Lit.Guruji

             W ho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf                                                           -Edward Albee Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a play written by the American dramatist Edward Albee. Albee is known for his blunt criticism. This play was published in the year 1962. The play is about “marital conflict but its major theme is the need to rid life of fantasies and to face realities”. This play symbolizes the world where love, life, passions and the creative act are machine made. Martha and George are miserable couple. As the play commences the couple returns home from a party held at Martha’s father’s house. Her father is the president of a college. Martha’s husband is working in the same college as professor in the department of History. She desires her husband should become the head of the department. She is highly domineering and assertive. She is six years older to George. George and Martha are leading a frustrated life for around twenty-three

  Eco-criticism The concept Eco-criticism arose in 1970’s. In UK it is Green Studies and in USA it is Eco-criticism. Eco-criticism or Green studies takes its literary bearing from British Romanticism of the 1970’s American transcendentalist. The founding figure on the British side is critic Jonathan Bate. Bate is considered as the father of Eco-criticism in England and Cheryll Glotfelty is the father of Eco-criticism in USA. Eco-criticism is the study of culture and cultural products, that is in someway connected with the human relationship to the natural world. It is a response to the need of humanistic understanding of our connection with natural world in an age of environmental destruction. The increase in technology has brought a disconnection of humanity from the natural world. Most eco-critical works are concerned with the consequences of human actions. American and British romantic writers took interest in nature as a subject. The Victorian writer wrote about industriali

  The Arrow of God                      -  Chinua Achebe The phrase Arrow of God is taken from Igbo proverb which represents the will of God. Arrow refers to Ezeulu, the chief priest in this novel and the bow refers to God Ulu, who is the deity for six villages. The chief priest Ezeulu names the day for the feast of the Pumpkin leaves or for the New Yam feast. If the priest fails to name the day there would be no festival, no planting and reaping. Ezeulu with his large family, lives in a huge compound. His two living wives Matefi and Ugoye cook for him by turns. He rules over in his compound. He regards his eldest son Edogo, a carver, as weak and spineless. His other son Obika, the most handsome young man in Umuaro is given to excessive drinking and often lands in trouble. Ezeulu has sent his third son Oduche to the missionary school in Okperi. He learns the way and wisdom of the white man. His youngest son Nwafo is his favourite, as is Nwafo’s mother Ugoye. Ezeulu aspires Nwafo

Listening to Myself -Al. Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy was  a 20 th century Canadian free verse poet. He has been called the nation’s “ Unofficial poet laureate”. This poem is about the speaker listening to himself. The poet is listening to himself to the voice of his own country Canada. The poet hopes that his past will rekindle the mind of the people by increasing their will to survive in Canada. He recollects his past “ See myself staggering through deep snow”. He depicts himself claiming that he is a old and weak man. The speaker seems to be looking at himself from different angles. He sees “white hair-wrinkled face and hands”. The old man seems to be ugly and useless. The old man loves his land. His love for the land is ridiculous to hear because the land is too harsh and unforgiving. He looks like a foolish man for loving such a hostile land. The old man realizes the truth behind his love for the land, that it is not the physical strength helped him to surv

  Ations   By Shel Silverstein If we meet and I say, 'Hi,' That's a salutation. If you ask me how I feel, That's a consideration. If we stop and talk a while, That's a conversation. If we understand each other, That's a communication. If we argue, scream and fight, That's an altercation. If later we apoligize, That's reconciliation. If we help each other home, That's a cooperation. And all these actions added up Make Civilization. (And if I say this is a wonderful poem, Is that exaggeration?) Explanation : Shel Silverstein is an American Poet, writer and Children’s author. The poem “Ation” appeared in his Anthology titled “Light in the Attic ” which was published in the year 1981 .   This poem is thought provoking and evocative. In each line of this poem the poet ends the song with a suffix   “ation” which adds beauty to the title of the poem. I f we meet and I say, “Hi,” That’s a salutation. If you ask me how

1.Educate a man and you educate an individual. Educate a woman and you educate a family.                                                                - A . Cripp 2. I raise up my voice – not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.                                             – Malala Yousafzai 3. I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.                                                    - William Golding  4. Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.                                 -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 5. Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of a man at twice its natural size.                

                                                                                        Strife -        John Galsworthy Strife is a three-act play written by John Galsworthy. It is his third play and the play highlights the social issues. It was produced in the year 1909 at the Duke of York Theatre. The title “strife” has a biblical meaning which means bitter conflict. The theme in this play is capital and labour. The action takes place on 7 th february at the Trenartha Tin Plate Work. The factory workers involve in a prolonged strike. There arises a conflict between the company chairman John Anthony and the workers leader Roberts. Both are very stern and adamant to compromise. Anthony was the chairman for 32 years and he is determined to fight and win. In his thirty two years of experience he has won four strikes. He was certain that he could win the strike once more. The directors felt unfair about the stern nature of Anthony. The directors were aware about the outcome of this

Copywriter A copywriter is an expertise and a genius person who work with words. They write for  advertising purposes mainly to promote and sell goods and services. A full time copy writer works on different types of copy such as articles, web pages, blog posts, newsletter and reports. A copywriter needed no other formal qualifications. A copy writer should pursue certain qualities like · Excellent writing skills. · Ability to write to deadlines. · Great research skills. · Understanding the audience. · SEO success. · Creativity. · An eye for headlines A Good copywriter understands the modern world. They have great idea about the consumers , understands  the importance of an attention-grabbing headline, can articulate the sales and marketing objectives.  A copy writer should possess a good language skill. They should pay keen attention to employ the correct usages of word choice, structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling. Proof reading should be done

Sentence A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense. Sentences are classified in to four types. ·       Assertive Sentence ·       Interrogative Sentence ·       Imperative Sentence ·       Exclamatory Sentence Assertive Sentence A sentence that makes a statement or assertion is called an assertive or declarative sentence. Examples for assertive sentences are ·       Seetha is a tall girl. ·       Her sister is a dancer. Assertive sentences are further classified into two types. They are ·       Affirmative ·       Negative a)     An affirmative sentence expresses the validity of truth of an assertion.   Examples : They go to school.                      Iam feeling hungry. b)     Negative sentences have a negative meaning. Examples : She is too rude.                     He was never interested in sports. Interrogative Sentences An interrogative sentence asks a direct question and is punctuated at the end with a ques

Effective writing Writing is a tool used by a writer to express his feelings and ideas. For writers like Wordsworth it is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling. It is an art.  A writer should create his work more effective. Effective writing means a work should be readable, clear, accurate and concise. The ideas flowing through the head and heart of the writer should be presented in such a way that the readers should understand the notion of the writer. The writer should strive to throw his points in a direct way. A writer with dazzling ideas and mastery over language can be a genius person. The two enemies of good writing are ·       Repetition of ideas ·       Over elaboration of an idea A good writing should have a perfect start, middle and end. The ideas should be arranged in a good order. The ideas should be presented using strong sentences. A writer should be aware about punctuation, capitalization, spelling and grammar in a sentence. According to

Connotation and Denotation Connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association. It is an idea or feeling suggested by a particular word. For example , blue is a colour, but it is also a word used to describe a feeling of sadness, as in: “She's feeling blue.”  Denotation means the direct meaning.  It is a standardized meaning within the English language. A few examples for denotations are young, confident, use, happy, adolescent, questioning, selective, thin. Three types of connotations. Positive Connotation – words that invoke favourable positive response are positive connotation. Negative Connotation- It presents the person or thing in a negative perspective. Neutral Connotation – It present the neutral point of view and it does not present any attached positive or negative connotation. Positive Connotation Neutral Connotation Negative Connotation Youthful Young Chil

The Doll's House                 -   Katherine Mansfield The Doll's House is a beautiful short story written by Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield portrays the trivial activities of men. In this story she depicts the cruelty of grown up people in the society. She explores the cruelty of the society. She brings out the difference of opinion among children about rich, poor, higher and lower status of people. In this short story there are five child characters.  They are the Burnell daughters and the Kelvey daughters, Aunt Beryl, Mrs. Kelvey, the school teacher and so on. In this story the small innocent children are poisoned by their rich parents about poor children. As a result of this the rich kids grow up with evil thoughts about the poor. Mrs. Hay the aunt of Burnells children gifts a dolls house. The children are filled with gay by seeing the dolls house. The house looked more real and beautiful. The house had two bed rooms, living rooms, kitchen, chimneys,

Candida                         George Bernard Shaw Candida is a domestic comedy written by George Bernard Shaw in 1898. It is a three-act play. The story centers around Candida, an attractive vibrant lady, and James Mavor Morell, a clergyman. The play is a love tale with comic elements embedded in it. This play explores the Victorian idea about marriage and love. The title of this play “Candida” is named after the wife of James Mayor Morell, a clergy man.  She is a intellectual woman. She is the sole responsible person for the success of her husband. As the play commences Candida returns home from a vacation. She brings along with her an young poet, Eugene Marchbank. She introduces the poet to her husband. The poet declares his love for Candida to the Clergyman. He insists Morell that he is not the right person to be her husband. He claims that he is ready to marry Candida and release her from the clutches of slavery. He trusts that Candida deserves his eternal l

Advertisement Visual literacy and visual language A picture says a thousand words. The ability to read visual texts is called visual literacy. Dr. Diana Dumetz Carry defines visual literacy as “The ability to decode, interpret, create, question, challenge and evaluate texts that communicate with visual languages…”. The four types of visual languages are ·       Body language. ·       Object language. ·       Sign and Symbol. ·       Abstract language. Advertisement Advertising is a powerful media of communication. It has the power to persuade and attract people. It also play an important role in gender-stereotying. Advertising is a business of making money by introducing and encouraging people to buy new products. It introduces new products. Buyers can enjoy those products. Advertisement is the main source of income for newspapers, magazines and television. They are advantageous both for consumers and producers. Producers also earn a lot of money by sp

Unit 1V Meeting Introduction A meeting is a place were two or more people assemble together to discuss. Before Meeting Be prepared before the meeting begins. Four things to be done before meeting, ·        Send invites in advance ·        Distribute an agenda ·        Reserve Meeting space ·        Briefing on the status of project. During Meeting Steps to conduct a successful meeting. ·        Review agenda – review the aim and purpose of the meeting. ·        Keep discussion focused on agenda. ·        Agree an action plan ·        Evaluate meeting – Try to do a brief evaluation. After the Meeting ·        Share all meeting documentation with the participants. ·        Ask for feedback ideas to improve meetings ·        Stay connected.

Misery -        Anton Chekov Anton Chekov is a Russian short story writer, humourist and a realist. His stories are concerned about the plight of human life. His characters are drawn from real life. His short story Misery or Lament depicts the life of a sledge-driver. Iona Potapov, a sledge driver encounters lack of sympathy, kindness, warmth and friendship. The old sledge-driver faces the misery of cold weather, the misery of poverty, misery of losing his young son and the misery of not having anyone to share his feelings. Iona spends an entire evening among the crowded streets. “Big flakes of wet snow are whirling lazily about the street lamps, which have just been lighted, and lying in a thin soft layer on the roofs, horses’ backs, shoulders, caps.”  He is unable to share or communicate his thoughts to people. The first customer for the sledge-driver is a man in military uniform. The customer was not ready to listen the feelings and emotions of the driver.

The Errors of Santa Claus -         Stephen Leacock Stephen Leacock is a humourist, author and a short story writer. He is a Canadian author who is celebrated for his humour and delicate satire. The Errors of Santa Claus is a part of his collection titled “Frenzied Fiction” (1918). This story mocks at the modern world of fashion of gifting during Christmas. At recent times gifting has become fashionable. The season of Christmas has become the season of shopping. This short story depicts the misconceptions parent root in the mind of children. The story revolves around two families, namely the Browns and the Jones. Both the families celebrate Christmas together by exchanging gifts. In the dinning room Jones and Browns discusses about the gift they have purchased for their children. Jones has bought an automatic train for his son. Brown claims that he will gift his son Edwin an aeroplane. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Jones are discussing about the gift they are going to pres

School for Scandal                            - Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. This play was performed at Dury Lane Theatre in the year 1777. It is one of the greatest comedies of manners in English. Gossiping is  major theme in School for Scandal. In this play Sheridan explores the artifice and superficiality of the upper class English people of 18 th century. Joseph Surface the brother of Charles Surface pretends to be morally good. He tries to spoil the reputation of his brother. Both the brothers desire to marry Maria, who is a wealthy ward of Peter Teazle. Peter Teazle is disgust about the immodest nature of Charles. He wants his ward to marry Joseph Surface. Joseph surface and lady Sneerwell circulate false stories to exploit the reputation of Charles. Sneerwell spreads a false story stating that Charles is in love with Lady Teazle, the wife of Peter Teazle. But the fact is Joseph Surface is

Writing Novel A novel is a fictional story which reflects the life of people. A novel writer creates fictional or imaginary characters and explores great themes in his novel. Some of the themes identified by a novelists are betrayal, love, revenge, loneliness, self-discovery.  Three essential things to write a novel are ·                  Imagination ·                  Craftsmanship ·                  Determination The basic structure of a novel is conflict or struggle. A novel decries the frailities and weakness of people. It doesn’t talk about happy and contended people. Angus Wilson claims “The impulse to write a novel comes from a momentary unified vision of life”. A fictional writer shapes his bitter and sweet experience. His first novel tends to be autobiographical. A novelist should be dare enough to explore the modern world fearlessly. He should select the central character of the story. First Person narration “ I “ A novel writer uses first pers

Script Writer Writing a script is a unique role in the world of drama. This unique role is performed by Scriptwriters who write and develop screenplays for film or TV drama. They are  talented people in creating  characters, dialogue and writing  plot. They collaborate with producers, directors and actors to draft and redraft their script.. A Scriptwriter is accountable for explaining the story in detail with the things happening around the character. They write alone to develop their scripts. These writers are solitary creators who enjoys artistic freedom to express their thoughts and ideas. To write plays, a script writer must consider the limited staging area and the fact that most of the story is told in dialog.  Alfred Hitchcock said,           “To make a great film you need three things — the script, the script, and the script.” A script writer is a keen observer of mankind. He pays great attention to people’s behaviour and speech. He can draw inspiration f

At the Church Door -         Guy De Maupassant Guy De Maupassant is a prolific French Writer. He was influenced by a French writer Flaubert. His short story “At the Church Door” reflects real life and real people. This story is about a worried couple who have lost their son 20yrs before. The theme of this story is parent love for their children. The story centers around a Wheelwright and his wife. Both are looking for a peaceful and happy life. The only comfort is Jean, their son. Jean was born to them after a long period. Their life gets scattered when they discover their son missing at the age of five. Unable to bear the loss of their son both gathered all their wealth and went in search of him. They travelled to different places for around twenty years in search of Jean. Hearing to the advice of an innkeeper both travel to the crowded city, Paris.  They often stood in front of a church door. The Parish priest appoints the Wheel wright at the church door. The