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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Updated Notes

Explain the paradox in “The child is the father of the man”.
A paradox is a statement that seems to be absurd on contradictory but is or may be true. Generally we think the man is the father of the child because father is the source from which something originates. We know that the role of man is instrumental behind the birth of the child. A child can never produce a man, therefore the statement; “the child is the father of the man” is a paradoxical.
However the poet does not mean that a child can biologically produce a grown up man by the above statement he has expressed his opinion about the natural growth of a human being in which a child always develops into man. A man can never transform into child, child posses a seed like quality a seed develops into an autonomous tree and bears flowers and a fruit according to the seed similarly the man also inherits all the characteristics from its childhood a kind child manifests cruelty in its manhood. Thus, it can be said that “the child is the father of the man”.
 The statement also means present is the outcome of past the statement assured the poet about the continuity of the time and natural beauty. According to which if the rainbow is as beautiful as it was in the past, it will certainly remain equally beautiful in future too.

Look at a tea cup
Patricia Hampl

 Describe the teacup and saucer
Ans: The teacup and saucers were brought by Patricia Hampl’s mother in 1939. The cups were made in Czechoslovakia and each has a stamp ‘Czechoslovakia’ on the bottom. Each cup was made of finest china clay. The cup is water green in colour, which the essayist tells is even hard imagine. There are golden lines on cups’ edges on base and on the edges and inner circle of the saucer. There isn’t any other decoration outside the cups.
But the inner decorations make the cups special and supreme example of Czech art. There are flowers falling inside the cup. Those flowers do not seem pasted. They appear as if someone has shaken a bundle of flower and all the flowers are cut in motion. No two flowers are of same kind or colour. Neither any two of them are falling from same altitude. There is a golden circle inside the cups, which shine beneath the falling flowers. In short the cups and saucers are extremely beautiful, delicate and definite.

Mention the difference between the mother and the daughter.
Ans: Patricia Hampl and her daughter are different in their ideas. For mother “family” is most important thing in the life of a woman. It is a place where she can find food, shelter, protection and love. These things include every need of women in a traditional patriarchal society. To start a family, one must marry, which is a sacred in situation of her.
Patricia Hampl is a modern feminist so she is aware about the pathetic condition of a woman in the society. She thinks to rescue women from that condition. Work should be considered as the most important thing. Work can make them independent, whereas family makes them dependent. Unlike her mother, she doesn’t have any regard for the age old, norms, value and tradition. She regards marriage a tragic end. It is bond in which only a woman loses her individuality. She is aware how the woman of her mother’s generation fell on beds paired with their husband and couldn’t stand again in their lives. Therefore she has refused to fall. She doesn’t think marriage was important in her mother’s time as well. According to her, the only benefit they got was a license to set physical relation, but she thinks one does not necessarily need to marry to establish physical relations. One can have sexual satisfaction before marriage as well and the marriage must not be taken as a license for sexual gratification.
The mother is introvert and in shy even to express her love for her husband. She is submissive in nature and always suppresses her wishes. It was not only the case of essayist’s mother but of every woman of that generation. To prove that she has recalled an event when her mother was assigned to write an essay on Hitler at high school, although nobody in the class liked that. They completed an assignment without any complain.
The mother like all traditional women kills her valuable time in thinking about minor things but the daughter is bold enough to express her idea and fulfill her wishes. Unlike the traditional women of her mother’s time, she doesn’t want to kill her time in nonsense gossips. In fact through this essay, she appeals every woman to come out of their usual role and uplift their status themselves.

Explain the cup is a detail, a small uncharred finger from the mid century bonfire.
Ans:  The mid century bonfire is the reference to the Second World War. It was the most devastating war that the human civilization had ever seen. About 55 million people were killed besides living many more million homeless, crippled and wounded. Almost all the countries of Europe had to bear unprecedented loss of life and property in the awful fire of war. One of such countries, which burnt in the conflagration of war, was Czechoslovakia. Patricia Hampl has a set of teacup, which was made in Czechoslovakia safe with her. She considered it is a part of Czechoslovakia since the country itself was burnt in fire of World War II. She regards it an uncharred finger. It is not only the concrete example superior Czech art but also reminds us the destruction of the Second World War, the falling bodies soldiers, falling bombs, crumbling countries. Thus she thinks it a detail, which could provide enough information to rewrite the history.

A WORN PATH
Describe phoenix Jackson and the journey she undertook to the town.
Ans: Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist of the story. She is an Afro-American lady. The way she walks suggests that she is very old .She needs a cane to walk. Her long skirt made of sugar sack tells she must be very poor. Her skin is yellow and there are wrinkles on her face. But in spite of all these under privileges, she has a strong determination to continue the journey.
               Phoenix Jackson makes biannual visit to Natchez to get a soothing medicine for her grandson, which she receives as charity. Having swallowed lye, he has suffered without healing for years. Phoenix Jackson has made such journey many times and her path seems to be a worn path now.
              The story opens on a chilly December morning. Phoenix Jackson is making her way to the town slowly but surely through the pine woods tapping her umbrella cane on the ground in front of her. Her shoes are untied. While she taps along she also warns the animals to keep out of her ways. When she crosses the wood up and down the hill, due to her poor eyesight, her skirt is caught in the thorns. But quite patiently she frees herself from thorns. After that she has to traverse (cross) a stream by walking on a narrow log. Then she takes rest under a tree. She dreams a boy bringing a slice of cake. She tries to grab but her hand is in air. She leaves the place and walks along the trial. In the way she finds a fence. As she could not climb over it, she crosses it by crawling under it like a baby. When she crosses the field, she mistakes a scarecrow as a ghost and when she finds that it is just a scarecrow she dances in joy. When she reaches the wagon track, she meets a black dog with a lolling tongue. She tries to hit that dog but the attempt knocks her off balance and she falls into a ditch. As she cannot come out of it by herself, she simply waits for someone to come to rescue her. Soon after a while a hunter comes and takes her out of the ditch. When she complains that a dog has knocked her down, the hunter goes to chase that dog away but in the process a nickel falls upon his pocket. Phoenix takes that coin. When hunter comes he points his gun on her and asks if she is afraid but he can’t scare her and gets so impressed that he desires to give her a dime in reward. He tries to discourage the lady to go to town but he cannot.
          When she reaches town she finds it decorated in beautiful way as it is the Christmas time. Then she reaches the clinic, she forgets the reason that takes her there. But a nurse recognizes her and remembers her case and gives her the medicine after making normal enquiry. When she leaves, the attendant gives her a nickel as a Christmas gift after she comes out of the hospital. She finds she has got ten cents with her. She decides to buy a paper windmill for her grandson with that.
Trace the various obstacles old Phoenix comes up.
There are numerous obstacles that old phoenix has to overcome between valley and wagon track. But she overcomes each of them with her strong will- power. First of all it is very cold day and she is very old. Her old age and the unfavorable weather are the first obstacles in her long journey but she ignores that with her indomitable spirit. Second, she has to walk through the woods up and down a hill which is haunted by wild animals. She keeps the animals away by poking her cane into bush. Next obstacle is a thorny bush, which catches her skirt. Quite patiently she frees herself from that thorny bush.  Another obstacle is to transverse a stream by a narrow log. She crosses it slowly by closing here eyes and holding her cane firmly in front of her. After that the fence comes in her way as she is very old she cannot cross it by climbing over it. She crawls under it like a baby. The last obstacle that comes before the wagon track is a Scarecrow. First she thinks it is a ghost but she finds it a scarecrow.  In this way she overcomes all the obstacles that come in her way.

What is the meaning of episode in which Phoenix steals the nickel? Does the act offend our sense of honesty? Explain.
When phoenix Jackson falls into a ditch  she wait for someone  to come and  rescue her after sometime  a hunter comes and helps  her to come out. She complains that she is knocked by the dog. The hunter goes to chase that dog. In the process a nickel falls from his pocket when she sees it she takes it stealthy at the same time the bird flies and it makes her think that the god is watching her. It shows that she confesses her sin to the god and her act is forgiven at once. We can say this because we see the hunter coming back and expressing his desire to reward the lady with a dime. It can be taken as an attempt of writer to make her realize that what she takes is only half of the award she is worthy of.
           Therefore the act of phoenix doesn’t offend our senses of honesty. Rather her pathetic condition arouses sympathy in our heart. It was Christmas time and she needs some gift for her grandson. Any person would do the same if s/he were in her place.

How does Phoenix describe her situation to the white man who helps her up?
Ans: Phoenix describes that her situation is similar to a June bug. A June bug is an insect. When it is turned upside down, it cannot turn back to its normal position by itself. It needs help from someone to do so. If the people do not arrive in time, it will die. The situation of Phoenix Jackson is also same. She is too weak to come out of ditch by herself. Therefore, she simply waits for someone to come and lift her up from the ditch.

 Why is Phoenix taking the long trip to town?
Ans: Phoenix has only one relative left with her who is her grandson. Once he has swallowed a solution named lye. It damaged his throat and made it painful for him to drink or eat anything. According to doctors, it couldn’t be cured. However they gave a kind of soothing medicine, which could be used to soften his throat. The medicine helps him to eat and drink.
Phoenix is going to fetch the same medicine, which she gets free from a clinic in Natchez. She makes such visit twice a year.

 How does old Phoenix plan to do with the money she has got during the day? Why?
Ans: Phoenix Jackson plans to buy a paper windmill for her grandson. According to her it will be a good thing for him because the child has never seen such a wonderful thing in his life. It was also the Christmas time and it is a tradition to give gifts during this time to one’s near and dears. Since she has only one relative, she also decided to take a Christmas gift for him from the town. Besides, she has only ten cents and she cannot buy anything more valuable than a paper windmill with that sum of money.


THE THREE DAY BLOW
Ernest Hemingway

What did Nick and Bill talk about?
Ans: Nick and Bill talked about four things: Baseball, Writers, Their Fathers and about Nick’s beloved. When they met at Bill’s house, they sat in front of fire and drank Irish Whisky. They started their conversation like any normal young men. They talked about their favorite game, which was baseball. But they were not satisfied with their team, Card, performed. Then they talked about their favorite novelist Walpole and Chesterton. Out of them the former was a better human whereas the latter was a better writer. They reconfirmed the age-old belief that one is remembered either for his work or for his behavior. After that they talked about their father. Nick’s father was a doctor, whereas Bill’s father was a painter. They both found their father better person. However, they also accepted that Nick’s father has missed a lot of things by not drinking wine.
The last topic they talked on was about the beloved of Nick, Marjorie. They had quarreled and busted up recently. The event had disturbed Nick mentally. In spite of Bill’s several attempts he was not able to forget her. During the talk he realized that there was possibility for their reunion. That realization made him feel better and filled a new energy in Nick. After that they went out for hunting

Describe the connection between mental ordeal of Nick and the title of the story.
Ans: There is a clear analogy between the tile “The Three Day Blow” and the mental ordeal Nick goes through. The movements start from his mental conflict, grow with suffering and culminate with a sense of reconciliation.
When a storm comes, everything in nature is taken by surprise and before giving enough time a lot of damage is done. Similarly, Nick and Marjorie quarrel and before they can handle the situation, they get separated. It disturbs Nick mentally. On the second day of storm, when the leaves of the tree are blown away, it looks pathetic. The condition of Nick is also same. He suffers a lot due to his separation from Marjorie, who is blown away like a leaf in the storm from Nick’s life. The suffering goes as the time passes. On the third day, when the storm is over, there comes a new chance for new creation in the nature. Similarly, at the last of the story we find Nick hopeful about his reunion with his beloved. This sense gives him mental peace.

The story is presented in a sequence of approximately seven scenes. Can you find them?
Ans: The seven scenes excluding the opening and exposition could be as following
Scene 1: Nick and Bill meet outside the cottage of latter.
Scene 2: They sit near fire drinking and talking
Scene 3: Nick brings a chunk through the kitchen
Scene 4: They put the chunk on the fire
Scene 5: Nick looks at the mirror while coming with water from kitchen
Scene 6: They again sit near fire, drink and talk about Marjorie (Nick’s Beloved)
Scene 7: They come out of cottage for hunting with their shotguns.

 Describe “The Three Day Blow” as a dramatic story.
Ans: “The Three Day Blow” can be called a dramatic story for a couple of reasons. They are the maximum of use of dialogues and the scenic division in the story. Actually the elements like plot, character, setting and theme are shared by other genres of literature as well. We can find the use of dialogues and actions are minimal in fictions. They rely on narrations most of the time. Therefore the story “The Three Day Blow” by Ernest Hemingway seems quite close to a drama.

(Use Q.1 for second Para and Q.3. for 3rd Para. If this question is asked as a long question)

UNIT-3
THE POPLAR FIELD

 William Cowper gave up his public career for a life of retirement in rural area and exclusively, devoted his later life in writing poetry. His love towards nature in rural life is also visible in the poem “The Poplar Field”, which is remarkable for his celebration for the rural and nostalgic tone.
The poem is a result of the poet’s second visit to the same landscape, which he had visited 12 years ago. It was the bank of river Ouse, which was filled with tall poplar trees. It provided shade to the poet. There used to blow cool breeze and the melodious song of black birds which had entertained the poet. But now the trees are cut and are fallen on the ground. It cannot provide shade to anyone nor there is cool breeze blowing. The black birds have flown away in search of new shelter and therefore, the poet cannot listen to their sweet songs anymore. By looking this degraded situation of the same landscape, the poet becomes very sad.
The poet thinks that limited years of his life are passing away very quickly. Very soon he will be dead and buried in a grave. But he regrets that he will not be able to see such poplar trees on the bank of the river Ouse again in his life. He not only regrets for himself but the pathetic one of nature also draws his attention towards the “Perishing Pleasure” of human. Life is very short and one must try to fill with joy and pleasure. But their bad luck is their joy and pleasure last for shorter time and for this they themselves are responsible.

THE NIGHTMARE LIFE WITHOUT FUEL
Isaac Asimov

Q.1.  What kind of serious problems could fuel shortage cause?
Ans: In the essay “The Nightmare Life without Fuel”, Isaac Asimov has tried to foresee into future when human will have to suffer from extreme fuel crisis.
The essayist is an American and has started the essay by mentioning the negative effects of fuel scarcity on American society. According to him, the American life will be changed into a nightmarish life. They will find themselves unable to keep private vehicles and have to travel in crowded public transport. The factories will stop production and they will have to rescue the metal parts from old and demolished buildings. Inside the house, they won’t be able to operate AC’s, heaters of refrigerators. Hardly any Americans will be able to lit lights after supper. In short, they will have to live inside their dark cold and cave like houses. The fuel shortage will put the human settlements in and end in suburbs.
The American government will have to overlook the personal interests of his citizen. They will only allow the railway to use the coal. The remaining energy will be used by agriculture sector. The car factories will start producing agricultural machines. This will grow the agricultural product in America. But the price of food will knowingly kept high. This will discourage the people to buy more food and allow the government to export them, as it will be the only source of national income.
The condition outside America will be more pathetic. There will be widespread starvation, as only one out five people will get sufficient food. About 80% people will suffer from hunger. Around 2 billion will have their brain permanently damaged. Human muscles and beasts of burden will replace the use of machines. They will have to work for longer hours with less leisure time and amusement. Even then, there won’t be any guarantee of food. In short, the whole human race will be doomed to languish in the hell like situation.

Q.2. What specific problem does Asimov focus on in this essay? Why does he consider this issue worth of attention?
Ans Asimov focuses on the fuel crises in this essay. He considered this issue worth attention because the amount fossil fuel is limited .it couldn’t fulfill the insatiable human demands forever. But human beings   are using it ignoring its limitation. This trend might finish and might invite countless troubles for human being. It is also a considerable issue because the time has come when we must look for some alternatives of fossils fuel. If other alternatives   to produce energy are found in time, the human will be doomed to live a cursed life in the future.

Q.3. According to the author, what will be the advantages and disadvantages of the fuel crisis?
Ans: Quite surprisingly Isaac Asimov has counted some advantages of fuel crisis. He tells the fuel crisis will make the air cleaner. As the result less people will suffer from cold. Crime rate will come down. The police would be present in their beats and people will be able to walk on the streets in late nights.
         However if we look at above advantage carefully, we will find they are actually the result of several disadvantages. The air will become pure not due to our inability to drive vehicles or run factories. So the air will become cleaner only at the cost of human comfort. Similarly, the crime rate will be found low because the police will be unable to patrol on the roads or reach crime scene. Thus they cannot keep record of crime due to fuel crisis. The American will be walking on streets in late nights because they will be compelled to do so. They won’t be able to afford vehicles even at the late nights or in time of emergency.
        There are several other disadvantages of fuel crisis too. It will force the human to give up the use of AC’s, heaters, and refrigerators. They will have to languish inside the dark, cold and cave like houses. They must need to work manually as they won’t be able to run machines .in short these disadvantages will force the human to live in a nightmarish hell-like situation.  

Q..4. In Asimov’s essay what is happening in the rest of the world as America struggles without fuel?
Ans: The situation outside America is worse as the people are dying out of hunger there. Only one of five people gets enough food. About 80% people outside America and Europe are compelled to live in hunger. The first victims of starvation are innocent children. They can hardly survive once their mothers become dry.
               There are some who are getting only that much food which can move their bodies. But it cannot keep their mind feet and there are around 2 billion people whose brains are permanently damaged.

Q.5.What does the author means when he says,” the suburbs are born with auto kived with auto and are dying with auto?
Ans: Asimov has imagined a nightmarish life, which can be turned into reality due to the fuel crisis in “The Nightmare without Fuel”. In the given line he has presented the dependency of America suburbanites on automobiles.
          When the cities grew a lot of industries and factories were established in it. To run them they needed extra manpower. But there were not enough space to accommodate them all inside the cities. So these workers settled several kilometers away from the cities. They could do so because their life was supported by their automobiles. They could easily go to their work and come back home in time. Thus the automobiles helped the human to settle in suburbs. As the habitation grew the facilities also grew there. It attracted the rich and professionals to come and colonies were established and the suburbs developed.
             But all of the sudden the automobiles, the only medium that has linked them to cities, has stopped working. When the suburbanites cannot afford the price of fuel, they left driving cars and cannot reach office or do the shopping in time. They are cut with mainstream of America. Therefore, they are dying now.


Keeping Things Whole
Summary
 Mark strand is a surrealist. Therefore the image that he creates in his work seems alien or uncommon to us. However he always writes on common theme. Through the present poem also he wants to appeal for universal brotherhood a kind of wholeness against all the usual fragmentation that appears in our life.
         The poet tells when he is in a field he finds himself absent there. It happens because he allows his own individual entity to submerge into a bigger entity in the field. By doing   so he does not lose anything rather he is recognized as a greater body. According to him it is always the same case with him. Wherever he goes he finds himself absent there.
                However, it is the human tendency to make things apart rather than keeping it whole, such attempts can never succeed because the universe is one. He has given an example to prove his point when h walks in a field his body parts the air as it moves forward. But immediately after he moves forward vacuum created by his body is filled with air. Thus he is not able to part things at last. Rather he joins at his back too.
              According to the poet everybody has some projects or goals in his life. His mission is to keep things whole.

UNCHOPPING A TREE
W. S. Merwin
Summary
      “Unchopping a tree” is a pseudodirective essay. W.S.Merwin has coined a new term by adding the prefix “un” to chopping by this he has meant the process of reserving the action of chopping a tree. Merwin has used imperative sentences to give direction to reserve the process of chopping. Our common sense makes us realize its impossibility from the very beginning.
              W.S. Merwin instructs us to begin the “unchopping” by joining leaves to their respective twigs and twigs to their respective branches. If the tree has a hollow trunk, the nest of birds, hive of bees and insect and their hoard of nuts and food must be resembled .if there were spider webs on trees before the fall. It must be waved again any damage done to the neighboring trees must also be repaired.
           In the second step the tree must be erected on its stump without grinding its base into the ground. While putting the tackle into place no damage to the neighboring trees can be done. If it occurs any of such damage must be corrected later. If any leaf or branch is broken they must be rearranged by putting the tree on the ground.
The last step is to arrange the wooden chips, which fell on the ground during the chopping. After that saw dust and bark of the trees must be fixed. Here one must be careful to use correct adhesive so that natural look of the tree is not distorted.
After giving the instructions, the essayist asks how long such tree can stand. Any blow of wind will be enough to put the tree back on the ground. No one can stop the blowing of the wind so the only thing that you can do is to start the process of unchopping from the beginning if you have to get any success.
By giving a Sisyphus-like task, the essayist intends to make every reader realize that you can hardly undertake and complete such process. Therefore it is unwise to chop a tree because we are not wise enough to unchop it.
UNIT – 4
CONCRETE CAT
Summary
Concrete cat is a concrete poem. A concrete poem is an experimental poem, which verbally deals with visual ideas with an attempt to articulate visual thinking and bring the aesthetic principle of paintings into the poetry. It is mostly written to look at although it uses letters instead of painting brush.
In “Concrete Cat” we can see Dorthi Charles has used black letters and placed it in such a manner that it shows us the picture of a cat on the page. To make the picture more vivid, he has used pointed letters. “A” shows the pointed ears of cat, the capital “Y” is used to show the wide opened eyes of cat as it is approaching food. The stripes, whiskers, mouth, paw and tail also made visible by appropriate arrangement of letters.
The poet has also associated some catness with the concrete cat. For example a mouse is shown upside down. It means the cat has recently killed it, which is cat’s nature. Similarly, the letter “U” is used mouth to suggest that a cat licks its food. There are some litter boxes at the corner, which suggests that the cat is in a storeroom. The food kept near it also suggests that the cat is a domestic one.
The poet has also used a pun in the poem. A pun is a device of figurative language in which a word with two meanings is playfully used in a context. The punning words are spelled and pronounced in the same way. We find the mid stripe on the cat’s body can be read as “stripe”, which means a long extended black line on a cat’s body. At the same time it can also be read as “tripes”, which means the food inside its stomach.

OOPS! HOW’S THAT AGAIN
Roger Rosenblatt
Summary
In our daily life, we make numerous verbal errors. They become the cause of embarrassment, insult and sometimes just laughter. But most of the time we are not serious about it although they seem surprisingly interesting. Rosenblatt in “Oops! How’s that again”, has discussed on such verbal errors in a humorous way. However, at the same time he has provided some reasonable explanations behind such errors. He has categorized the verbal errors into 4 groups. They are slips of tongue, mistranslation, bloopers and spoonerisms.
In slip of tongue we mistakenly tell something else instead of what we intend to or are supposed to tell. On the conscious level, we never mean what we speak and sometimes we regret for it. For example once a businessman Peter Balfour wished Prince Charles “Long life and conjugal happiness with Lady Jane” on the day when he has engaged to lady Diana. Similarly when Chicago's mayor wanted to make his city men feel comfortable, he assured them “The policemen isn’t there to create disorder, the policemen is there to preserve disorder.” Clearly, both the miss speaker didn’t mean what they told.
Mistranslation is different but perhaps the most interesting among all verbal errors. A popular slogan “Come alive with Pepsi” was mistranslated in Germany as “Come alive out of Grave with Pepsi”. Similarly, once the German president, Heinrich Lubke went to receive the president of India at an airport. He wanted to ask “How are you?” to Indian Preident but asked “Who are you?” instead.
Bloopers are embarrassing errors made in public. Once David Hartman, the anchor of “Good Morning America” infuriated his sponsor General Foods when he announced “We will be right back after this word from General Fools”. Similarly American radio anchor Harry Von Zell called his president “Hoobert Heever”. In fact the president’s name was Herbert Heever. However the bloopers largely consists low life verbal errors and toilet jokes. It is also an interesting fact that bloopers records became great hit programs on American radio and television in 1950s.
Spoonerism an utterly different kind of verbal error is named after and Oxford scholar Archibald Spooner. It is the transposition of initial or other sound of words in a sentence. It seems deliberate. The popular example is the transposition of “Conquering Kings Their Titles Take” as “Kinquering Kongs Their Titles Take”. In another interesting example, spooner scolded his student “You have hissed all my mystery lectures…….” Instead of “You have missed all my history lectures”.
Although we just laugh at such verbal errors, they are of great importance for linguists and psychologist. According to some linguist, like Victoria Fromkin, brain stores idea in a particular grammatical pattern of a particular language. When we speak, we express our idea on the same pattern, but if the ideas are arranged in wrong way, we make mistakes. Mistranslation can be taken as a result of such attempts too.
According to psychologist, our brain has three stages called sub-conscious, conscious and super conscious. In our sub conscious mind there are many wishes related to primitive needs. But our super conscious mind always forces us not to reveal them. Our conscious mind is a balance between them. But sometimes the latent desires of sub conscious mind tend to come out in front of slips. For example when a nun asked the Irish Bishop “How may lords, my lump?” instead of “How may lumps my lord?” She intended to ask profound theological questions.
There is also another psychological theory, which gives a second reason for such verbal errors. According to the psychiatrist, Richard Yazmajian, there are some incorrect words that exist in associative change with the correct ones. He calls it “Dream Pair” of words. When we speak sometimes incorrect words of dream pair substitute the correct words and we make verbal errors.
Unit 5
Malini

Q.N.1 What was the revolt against? Against Malini? Against the king? Against Buddhism?
            Kashi is one of the centers, where Hinduism originated and prospered. It is also the place highly dominated by Brahmins. Remarkable   things are that the Brahmins enjoy the great privilege in Hindu society. In such condition any blow to the dominant religious dogma may result in disadvantage of all Brahmins. Therefore when Malini comes out with a new concept influenced by Buddhism all the Brahmins get united against her and shouted for her banishment.

Q. N. 2 Why does Malini ask for her own banishment from the place?
Ans: Malini thinks that she is inspired by some divine force in heaven. She thinks she should go out of the place among the common people. It will help her to teach them what is right   and what is wrong. The instructions of Malini will help them to attain nirvana. Therefore when the king informs her about Brahmins’ dissentient she takes it positively. She tells her father that they are not asking for her banishment but want her to live with them. So she requests her father to listen to Brahmins demand and banish her from the place.
Q.N.3. Draw a characteristics of Malini.
Ans: Malini is the protagonist of Rabindranath Tagore’s play “Malini”. She is the princess of Kasi, a land where Hinduism originated and prospered and where her new thoughts stirred the conservative Hindus. Although she is a princess, she doesn’t wear dresses of ornaments like a princess. This annoys her mother but Malini thinks her destiny is “to find riches in the property”.
         Malini is inspired by a divine force of heaven. She thinks she should leave the place and go among people. It is important because she thinks only by bridging the gap between palace and people, she can preach and rescue them from the troubled life of earth. According to her the whole world is like a ship left by its captain on a stormy see. The ship might destroy if she will not reach. Iin other words she thinks she can help people to achieve nirvana.
             However once she goes out, she finds the reality quite different from what she has supposed. She asks help from Supriya in her mission as she lacks words when she is amidst human crowd. This might make the readers think that all her visions are in fact illusions.
            Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean she posses any power at all. In fact she looks so bright than agitating Brahmins takes her as an incarnation of a goddess who has descended on the pious land of Kasi to rescue it from the possible bloodshed.
            Malini is taught by Buddhist monks. Accordingly she is very much influenced by its philosophy non- violence and peace. When Supriya tells about how he has informed the king about Kemanker’s plan. Who makes him a captive, she doesn’t like it. She thinks her heart is big enough to greet even the opponent. Not only that when Kemankar kills Supriya, she pleads the king to forgive him. Remarkable thing is that Supriya is very dear to her and king wants her to marry him.
  

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