Thinking Activity : Paradise Lost

Here my answer on thinking activity about Paradise Lost task given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir head of English Department MKB University. Click here to view about this task.


Paradise Lost : John Milton

"Paradise Lost" is a long epic poem written by John Milton. Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve how they came to be lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story we find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem. It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. 

Q ; 1 :- What is your understanding of human perspective and Divine perspective ? 

Milton's Paradise Lost is differ than  the Bible story of Paradise Lost. In the Bible story, God is the centre while human is centre in Milton's Paradise Lost. The Bible which were said from the Divine perspective were Milton presented the story in human perspective. 

• God perspective :

In Bible 'fall' of human is narrated from God's perspective. We can say that Eve and Adam is the puppet hand of god. They fallow all rules and regulation given by god. When they broken the rules they have punished by god. Eve and Adam broken rules and they have punished by god. They do not have emotion or feeling or they don't rise their voice against gods. We know that Satan is responsible for that he tempted Eve, Eve tempted Adam and fall happened but why god punished Adam and Eve instead Satan? If Satan used serpent's body to harm Adam, Eve and Eden, why should it be punished instead of Satan.

                               "  Because you have done this , cursed are you above all cattle,

                                and above all wild animals upon your belly you shall go,

                                and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put
                                 enmity between you and the women, and between your seed
                                 and her seed;he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise
                                 his hell."(God in Genesis)"

Eve broken rules and she also punished for her 'disobedience', but why should her children also be cursed. there are many question rise against god's justice. The whole story of Genesis is narrated from Divine perspective.

• Human perspective :

In the story of Genesis we can see that god is centre . Milton is a poet. The poet also stands in favor of humans rather than god. Milton's Paradise lost is long narrative poem told from human perspective  because it includes some of the common human qualities like,  lust for more knowledge, temptations  ,arguments. First Eve is responsible for disobedience,  by eating the fruit for received a more knowledge to be equal to Adam. She is human being and thus, acts like human being. Secondly, the Adam and Satan also driven by human emotion. So we can say that Milton's Paradise lost told about human perspective rather than god.

Q : 2 :- How do you read character of Eve as transgressor and yet defendable?

In Milton's Paradise lost we can see that Eve presented as strong and rebellious.Satan tempts Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of Knowledge. We can say that she don't doing anything wrong because the fruit gives her knowledge. When Eve eats the fruit, one of her thoughts is that the fruit " may be render me more equal"(IX, 823) to which she quickly adds, "for inferior who is free?'(IX,826).Her reasoning, from Milton point of view, is incorrect. Freedom comes precisely from recognizing one's place in the scheme and obeying the dictates of that position. By disobeying God, Eve has gained neither equality nor freedom ; she is instead lost paradise.
                
 we can read character of Eve as defendable . Eve's argument present with intelligent.

                                     " How are we happy , still in fear of harm?

                                       But harm precedes not sin ; only our foe

                                       Tempting affronts us with his foul esteem."


Thank you ..................

                                 

Thinking Activity : Wordsworth & Coleridge

Here is my answer on thinking activity about Wordsworth and Coleridge given by Dilip Barad sir .

• William Wordsworth and Coleridge :

Coleridge and Wordsworth collaboratively published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, making the rise of the British Romantic movement. According to Coleridge, in their collaborative plans it was agreed Coleridge would compose a series of lyrical poems exploring the Romantic and supernatural, and seeking there to earn a readers "poetic faith," while Wordsworth planned to use the self and the everyday as his subject in poems that would replace a sense of familiarity with an air of the supernatural. Pairing these two approaches, the poets hoped, might bring into harmony "the two cardinal points of poetry,

1. The power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of nature ,
2. The power of giving the interest of novelty by the modifying colors of imagination."

Q : 1 Write brief note on the views of Wordsworth and Coleridge on poem.

Wordsworth's views on poem :

• According to Wordsworth poetry is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling : it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.
• When the poet is in the poetic mood he sings out rapture as sorrow spontaneously from the core of his heart.
• Poetry cannot be composed under duress, the clear spring of poetry must flow freely and spontaneously.
• It cannot be made to flow through artificially.

Wordsworth is of opinion that poetry cannot be produced by strictly following the rules laid down by the Classicists. It must flow out naturally and spontaneously from the soul of the poet.However, it must be noted that the good poetry , according to Wordsworth, is never an immediate expression of poet's powerful emotions. A good poet ponders over his emotions over a long period of time and deeply evaluate his collected emotions. In other words of Wordsworth, "poetry has its origin in emotion recollected in tranquillli".

Coleridge views on poem :

Biographia Literaria by S.T.Coleridge is a great literary work. Coleridge's written critical work is contained in 24 chapter XIV of Biographia Literaria , Coleridge has discussed his view on nature and function of poetry. 

poem is written in the format of rhymes and rhythm and also has some imagination. Poem is something which written by the use of meter,rhyme, diction etc. 

Poem is nature function as Coleridge explaining his idea and view towards it by saying that poem is a heart of reality work that poetry convey the feeling by rhyme and that took place as golden shield. A poem therfore my be] defined as species of composition which is opposed to works of science by proposing for its immediate object pleasure not truth and from all other species it is discriminated by proposing to itself such delight from  the whole as it compatible with a distinct gratification from each component part.

Q- 2 :  Analyze 2 poems with reference to Wordsworth and Coleridge's views. 

• My Heart Leaps Up  :

                        - William Wordsworth 

"My Heart leaps Up " , also known as " The  Rainbow " . Written by one of the famous romantic poet William Wordsworth. He use simplicity of structure and language in his poem. It is blank verse poetry. This poem covers the range of human life, from childhood, to adulthood,  to old age and death. The poem is about nature. Wordsworth felt such joy because the rainbow indicates the constancy of his connection to nature throughout his life.

Harold Bloom has suggested that Wordsworth casts the rainbow as a symbol of survival of his Poetics gift,  just as the rainbow symbolized to Noah the survival of mankind.

He sought to give the charm of novelty to things of everyday objects of nature by colouring it with the power of imagination. We can see his view of poem in his poetry" My heart leaps up"  His many poem based on nature by colouring it with power of imagination. His poem easy to read and understand for everyone.

Thank you......... 

Sunday Reading August : Patriotism and Religious Fervour : Shitala Satam

Here is my answer on Shitala Satam , task given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir click here to view about this task .

• Shitala Satam :

shitala , also called Shitala , is a folk deity, worshiped by many faiths in the Indian subcontinent, notably in North Indea , West Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. As an incarnation of supreme Goddess Durga, she cures poxes , sores, ghouls, pustules and diseases. Goddess Shitala is worshipped on the eighth day after festival of colors , on the occasion of Shitala Asthami.

• Name and Variants :

Shitala literary means " one who cools" in Sanskrit. Shitala is worshiped under different names in various parts of the subcontinent. Shitala is more often called Ma and Mata and is worshiped by Hindus, Buddhists and tribal communities. She is mentioned in Tantric and Puranic literature and her later appearance in vernacular texts has contributed to strengthen her status.

Shitala is primarily popular in regions of North India. In some traditions she is identified with an aspect of Parvati, the consort of Shiva. Shitala is addressed as mother, as a seasonal goddess and with honorific titles such as Thakurani, Jagrani ,Karunamayi, Mangala, Bhagavati, Dayamayi. The role of shitala in South India is taken by the Goddess incarnate Mariamman, who is worshiped by Dravidian-speaking people.

• Why do people eat cold food in Shitala Satam?

In some regions of Gujarat Shitala Satam is celebrated on sud satam, while in remaining regions it is one vad satam of Gujarati month of sravan. People specially women's of the family worship goddess Shitala and pray for good health of her family. They eat food made on previous day, as called cold food.The faith behind this is this will prevent diseases ori and similar.

the scientific reason behind this may be by eating previous day food (with bacteria)will increase  immunity.

• Smallpox : 

Smallpox is a serious , contagious, and sometimes fatal infections disease caused by a virus called the variola virus. The disease gets its name from the Latin word for "spotted" and refers to the small pusfilled blisters that appear on the face and body of an infected person. Smallpox is spread from person to person by several means.

• Edward Jenner :

On may 14, 1796, Edward Jenner Vaccinated a boy against the often-fatal disease smallpox in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. The Vaccine was made of material from cowpox, a much, much milder disease.

Jenner was not the first researcher to recognize the connection between cowpox and smallpox, or even the first doctor to vaccinate a patient against smallpox using a cowpox vaccine. Jenner did, however, carefully document each stage of his experiment using the scientific method:

1. First, he deliberately infeccted a patient with cowpox , which usually caused blistering and fever.
2. When the patient recovered, he used the common anti-smallpox technique of variolation. Variolation is the process where a patient is deliberately infected with a strain of smallpox taken from a recently recovered or variolated smallpox victim. This was an incredibly dangerous procedure, but could induce a milder from of the disease. (Being variolated was less dangerous than contracting smallpox.) Variolation had been used for centuries by cultures from China to Turkey to immunize patients against smallpox.
3. The boy who had been vaccinated did not contract any from of smallpox, even after being being variolated - deliberately infected. 

Jenner repeated his vaccination process on dozens more patients, all with similar success.

Today, Jenner is nicknamed the "father of immunology." In 1979, the World Health Organization declared smallpox a globally eradicated disease.

• Vaccination :

Fever than ten year after British physician Edward Jenner vaccinated his first patient against smallpox using a vaccine derived from cowpox, the procedure was accepted enough to satirize. Here, patients vaccinated with the cowpox materials sprout bovine features.

• Religious vs science :

People of many different faiths and levels of scientific expertise see no contradiction at all between science and religion. Many simply acknowledge that the two institutions deal with different realms of human experience. Science investigates the natural wold, while religion deals with the spiritual and supernatural- hence, the two can be complementary. Many religious organizations have issued statements declaring that there need not be any conflict between religious faith and the scientific perspective on evolution.

Now those day's people blindly believe on religious belief . We know that shitala is a name of disease Smallpox but people believe that shitala is goddess and they are made many temple of shitalamata. They doing vrata and prayer for shitalamata. It is not any mata or goddess it is the dangerous disease and Edward Jenner found rshi of this disease.I would like to mention here one today's recent example of how people blinds and connected  situation with goddess. I'm on travelling and I see one accident. One couple travelling through bike  suddenly her small child fall down on road front of temple of shitalamata. Do you believe that what people said, people said that she don't doing vrata of sitalamata in proper way so it's happened. I shocked that people say anything without thinking and When we try to say something they shouting on us.We fail to argue with religious practice as well with scientific inventions. On the occasion of such days, we feel the conflict between science and religion in our lived experience.

Reference :

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shitala

             Thank you......................

The purpose - T. P. Kailasam

Here is my answer on 'The purpose' by T. P. Kailasam task given by Vaidehi ma'am Haryani. Click here to read about this task.

T. P. Kailasam :  

T. P. Kailasam , was a playwright and prominent writer of Kannada literature. His contribution to Kannada theatrical comedy earned him the title Prahasana Prapitamaha,' the father of humorous play's and later he was also called ' Kannadakke Obbane Kailasam' meaning ' one and only Kailasam for Kannada'.

His famous works : 

The purpose  -  T.P. Kailasam  :

Purpose by T. P. Kailasam , is a short play dramtizing events that occurred in the Mhabharata involving Drona, Arjuna and Eklavya. Drona is a skilled teacher, renown throughout the land for his wisdom and skill. Arjuna is a Prince of a great kingdom. Eklavya is a tribal boy from a relatively faraway area.

Q - 1 : Compare and Contrast Arjuna and Eklavya's character.

• Compare and Contrast character of Arjuna and Ekalavya : 

The purpose by T. P. Kailasam is based on Mahabharata.But here kailasam presented the story is different way. Eklavya is protagonist in this play. The play from Eklavyas point of view. He has been given a voice here. Arjuna is kshatriya . He is belonging to powerful upper cast. He is a arrogant and prodigal Prince. Other side Eklavya is a weak person from lower cast . He is a Nishadha boy. We can see that  Arjuna wants to become the great archer of the world and Ekalavya explains that he wants to learn archery to save lives of innocent animals. There perspective are different . We can say that  Arjuna's purpose behind learning archery is self centered while Ekalavya's purpose is nobel. In the Mahabharata Arjuna is a main character but here we can see that Ekalvaya presented as main character. In the second act Ekalavya is far ahead then Arjuna in Archery.  Arjuna become anger and said his guru that he tells everyone that guru dorna has not kept his vow. To save guru from social criticism Ekalavya gives his thumb as a gurudakshina. We feel pity for character of Ekalavya.

Q - 2 : what is subaltern? Who do you think is the subaltern in this play? Explain with Examples. 

• Meaning of subaltern : 

In the last two decades of the 20th century, subaltern studies, postcolonial theory and criticism gained momentum, especially, as a corollary to globalisation in the third world countries. If postcolonial criticism is taken as an offshoot of postmodernism subaltern studies derives its force from Marxism, poststructuralism and becomes a part of the postcolonial criticism.

" Subaltern" , meaning  " of inferior rank", is a term adopted by Antonio Gramsci to refer to those working class people in Soviet union who are subject to the hegemony of the ruling classes. Subaltern classes may include peasants, workers and other groups denied access to hegemonic power.

Subaltern mean a some one a low ranking in a society. We can say that Eklavya is a subaltern in this play. Because he was belonging to lower cast people. He is a Nishadha boy. He is  presented as a marginalized person .

Q - 3 : Write your views about Education system in India with reference to past and present time.

In a ancient times India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher's ( guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru's place and help in all activities at home. All learning was closely linked to nature and to life. In ancient times  Guru teaching to only great king and his son and Brahmins son. But in present time this situation is changed.

રાજાકા બેટાહી રાજા નહીં બનેગા,
રાજા વહી બનેગા જો હકદાર હોગા.

This is one of the famous dailog by Anand kumar in the movie of  'Super 30' .  Now those day not only king and Brahmins son who  received education but all the people who received the equal chance to learning. Education system is changed in many ways but corruption is running. Most of people use education as a tool of business. In the past time Eklavya is not received education but in a present time all have equal rights for education.

Q - 4 : Dronacharya an ideal teacher? If yes,how? And if no, why ? Explain with Examples.

Guru means a teacher,  the one who removes mental and spiritual darkness with his teaching and conduct. Gu means " darkness of ignorance" and " Ru" means  "one who removes" one who dispels the darkness and takes towards light.

 We can not say that Dronacharya is ideal teacher.  All students are equal for teacher. I would like to mention here one quote from the novel of " Animal Farm",

"All are equal but some are more equal than others".

This quotation is suitable in the story of Ekalavya. In real life we can see that this thing happens in many places. We see the story of Ekalavya that Dronacharya teaches archery to Arjuna  but cannot accept Ekalavya's proposal because of his promise to Arjuna . Ekalavya is lower class person and he wants to learning to dronacharya . But dronacharya teaching only great king and his son. So we can not say that guru drona is a ideal teacher because all students are equal for teacher.



                     Thank you ..........