Catharsis

CATHARSIS
Here i would briefly discus about the term ''Catharsis''

Sometimes I like to watch a movie or read a book that I know is going to make me cry...

Why do we seek out literature and other entertainment that makes us so sad? It seems like crying is something we would like to avoid if we could, but instead, we feel kind of good and refreshed afterwards.

Aristotle called this kind of experience catharsis - when literature provides strong emotional experiences that ultimately result in a sense of purification. Like a toddler playing quietly after a tantrum, tragedy (and comedy) can make us feel cleansed of emotions.

While Aristotle was speaking specifically about catharsis and theater, we know that all types of art can make us feel deeply, from Shakespeare's tragedies to blockbuster movies to the vivid paintings of Marc Rothko. We seek those feelings out because they make us feel good in the end, even if they make us feel sad first......

PARADISE LOST BY JOHN MILTON reference to context

PARADISE LOST BY JOHN MILTON
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all.

Regions of sorrow, ......... that comes to all.

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Paradise Lost

(ii) Poet: John Milton
CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: Book I (Lines 65-67/798)

(ii) Content:

Satan lies dazed in a lake of fire that is totally dark. Next to him is Beelzebub, Satan's second-in-command. Satan speaks to him and laments their current state. Satan suggests that they should leave the burning lake and find shelter on a distant shore. Beelzebub asks Satan to summon his armies. Satan takes up his armor and calls to his legions to join him on land. He addresses his legions and commits himself to continue his fight against God. With their supernatural powers, the devils construct a massive temple, Pandemonium, for meetings.

EXPLANATION

In these lines the poet describes the utter despondency of Satan in Hell. Satan and his cohorts, after their revolt against God, were cast down from Heaven to Hell. They lay unconscious in the fiery lake of Hell for nine days. When consciousness recovered, Satan observes that the region in which they are imprisoned is a horrible, round and fiery dungeon like a great furnace. It is a region of permanent sorrow, misery and suffering. Not a single ray of sun reaches down here; it has "doleful shades", i.e. its utter darkness evokes only sadness. Moreover, there is never a chance of peace and rest here. Above all, hope which comes to all beings is totally absent. It is because hope comes from God, hope is in God and they have revolted against God. Thus there is never a possibility of release for them from Hell. "Hope never comes" is a deliberate echo of Dante's Inferno 3.9: "All hope abandon, ye who enter in!" In short, the Hell described by the poet in these lines is full of endless sorrow, darkness, restlessness and hopelessness.

PARADISE LOST BY JOHN Milton
A dungeon horrible, on all sided round,
As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sights of woe.

A dungeon horrible, .......... sights of woe.

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Paradise Lost

(ii) Poet: John Milton

CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: Book I (Lines 61-64/798)

(ii) Content:

Satan lies dazed in a lake of fire that is totally dark. Next to him is Beelzebub, Satan's second-in-command. Satan speaks to him and laments their current state. Satan suggests that they should leave the burning lake and find shelter on a distant shore. Beelzebub asks Satan to summon his armies. Satan takes up his armor and calls to his legions to join him on land. He addresses his legions and commits himself to continue his fight against God. With their supernatural powers, the devils construct a massive temple, Pandemonium, for meetings.

EXPLANATION

In these lines the poet portrays the traditional topography of Hell. Satan and his cohorts, after their revolt against God, were cast down from Heaven to Hell. They lay unconscious in the fiery lake of Hell for nine day. When consciousness recovered, Satan observes that the region in which they are imprisoned is a horrible, round and fiery dungeon like a great furnace. This simile conjures up the image of the lake of Hell very clear. Satan notices that in Hell there is fire, but no light; it is utter darkness, darkness in extremity, without any remainder, or mixture, or hope of light. It is the blackness of darkness forever. The poet is here using the universal symbolism of light and dark to indicate good and evil. Satan, before his fall, as Lucifer was the brightest of all the angels; as he becomes progressively more evil after his fall, he gradually loses all of his brightness. Satan concludes that these fires would never go and the torture would never end. In short, the Hell described by the poet in these lines is a horrible, fiery and murky region of woe and suffering.

PARADISE LOST BY JOHN MILTON
Nine times the space that measures day and night
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf,
Confounded though immortal.

Nine times the space .......... though immortal.

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Paradise Lost

(ii) Poet: John Milton

CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: Book I (Lines 50-53/798)

(ii) Content:

Satan lies dazed in a lake of fire that is totally dark. Next to him is Beelzebub, Satan's second-in-command. Satan speaks to him and laments their current state. Satan suggests that they should leave the burning lake and find shelter on a distant shore. Beelzebub asks Satan to summon his armies. Satan takes up his armor and calls to his legions to join him on land. He addresses his legions and commits himself to continue his fight against God. With their supernatural powers, the devils construct a massive temple, Pandemonium, for meetings.

EXPLANATION

In these lines the poet portrays the scene of the fiery lake of Hell where Satan and his cohorts lay unconscious for nine days. Satan and other rebel angles, after their revolt against God, were thrown from Heaven to Hell. In Hesiod's Theogony, the Titans take a similar fall at the hands of Zeus. Interestingly, though Milton alludes to the fall of the Titans here, he likens their nine-day fall, not to the fall of the rebel angels, but to the time they spend in the flaming lake of Hell after their fall. "Horrid crew" means the dreadful and hideous followers of Satan. The word "horrid" permeates the whole poem; "horrid Vale", "horrid silence", "horrid Kings", "horrid crew" and so forth. Satan and his "horrid crew" lay defeated thoroughly in the flaming waves of the lake of Hell. They lay unconscious, rolling like dismasted hulks. However, they were dammed "immortal". They did not die and remained alive. In short, God Almighty put Satan and other rebel angels into a state of dormancy in the flaming lake of Hell for nine days.

PARADISE LOST BY JOHN MILTON
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us.

Of Man's first disobedience, .......... restore us.

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Paradise Lost

(ii) Poet: John Milton

CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: Book I (Lines 1-5/798)

(ii) Content:

Satan lies dazed in a lake of fire that is totally dark. Next to him is Beelzebub, Satan's second-in-command. Satan speaks to him and laments their current state. Satan suggests that they should leave the burning lake and find shelter on a distant shore. Beelzebub asks Satan to summon his armies. Satan takes up his armor and calls to his legions to join him on land. He addresses his legions and commits himself to continue his fight against God. With their supernatural powers, the devils construct a massive temple, Pandemonium, for meetings.

EXPLANATION

In these lines the poet describes Man's first disobedience, his exile from Eden, and his eventual redemption through Jesus Christ. The word "of" is a generative case. It echoes how the events described in the work brought forth the rest of mankind as we know it today. The words "Man's first disobedience" foretell the theme of the poem. In the Western traditions, the very first line or even words of the poem are often used as a sort of a frame; the essence of the work, the main theme and pivot. Thus the Iliad begins with "Anger (menis) of Achilles", the Odyssey with "The ingenious (polu-tropos) man" and Dante's Divine Comedy with "Midway on the road of our life". "Forbidden Tree" is a reference, obviously, to Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden to eat the forbidden fruit. When they relished the "mortal taste" of this fruit; sin, mortality and woe entered the world, and they were cast out of Paradise. Fortunately, "One greater Man", which is an implicit reference to Jesus, came and saved humanity.

IS IT POSSIBLE BY SIR THOMAS WYATT
All is possible
Who so list believe.
Trust therefore first, and after preve,

All is possible .........., and after preve,

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Is it Possible

(ii) Poet: Sir Thomas Wyatt

CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: End of the Poem (Lines 26-28/30)

(ii) Content:

The poet speaks directly to a lady he has had a close relationship with. He wonders how their relationship ends with such sharp quarrel. However, they decide to end their quarrel by putting an end to their love. His love is converted into hate. He emphasizes the idea of unpredictability and changeability of women's emotions by comparing his beloved to a wind or weather. He also mentions that the relationship between him and his beloved is something like playing a dice game, based on chance and luck. Finally, he advises all men to trust women first before loving them.

EXPLANATION

In these lines the poet advises that one should not be swayed by the feelings of heart and be very cautious before loving someone. The phrase "All is possible" suggests that the poet has come into a state of confinement and consolation. After questioning through the poem as to how could his lover reject his love, the poet comes out of the wondering thoughts. He is trying to come to terms with the reality which is that he has lost his love and there is no way to get it back now. He here claims that it is possible for love to turn hostile. It is possible that the feelings of love can transform into hatred after they have reached a peak. He admits that it is quite possible that love does not show up as you expect and want it to. "Whoso list believe" means whoever wants to love must believe in his words: "trust therefore first, and after preve". He wants to say that love cannot exist without trust. Trust is worth more than love. In short, it is very important to trust someone before loving them.

RETURN OF THE NATIVE BY THOMAS HARDY

RETURN OF THE NATIVE BY THOMAS HARDY

 YEAR 2003

Attempt any FOUR questions. All questions carry equal marks. 

To what extent do you think are Fate and Chance an integral part of the tragedy in Hardy's work The Return of the Native? 

7. Write critical notes on any TWO of the following subjects:

(ii) Hardy's Tragic Vision

. YEAR 2004

How far may Hardy's The Return of the Native be described as a study in disillusionment?

Write critical notes on any TWO of the following topics:
(i) Nature as a Backdrop in Hardy's Novels

 YEAR 2005

 Through a series of events over which Clym has very little control, he come to feel responsible for the deaths of his mother and wife. Discuss.

 Write critical notes on any TWO of the following topics:

Edgon Heath symbolizes the whole cosmic order in which man is but an insignificant particle

 YEAR 2006

Clym's blindness is a physical manifestation, a symbol of his intellectual obtuseness or social maladjustment. Discuss.

 The Role of Fate and Destiny in Hardy's Novels

 YEAR 2007

 Do you agree with Hardy that fate or destiny is indifferent and often hostile to human happiness?

 YEAR 2008

1."Hardy's minor characters are grouped together without being fully individualized". Discuss.
2. Hardy related human disasters to weakness and lack of will. He is not a fatalist. Discuss.

 YEAR 2009

 "Hardy's minor characters are rich in the gathered wisdom of ancient days have have learnt to endure and accept." Substantiate with reference to Return of the Native

. Write critical notes on any TWO of the following:
(i) The Element of Chance in Hardy's Return of the Native

 YEAR 2010

 Critically examine the significance of Egdon Heath in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native.

 Hardy's Pessimism

 YEAR 2011

 "The presence of the vast passionless heath puts the human movements into perspective as the senseless hurrying of arts". Discuss with reference to Thomas Hardy's presentation of Egdon Heath in Return of the Native.

 Write critical notes on any TWO of the following:
(i) Hardy's Fatalism

 YEAR 2012

1.Discuss the fatalistic elements in Hardy's Return of the Native and highlight other elements of his vision.
2. Egdon Heath is a symbol of an indifferent universe. Do you agree?

 YEAR 2013

 1.'Eustacia Vye is a born romantic of odds with her environment'. Discuss with reference to Hardy's Return of the Native.
2. Hardy's chief weakness in plot arises from the view of causality. Substantiate with reference to Return of the Native.

 YEAR 2014

 "Though born on the Heath, Eustacia was emotionally alien to it." Comment.

Thomas Hardy's Concept of Tragedy

 YEAR 2015

1.To what extent is Eustacia Vye responsible for the tragedy in Hardy's "The Return of the Native"?

 2.What role do superstitions, pagan culture and fantasy play in Hardy's "The Return of the Native?

Write critical notes on any TWO of the following:

(i) The Role of Nature in Hardy's "The Return of the Native"

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Discuss the kinds and causes of Language change inHistorical Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Synchronic linguistics studies a language's form at a fixed time in history, past or present. Diachronic, or historical, linguistics, on the other hand, investigates the way a language changes over time. The origin, growth and development of language is an important event in the life of the human race. Linguistics deals with this event.

The diachronic or historical linguistics is chiefly concerned with the growth of various languages or language as a whole through different periods of history. It divides this growth into different periods of progress, and describes them in its own manner. The various linguistic changes— phonological, grammatical and semantic—that have occurred in the past, are recorded in it. Just as history studies past events and happenings to throw light on the present social and political conditions, so linguistics studies changes and occurrences in language in the past so as to throw a light on, or account for, its present state. History is concerned with human beings; and so is language and linguistics. Thus, Linguistics and History are similar and thus become Historical Linguistics. It also forms a Typology – the classification of languages into different types; to find out how languages have developed; three areas of Comparative Historical Linguistics are of interest: Language Changes, Language Borrowings and Establishment of Language Families.  The purpose of Historical linguistics has been summed by Saussure:

“Describe and trace the history of all observable languages and finding their families. To determine the forces at work in languages and deduce and the general laws to which all specific historical phenomenon can be reduced (language universals)”

Change is the law of Nature. Everything that exists on this earth, including human life and society, changes. Language changes because the society in which it is used, changes. Language is never static or stagnant. It is always in a state of flux which involves change. Change is inevitable in language but language changes are frequent, gradual, and often abrupt. What are the causes of change? The individual as well as society play a part in language change. The speech habits of one generation are based on those of the earlier one, and a change is likely to occur during the course of the acquisition of these habits by others. The rise of new concepts and discover) of new objects cause changes in the vocabulary, structure and sounds of a language. Geographical conditions also affect changes in the sound of a language.  Language changes because new concepts and discoveries are born, a huge migration takes place, a prestige is required so language is molded to suit new trends and also language changes because man is accustomed to least effort in speaking.  There are usually five types of changes in language: phonological, morphological, syntactical, semantic and lexical.

Phonological Change: One of the major sound changes in the history of the English language is the so-called Great Vowel Shift. In Middle English, spoken from 1100 to 1500, the word house was pronounced with the vowel sound of the modern English word boot, while boot was pronounced with the vowel sound of the modern English boat. The change that affected the pronunciation of house also affected the vowels of mouse, louse, and mouth. This illustrates an important principle of sound change. 

Morphological Change: An ongoing morphological change in English is the loss of the distinction between the nominative, or subject, form who and the accusative, or object, form whom. English speakers use both the who and whom forms for the object of a sentence, saying both “Who did you see?” and “Whom did you see?” The modern English word ‘stone’ has only three additional forms: the genitive singular ‘stone's’, the plural ‘stones’, and the genitive plural stones'. All three have the same pronunciation. In Old English they were different: stan, stanes, stanas, and stana, respectively. In addition, after certain prepositions, as in under stanum (under stones). 

Syntactic Change: In modern English, the basic word order is subject-verb-object, as in the sentence “I know John.” The only other possible word order is object-subject-verb, as in “John I know (but Mary I don't).” Old English, by contrast, allowed all possible word order permutations, including subject-object-verb, as in Gif hie ænigne feld secan wolden, literally meaning “If they any field to seek wished.” Semantic and Lexical Change: In Middle English, the word nice usually had the meaning “foolish,” and sometimes “shy,” but never the modern meaning “pleasant.” Change in the meanings of words is semantic and can be viewed as part of the more general phenomenon of lexical change, or change in a language's vocabulary.

Historical Linguistics is the study of how languages change over time and the relationship among different languages. Historical Linguistics studies the process of language change, the ‘genetic’ relationship between languages and how best to classify languages into groups. Using biological analogy, the linguist studies that languages are genetically related and are called a Language Family

Culture and Imperialism" By Edward Said PAST PAPERS

 Culture and Imperialism" By Edward Said

YEAR 2003

 What, according to Edward Said, is culture and what, imperialism and how does he relate the two?

 YEAR 2004

To how many classical English novelists does Edward Said refer in his introduction to cultural and imperialism; in what context and a what purpose. 

 YEAR 2006

 How far has Edward Said succeeded in stripping the mask from the ugly face of Imperialism? Elaborate with special reference to his Introduction to Culture and Imperialism

 YEAR 2007

What is the main crux of Edward Said's contention in his introduction to 'Culture and Imperialism'?

 YEAR 2008

What evidence does Edward Said produce to condemn Imperialism as an evil?

 YEAR 2009

Highlight the main points that Edward Said makes in the introduction to 'Culture and Imperialism'

YEAR 2010

What does Edward Said men when he talks of the dominating and the dominated cultures? Is it still the same

 YEAR 2011

How powerfully has Said presented the case of colonised nations in his 'An Introduction to Culture and Imperialism"?

YEAR 2012

 Explain the central thesis of "Culture and Imperialism".

YEAR 2013

How does Edward Said prove that imperialism goes beyond political and economic domination and stays in the most subtle way in culture?

YEAR 2014

Discuss in detail Edward Said's arguments about how culture is used to promote interests of Imperial Powers.

YEAR 2015

 How can we resist cultural imperialism in the modern times. Take Said's theoretical position and develop your own narrative of resistance.

YEAR 2016

. Explain the idea of culture as a protective enclosure and its political implications 

as theorized by Said in “Culture and Imperialism”.
2017a
Q. What evidence did Edward Said produce to condemn imperialism as an evil?

2017supply
Q. Discuss the relationship between narratives, culture and imperialism. 

2018a
Q. Culture and imperialism demonstrates that western Imperialism's most effective tools for dominating other cultures have been literary in nature as much as political and economic. Discuss 

2018supply 
Q. What does Said mean by telling your narrative and blocking other's narratives.

2019a
Q. What does Said mean by the phrase "blocking the others' narratives " Discuss by giving concrete examples from literary texts or human history.

2019supply 

Q. Can Literary narratives be apolitical? Discuss with reference to your reading of Edward Said.

University of Sargodha  past papers

1. What is the place of Edward said as a political thinker in 20th century?

2. How far has Edward said succeeded in stripping the mask from the ugly face of imperialism? 

3. For what purpose does said quote some of the classical novelists and writers in his book ' Introduction to Culture and imperialism "? 

4. How can cultural integrity be maintained according to Edward said? 

5. Evaluate Edward said' s view on" Cub-are and Imperialism " and discuss their merits and demerits. 

6. Discuss Edwars saids views on" American imperator". 

7. Edward said tried to solve the dile of Palestinians identity. How far was he successful?

8. Disscuss Edward said vs view on "American Imperator".

9. What is culture and what is imperialism and how dies Edward said relate the two?

10. How does imperialism effects the culture of colonized nation? Discuss Said's views IN this regard.

11. What does Edward said means when he talks of the dominating and the dominated cultures? Is it still the same?

“The Redress of Poetry” BY SEAMUS HENEY PAST PAPERS

“The Redress of Poetry” BY SEAMUS HENEY PAST PAPERS 

Redress of poetry

2019

Q. Why have the theorists over centuries been defensive against Plato on the subject of poetry. What redressal power does Heaney find in poetry?

 

2019supply

Q. In the present day world where the digital reality shapes our sense of being, How could poetry redress? Drawing on Heaney, make a case for or against the statement.

Q. Discuss Heaney's prose style.

2017

Q. What is a hackler and how does Heaney respond to him in “The Redress of Poetry”.

 

2017supply

Q. Poetry will never become irrelevant. Discuss with reference to Heaney.

 

2018

Q. What is the nature of redressal power of poetry in Heaney?

 

2018supply

Q. How does Heaney deal with the hackler in his essays to establish the redressal power of poetry.

 

YEAR 2016/S

 In “The Redress of Poetry”, Heaney is confronted with the dilemma of defining 

 Poetry is modern times. Build a case for a against the statement.

YEAR 2015

 Is it the function of the poet to redress through poetry? What are your views?

 YEAR 2014

How does Seamus Heaney prove in the essay "The Redress of Poetry" that poetry brings human existence into a fuller life?

YEAR 2013

 How does Seamus Heaney prove in The Redress of Poetry that the co-ordinates of the imagined thing correspond to and allow us to contemplate the complex burden of our own experience?

YEAR 2012

 According to Heaney, poetry should aim at an "inclusive consciousness". What examples of such poetry does he include in "The Redress of Poetry"?

YEAR 2011

 Can we take 'Redress of Poetry' by Heaney as yet another defense of poetry in the long row of such books, or is it something different, something more elaborate, something more eloquent?

YEAR 2010

 Does poetry really balance and counterweight even in the present day world as claimed by Seamus Heaney in his 'Redress of Poetry'?

 YEAR 2009

 Poetry will never become irrelevant. What case does Seamus Heaney make out in this regard in his 'Redress of Poetry'?

 YEAR 2008

How does poetry, according to Seamus Heaney, redress social, economic and cultural ills?

 YEAR 2007

Seamus Heaney not only theorizes but also illustrates and substantiates his contention. Elaborate.

 YEAR 2006

Poetry is as much relevant as ever even in this highly industrialized age of ours. Discuss with reference to Seamus Heaney.

 YEAR 2005

 Do you think Seamus Heaney has succeeded in making out a good cause in favour of poetry in this post modern age of ours?

 YEAR 2004

Write your own view of poetry in the light of Seamus Heaney's views.

Chaucer as a Modern Poet

Chaucer as a Modern Poet

When we make a careful and critical analysis of Chaucer’s poetry, we arrive at a definite conclusion that sympathy, realism, intelligence, straight forwardness, humor, irony, satire and keen observation are salient features of Chaucer’s literary works. He enchants the reader by his lovely diction, his description and narrative power and the graceful movement of his verse. He is the founder of pure pimple and musical style of writing verses, which was later on followed by Spencer, Shakespeare and Milton.

Chaucer is regarded as the father of English poetry and the earliest of the great modernism. In those, dark days when light of modernism was not visible on the horizon, Chaucer anticipated the modern taste and the modern mind and in his poetry, he introduces qualities of advanced age. Though Chaucer has not written a drama or a novel as we know it, yet his works contain the seed of modern drama and novel. If he had lived a few years, he would certainly have been our first dramatist and novelist, just as we know he is the first true national poet of England.

Chaucer made several great contributions to English poetry and his debt is so large that it can never be repaired even by the most exalted panegyrics that may be written for him .Chaucer has enlarged the scope and range of the poetry and has observed life minutely around him. He has not only made narration on art but also has given a new shape to language and versification. All these qualities make Chaucer a modern poet and his poetry immortal and evergreen. The main qualities, which make Chaucer a modern poet, are as numerated:

1. National Poet

Chaucer was the first great national poet of England giving full expression to the new hopes and aspiration of the people of his times. He voiced through his poetry the nationalism and unity which bad been brought about by the fusion of the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. The growing influences of France was checked and for the first time a poet in the national language of England gave expression to the life, ideals and aspiration of the people of the fourteenth century.

2. Observation and Realism

Modern poetry is characterized by realism. A modern poet is a keen tendency of his time, which is being put by him in his poetry. This modern note of realism was sounded by Chaucer long age in the fourteenth century. He has the Seeing Eye, the retentive memory, the judgment to select and the capacity to expound. He is gifted with unusual keen observation and his penetrating eye spares nothing, which remains hidden from our eyes.
3. Descriptions
Chaucer’s best descriptions of men, manners and places are of the first rank in their beauty, impressiveness and humor. His power of describing his fellowmen with all their merits and demerits, their tastes and temperaments is unique and “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales”, is a picture gallery bringing in its scope all the classes of people ranging from the Knight to The Miller and The Cook.

4. Narrative Art

Chaucer is a supreme storyteller in verse and he has made a notable contribution to the art of story telling. In. his stories, the narration inspite of many digression and philosophical reflections is straightforward as well as unhampered. He not only infuses humour in his narration but also makes his stories life-like and living.

5. Characterization

Chaucer has made significant contribution to the art of characterization and he presents characters in a masterly manner. His characters are both individuals as well as types. They are timeless creation on a time-determined stage. The Knight, The Friar, The Pardoner, The Wife of Bath and The Doctor of Physic, all are living characters and have an external freshness about them.

6. Humour

In the literature of the fourteenth century when so few poets seem to have any perception of fun in life, Chaucer’s humour is invigorating and delightful. His genial humour cuts across barriers of time, customs, language and idiom and refreshes and exhilarates us like a tonic.

7. Love for fresh out-door life

An especially charming feature of his poetry is its freshness and out-of-doors atmosphere. This quality makes him not only a modern poet but also his poetry universal.

8. Elements of Novel and Drama

Chaucer's contribution towards novel and drama can never be ignored. The elements of both drama and novel are a part and parcel of Chaucer’s writings. The wonderful style of characterization dialogues and story not only give a dramatic shape to its writings but also give them an ever-lasting life. On the other hand, the tales with their atmosphere are also novels in miniature and “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales” is the prologue to the modern age.

9. Contribution to Language and Versification

Chaucer made notable contribution to English language and versification. In 1360 English was split in four dialects. Chaucer popularized and reshaped the east Midland dialect and gave it the form of standard language. It was a great service rendered by Chaucer and only a poet of great caliber could perform such a task.

In the light of above mentioned we can conclude that Chaucer was a genius born at a time when lights were hazy. By the alembic of his genius, he created something of lasting and permanent value in literature. After Chaucer follows a century of arid barrenness and supremacy and greatness of the poet become apparent when we view him in the light of his followers.

John Donne Past papers

John Donne  Past papers

Year 2015

1."Images can be used in two ways, as simile or as metaphor: simile compares, but metaphor feigns the identity of the objects". Is this definition application to Donne's poems in your course?

2. Write a critical note on the following;

(i) So Cruel Prison

(ii) Imagery in Donne

Year 2014

Discuss Donne's treatment of women in his poetry. (Donne's Poetry)

2013

Discuss Donne as a metaphysical poet.

2012

What is Donne's attitude towards women? Discuss in detail with 

reference to his love poems in your syllabus.

2011

•  Write a critical note on Donne's use of hyperbole and paradox in his poems.
• Write a critical analysis of the following poems:

(i) The Sun Rising

(ii) A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

2010

Discuss in detail Donne's metaphysical images in his love poems and their significance.

2009

 Discuss the variety of Moods in which Donne treats love in his love poetry.

2008

'Donne's love lyrics spring not only from a strong and ingenious head but also from a passionate heart." Discuss.

2007

 Discuss Donne as poet of love OR
Write a comprehensive note on Donne's use of conceit.

2006

Discuss Donne as a Metaphysical poet.

2005

"Donne's Monarchy of wit was not a trick or fashion but one of the greatest achievements of the poetic intelligence." Discuss the appropriateness of this remark by Leishman.

2004

 Discuss the variety of Moods in which Donne treats Love in his love poetry.

Edward Said's Prose Style

Edward Said's Prose Style

Introduction

     Style is a fundamental aspect of prose. It is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement which work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. Style describes how the author describes events, objects, and ideas. An author's style is what sets his or her writing apart and makes it unique. Edward Said is a distinguished prose writer of 21st century. Most of his writings are about discourses of imperialism, Islam, Palestinian colonization by Israel and music. Said's style of writing can be studied in thematic analysis of his essays and books. Paradoxical nature of identity, celebration of of exile, repetition of ideas, writer as theorist, interrogative introduction, imperialistic allusions, musicality of text and coining new terms are the salient features of Said's prose style.  

1. The Paradoxical Position

     As critic, political commentator, literary and cultural theorist or New York citizen, Edward Said demonstrates the often paradoxical nature of identity in an increasingly migratory and globalized world. In him, we find a person located in a tangle of cultural and theoretical contradictions: contradictions between his political voice and professional position; contradictions between the different ways in which he has been read; contradictions in the way he is located in the academy. The intimate connection between Said's identity and his cultural theory, and the paradoxes these reveal, show us something about the constructedness and complexity of cultural identity itself. 

2. Celebration of Exile

     Said deliberately celebrates exile in his prose. Whatever he writes, we see an intangible effect of nostalgia and thrust for rootlessness, because of all the trauma and pain of homelessness he has suffered. This places the exile in a singular position with regard to history and society, but also in a much more anxious and ambivalent position with regard to culture: "Exile ... is 'a mind of winter' in which the pathos of summer and autumn as much as the potential of spring are nearby but unobtainable. Perhaps this is another way of saying that a life of exile moves according to a different calendar, and is less seasonal and settled than life at home. Exile is life led outside habitual order. It is nomadic, decentered, contrapuntal; but no sooner does one get accustomed to it than its unsettling force erupts anew."

3. Repetition of Ideas

     Another important feature of Edward Said's writing is repetition of ideas. Repetition imposes certain constraints upon the interpretation of the text; it historicizes the text as something which originates in the world, which insists upon its own being. Said's work constantly rehearses the features of his own peculiar academic and cultural location, or the 'text' of his own life -- exile, politicization, the living of two lives, the insistent questions of identity, and the passionate defense of Palestine. All his essays in one or other way talk about same thing even he keeps stressing on one thing in one essay. For example his essays like "Islam as News" and "Orientalism" talk in a language of "binary opposition" to undermine the western culture and imperialism and its operation in the entire globe. 

4. Writer As Theorist

     Out of the issue of Palestine grows one of the most important themes in Said's theory -- the role of the intellectual. From the position of a professional literary theorist established in the elite academic environment of Columbia University, Said has been required to adopt the role of a spokesperson, called out to talk about political issues for which he had no special qualification. This confirmed his belief in the value of amateurism, but much more than that it gave him a vision of the importance of exile in empowering the intellectual to be detached from partisan politics in order to 'speak truth to power'. The sense of 'non-belonging' has confirmed his own sense that the public intellectual needs to speak from the margin. It is his unique characteristic of being a prose writer whom invents new positions and roles for a writer than just being a critic. 

5. Interrogative Introduction

     The style of Said seems to be discursive, conversational and even repetitive, but his writings are quite thought provoking. The most striking feature of his essays is that he begins his essay with a questions like statement to set a course of discussion in the mind of reader. In Representations of the Intellectual, while discussing the role of an intellectual, Said poses an important questioning the beginning: how far should an intellectual go in getting involved? Is is possible to join a party or faction and retain a semblance of independence? This question asking style has positioned Said's writings at a unique height of literary canon. 

6. Imperialistic Allusions From Literature

     In Said's writing while talking about relation between imperialism, colonization and culture we come across references of different Victorian novels like Robinson Crusoe, Great Expectations, Heart of Darkness and Mansfield Park to understand the underlined imperialist ideologies. Said believes that novel has been important in formation of imperialistic attitudes, references, and experiences, In Said's writing, novels are not the ones which caused imperialism, but that the novel is the cultural artifact of bourgeois society. He argues that the narratives of emancipation and enlightenment mobilized the people to rise against the yoke of imperialism. In short, illusions of previous time's fiction is a very striking feature of Said's writing. 

7. Musicality of Text

     Said was a music lover and a musician himself. Said was fascinated by the connection between memory and music, by how remembrances of things played, as he once put it, are enacted. Music for Said was inspiring. When he played Schubert's Fantasie in a film about him directed by Salem Brahimi, his face quivered with every note that his hands transported on the keyboard. Indeed, Said would always make connections and references to Palestine, even in his more esoteric essays about literature, theory, or music. Fantasie might also have served as a kind of premonition for Said that it would be his swansong, his passion for music always made him feel nostalgic about his past and homeland. Even in his text structure we see a very smooth pattern making his writing bit musical. 

8. Coining New Terms

     Said coined some useful terms like Orientalism and contrapuntal. In his book "Orientalism", Said defines orientalism as the acceptance in the West of "the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, mind,  destiny and so on". Borrowed from music, where it refers to the relationship between themes, the term "contrapuntal reading" is used by Edward Said in "Culture and Imperialism" to describe the relationship between narratives set in metropolitan centres, or at least in the countryside, of the dominant colonial nations such as England and France, and the colonies upon which the great powers depended for their wealth. 

Conclusion

     Edward Said's prose style is inspiring, generative and eloquent. For writers striving to create structures of clarity and meaning, Said has few competitors. He is different from all other prose writers in sense of content and text. The concepts which he deals with are not discussed by any other prose writer. Underneath the self-posturing verbiage there is an acute analytic mind at work. Said is not only a critic but a socialist and a reformer as well. By dealing with sensitive issues like colonization, imperialism and trying to counter Islamophobia presented by the West, he mostly focuses on themes. In short, the most prominent features of Said's prose style are his use of imperialistic illusions and coining of new terms.