Lit.Guruji

  Summary of the novel The Skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje. The Skin of a Lion is a novel written by the Canadian – Sri Lankan writer, Michael Ondaatje. This novel was published in the year 1987 by McClelland and Stewart. Patrick Lewis is the protagonist of this novel. The story revolves around the hometown of Patrick, Toronto, Canada in the 1920s. This novel explores the lives of the immigrants in the city of Toronto. Patrick lives along with his father at Deep Creek, Canada. His father Hazen is a dynamiter and does various jobs in the farm. Patrick is a keen onlooker of nature and a listener. He watches the hard labor of loggers and hears to the flapping sound of the bugs during his childhood stage. Patrick observes his father’s job from a distance, like a kid. He acquires the skill of his father succeeding through his child – like learning. In the chapter The Bridge , a building work is carried out at the center of the city, Toronto. One night a group of nuns enter t...

Intonation Intonation means using a tone while speaking. The use of proper tone is important in our day – to – day communication. If a proper tone is not used the listener may misunderstand us. The two important tones are Falling Tone and Rising Tone . Falling tone is marked by down arrow and Rising tone is marked by up arrow as seen in the diagram. Intonation Patterns 1 .Falling tones are used in ordinary statements Eg . Kamala is a dancer. My Brother is a lawyer. Sona is a pretty girl. Our college starts at 10. Mala is a singer. 2 . Wh-questions ( who, when, where, how, etc ) are falling tone. Eg . What are you doing? When will the school start? Who is your class teacher? What is your name? When are you going to London? 3 . Commands are uttered with a falling tone. Eg . Shoot a sight. Do not bear False witness. Follow me. Be mute. 4. Exclamation are spoken with a falling tone: Eg . What a lovely scene! Alas! O Lor...

 “Ode to a Nightingale” Summary John Keats is one of the most famous romantic poet who dominated the 18thc literature. His poem “Ode to the Nightingale” was written in the year 1819. This poem explores the theme of death-wish of the poet. It describes the inner emotional world of the poet along with natural world. Keats’s odes, is an extraordinary example of spontaneous formal writing.  The poet feels tired and numb at heart. He feels unconscious like a man who has drunk Hemlock or opiate or sunk into the river of Lethe. The poet is delighted to hear the voice of the  Nightingale which is singing freely and joyfully. He identifies the bird with Dryad, the Greek Goddess of the tree. He contrasts the mortality and suffering of human being with the immortality and perfect happiness of the nightingale.  Keats desires to “ squeeze every last drop” of wine and travel to the happiest land of Nightingale. He  realises that world is a place of uncontrollable ...

  Summary for Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen Strange Meeting is a poem written by the British poet,  Wilfred Owen . The poem was written in the year 1918 and published in 1919 after Owen's death. This poem was written during the time of World war I.   In this Owen decries the horrors of war and its futility. In this poem the speaker is a solider who dies in war and enters the Hell. This poem is considered as one of “Owens Complex War Poem”. In the first stanza of the poem the poet has escaped war and has plunged into a deep tunnel. Being killed in the war he is driven to the underworld. The poet is shocked to see many soldiers groaning and sleeping in hell. Among these soldiers the poet meets a “strange friend”. The strange man raises “with a thousand fears that visions face was grained”. The poet tells the strange friend about their escape from war, bloodshed and gunshot as they are in the hell. But the stranger is not ready to agree with the poet. The stranger n...

                          Character of Iago in Shakespeare Iago is one among the greatest creation of Shakespeare. His role as villain in Othello has created great impact on readers. He is a man of genius, devilish and cunning. He is good in planning and executing. His hatredness towards Othello is expressed in the opening scene. ·          Othello has appointed Cassio as Lieutenant. ·          Ignored the claims of Iago. Iago reveals that he hates the Moor. He is a man of suspicion. He suspects the Moor with his wife Emilia. He believes that Cassio has slept with his wife, “For I fear Cassio with my night cap-too”. He has a personal conflict with Desdemona. He considered her as a weapon to destroy Othello.             Iago was by ...

  Character of Othello in Shakespeare Othello is one among the great heroes in Shakespearean drama. He is a black Moor, thick lipped man. He is the most romantic figures among Shakespearean heroes. He is the greatest poet of all the heroes of Shakespeare’s tragedies. He is a man who has experienced countless dangers, hardship and struggle. He is a courageous man and is proud of his services. His life is filled with adventure and love. Othello’s love for Desdemona is deep. His love for Desdemona is constant and noble. He has a great admiration for Desdemona. She is one in whom he has “garnered up his heart”. He is one of the great lovers in the literature of the world, the greatest lover in Shakespeare.   The beauty of Desdemona enchants and ravishes him. When he stabs her with words, he burst out into tears and asks her to go away, “O Desdemona away! away! away! He believes that she has betrayed him and murders her in the bed. Othello has deep love for Desdemona. He lack...

                                       Character of Desdemona in Shakespeare Desdemona, is the beautiful heroine of the play Othello. She is the embodiment of virtue, purity and gentleness. She is a perfect woman without any faults. She wins the heart of people. Brabantio is the father of Desdemona. He describes his daughter as a girl who was never timid, quiet or forward. Desdemona falls in love with the Black Moor, Othello. She got admired by his heroism and his story of sufferings. Her love for Othello was deep. She is frank and straightforward to speak to her father about her love. Her love and devotion to her husband knows no bounds. Her love does not alter at any situation. Even when Othello accuses her for adultery calling her a whore or strangles her, her love for Othello is constant. Desdemona’s sufferings and death tends us to consider the most sympathetic and sweetest wom...

  Summary of the Poem, The Windhover The Windhover is a sonnet written by Gerard Manley Hopkins in the year 1877. Hopkins dedicated the poem "to  Christ  our Lord". Hopkins is famous for his usage of sprung rhythm. He expresses his religious thoughts by highlighting the beauty of nature. He was inspired by nature and the manifestation of God in every living thing. In this poem Hopkins describes the beauty of a windhover, a bird of prey. This bird hovers around the mid -air during its hunt. In the first stanza of the poem the poet admires the beauty of the bird. He hails the bird as the Prince of daylight. The bird flies in the mid – air with its majestic wings.   During flight it keeps full control over the air like a man controlling his horse. The bird motionlessly glides downwards like a man sliding in a snow. The way the bird dived exposed its buff over the strong wind. In the poet’s imagination, the windhover sits at a great height, looking proud, wi...

  Character of Rosalind in As You Like it by William Shakespeare Rosalind is one of the lovable and brilliant heroines in Shakespeare’s plays. She posses the quality of wit and emotion. She dominates the play and has a dynamic personality. She is humble and has got a noble soul. She is the daughter of the banishes Duke Senior. The present Duke’s daughter Celia is intimately attached to Rosalind. Celia comforts Rosalind in her state of melancholy. Rosalind agrees to forget her anxieties to share Celia’s happiness. Rosalind feels sympathetic towards Orlando who is ready to enter a wrestling contest with Charles. Thinking that Charles will defeat Orlando, she feels sympathy for him. But Orlando wins the match. She falls in love with Orlando and gives her chain as a token of his victory. Duke Frederick claims to banish Rosalind from his court. He banishes her because she is the daughter of Duke Senior, who is a traitor. She appeals to him not to treat her so. But the Duke banishe...

  To a Skylark “To a Skylark" is a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in the year 1820. In this poem the poet speaks about the greatness of the skylark. He is startled by the beautiful song and happiness of the bird. As a poet he realizes that he is unable to reach that same joy and happiness of a skylark. Keats in his Ode to the Nightingale feels jealous about the bird Nightingale for its freedom and joy. Similarly, Shelley feels jealous for the bird skylark. In the very first stanza Shelley commences by addressing the skylark as ‘blithe’ or ‘Spirit’. He considers skylark as a heavenly bird. This bird is invisible, yet it sings with profound sweetness.   The Skylark’s sweet music filled the ears of the poet. He claims that skylark is the beautiful bird    in the sky. He further states that skylark dominates the universe by its excellent music and soothing voice. The poet is not aware about the mystery of the bird skylark. The poet feels excited about the ...

  Unpacking My Library: A Speech on Collecting “Unpacking My Library: A Speech on Collecting,” was written by Walter Benjamin in the year 1931. In this essay he talks about the readers’ relationship to their books. Benjamin was moving from the house and life that he shared with his wife and stayed in a small furnished apartment. There he lived an isolated life. He narrates the experience in his personal library and out of the heaps in which they had been inaccessibly stored for the previous two years. He has a large number of books but there is no enough space in the room for those volumes. So, he is identifying the value of each book. Benjamin describes an important fact about the academic life. The journey of collecting books and documents during scholarly life are momentous not for their subjects, but of our selves. A project involves collection of data and understanding of the text. Same way Benjamin in unpacking his library was able to find a new order and meaning in his ...

  Consonants Consonants are speech sounds that are produced with some obstruction or narrowing in the vocal tract. There are 24 consonants. Among these 21 letters, 15 letters have their usual sound values.   Linguist have invented nine symbols and example: ɡ θ ð ʃ Ȝ   t ʃ   d Ȝ ղ ј do g my th fa th er sh ip mea s ure ch ain g em ki ng y es   Classification of Consonants: Consonants are classified according to how they are produced. ·          The place of articulation. ·          The manner of articulation. i. The place of articulation: It is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between the active and passive articulators. Below table shows the place of articulation...