

In this Sutra the integration of three elements: 

1.Vibhav :

•Vibhava means something that causes the rise of an emotion. Vibhavas are of two types: 

•Alamban Vibhava

•Uddipana Vibhava

2.Anubhav :

Anubhava means the expressions. 

3.Vyabhicharibhav :

•Vyabhicaribhavas are transient emotions which are not primary emotions but reinforce the primary emotion. 

Vibhava, Anubhava and Vyabhicaribhava leads to Sthayibhava. There are eight Sthayibhavas discussed by Bharata in 

Natya Shastra.

श्रृंगार करुण वीर रौद्र हास्य भयानका ।

बिभत्साद्भूत शांतश्च नव नाट्ये रसा: स्मृता ।।

                                                  (अभिनवगुप्त)

Sthayibhav            Rasa 

•Rati                  Shringar

•Shok                  Karun

•Utsah                   Vir

•Krodh                Raudra

•Hras                  Hasya

•Bhay                Bhayanak

•Jugupsa             Bibhatsa

•Vismaya              Adbhut

•Shant                 Ksham

After Bharata, several noted scholars like Bhattanayaka, Bhatt Lollata, Shri Shnkuka, Abhinavagupta have been added to Rasa.

According to Bhattanayaka, the audience feels the way the characters feel.

According to Bhatt Lollata, Interest does not exist, it is generated.

According to Shri Shankuka, interest is not produced, it is expected.

According to Abhinav Gupta, Interest is generated when the audience, the creator, anticipates the value generated and becomes overwhelmed.(Rasa means the conviction of enlightened knowledge)

∆ Dhvani :

Anandvardhana propagated the dhvani 

theory but he considered dhvani to be the soul of poetry and not riti. Anandvardhana believed that rasa is not made, it is revealed. The meaning is divided into three types:

•Abhidha (Primary meaning)

•Lakshana (Secondary meaning)

•Vyanjana (Suggested meaning)

For example,

મીઠાં મધુ ને મીઠા મેહુલા એથી મીઠી તે મોરી માત…

મીઠાં મધુને - Abhidha

મીઠાં મેહુલા - Lakshana

એથી મીઠી તે મોરી માત - Vyanjana

According to Mammat,

मुख्यार्थबाधे तद्योगेरूठितोड़य प्रयोजनात् ।

अन्योर्थोलक्ष्यते यत्सलक्षणारोपिता क्रिया: ।।

So, in which the word and the meaning become secondary and that which manifests the corresponding meaning is called Dhvani.

Corresponding meaning,

विभाती भावण्यमिवा‌‌ण्ड़गनासु ।

→ Types of Dhvani given to Anandavardha :

•Vastu Dhvani :

Vastu Dhvani is based on the idea.

•Alankar Dhvani :

In which ornament is used.

•Rasa Dhvani : 

In which the expression is generated.

∆ Auchitya :

Propounded by Acharya Kshemendra. Auchitya means propriety. Auchitya or appropriateness is another such concept which needs a brief mention here. Bharata recognizes it in the context of performance. Ananda discusses it and so does Kuntaka. But it gets central focus in the hands of Ksemendra who highlights the fit among the elements, the subject, the contexts and so on. According to Kshemendra, auchitya 

is the rasajvitabhuta or the life force of rasa which imparts camatkara to 

kavya. Like all other theories of Indian poetics, traces of auchitya are 

also found in Bharata's Natyashastra. Bharata mentions auchitya as one of 

the dramatic elements. After him, other scholars have discussed auchitya 

in connection with other concepts like rasa, alamkaras, etc. 

Auchitya means all the components of kavya are appropriate and are used properly and they are blended together in a befitting manner. 

∆ Vakrokti :

The Sanskrit word vakrokti is a compound of two words: vakra (crooked) and ukti (expression). Vakrokti literally means oblique expression. Kuntaka is credited for the propagation of this theory. Bharata has mentioned vakrokti only in passing. Bhamaha considers vakrokti as atishayokti. Dandin understands vakrokti as distinct from svabhavokti. Types of Vakrokti according to Kuntaka :

•Varan Vinyas Vakrata 

•Pada Poorvardh Vakrata 

•Pada Parardh Vakrata

•Vakya Vakrata

•Prakarana Vakrata

•Prabandh Vakrata 

∆ Riti :

Riti means style or characteristic way of presentation adopted by the poet. Vamana is considered to be the founder of riti. Other words used by other scholars are marga, gati, pantha, and prasthana. Earlier Dandin had referred to two margas of representation: 

•Vaidarbhi 

•Gaudi 

Dandin had said that each has a characteristic style. Vamana added a third one to its Pancali. Other scholars added more ritis to it. Rudrata added Latiya and Raja Bhoja added Avantika taking the total 

to five.

→Types of Riti :

1)Vaidarbhi

2)Gaudi

3)Pancali

4)Latiya

5)Avantika

According to Vamana riti is the soul of 

poetry. Vamana has divided the organization in three ways. The first is asamasa. It creates madhurya and is apt for depicting shringar, karuna and shanta rasa.The second is madhyama samasa where only small compounds are used. And the third riti is dirgha samasa where 

large compounds are used. This is helpful in depicting vira, bibhatsa or 

raudra rasa. Mammata names the three riti as:

•Upanagarika

•Paurusa 

•komala

Anandavardhana names riti as samghatana. Bhoja, like Dandin, 

calls riti as marga. Kuntaka has enumerated three margas:

•Sukumara marga 

•Vicitra marga 

•Madhyama marga, corresponding to vaidarbhi, gaudi and pancali respectively.

∆ Alankaar :

Alankaar means, in its broadest sense, 

kavya soundarya, or the charm or beauty of poetry itself and, in its narrow 

sense, means the figure of speech like simile or metaphor. According to Bhamah, alankaar is the essential element of poetry and it consists in the striking manner of putting a striking idea in an equally striking word. Anandavardhana views in Dhvanyaloka that "alankaar are those elements which, depending upon word and meaning, minister to the generation of poetic charm" also certifies the creative use of language in literature.

Bharata has mentioned four alankaar:

•Upama (simile)

•Rupaka (metaphor) 

•Dipaka (condensed expression)

•Yamaka (repetition)

Alankar is divided into two main types: 

•Shabdalankar :

Shabdalankar means figures of speech based on the word

•Arthalankar :

Arthalankar means figures of speech based on the meaning or sense 

of the word. Anuprasa is a Shabdalankaar as the beauty of the alankaar is 

the alliteration or repetition of the same sound. 

•Ubhaya Alankar:

Which is a mixture of Shabdalankar and Arthalankar.

Bhamaha said that poetic composition is not possible without alankaras 

and alankara comes out of vakrokti and atishayokti. For him there cannot be kavya without alankara and alankara is not possible without vakrokti. Dandin differs from Bhamah and holds the view that there can be poetry without vakrokti.

•Word Count : 1220

•Images : 5

'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on F. Scott Fitzgerald's one of the most famous novels 'The Great Gatsby' and here I am trying to give answers to some questions about the novel.

∆ F. Scott Fitzgerald :

American short-story writer and novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for his turbulent personal life and his famous novel 'The Great Gatsby.Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940, at the age of 44.

→ His famous works :

'This Side of Paradise' (1920)

'The Beautiful and Damned' (1922)

'The Great Gatsby' (1925)

'Tender Is the Night' (1934)

'The Love of the Last Tycoon'(1939)

→ 'The Great Gatsby' :

The Great Gatsby is considered Fitzgerald's finest work, with its beautiful lyricism, pitch-perfect portrayal of the Jazz Age, and searching critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream. 1925, The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner who moves into the town of West Egg on Long Island. The novel follows Nick and Gatsby's strange friendship and Gatsby's pursuit of a married woman named Daisy, ultimately leading to his exposure as a bootlegger and his death. Although The Great Gatsby was well-received when it was published, it was not until the 1950s and '60s, long after Fitzgerald's death.

→ Here I am trying to give answers of these following questions : 

∆ How did the film help in understanding the symbolic significance of 'The Valley of Ashes', 'The Eyes of Dr. T J Eckleberg' and 'The Green Light'?

→ The Valley of Ashes :

In the Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes is the dark side of the American Dream. The valley of ashes was a wasteland created by the waste of industrial ashes, which represented the lower class of society decay that results from not pursuing wealth and those who have not yet achieved the American Dream. In the valley of ashes lives Myrtle and George Wilson, who is owner of an old auto shop in the valley of ashes. Myrtle Wilson is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, which she later dies by getting hit by Daisy Buchanan in the valley of ashes. 

The valley of ashes is found between West Egg and New York City, however in contrast to East and West Egg's rich preeminent society, the valley of ashes is where the poor people live. Its inhabitants are the casualties of the rich who are dumped on by the rest of the world in the same way ashes are dumped on them. The Valley is literally defined by its dust and ash, this is where the ashes from the city's industries are dumped. 

The valley of ashes is described as being a dark dirty place covered in grey ash. The colour grey has its own symbolism within the book as it implies the disappearance of hopes and dreams. "transcendent effort of ash-grey men'' refers to the men who work in the valley of ashes. Their existence is hardly living, they have no dreams. In reference to the valley itself, the colour grey is used as a descriptor, " Above the grey land and the spasms of black dust". In this context grey is meant to describe the valley itself, and the hopelessness of its inhabitants. Grey in today's society continues to be a colour of depression, sadness, misfortune and the poverty-stricken.

→ The Eyes of Dr. T J Eckleberg :

"The eyes of Doctor T J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existant nose." In this novel these behemoth eyes are made to represent God, or more accurately a dead God that sits and stares while we destroy everything. They act as a constant reminder of society's moral decay, but observe silently, offering neither guidance nor comfort. This theme is still very common today. It seems that fewer and fewer people believe in God, and those who do, see him as a punisher, not a savior. The idea of a dead God is rampant in our society.

→ The Green Light :

To Gatsby, the green light represents his dream, which is Daisy. To attain her would be completing Gatsby’s American Dream. The first time the green light is seen in the novel is also the first time Nick sees Gatsby. Fitzgerald writes, "he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away" The green light is described as ‘minute and far away’ which makes it appear impossible to reach. This will prove to be true for Gatsby. The green light also represents society’s desire and the seeming impossibility of achieving the materialistic American Dream.   

In the novel, it is revealed that Gatsby's desire for Daisy is also his desire for the past. Five years ago, when Gatsby first meets Daisy and they fall in love, Daisy was the representation of status and wealth. He reinforces the idea that green light represents Daisy which is his dream. He uses the metaphor of traffic lights, where if he wishes to drive toward the green light, first Gatsby will need the money to buy a car. Which is ultimately what he does. He amassed his wealth to use in his perusal of Daisy.

However now when he desires Daisy, he also desires the past that he shared with Daisy. At the end of the novel Nick concludes the book with these words, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This describes Gatsby’s inability to move on from the past. 

Everything he does in the novel is to try and recreate the past. In this metaphor, Gatsby tries to go against the currents—or time—to reach the green light or his dream. And as in the quote, the green light which represents his dream, ‘recedes’ like waves year by year.

∆ How did the film capture the theme of racism and saxism ?

→ The character of Tom Buchanan is especially interesting his unconcealed sexism, hypocrisy, selfishness, and racism. The narrator does not hide Tom’s negative features. 

Fitzgerald’s message about racism and sexism was that it was prominent social construct in that time period illustrating with Tom’s character. With Tom, he would tear down others during his process of becoming successful. By him being white, he saw himself as superior to other races and women. In this time period, people of color were not seen as equal but had their voice heard from the noise they would make. Tom feels that his race is under fire and will lose their hold on things, things such as government and politics.

In conclusion, Tom Buchanan’s racism reflects the ideas and situation in the country in the 1920s when the fight for white supremacy could still be observed though it was not so ardent as at the end of the nineteenth century. Tom belonged to people who strictly opposed the principles of equality between black and white people expressing his aversion to intermarriages and fearing to be 

submerged by the black community.

∆ Watch the video on Nick Carraway and discuss him as a narrator.

→ Nick’s aspects of anonymity are very important to his narration of the novel. We know Nick as a specific character, but there is an omnipresent quality to him. Since Nick is not as important of a figure as the likes of Jay Gatsby, he is not the central driving force of the novel. Therefore, Nick can still take part in the world around him but also has the ability to be all-perceiving of the action taking place. This is evident, for example, when Nick describes himself as “within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life,” (35). He is not fully absorbed in the action of the narrative, rather on the sidelines, and is therefore able to distance himself and see details that wouldn't normally present themselves, including an objective view of his own experience. The distance that Nick gains from his anonymity is very valuable to the experience of his narration. Not only is Nick able to see the truth of the world around him, but he is also able to be critical. Nick’s goal always seems to be honesty, especially when describing Gatsby. It is only through the critical eye gained from anonymity that Nick is able to be completely honest without fear of judgment.

We know that Nick is a writer, and we know that he is writing Gatsby's story as he tells it. The idea of involving oneself in a narrative, but retaining some anonymity in order to protect one’s actions or motivations as a writer, could very well be representative of the modernist writing process as a whole.

• Word Count : 1311

• Images : 2

Existensialism: Flipped learning

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog about my reviews on following 10 videos on Existensialism.

Video 1 :

Click to watch the video on What is Existentialism?

In the first video, there are several writers and thinkers of existentialists like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Heidegger, Shestov, Hesse, Sartre and Beauvoir as well as three sides of Existentialism: Individuality, Passions and Freedom. Also talked about suicide, anguish, absurdity, imotions and death.

The second video is about Albert Camus's famous work 'The Myth of Sisyphus'. In this Camus also talked about the absurdity and meaninglessness of life. Camus writes in his essay that 'one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.

Video 2 :

Click here to watch the video on The Myth of Sisyphus: The Absurd Reasoning

In this video Albert Camus wrote in his book 'The Myth of Sisyphus' that "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide". Albert Camus talked about the absurdity and meaninglessness of life. 

Video 3 :

Click here to watch the video on The Myth of Sisyphus: the notion of philosophical suicide

This video talked about the philosophical suicide and absurdity. According to Kierkegaard Faith is the solution to the absurd. Existentialists suggest having faith in God while Camus suggests embracing absurdity.

Video 4 :

Click here to watch the video on Dadaism, Nihilism and Existentialism

This video is about Dadaism, nihilism, and existentialism. Dadaism and Nihilism are different from each other. Dadaism is merely an art movement. Dadaism emerged after World War 1 and existentialism came into existence after World War 2. 

Video 5 :

Click here to watch the video on Existentialism - a gloomy philosophy

This video is about Existentialism as a gloomy philosophy. In this video we can find that life is full of absurdity and we are free to choose our own way for living our life. Existentialism is not Nihilism. Existentialism is differ from Nihilism. 

Video 6 :

Click here to watch the video on Existentialism and Nihilism: Is it one and the same?

In this video we find the difference between Existentialism and Nihilism. Both are different from each other. Existentialism believes in nothingness and Nihilism believes in objectivity. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche both are given his own point of view on Nihilism. 

Video 7 :

Click here to watch the video on Let us introduce Existentialism again!

In this video existensialism asks question like, What is life ? And also supernatural power. Existentialism sees life from religiously, scientifically and philosophically and raises questions about human existence.

Video 8 :

Click here to watch the video on Explain like I'm Five: Existentialism and Nietzsche

In this video we can find that What is Existensialism ? with the reference of Nietzsche. Existentialism talked about that human being is everything, there is no need for any supernatural power to live their life.

Video 9 :

Click here to watch the video on Why I like Existentialism? Eric Dodson

In this video a famous existensialist Eric Dodson talk about Existensialism. According to Dodson Existensialism accept your abilities and faults and understanding life deeply. 

Video 10 :

Click here to watch the video on Let us sum up: From Essentialism to Existentialism

At the beginning of this video with a question that What gives your life meaning ? According to Existentialists anything can give your life meaning. In this video we can find point of view of Plato, Aristotle and Kierkegaard on existensialism. 

∆ Questions raised in class related these videos : 

1) How does existensialism deal with the problem of death and the meaning of life ?

2) Can Essentialism be recognised with the idea of cultural and individual diversity ?

3) How does the concept of absurdity relate to the idea of meaning in life?

4) What are some of the potential consequences of embracing the idea of philosophical suicide?

5) Can you give an example of a scenario that illustrates the concept of absurdity in human existence?

Thank you...

'The Birthday Party' by Herold Pinter

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on movie reviews on 'The Birthday' (1968) by Herold Pinter.

→ About the Author :

                                        Harold Pinter

                         

Harold Pinter was one of the leading British dramatists best known for his masterworks The Room, The Birthday Party, The Homecoming, and Betrayal. Aside from being a playwright, Pinter also had a successful career as a screenwriter, director, and actor. In 2005, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Birthday Party was Pinter’s first full-length play. It was performed and revived multiple times in theatres across Europe and the US. The Birthday Party author drew inspiration for the play from his personal experience of staying in a boarding house in England. He used juxtapositions to create confusion and chaos in the story, which Martin Esslin would later call “the theatre of absurd.” 

→ Movie review of 'The Birthday Party'

The play begins in the living room. Petey, and his wife Meg, both in their sixties, sit at the living room table and engage in tepid conversation while eating breakfast. Petey informs his wife that two gentlemen will soon arrive to stay at the house.

She then calls out to Stanley Webber, who is asleep upstairs. Stanley, a bespectacled, unkempt, surly man in his thirties. Petey and Stanley speak of mundane topics while Meg prepares cornflakes and fried bread for Stanley’s breakfast. Meg then informs him that two gentlemen are coming.

Before Meg leaves to shop, Lulu, a young girl in her twenties, arrives with a package. Meg instructs Lulu to keep the package from Stanley, and then she leaves. In the meantime, Goldberg and McCann enter the living room. They are the two gentlemen who had requested rooms for the evening. 

Goldberg asks after Stanley, and Meg tells him that Stanley was once a successful pianist but had to give it up. Meg also reveals that it is Stanley’s birthday, and Goldberg suggests they have a party. Thrilled with the idea, Meg shows the gentlemen to their room. Later, Stanley returns to the living room as Meg arrives to put the groceries away. She tells him about the two gentlemen, and Stanley is visibly upset to learn Goldberg’s name. To cheer him up, Meg suggests he open his birthday present, even though Stanley insists that it is not his birthday. To humor Meg, he opens the package and finds a toy drum with drumsticks. Stanley replies that he wants to spend the evening alone and tries to leave, but McCann will not let him.

Later that same evening, McCann sits at the living room table shredding a newspaper into five equal strips. Stanley arrives, and the two men awkwardly greet one another. McCann, in a calm tone of voice, congratulates Stanley on his birthday, and says it is an honor to be invited to his party. 

Stanley sits at the table and touches one of the newspaper strips, which upsets McCann. Stanley speaks of his past, and suggests he has never been one to cause trouble. McCann and Stanley threaten each other with chairs, but are cooed back into civility when Meg arrives, beating Stanley’s toy drum. She is dressed for his birthday party. Goldberg compliments her, and the tense atmosphere quickly dissipates as Meg makes a moving tribute to Stanley in a toast while McCann flashes a torch in Stanley’s face like a spotlight. Lulu arrives, and Goldberg gives a second toast which includes more reminiscing.

The party begins in earnest. Lulu and Goldberg flirt, while Meg and McCann speak of Ireland. Stanley sits alone at the table until Meg suggests they all play blind man’s buff. During Stanley’s turn, is blindfolded by McCann, who breaks his glasses and puts the toy drum in his path so that Stanley’s foot smashes through it. When Stanley reaches Meg, he begins to strangle her. Goldberg and McCann pull him off, but then the lights suddenly go out. In the darkness, the two gentlemen cannot find Lulu, who has screamed and fainted. McCann shines his flashlight on the table to discover Stanley standing over Lulu as though about to sexually assault her. 

The next morning, Petey sits at the living room table reading a newspaper, while Meg frets about having no breakfast food left. Her memory is hazy from the night before, and she forgets that Petey was not there as she tries to remember what happened. When she leaves to shop, she sees Goldberg's car in the driveway, and grows frightened.

As Meg prepares to leave again, Goldberg enters the room and sits at the table. Meg asks him about the car, but he ignores her. She finally leaves. Petey asks Goldberg about Stanley, and Goldberg explains that Stanley suffered a nervous breakdown, and needs to be taken to a doctor whom Goldberg knows. Petey wants to see Stanley when he wakes, despite Goldberg's insistence that he should simply leave for work.

Lulu enters, and McCann leaves them alone. Lulu accuses Goldberg of having taken sexual advantage of her the night before. They argue over blame until McCann reenters and tells Lulu to confess her sins. Startled by this bizarre turn of events, Lulu flees. McCann then leaves to fetch Stanley, who enters cleanly shaven and nicely dressed. The two men seem to take pity on Stanley, and Goldberg promises to buy him new glasses. In a reprise of the interrogation from Act II, they pepper Stanley with gentler questions and comments. Goldberg asks Stanley if he wants to leave with them, but Stanley can only muster gurgling sounds. They begin to exit with Stanley, but Petey arrives and tells them to stop. Menacingly, they ask Petey if he wants to accompany them.

In the end, Petey returns to the living room table and picks up his newspaper. Meg arrives and asks if Stanley has come down to breakfast yet. Petey lies and tells her Stanley is still sleeping.

Word Count : 971

Images: 10

Thank you…

T.S. Eliot : 'Tradition and Individual Talent'

Hello friends,here I am writing this blog on concept of 'Tradition and Individual Talent' by T.S. Eliot. 

                            T.S. Eliot

• Full Name : Thomas Stearns Eliot

• Born : 1888

• Died : 1965

• Occupation: Poetessayist,playwright,

                      publisher,critic

• Literary movement : Modernism

• Notable works :"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", "The Waste Land","Four Quartets", "Murder in the Cathedral"

• Notable awards : Nobel Prize in Literature, Order of Merit 

∆ How would you like to explain Eliot's concept of Tradition? Do you agree with it?

→ Yes, I am agree with T.S. Eliot's concept of Tradition. The concept of tradition according to Eliot is the sense of continuity from the past. It is a continuity where a writer or a poet should write in tradition and it is readily unacceptable to the Whites as it is like a 'censure'. According to Eliot, a poet has to write in “tradition” and there exist the elements of past in the work of poet’s art when it is examined or explored from a critical lens rather than a creative force. According to Eliot , if a poet or a writer imbues the element of the past, there is an imitation of the past but he justifies that the imitation is “not the slavish imitation” of the past or the existed work of art before. He argues that the strict blinding of imitation of the past is not tradition and hence “Novelty is better than repetition”. He tries to suggest that a poet do not slavishly imitate the past but there is something new which is born out of that imitation. Hence, there will be a new novelty in the piece of work of art which he implies the “individual talent”. He says that a passive imitation of the past is to be discouraged and ignored.

Eliot suggest that a poet can obtain a “tradition” by understanding the past and he calls it as a “historical sense” which is not merely an imitation of the past but of its presence in the present. It not involves the “pastness of the past but of its presence” and the literary circles of the whole European literature produced from “Homer” to the present and the poet creates his own new work in the present with not just a mere imitation of the past but by understanding the past to obtain the “tradition”.

He also highlights that 'tradition' is not easily obtained and “inherited” but requires a “hard labour” and effort. There has to be the development of the “historical sense” by a poet to write in “tradition” and there is a recognition of the past and the present poet who creates a new work of art so that there is a continuity of literary tradition because every poet writes in a tradition. The poet starts to write in “tradition” when he has obtained the “historical sense” and it is possible for the poet to obtain when he has understood the past and is guided by the past in the present where he adds a new piece of work. 

∆ What do you understand by Historical Sense?

→ The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence. Eliot writes about "historical sense" in "Tradition and the Individual Talent." He writes that the historical sense "involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence" and it is "a sense of the timeless as well as of the temporal and of the timeless and the temporal together, is what makes a writer traditional." 

In this essay, Eliot also describes like the chemical reaction that Eliot uses as an analogy of the poet's depersonalized mind, each element in this historical tradition of poetry affects every other element. The past informs the present poetry. And if the present poetry was created with this historical sense, then the present poetry will also inform the past. 

∆ What is the relationship between “tradition” and “the individual talent,” according to the poet T. S. Eliot?

→ According to Eliot,“tradition” is not easily obtained and “inherited” but requires “hard labour” and effort. There has to be the development of the “historical sense” by a poet to write in “tradition” and there is a recognition of the past and the present poet who creates a new work of art so that there is a continuity of literary tradition because every poet writes in a tradition. The poet starts to write in “tradition” when he has obtained the “historical sense” and it is possible for the poet to obtain when he has understood the past and is guided by the past in the present where he adds a new piece of work. 

Eliot further goes on to say that “tradition” is a “dynamic one”. He suggests that the past directs the present and the present alters the past to create a new work of art which is the “individual talent”. Hence , the knowledge of the past and the creation of a new art becomes the “Tradition and the Individual Talent”. He adds that the poet takes a “tradition” or the elements from the past in his work of art but there is also a change or alteration in the present that creates something new and hence it is “dynamic one”.

∆ Explain: "Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry".

→ His theory of depersonalization stats with honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry. Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation that time possible when artist sacrifice him or herself and also extinction of his personality that time poetry becomes more valuable and it is become well.

∆ How would you like to explain Eliot's theory of ddepersonalization? You can explain with the help of chemical reaction in presence of catalyst agent, Platinum.

→ Eliot brings the analogy of chemical reaction to explain the process of depersonalization. In this respect he has drawn a scientific analogy. He tells that a poet should serve the sold of platinum which makes sulfuric acid. He says, "When the two gases, previously mentioned (oxygen and Sulphur dioxide) are mixed in the presence of a filament of Platinum. They form Sulphurous acid. The combination takes place only he the Platinum is present; nevertheless, the newly formed acid contains no trace of Platinum, and the Platinum itself is apparently unaffected has remained inert, neutral, and unchanged. 

Word Count : 1016

Thank you...

'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost

Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on one of the most famous poem 'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost. In this blog I try to give some information about the poem like Themes, Literary Devices, Structure, Genre.

∆ About Robert Frost : 

Robert Lee Frost [1874-1963] was born in San Francisco on 26 March 1874. His parents William Prescott Frost and Isabel Moodie met when they were both working as teachers. Robert was the eldest of their two children. Jeanie was his sister. 

In 1885 following the death of his father, the family moved in with his grandfather in Lawrence Massachusetts.

In 1913, Frost’s first book of poems, A Boy’s Will, was published by British publisher David Nutt. The following year Nutt also published another poetry collection by Frost titled, North of Boston.

Frost won the first of four Pulitzer Prizes in 1924 for his fourth book, New Hampshire, and followed it with West-Running Brook (1928) and A Further Range (1936), which also won a Pulitzer. He remains the only poet and one of only four persons who have won four Pulitzer Prizes. In 1960, Frost was awarded with the highest civilian award, United States Congressional Gold Medal, “In recognition of his poetry which enabled the culture of the United States and the philosophy of the world”.

Many of his poems are about the natural world, with woods and trees featuring prominently in some of his most famous and widely anthologised poems (‘The Road Not Taken’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘Birches’, ‘Tree at My Window’). 

• Famous works :

1. ‘Mending Wall’

2. ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’

3. ‘Birches’

4. ‘Tree at my Window’

5. ‘Acquainted with the Night’

6. ‘Fire and Ice’

7. ‘Mowing’

8. ‘Desert Places’

9. ‘Christmas Trees’

10. ‘The Road Not Taken’

∆ 'Mending Wall' 

∆ Analysis of the poem : 

Mending Wall” is a poem by the American poet Robert Frost. It was published in 1914. The poem is set in rural New England. The poem describes how the speaker and a neighbor meet to rebuild a stone wall between their properties—a ritual repeated every spring. 

Mending Wall’ principally analyses the nature of human relationships. The poem revolves around a wall, made of stones, between the two neighbours. During summers, stones from the wall fall out for some reason. Poet and his neighbour have to mend the wall each year in spring, by putting the stones back, which are quite heavy. Frustratingly, the poet suggests his neighbour to break down the wall completely, to which his neighbour does not agree, for he believes that “Good fences make good neighbours”. The poet does not understand the dark world of customs and traditions that his neighbour lives in.

The poem starts with the speaker who talks about a force that doesn’t like walls and breaks it again and again. This force causes the frozen water to swell under a wall. It also causes the wall’s upper stones to fall off its top in the warmth of the sun. It creates gaps in the wall so big that two people can walk through them shoulder-to-shoulder in the same direction.

There are the hunters who make holes in the wall but it is something different. The speaker often comes to fix those spots. The hunters haven’t left even a single stone in its place. They tried to allow the rabbits to come out that hide in the wall to make their barking dogs happy and feed them. No one has seen or heard these gaps in the wall when they are made. The speaker and other nearby people just see them there in the spring when it is time to fix the wall.

The speaker contacts his neighbor who lives on the other side of the hill. They find a spring day to meet and walk together along the wall. They start fixing these gaps as they go. 

The neighbor of the speaker walks on his side of the wall while the speaker walks on his. They only fix those stones that have fallen off the wall on their side of it. Some of them look like a piece of bread and some are round in shape. They pray that they stay in their place. They also pray that they remain balanced on the top of the wall. The speaker and his neighbor keep on saying: “Don’t fall back until we’re gone from here!” Their fingers get scratches from picking up the rough stones. It’s just another outdoor activity for them. Each one of them plays this game on their side of the wall. It is nothing more.

According to the speaker, there’s no good reason for a wall to be there. On his neighbor’s side of the wall, there’s nothing but only pine trees. On the speaker’s side of the wall, there is an apple orchard. The speaker says that his apple trees are never going to cross their limit. They are not likely to cross the wall and eat his neighbor’s pine cones. He says this to his neighbor but he only responds that “Good fences are necessary to have good neighbors.” Since it is spring and the speaker feels prankish, he thinks if he could make his neighbor ask himself “are these walls and boundaries necessary? Isn’t that only necessary if one is trying to keep his neighbor’s cows away from his fields? There aren’t any cows here.

 

The speaker says that If he were to construct a wall, he would like to know what he was keeping in and what he was keeping out, and who was going to be displeased by this. Some force doesn’t love a wall. It wants to break it down. The speaker suggests that Elves are responsible for the gaps in the wall, but it’s not Elves.

The speaker wants his neighbor to find it out on his own. He sees him when he lifts stones, grasps them firmly in each of his hands. He acts like an ancient warrior. He moves in deep darkness and it is not just the darkness of the thick woods or the trees. He does not want to think otherwise about his fixed idea about the world. He likes to articulate this idea so clearly. Therefore, he says it again: “Good fences are necessary to have good neighbors.”

∆ Themes of the Poem Mending Wall :

• Emotional and Social Barriers :

The main theme of the poem mending wall is the barriers that we create to avoid interaction with other human beings, which do not benefit anyone but are rather hard to maintain, the unnecessary barriers, which restrict human beings to bond with each other, to share, care, love and communicate.

 • Man and Nature :

The first few lines of the poem describes how nature is not in favour of the walls and barriers between the poet and his neighbour. The first four lines of the poem;

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.”

• Customs and Traditions :

 The only reason that we know, due to which the neighbour is not in favour of breaking down the wall, is that he believes in the saying, ‘Good fences make good neighbours’ which has been passed on to him from his father. The poet here points at the old customs and traditions that most of us blindly follow, without thinking of the consequences, without asking questions. The poet calls his neighbour ‘old-stone savage’ who lives in the dark world of his ancestors and is not ready to move on.

∆ Literary Devices Used In the Poem 'Mending Wall' :

We can see the use of symbolism, alliteration, repetition, imagery and metaphor in the poem 'Mending Wall'.

 • Symbolism :

The wall itself is a symbol of gaps, distances and barriers that we create. Despite nature trying its best to bring us closer to each other and reunite us, we choose to stay away for no reason at all.

 • Alliteration :

Alliteration is the repetition of the first sound of closely placed words within a single line. There are many examples of alliteration in the poem, some of which are

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

 • Repetition :

The line ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’ is repeated in the poem which gives us an idea of why the neighbours so strongly believe in maintaining the fence.

 • Imagery :

Poet in the poem has used imagery to appeal to the five senses and to create images in the readers’ mind. For example in the line,

“Not of woods only and the shade of trees” the poet has appealed to our sense of sight.

 • Metaphor :

Metaphor is the comparison of two unlike things without using like or as. In the line, “And some are loaves and some so nearly balls” the poet has compared the heavy stones of the wall with loaves of bread balls.

∆ Genre of the Poem :

Mending wall is a narrative poem, as it tells the story about two neighbours and a wall between them which needs to be repaired every year. Like a narrative, there is a setting and there are characters in the poem.

 ∆ Structure of the Poem :

The poem mending wall does not follow a proper poetic form. It is a single stanza poem of forty-six lines and is written in blank verse. None of the lines rhyme with each other.

 • Blank Verse :

It is a form of poetry where the lines do not rhyme and it uses iambic pentameter.

• Iambic Pentameter :

A metric scheme with five pairs of syllables per line. Each pair consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

• Word count : 1657

• Images : 7