Posts

Showing posts from December, 2018

Twilight in Delhi: A critical Review

Image
Ahmad Ali ’s Twilight in Delhi is a marvelous novel. It brings before our eyes a true “ motion-picture” of how the Muslims of the sub-continent used to live their religious, social, cultural, single and collective life during the tumultuous years of 1857-1919 .                     Another important thing to note is that, Ahmad Ali shows us all the positive as well as negative aspects of the Muslim Cultural life of sub-continent. So there is no taboo binding the hands of the writer to omit this or that part of the life : he presents life as a whole in all its aspects and colors.                     The details of Mehro’s marriage with Meraj , the son of Bhopal millionaire, added with the details of Mushtari Bai and Babban Jan , provide ample proof for our statements in this respect. We also find details of two pastimes that were very popular at those times among the gentlemen and others: pigeon-flying and kite-flying .                    There would be only a few such cities in

Romantic poetry

Image
☸. Background Romanticism  is the name given to a dominant movement in literature and the other arts – particularly music and painting – in the the period from the 1770s to the mid-nineteenth century: It is regarded as having  transformed artistic styles and practices.  Like many other terms applied to movements in the arts, the word covers a  wide and varied range  of artists and practicesIt is  a retrospective term , applied by later literary, art and musical historians. None of the artists we refer to as Romantics would have so described themselvesIt was a  European  phenomenon, particularly powerful in Britain, France and Germany, but also affecting countries such as Italy, Spain and Poland. There was also, to some extent, an American version of the movement. ☸. Reaction to earlier age Like many other literary movements, it developed in reaction to the dominant style of the preceding period : The eighteenth century is often described by literary historians as the  Augustan Age

Black day Pakistan

Image
Background: In June 2014, a joint military offensive was conducted by the  Pakistan Armed Forces   against various groups in  North Waziristan   which has been the site of a wave of violence. The military offensive,  Operation Zarb-e-Azb , was launched in the wake of the  8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi , for which the TTP claimed responsibility. It is part of the ongoing  war in North-West Pakistan  in which more than 2,100 have been killed so far,  and, according to the Army, almost 90% of  North Waziristan  has been cleared. Incident: On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the  Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan  (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the  Army Public School  in the northwestern Pakistani city of  Peshawar . The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, included one  Chechen , three Arabs and two  Afghans . They entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren, ranging bet

Brief History of English Literature

Image
History of English literature is divided into following periods: 1.Old or Anglo Saxon literature. 2.Middle English literature. 3.Elizabethan literature. 4.The age of Milton. 5.Restoration drama. 6.Neoclassicism. 7.Romanticism. 8.The Victorian period. 9.The twentieth century (modern). 10.Post modernism (present) . 1. Old English literature: (600-1100): The greatest old English poem called 'Beowulf ' whose author is unknown. The old English authors, are known by name are Caedmon , the author of a short Hymn and Cynewulf the author of four long poems. 2.Middle English literature :(1100-1500) ☣ Poetry:   the most important poet of the time is Geoffrey Chaucer , his greatest work is Canterbury tales. ☣ Drama: The three main types of medieval  drama are mystery plays about Biblical stories, miracle plays about the lives of saints and the miracles the performed , and morality plays , in which character s personify moral qualities such as charity or vice. 3.Eliza

Verb

Image
⭕ Verb: A verb is a word or group of word (phrase) that is used to describe an action, state or occurrence. ⚜ Role of Verb in a sentence: Verb forms the main part of the predicate of a sentence. Every complete sentence must have a verb. ⚜ Verbs are: ✏. Action: read, do, walk, bring, run, learn, eat etc. ✏. State: be, exist, stand etc. Occurrence: happen, become etc. Example: He is a good man. (Using the most common to be verb) - We learn from the Web. - She speaks in English. - Rimi is thinking about the incident. Verbs change their form based on time/tense (past, present, and future), person (first person, second person, and third person), number (singular, plural), voice (active and passive) etc . ⚜ Kinds of Verb: Firstly verb is divided into two categories: i.    Principal or Lexical or Main Verb ii .   Auxiliary or Helping Verb i. Principal or Lexical Verb: Verbs which are used independently without help of other verbs are called Principal or Main verb. Examp

Symbolism in "To the Lighthouse"

Image
Introduction : Symbolism , in general, is the presentation of objects, moods and ideas through the medium of emblems or symbols .  At the end of the nineteenth century in France and Belgium the symbolists were members of a school of literature and music that rebelled against realism and also against the conventional in form and sought to express themselves by indirect rather than direct suggestion. In literature when words are invested with the suggestion of concealed spiritual and intellectual significance, they become symbols . Words then suggest much more than is conveyed by their literal meaning. As a novelist Virginia Woolf’s main purpose was to look within and ‘convey this varying, this unknown and uncircumscribed spirit’, hence she has to make extensive use of symbols in her “stream of consciousness ” novels including To The Lighthouse.  In fact imagery permeates and symbolism pervades the whole of To The Lighthouse. The title of the novel, To The Lighthouse, is symbolic.

Terminology in Post colonial literature

Image
Terms and concepts used in postcolonial theory and literature are enlisted in here, in brief: 1) Discoures: discourse means any thought communicated by speech; but according to Foucault, discourse is the material menifestation of a thought that is preserved, transmitted and still affects our present day thinking. 2) Eurocentric: Eurocentric means Europe is the source of all knowledge. Postcolonial theroy used this term to denote the marginality of ‘Other literature. 3) Foregrounding: It means cousidering significant. Post colonial theory fore grounds the ‘Other’ literature. 4) Hegemony: hegemony refers to power and control (indirect) in Marxist criticism. 5) Hybridity: The term stands for mixture, intermingling of different cultures. It is syncreticism and multiculturalism. 6) Intertexuality: Every work contains the bits or some factors of other work can be called intertextuality. 7) Marginality: Marginal means of secondary, subimportant. In postelonial theory Europe is t

Top 100 Phobias

Image
Following are the top 100 phobias in the world, with the most common ones listed from the top. 1. Arachnophobia – The fear of spiders affects women four times more (48% women and 12% men). 2. Ophidiophobia – The fear of snakes . Phobics avoid certain cities because they have more snakes. 3. Acrophobia – The fear of heights . Five percent of the general population suffer from this phobia. 4. Agoraphobia – The fear of open or crowded spaces. People with this fear often wont leave home. 5. Cynophobia – The fear of dogs . This includes everything from small Poodles to large Great Danes. 6. Astraphobia – The fear of thunder/lightning AKA Brontophobia, Tonitrophobia , Ceraunophobia. 7. Claustrophobia – The fear of small spaces like elevators, small rooms and other enclosed spaces. 8. Mysophobia – The fear of germs. It is also rightly termed as Germophobia or Bacterophobia. 9. Aerophobia – The fear of flying . 25 million Americans share a fear of flying. 10. Trypophobia – The

The differences between colonialism and post colonialism

Image
The differences between colonialism and post colonialism : ⭕ Background: Colonialism and  Post colonialism  refer to certain periods in history relative to the countries being discussed. Colonialism is discussed as the history of imperial expansion and colonization which was generally initiated during the age of exploration. Colonialism is usually named as a European domination of American, African and Asian lands. This is true, but this could also include examples like the Roman and Persian empires. Empires that have taken over other countries have often established colonies as a way of staking out territory. In literary analysis , colonialism refers to literature and criticism dealing with the periods of colonization. This can be from the perspective of the colonized or the colonizers. Post colonialism refers to the time after these colonized nations have become independent. A post colonial analysis of historical or literary documents usually focuses on the challenges f