Harry Potter

Harry Potter is famous book series worldwide written by J.k. Rowling. This book takes us into a world full of fantasy, horror, mystery, magic. This book is not limited to children only but it goes beyond that if we study this book from the lens of literature.

Feminist reading of Hermione’s character:

Harry potter satisfies the expectations of female readers when it comes to female characters but it would not satisfy the minds of rich feminist readers. Harry potter follows some gender stereotypes. Strong characters like McGonagall and Hermione comes under the aura of harry and Dumbledore.
                                                                              

She is smarter than these two boys than also she needs their help to rescue her from dangerous situation. She is more rational and logical than Harry and Ron; but in last two parts her mind stops working as it sparks with an idea in her mind in previous series and Ron was shown Smarter when it comes to destroy Horcrux. Wizard sport Quidditch is also important when we do feminist reading of this book.No matter how much girls will score in Quidditch match their score will not make any importance until their seeker do not catch a golden snitch and seeker is obviously a boy

The Headmaster at Hogwarts, Dumbledore, is male. Nearly all teachers are male except for McGonagall and Trelawny at first, then Dolores Umbridge, who is known as the evil teacher to most students, and a few more scattered in between. The house elves throughout the series are male. The sorting hat (the ritualistic talking hat that sorts students into their houses) is even a male persona. Also, inside the house, there are ghosts that fly around and talk to the students. Most of these ghosts are male, including the one most students know as Nearly Headless Nick. Inside Hogwarts and the wizarding world, males are the dominant gender. (Grief)

Children’s Literature and Harry Potter:

Harry potter was written as children literature because it deals with fantasy world, but after four books it doesn’t remain as a children’s literature. Along with children’s literature it contains some aspect of adolescent literature as well. Along with fantasy it took children to the reality that if you know magic then also you can’t bring the death ones back. There are many moral and highly philosophical dialogues from very begging to the end throughout the novel.

The Harry Potter novels serve as a test case showing how Foucault's theories about power can be used to better understand adolescent literature. The crux of defining adolescent literature as distinct from children's literature revolves around the issue of power. While growth in children's literature is depicted as a function of what the character has learned about self, growth in adolescent literature is depicted as a function of what the adolescent learns about how society curtails power. The adolescent cannot grow without experiencing gradations between power and powerlessness. Consequently, power is even more fundamental to the genre than growth is. Adolescents must learn to negotiate the many institutions that shape them and how to balance their power with their parents' power and with the power of authority figures in general. Finally, they must learn what portion of power they wield because of and despite such biological imperatives as sex and death. Adolescents are empowered by institutions and their parents and by their knowledge of their bodies, but by offering up rules and holding repercussions over their heads that limit their newfound freedoms, these things also restrict them. The Harry Potter novels serve as a test case showing how Foucault's theories about power can be used to better understand adolescent literature. The crux of defining adolescent literature as distinct from children's literature revolves around the issue of power. While growth in children's literature is depicted as a function of what the character has learned about self, growth in adolescent literature is depicted as a function of what the adolescent learns about how society curtails power. The adolescent cannot grow without experiencing gradations between power and powerlessness. Consequently, power is even more fundamental to the genre than growth is. Adolescents must learn to negotiate the many institutions that shape them and how to balance their power with their parents' power and with the power of authority figures in general. Finally, they must learn what portion of power they wield because of and despite such biological imperatives as sex and death. Adolescents are empowered by institutions and their parents and by their knowledge of their bodies, but by offering up rules and holding repercussions over their heads that limit their newfound freedoms, these things also restrict them.

Theme of Choice and Chance :
Choice versus chance runs throughout the novel. Dumbledore tells harry that it is our choice that shows that what we truly are far more than our abilities Achieving free will by allowing to make own choices. Making the free choice within the fated destinies. Choices are made according to criteria; chance without choice is unthinkable. Author encourages choice in her series. In the end Harry’s choice of self sacrifice made him to defeat voldemort. He had fear of dying while he asks spirit of Sirius that does it hurt? Of dying? then also he made a choice to face voldemort. People can only guide you as Dumbledore guides Harry, ultimately it’s up to you to make your choice. Dumbledore only guides harry it’s up to harry to make his own choice. Battle was only between harry and voldemort but others also helped Harry ; all were very well acknowledge with the fact that they would be killed but it was their own conscious choice.

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Works Cited

Anelli, Melissa. The Leaky Cauldron.org. <http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/essays/issue19/choice/>.

Grief, Julia. "THE WOMEN IN HARRY POTTER’S WORLD: A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE." Canyon, Texas, 2015. 64.

Helimen, Elizabeth E. "Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter." Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2009.

Pond, Julia Rose. "Divine Destiny or Free Choice: Nietzsche's Strong Wills in the Harry Potter Series." Georgia State University, n.d. 65.

Trites, Roberta Seelinger. "The Harry Potter Novels as a Test Case for Adolescent Literature." JSTOR (n.d.).

                                   

The White Tiger is Booker prize winning novel by Aravind Adiga. This book deals various IMPORTANT aspects of India like education, religion, election, democracy, entrepreneurship and police yet, in sarcastic way. There is deep sarcasm on Indian caste system and master slave relation; all these aspects are interwoven in series of the letter addressed to Chinese premier Wen Jiabo in which he tells his journey from driver how he became a successful entrepreneur.

Below given Points are discussed as a part of my classroom activity

📍How far do you agree with the India represented in the novel The White Tiger?

Well, every coin has two sides and just like that every nation has two sides one presents lightness and another represents darkness. What Aravind Adiga has done is, he unveiled the dark side of India. India is known for its culture, religion, different languages, and festivals and yes of course most importantly our Indian literature. The protagonist Balaram halwai is mouthpiece of writer, through his perspective the India is presented. Balaram is servant, driver and murderer who called himself half baked India then how come he became reliable. Whatever he narrates is the narration by his own experience of life and his journey from driver to entrepreneur. If teacher asks students to draw flower pot then every student will draw differently. Yes I do agree that India represented in the novel is one side of India but there another good side also, nation can’t be narrated through perspective of one half baked Indian.

📍Do you believe that Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of 'rags to riches'?
No, I do not agree with this point. Balram took easy and wrong way out to become rich but let me remind you that his main intention was to get free from servant hood. Not every rich person is like Balaram, some may became successful with their hard work. Here Balram Halwai represents those people who spilled someone’s blood in their way to top. We can’t relate this point with those successful people who came first with their toil.

📍"Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108). Is it possible to do deconstructive reading of The White Tiger? How?

If you know the song from rockstar movie



जो भी मैं कहना चाहूं

बर्बाद करे अल्फ़ाज़ मेरे (Thesongpedia)



Whatever I want to say; my word destroys it. Every text has that on lose point. In this present novel Balram called himself a half-baked Indian and this one sentence is able to make this novel scatter on its own narration of India.

Is it possible to read The White Tiger in context of Globalisation?
yes we do find globalization in this novel, Aravind Adiga’s debut novelThe White Tiger dramatizes the modern phases of globalization. The novel studies the contrast between India's rise as a modern global economy and the main character comes from the rural poor.

Works Cited

Thesongpedia. <https://thesongpedia.com/jo-bhi-mainrockstar/>.

wordsworth's preface to lyrical Ballad

Short Learning Videos on Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads; to listen videos visit this blog

                               
1 ) It's about technique of writing, which makes difference between these two terms. when we talk about classicism they considered as the ruling guiding principles.they believe in intellect and restrain. where as romanticism did not believe in any kind of restrain, they believe in freedom.Imagination is guiding principle.

2) Wordsworth say what is poet rather than who is poet,he is man speaking to man, he is like any other human being but he differs from them in degree,for example he is endowed with more lively sensibility .everybody has sensibilities but he is endowed in more lively sensibility, he has more enthusiasms,he has more tenderness.

3) poetic diction means choice of words, and according to Wordsworth poetic diction means a language as really used by men. a language which is spoken by an ordinary man."Micheal " is best example to proof his point right.

4) definition of poetry which was given by Wordsworth is something like this - Poetry is finer spirit of all knowledge which teaches moral lesson with feelings

5) daffodils it poem by wordsworth, which has four stanzas; first three in past and last in present. In first three stanza there is spontaneous overflow of feeling and and in last stanza poet recollects the memory during lining on couch,where we remembered his last line of definition "recollect it tranquility."

Hamlet movie review

This blog is part of my classroom activity, here i'm sharing my views regarding Hamlet movie; if you are intrested in watching this movie then click here

                            

1) Movie is faithful to the original play because dialogues are from real text and all scenes are there in the movie. Movie combined all scene and because this movie is very long. Though it is a movie so setting is different, movie has Victorian setting. Young fortinbras also have shown in beginning in costume it is Victorian setting.



2) After watching the movie we don’t feel pity toward hamlet and my perception toward Ophelia also changed after watching this movie .in the movie Ophelia’s character is portrayed very strong, Gertrude character also different in the movie because she seems to be happy in her new life with Claudius.



3) Yes I feel ‘aesthetic delight’ when hamlet was pretending as if he is mad.



4) Yes I feel catharsis when Ophelia gone made. In her obedience towards her father and love for hamlet she gets nothing in return .her father was using her as means and hamlet rejected her by saying that he don’t love her .it seems that she has not her own existence.



5) Yes movie helps us to understand the play in a better way. Visual play vital role to understand any movie which is based on the play.



6) The movement I would like to cherish lifetime is so when Fortinbras comes and seat on the throne. It says that revenge comes back with revenge .when Claudius kills father hamlet and comes on throne, Hamlet kills Claudius and takes the revenge of father’s death but he also died because leartes want to take revenge of his father and sisters death and he injures him with poisoned sword. At the end Fortinbras also wanted to take revenge of his father’s death but he found everyone is dead.



7) If I was the director I would keep settings as it is. And I would keep Gertrude’s character clear rather than complicated.



8) This signifies that when story starts Hamlets Empire was there but in the end it was destroyed by soldier and Fortinbras comes on throne which shows that now no one was there from his family to rule over the Denmark.



9) While studying the play through movie I found formalist approach more suitable because there was trap metaphor for example “I am too much in sun”.



10) I would like to apply psychological approach here because Hamlet was a man of thinking, he was always in a state of ‘To be or not to be’. Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it.

Dr. Faustus: A Play by Christopher Marlowe

This blog is part of my classroom activity and points which i have presented here are given in the response of 👉this blog

                             




1. In the end of the play we can see lucifer with large long wings and we can suspect that by expresion of his face we can suspect that his devilish desire was fullfield by tragic end of Dr.fautus. this image shows us victory of evil.

2. God was not present in the play physically but we can fill the presence of god in good angel and good angel says to fautus that “sweet fautus leave that execrable art”.
“sweet faustus think of heaven and heavenly things”. 'faustus,repent;yet god will pity thee'. When old man argees faustus to repend and to ask god for mercy, evil angel attacks the old man but good angel protect the old man this is how i can say that god is present in good angel

3. we found icarus complex in Dr. Fautus. Faustus can be linked to icarus,whose insatiable ambition was the source of his misery and the cause of his end.faustus was facinated wuth his power which became the reason of his fall.

movie review: Robinson crusoe

This blog is part of my classroom activity and here with help postcolonial telescope i'm reviewing this movie directed by Rod Hardy (as Rodney K. Hardy), George Miller



                        

1.Cannibals signifies the differences between culture. Cannibals are sarcasm on uncivilized people by Defoe in one or other way.

2. yes,we could find colonialism in Robinson Crusoe.Britisher's had habit of writing dairy and they also got the power of publication.They were also powerful in maths,because Crusoe made a death trap and also documenting everything that is how we can say that roots of colonization are recited in this novel.

3. Yes, we clearly found master slave relationship in Robinson Crusoe, when that seen comes that Robinson taught first word 'Master' to Friday, we can say that how White man believed to black man.In the film he telling Friday that he is his friend but in actual he treats him like servant.

                                

Aristotle's poetics
This blog is part of my classroom activity

 

1  I do not agree with Plato's theory because  every artist should have freedom of  writing
2  Othello is tragedy by Shakespeare it also follows Aristotelian concept of Hamartia. Aristotle thought the hero ought to be 'good or bad' it means he should be person like ourselves and his suffering or death should be caused by his own fault and othello also met with his tragic end because of his own fault . he was man of action without thinking
3  Shakespearo's  hamlet is such character.he is good , kind,thoughtful, gentle and cultivated all the  characteristic that a hero should have but his own 'Hamartia' a fault, he should have but of 'to be and not to be' and this is his weakness which in end cause his death and that of several others.
4  Othello and hamlet are not following Aristotelian theory because there death of main character in the end.
5  Oedipus,Othello, and hamlet are such characters which follows the unities of Aristotle but in these tragedies plot is much more follows the necessary rules. 

Education and Technology

Teaching and learning norms are totally changed in today's time, in traditional school where instruction to students which are instruction today also; seat , do not talk, finger on your lips, pay attention and listen carefully.But learning started shifting from traditional to digital classroom. now  students are learning which suits their own interest from any corner of the world. here are some speakers who speaks in favor of self paced  learning and use of technology  in it. to see their videos click here

📍Ken Robinson:

Ken Robinson talks about changing paradigms of education system; how parents and teacher are focusing on two major aspects that are Economic and culture, he also discussed about ADHD disease, it is believed that those students who do not pay attention in class  are probably suffering from this disease but the fact is That they are multitaskers. He focuses on divergent thinking; divergent thinking leads to creativity.

📍Sugata Mitra:

Sugata Mitra talks about future of learning and self paced learning. He tried other way out for those poor children form slum areas, who cannot afford learning at school. He put computer in wall and allowed self paced learning and surprisingly students learnt how to operate computer without any guidance or knowledge of English language with the help of SOLE. Old school system is out dated. He dreamed a school of cloud and he wishes that every child have computer and can learn on their own.

📍Salaman Khan/Khan academy:

Khan academy is known for its collection of video, focuses on self pace learning, using technology to humanize the classroom. Anyone can become mentor or tutor. With the help of dashboard one can easily login and can become tutor. Most beautiful thing is that it gives point and badges at every passing level which also gives encouragement to students.

📍Mark Prensky:

Today’s students thinking patterns have changed. Students of today’s time can be considered as digital natives and rest of the others who were not born in digital era can be considered as digital immigrants can’t learn by watching T.V or music, they think that language should not have fun. While digital natives think differently, their daily life revolves around digital tools and apps. Digital immigrants have to get adjust with present time.

📍David crystal:

Literacy is important and it can become powerful by practice of reading and writing. In a time of GMAIL, WAHTSAPP and FACEBOOK  fast texting is important. By texting you can practice reading and writing. Recent research demonstrates that more you text the better your literacy goes.

Technology always has influence on language. David crystal takes us into past. Invention of printing press and telephones and broadcasting all these things introduced to new varieties of language in quite specific ways. Text messaging and twitter brought new abbreviation and these new abbreviations would change language.

Teacher are generation older than  students, globalization of English is another reason for the change in English, there are different English because of different accent like African, Indian and so that job as a  language teacher is very much complex. But at a same time job became easier with the help of internet. You can search and learn by listening audio and analyze accent used by non English people in English. So if you supposed to teach African literature than you can do it.

One Night @ the call center

                                                                            

Hello readers, this blog is part of my classroom activity and points which i have presented here are totally based on my point of view, so don't get bothered and enjoy reading😊

📌Social realism

Chentan Bhagat is young popular writer of contemporary India. Most of his novel deals with the problem of youth. Characters of his stories are of young age, coming from middle class. His novel not only talks about youth; but within his the novel we find social realism too. Each character has individual potential in this present novel. Vroom is talented young man who is not happy with his job, who bitterly criticizing the idea of call centers but for his need of money he has to work in call center. Through Esha’s character writer presents the issue of casting couch, which we can find in film industry as well as in modeling world. Priyanka’s mom resembles those parents who possess control over their children’s life and Bakshi represents corruption in corporate world.


📌Effect of globalization

We find effect of globalization in on@tcc(one night @ the call center). These six characters (shyam, Vroo, Radhika, Esha and priyanka) are working in call center. Outsourcing plays essential role in globalization, which promotes multiculturalism and telecommunication. In this novel characters are dealing with foreign customers.


📌On@tcc and Life of Pi
                

Novel has quite interesting narrative technique. Novel has prologue and epilogue. There is small activity in prologue. Narrative technique of on@tcc and life of pi by Yan Martel is much similar. In both the novel narrator is one of character in story; who narrates the story in front of writer. In on@tcc there is a Phone call from god and in Life of pi there is a boy all alone on a live boat passed so many days with the tiger in middle of the Pacific Ocean. In both of the story writer is in confusion whether to believe the story or not. 

"Maturity doesn’t come with age; it comes with experience." 

Pi experiences presence of god during his survival in ocean and develops his faith in god. But there is deconstruction of his faith also. When there is idea other character deconstructs that idea. his faith in religion was tested many times. his parents presents two different binary. His father tells to believe in science while his mother tells that science can tell us what is outside but can not tell what is going on inside. In on@tcc all six character believes in God's call, well obviously 21st century reader would expect them to doubt or question rather than easily believing in that Phone Call; while in Life of Pi, whenever he was introduced to a new religion he questioned it,his faith on religion, on God was tasted .God never came to help him, it was tiger that saved him, who kept him aware at every second which he spent on boat, with the help of his mental presence and ability; he was able to keep himself safe from tiger. Life of pi has some endless debate and deep philosophy which makes it permanent piece of literature. Though both are popular literature but On@tcc lacks the literariness and deep philosophy which life of pi has in it.

📌Popular literature

on@tcc can be considered as popular literature because it does not have proper plot structure, there is plot between love and break up-love of Shaym and priyanka. It does not have that deep philosophy about life. And character blindly believing in god’s call. You do not require intellectual understanding or analysis of characters after reading it.

📌Self help book 

Self help book is one that is written to instruct reader to solve their personal problems. There are few factors which makes this novel self help book:

That small activity in prologue in which writer asks to write down three things: fear, angry, dislike.

God’s message: Intelligence, Imagination, Self-Confidence and Failure. Remember reverse gear and be friendly with problems, Epilogue: We all have dark side - the weakness which we always overlook rather than facing it, Epilogue: Just like life. Rational or not, it just gets better with God in it 

📌Anti-american

This novel can be consider as anti American novel, there are some textual dialogue which make this book anti American: 

God: “Americans may have many things, but they are not the happiest people on earth by any stretch. Any country obsessed with war can’t be happy”.

Vroom: “Meanwhile bad bosses and stupid Americans suck the life blood out of our country’s most productive generation”

Instructor: “a thirty-five-year-old American’s brain and IQ is the same as a ten-years-old Indian’s brain. This will help you understand your clients. You need to be as patient as you are when dealing with a child. Americans are dumb, just accept It”.

Vroom: “Our government doesn’t realize this, but Americans are using us. We are sacrificing an entire generation to service their call centers”


📌Cyberpunk

This novel can be categorized as cyberpunk because vroom hacks Bakshi's email and writes email to Esah on his behalf and blackmail bakshi and exhorted money from him to start new company with shyam , another reason is that the American's are terrorized with the help of bug in MS Office as virus attack on Internet.


Works Cited


Bhagat, chetan. one night @ the call center. Rupa & co., 2005.

Can Technology replace teacher ?

                                                                   

Hello Readers

Hold on for a second and imagine (I’m telling you to imagine because we human’s are very good at imagining things😉) a world without technology. We can’t imagine a day without our smart phone, how can we imagine world without technology right?

Since from the beginning of twentieth century with the help of every single invention dream became true and now today the world is on our finger. Life became easy with the help of technology.

When we are talking about technology how can we forget to mention Google right?

You can go anywhere; see anything from any corner of the world only with one tap on search button. Google is just like a water tap, water is there but it comes to you when you open the tap, it becomes the source. Just like that knowledge is there, where Google becomes source to reach that ocean of knowledge.

Learning becomes more tranquil with the help of technology. Traditional setup in education is breaking down. you don’t have to attain any university or have to remain present in class. One can learn anything from any corner of the world sitting comfortably in sofa with coffee in his/her hand. Does it mean that technology will replace teacher in future. Answer would be YES because it has started happening in real.

 If you have seen robot movie, which was originally made in Tamil language entitled as Enthiran is a science fiction movie. story revolves around Vaseegaran and his creation Chitti. Chitti's software was updated to give it special ability to comprehend and exhibit human emotions.in movie we find that he  can do almost everything, he cooks delicious food at Sana's home as a experienced chef and by reading Sana's textbook he helps doctor in child birth. you think that it can only happen in movie but it is happening in real world. To view some job where robot already started replacing humans clike here  

An educational robot called Pepper will be the UK's first automated teacher when it enters classrooms at the London Design and Engineering University Technical College in September 2016. The meter-high robot, which already 'teaches' at a school in Japan, is fitted with microphones, HD cameras and 3D sensors to enable it to interact with students and even detect their emotions.                              

                                                 
“One machine can do work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do work of one extraordinary man.”

                                                     - Elbert Hubbard

Technology helps in learning and role of teacher is reduced. It is both T+T (Teacher+Technology). Teacher’s part becomes imperative when it comes to bring technology in classroom and how to use it in learning. even when we do not update are phone's software then it is of no use.just like that teachers have make themselves updated with time,Teachers have to stay updated with today’s trend and equip themselves with the latest technology and that's  how teacher's role becomes essential in today’s time. if teacher would not make themselves to come out from traditional teaching zone then sooner or latter their place will be replaced by Roboteacher.

Midnight’s children movie review

This blog is part of my classroom activity, this is my personal blog and point I have given here is my personal POV , I’m neither against nor in favor of anything my request to reader is not to it take personally.

                                                   

Being a part of East or Third world country I would like to do postcolonial study(sorry for being bit personal) because once we were colonized by British people so that you( Instead of you I should say 'I' ) love to do post colonial studies because it is deeply rooted in our subconscious.

                                                    
Here I would review the move ‘The midnight’s children’ with the help of postcolonial perspective.

Movie is based on Salman Rushdie’s Midnight children.

First Ahmed (Mumtaz’s second husband) gives a new name Amina to Mumtaz after their Marriage. It sounds very colonial that after marriage you have control over your wife. It is consciously or unconsciously gets reflected by female director. Mumtaz accepts the new name happily because you are so much colonized and it is so deep inside you that you don’t even realize that you are being colonized and you don’t deny accepting a new identity given by a colonizer.

Nurse changes child because her lover Joseph said so. Joseph said that by changing the fortune of these two children it will be a revolutionary step. Again religion plays vital role to prove my arguments. A Christian ( No offense) is changing fortune and considers it as a revolutionary step.

When Saleem came to India we saw slum area and poor people, snake charmer, Parvati doing black magic shows backwardness of India. At the same time they show nuclear experiment of 1974 which shows progress of India.

These are some of my post colonial interpretations on this movie.

The Reluctant fundamentalist movie review

                                                               

This blog is part of my classroom activity, this is my personal blog and point I have given here is my personal POV , I’m neither against nor in favor of anything my request to reader is not to it take personally.




Directed by :- Mira Nair

Produced by:- Lydia Dean Pilcher

Written by:-    Mohsin Hamid , Ami Boghani

Screenplay by: - William Wheeler , Rutvik Oza

Based on:- The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Starring:-

Riz Ahmed

Kate Hudson

Liev Schreiber

Meesha Shafi

Kiefer Sutherland (wikipedia)




The reluctant fundamentalist is a story of a young and talented man named Changez Khan who have many desire but soon his desire to achieve his dreams collapse like a castle of cards after 9/11 event. He suffers because of his identity as a khan as a Muslim and specially as a Pakistani and soon he left the city of his desire.


How his life changes after 9/11 attack:-

First when Changez returns from a business trip and there were other colleague also with him, police asks his name and after seeing his name as ‘khan’ in his passport they take him for an inquiry an asks him to take off all his cloths, we can’t describe the feeling and thought was going on in Changez’s mind at that time. There were no words from him he does this silently but we can feel it threw his facial expression that some is going on in his mind. 'My Name is Khan' is best example here; how he suffers because of his identity as a khan.

After this in his office his colleague who ones were good friends of him are not talking to him after 9/11 attack except one who is a black person. Shows friendship between a black and a Muslim or say Pakistani.


His girlfriend Erica uses their intimate details that once ‘I was with a Pakistani’ and he ends the relation with her after that.

After returning to Pakistan he starts serving as a professor at Lahore University. Anse Raviner an American professor at Lahore University is kidnapped and Boby who is an American journalist and undercover CIA informant in Pakistan Arranges to interview Changez khan who is colleague of Rainer, whom he suspects is involved in the kidnapping.

Soon Rainer was killed and Boby receives image of Rainer dead at a same time Changez was texting someone and Boby becomes suspicious and in hurry he jumps to conclusion that Changez killed Rainer and Boby shoots one of Changez’s student soon Boby comes to know that Changez was actually texting his sister.

Thing is that person was bracketed as Pakistani not as human. being as an Orientalist Edward Said in his book says that Orientalist argues against how east portrays west. Same generalization is made here also that all Muslims are terrorist. people become suspicious when you introduce yourself as ‘Khan’. I will conclude with a point that the act of suppressing someone constantly without any reason will lead person to do some thing bad.

The birthday party Play by Harold Pinter

click here to view scenes from the movie, you can download the text and can attend the quiz also.

· Why are two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie?
Two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie. this movie is based on an unpublished screenplay by Harold Pinter, which he adapted from his own play The Birthday party. so we can say that he don't wanted to divert audience's attention from Stanley. may be he don't wanted to give unnecessary importance to Lulu's character. she came on,y when it was needed in last act.
Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie?Where you able to feel the same while reading the text


yes, movie is successful enough in giving s the effect of menace. i would say that movie gives more effect than text, because in text you have to read while in movie visual and sounds plays vital role in giving the effect pf menace. there is one line that


"silence speaks louder than words" but i would say that here in movie "sound speaks more than words". knocking on door, sound of drum, tearing of newspaper by McCain in second act these sounds make us feel uneasy.

Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie? Where you able to feel the same while reading the text
Yes, when Stanley plays drum very aggressively, knocking on door and in birthday party when blind man's buff is going on.
What do you read in 'newspaper' in the movie? Petey is reading newspaper to Meg, it torn into pieces by McCain, pieces are hidden by Petey in last scene.

newspaper have its own  significance in the play. Petey is reading newspaper which shows power or higher position in front of his wife Meg or it can be read like he is hiding his reality behind the newspaper. newspaper was torn away by McCain and Petey is hiding it's pieces which shows his fear about falling down his mask which he was hiding behind the newspaper he is hiding the reality of Stanley that he was also torn by two strangers

Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it. What interpretations can you give to these positioning of camera?

Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it, it shows that Stanley cannot escape from the trap of cage created by two stranger.

"Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense crumbles." (Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture). Does this happen in the movie?
Yes, people have the mercy of one another. Petey, Meg , and Lulu have mercy towards Stanley.
How does viewing movie help in better understanding of the play ‘The Birthday Party’ with its typical characteristics (like painteresque, pause, silence, menace, lurking danger)?
Yes, definitely movie help in better understanding of the play. visual and sounds played vital role in better understanding of pause, silence, menace and lurking danger.
With which of the following observations you agree:



o “It probably wasn't possible to make a satisfactory film of "The Birthday Party."


o “It's impossible to imagine a better film of Pinter's play than this sensitive, disturbing version directed by William Friedkin”[3].

I would agree with second observation.
If you were director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of movie?
I won't make any difference.
Who would be your choice of actors to play the role of characters?
My choice of actors would be like this

Petey: Naseeruddin Shah
Meg: Farida Jalal
Nat Goldberg: Nawazuddin Siddiqui
McCain:K.K.Menon
Stanley: Rajkumar Rao
Lulu: Radhika Apte.


Thank you.

waiting for Godot

 

Here is the link of given task on the play waiting for Godot click here

Here is my response to the given questions

Q: what connection do you see in the setting (‘A country road. A tree evening.’) Of the play and these paintings?

The setting of the play is inspired by painting ‘longing’ by two paintings by Caspar David Freidrich. Act of waiting can be considered as act of longing.

Q: the tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of tree in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree?

Tree has its own importance in setting.  In first act tree is barren. Barren tree can be seen as hopelessness and nothingness, Vladimir and Estragon thinks to hanging themselves from tree which can be seen a reference to the crucifixion of Christ. In Act two leaves sprouts from tree which shows hope for the next. Found happiness out of despair and anxiety of human life.

Q:  in both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?

Evening falls into night and moon rises signifies that universe is indifferent to us.  Whatever happens in human life despair, anxiety, absurdity; nature’s cycle goes on.

Q: the play begins with the dialogue” nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in play?

Nothingness recurs in the play. Vladimir and Estragon have nothing to do expect waiting. And that’s why Vladimir says this line ‘nothing to be done’.

Q:  do you agree:”the play (waiting for Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As I saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: ‘no matter what- bombs, anything-life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can’t kill life’.(E.G. marshal who played Vladimir in original Broadway production 1950s).

The play is positive play. Play is not absurd but rather meaningful.  Only dialogue are going on but that is only common conversation, at first reading we may not find it that much meaningful but find it meaningful at deep inside. Waiting signifies hope; process of waiting is process of keeping hope towards something to be achieved.

Q: How are the props like hat and boots used in the play? What is the symbolical significances of these props?

Hat signifies Vladimir’s capacity of thinking who remembers every event of past where as boots signifies skepticism in character of Estragon. He is taking his boot on and off Who forgets things very easily, carelessness towards life.

Q: do you feel the effect of existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference universe during screening of the move? Where and when exactly that feeling was felt, ever it was? Vladimir and estragon talks about ‘hanging’ themselves and commit suicide, but they do not do so. How do you read this idea of suicide in existentialism?

Yes I do feel effect of existential crisis during screening of the movie; when the sentence is repeatedly said that “nothing to be done” we feel meaninglessness of human existence. Vladimir and Estragon talks about ‘hanging’ themselves and commit suicide but they do not do so rather they come again and starts waiting. Here we find out the existential idea that true challenge is when you face despair, absurdity and anxiety of human life and come that absurdity rather ending your life by committing suicide. In movie Mera nam joker there is a song “

                                                         

                                       जीना यहाँ, मरना यहाँ
                                       इसके सिवा जाना कहाँ  - 

We are born here, we will die here where we will go from here(nothing can be done)In this movie Raj kapoor is playing role of joker is life is full of despair but every day comes in front of people to make them laugh by playing the role of joker in circus he is doing his duty same as Sisyphus.

Q: The subject of the play is not Godot but waiting. Do you agree? How can you justify your answer?

The subject of the play is not Godot but ‘Waiting’. Waiting can be seen different by person by person. Waiting can be seen as death.. Waiting can be seen as desire to complete, for a spiritual person it can be ultimate way of salvation.

Thank you 😊😊😊

To the light house

This blog  is part of  my classroom thinking activity on the novel 'To The Lighthouse'.
Here is the given task:click here

 

1) Beauty of the novel ‘To the lighthouse’ is human nature and human relations. Writer has not told story in traditional way of describing events but she has concentrated on a small number of characters with their interior monologue. In this novel nothing happens, there are no events only stream of consciousness goes on and on. Use of parentheses say for example James wishes to visit the lighthouse but Mr. Ramsay strongly opposes because of bad weather thus James feels:


“Had there been an axe handy or any other weapon, he would have gashed a hole in his father’s breast…”


This is the inner feeling of James when Mr. Ramsay refused to go. This is how Woolf has made use of parentheses throughout which we came to know that what character thinks at particular time and situation.


2) The novel is both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay. Mrs. Ramsay’s character is a tribute as well as critique on womanhood. She is caring and kind who pampers her husband’s ego. Taking care of everyone. Woman full of good-will and no ill-will. Mrs. Ramsay’s character is like a character of आज्ञाकारी and संस्कारी बहू we see in Indian daily soaps. According to her she is happier than Lily because she herself is married while she considers Lily as Poor. She repeats the sentence time and again open ‘Open the window and close the doors’- which signifies that allowing yourself to think but close the door means closing the wider way for change or say not allowing yourself for change.
Both Lily and Mrs. Ramsay’s character presents different personality of womanhood. If we look from modern perspective toward the character we consider Lily’s character more independent.

5) Kunstlerroman means apprenticeship novel that deals with the youth and development of an individual who becomes and on threshold of becoming a painter musician or poet. Throughout the novel if we read Lily’s character she develops as a painter. In the third part she completes the painting of Mrs. Ramsay, and finally she has had her own vision. Same as Augustus Carmichael he is also a poet who is unknown chapter one but his poetry meets unexpected success afterwards. So both the characters develop: one as a painter and another as a poet.

9) On one hand it is a tool for preservation. Against that is also a symbol of change of technology, changing and presumably improving human culture. James is guided in his choice by Mrs. Ramsay and it should therefore be associated with her role as preserver and shaper of culture.Traditional woman who is not allowing the change, and preserver of old tradition.

10) Virginia Woolf with the use of fairy tale subverting the misogyny of the fairy tale. Fairy tale in novel challenges the myth about female desire and dangers of unopposed female will and desire. The real danger seems to be male needs and desire. 

Thank you...😊

movie review

As a  master students we are studying modern literature, and as a part of our study we have watched two of Charlie Chaplin movies and in both of these movies Charlie Chaplin had worked as director and producer and actor it is interesting to see that how he satirized things in a comic way.

(1)    Modern time:-Modern time is a story of individual enterprise humanly crusading in the pursuit of happiness. Charlie played a role of factory worker and how he was living his everyday life in a factory like a machine and he gone crazy because of his everyday work. On other hand gamin’s (Paulette Goddard) character represents poverty of 20th century era, when writer were interested in poor and working class. How Chaplin and gamin’s father suffered from unemployment. At that time it was fiction having machinery like that but now in present time  it is reality, slowly and steadily machine started to replace humans, we can put question that whether humans have control over machine or machine have control over humans?

(2 )    The great dictator:-The great dictator is political satire on Adolf Hitler. This is story of a period between two world wars. The story is based on Hynked looking like a Jewish barber who was also a soldier and lose his memory in plane crash. 

      Thank You .......😊

Modern Age:-

Modernism doesn’t speak about contemporary time; but about past time, prim time of modernism is between first war and second war world war (1940-50).questioning everything was important in modernism.


Here is my interpretation on some modernist poems, which is part of my classroom activity.



(1) The Embankment :-T.E.Hulme


Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,


In the flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.


Now see I


That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.


Oh, God, make small


The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,


That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.

Poet is recounting his past by using the words like finesse of fiddles, musical gathering and flash of gold heels used for women star-eaten blanket is used as negative word. But now what all he need is warmth; which he will get under the blanket of sky where he will get comfort, comfort from the harshness of life.

(2) Darkness:- Joseph Campbell

Darkness.
I stop to watch a star shine in the boghole –
A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.
I look at it, and pass on.

Title itself reflects negativity. Here star is metaphor, by which poet actually means Victorian age , he is not affected with the shine of Victorian age, he just looked at it and pass on.

(3) Image :- Edward storer

Forsaken lovers,
Burning to a chaste white moon,
Upon strange pyres of loneliness and drought.

By the title of this poem may be poet wanted to present image of modern age people. White color presents positivity but here it seems in negative sense. Other metaphor are loneliness and drought.



(4) In a station of the metro:- Ezra pound


THE apparition of these faces in the crowd;


Petals on a wet, black bough.


Title itself says that its about Metro. Poet sees various faces and gives it metaphor ‘apparition’. This means ghostly. He compares these faces to ‘petals on a wet black bough”- suggests that on the dark subway platform, the people look like flower petal stuck on tree branch after a rainy night.

(5) The Pool:- Hilda Doolittle 

Are you alive?


I touch you.


You quiver like a sea-fish.


I cover you with my net.


What are you—banded one?

speaker asking person that ‘are you alive?. Person shivers like a sea fish.


which indicates that someone is dying and presents liflessness.


(6) Insouciance:- Richard Aldington

IN and out of the dreary trenches,

Trudging cheerily under the stars,

I make for myself little poems

Delicate as a flock of doves.

They fly away like white-winged doves.


Here poet have used metaphors like deary trnches, trudging cheerily flock of doves, white winged doves.






(7) Moring at the window- T.S.Eliot

They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.

The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the level of the roofs.



At first reading of this poem way feel that this poem is about everyday life. But we also can say that this line:- ‘” tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts.”


(8) The Red Wheelbarrow – William carol Williams

so much depends
upon a red wheel 

barrow
glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

This poem is difficult to understand. But f we go on by words like Barrow(stones raised over a grave) Glazed (showing no liveliness) chicken(young man); these words indicates a young man’s death.


(9) Anecdote of the jar:- Wallace stevens

I placed a jar in Tennessee,And round it was, upon a hill.


It made the slovenly wilderness


Surround that hill.


The wilderness rose up to it,


And sprawled around, no longer wild.


The jar was round upon the ground


And tall and of a port in air.


It took dominion everywhere.


The jar was gray and bare.


It did not give of bird or bush,


Like nothing else in Tennessee.

Here in this poem metaphor is jar. And poem is about the Tennessee( a state of the united states of America)

(10) I(a, :- E.E.Cummings

l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness


A falling leaf is symbol of loneliness. The word ‘fall’ symbolized in any way. Fall means death, fall of spirituality; fall word also presents the damage caused because of world war and its effect on people.
Modernist literature is difficult to understand, it is absurd, there is hidden meaning, it becomes hard to get the whole meaning of poem.


Thank you....

La Belle dame sans merci

La Belle Dame sans merci is ballad written by well known poet of romantic age John Keats. love and death are intertwined in 'Isabella or the pot of basil','Bright star','the eve of st Agnes' and ' la belle dame sans merci'.
The Fatal women; the woman whom it is destructive to love, like Salome,Lilith and Cleopatra appears in "La Belle Dame sans merci".

The poem opens with an unnamed speaker asking a knight at arms what troubles him. the night tells his strange story. he met a young beautiful woman in the flowering field, who in real is a femme fatal. the knight  came under her influence, perhaps hypnotized by her powerful eyes. he was not able to understand her language, they communicate in other ways. he made a garland of flowers a bracelet and a belt and set her on his warhorse.she found strange food for him. she took him to a cave,where weeping and singing knight fell asleep, he was shaken by terrible dreams of knight , princes and warrior him that he was enslaved by the beautiful lady awakening from the nightmare, the knight found himself  on  the cold  hillside alone and the beautiful lady had disappeared.
  

Yussouf

Yussouf is poem by Jame Russell Lowell. This is poem about Yussouf, who is kind at nature. tribes called him "The Good".


Only a stranger came to Yussouf's tent at night and said that he outcasted. one who needed help and he came to Yussouf for shelter and food.


Yussouf treet him as his honored guest. next day in morning Yussouf gave him gold and told that he has best horse ready for him, and told to escape before his enemies come. stranger fell at feel of Yussouf and said that he is the one who killed Yussouf's son. he was shocked but after that he drew out more gold. he give it to stranger. and said that "here is gold three time more".


Yussouf said that I must give up the thought of revenge. Only then my son will sleep in peace.you have been my guest and i can not kill my guest, and he went off to pray god.