Othello by William Shakespeare

                        Othello

Historical Context

Written on, or just after, the beginning of the 1600s (possibly 1603) Based on the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro” (A Moorish Captain) First known performance, November 1, 1604 in Whitehall, London Written one year before King Lear and MacBeth Follows a theme of the downfall of great/powerful men.

Othello : Moor, North African Some debate about actual skin color

Desdemona: Venetian : Wife to Othello

Othello’s race

Referred to as a Moor Berber or Arab people of Northern Africa Prominent use of “black” however may suggest a darker skin color than the lighter color suggested by North African heritage He is also called “thicklips” at one point, reflecting English stereotypes of sub-Saharan Africans.

Important Themes

Dehumanization

Internalization

Dramatic Irony

The significance of names.

      

Dehumanization

Dehumanization, a central theme of the play, is the process by which a person, or group, is made to feel or act less than human through systematic mistreatment.

Denial of rights often involves dehumanization (think Nazi depictions of Jews as animals, slaveholder depictions of Africans as beasts)

Internalized Oppression

Over time, dehumanization and continued oppression leads to internalization, the process by which the victims begin taking on the traits forced on them by the oppressors.

The Namesake

            
                        The Namesake


Background

The Namesake (2003)

The story of Bengali – Indian family in America.

Characters:

Gogol Ganguli

Ashima Ganguli (Gogol’s mother)

Moushumi Mazoomdar (Gogol’s ex-wife)

Statement  of The Problem

What is  the traditional Bengali-Indian social concept  that  rules woman’s roles, such as being a daughter, a wife and a mother?

How does this concept shift as the women live outside India are influenced by another culture, in this case by American society?

How do Ashima and Moushumi identify themselves  through their personality traits and behaviors toward their roles, cultures, and societies?

How does a name reflect roles and beliefs of Ashima as a  woman?

Purpose of The Study

To know the traditional Bengali-Indian social concept that rules woman’s roles, such as being a daughter, a wife and a mother.

To know how this concept shifts as the women live outside India are influenced by another culture, in this case by American society.

To know how Ashima and Moushumi identify themselves  through their personality traits and behaviors toward their roles, cultures, and societies.

To know how a name reflects roles and beliefs of Ashima as a  woman.

Identity

Identity is the distinctive character belonging to any given individual, or shared by all members of a particular social category or group .

Identification (identity theory) or self-categorization (social identity theory) is the formation process of identity .

Basic Elements of Poetry

               Basic Elements of Poetry

What is Poetry?

Poetry can be defined as 'literature in a metrical form' or 'a composition forming rhythmic lines'. a poem is something that follows a particular flow of rhythm and meter. Compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to story, a poem may or may not have a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing.

Elements of Poetry

Rhythm: This is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem aloud, and understand the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Meter: This is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to be included. This is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.

Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc. Based on the number of lines, stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).

Rhyme: A poem may or may not have a rhyme. When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other in some form. Rhyme is basically similar sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and 'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry, though, does not follow this system.

Rhyme Scheme: As a continuation of rhyme, the rhyme scheme is also one of the basic elements of poetry. In simple words, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first and second lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc. 

Theme: This is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of something or someone; anything that the poem is about.

Symbolism: Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured method of looking at things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.

Imagery: Imagery is also one of the important elements of a poem. This device is used by the poet for readers to create an image in their imagination. Imagery appeals to all the five senses. For e.g., when the poet describes, 'the flower is bright red', an image of a red flower is immediately created in the reader's mind.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

                           Moby Dick

Introduction:

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist and  short story writer .

His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, most notably Moby-Dick which was hailed as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature.

Plot

Moby Dick (Moby-Dick, or, The Whale) is a novel published in 1851 by the American writer Herman Melville.

The plot of the book can be summarized very briefly as the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Achab in search of whales and sperm whales, and particularly the enormous white whale (actually a sperm whale), which gives the title to the novel.

However,in Moby Dick is much more of whaling scenes are punctuated by reflections scientific religious, philosophical and artistic character of Ishmael, the writer's alter ego, making the trip at the same time an allegory and epic epic .

Characters

Ishmael: He is primarily an omniscient   narrator; through his eyes is seen that this endeavor.

Captain Achab: guide the crew through the mad enterprise of hunting white-whale leviathan. This fury is described by Melville as a monomania:

“Roso di dentro e arso di fuori  dagli artigli fissie inesorabili di un’idea incurabile”.

Starbuck: the young first mate of the Pequod, is a thoughtful and intellectual Quaker.

Queequeg: is a native of the Pacific island romance Kokovoko or call Rokovoko. Is the first important person to Ishmael met at the Inn of the aperture.

Pip: is a sailor a bit 'dazed and awkward.

Themes

The white whale has also been seen as a symbol for many things, including nature and those elements of life that are out of human control.

The white whale has also been seen as a symbol for many things, including nature and those elements of life that are out of human control. The Pequod's quest to hunt down Moby Dick itself is also widely viewed as allegorical. To Achab, killing the whale becomes the ultimate goal in his life, and this observation can also be expanded allegorically so that the whale represents everyone's goals. Melville may be implying that people in general need something to reach for in life, or that such a goal can destroy one if allowed to overtake all other concerns. Achab's pipe is widely looked upon as the riddance of happiness in Achab's life. By throwing the pipe overboard, Ahab signifies that he no longer can enjoy simple pleasures in life; instead, he dedicates his entire life to the pursuit of his obsession, the killing of the white whale, Moby Dick.

Criticism

Moby-Dick received decidedly mixed reviews from critics at the time it was published. Since the book first appeared in England, the American literary establishment took note of what the English critics said , especially when these critics were attached to the more prestigious journals.

Although many critics praised it for its unique style, interesting characters and poetic language , others agreed with a critic for the highly regarded London Athenaeum. The idea of a connected and collected story has obviously visited and abandoned its writer again and again in the course of composition. The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English; and its catastrophe is hastily, weakly, and obscurely managed.

Existentialism in Waiting For Godot

Introduction:

"Waiting for Godot" is a play that captures this feeling and view of the world, and characterizes it with archetypes that symbolize humanity and its behavior when faced with this knowledge. According to the play, a human being's life is totally dependent on chance, and, by extension, time is meaningless; therefore, a human's life is also meaningless, and the realization of this drives humans to rely on nebulous, outside forces, which may be real or not, for order and direction.

Existentialism in Waiting for Godot

 “Waiting for Godot” is an existentialist play because it has clear tints of existentialism in it. If we study the term existentialism we would come to know that it is a philosophical doctrine which lays stress on the existence with his concrete experience and solidities. However, “Waiting for Godot” is an existentialist play for it embodies Christian existentialism.

The word “Existentialism” stands for one’s “awareness” of one’s “beingness”. It stands for a vital principal of life. “Waiting for Godot” resembles the existentialist literature because it deals not only with existence or identity but also with the momentary and the internal time. The time mentioned in “Waiting for Godot” is related to man’s mental condition. For instance, the major problem for the tramps is to make time pass in such a way that they are least bothered by it. Vladimir and Estragon constantly complain of the slowness of time passing and do their best to hurry it with their futile diversions.

Vladimir represents the portion of humanity who trusts in religion and spiritual beliefs to guide them, and that Estragon represents the more ideal existentialist portion of humanity who chooses to stop waiting and construct the meaning of life based on experience in the tangible and physical world around them. The following is an example of dialogue which supports this concept:

Vladimir: Let’s wait and see what he says.

Estragon: Who?

Vladimir: Godot.

Estragon: Good idea.

Vladimir: Let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand.

Estragon: On the other hand it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes.

For Christian, existentialism religious leads to God, whereas according to the Atheistic Existentialism, it is based on the idea of Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger who state that:

Man is alone in a godless universe.

The comparative study of both philosophies helps us to prove “Waiting for Godot” as a Christian existentialistic play.

We know that man is confronting the problem of his existence as a being. He is striving for his survival and to control the bridle of the pacing time. He is struggling to save his “individuality” and this very idea leads to the philosophy of existentialism.

The word “Existentialism” stands for one’s “awareness” of one’s “beingness”. It stands for a vital principal of life. “Waiting for Godot” resembles the existentialist literature because it deals not only with existence or identity but also with the momentary and the internal time. The time mentioned in “Waiting for Godot” is related to man’s mental condition. For instance, the major problem for the tramps is to make time pass in such a way that they are least bothered by it. Vladimir and Estragon constantly complain of the slowness of time passing and do their best to hurry it with their futile diversions.

 Estragon says:

Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.

But we know that outside the natural time, its consequences flow on. For example, the tree has grown five or six leaves. Pozzo has grown blind and Lucky dumb.

 Here Estragon remarks:

They all change, only we not.

Here we see that Vladimir is depending on Godot to tell him what he needs to know regarding his existence, while Estragon asserts that they do not have the time to wait and that they should take action on their own before it is too late. The metaphor of the cooling iron suggests that humanity does not have enough time to wait for their spiritual ponderings to offer them enlightenment, that the chance will pass, and their efforts will not take effect once it does.

 Therefore, it can be concluded from this that Estragon’s suggestion that he and Vladimir make their own way now, before it is too late, is the more ideal course of action advocated by the play. It is Estragon who follows the notion of no longer waiting on religion for answers and going to the philosophy of existentialism.

The play “Waiting for Godot” has all the traits of existentialism both Vladimir and Estragon represent the man in general who is facing the problems of his existence in this world. They are interdependent like all other man. Hope for salvation is the subject of play and is the problem faced by the whole human race. Representing the man in general, the two tramps realize the futility of their exercise and we note that they are merely filling up the hours with the pointless activity. Hence their ‘waiting’ is mechanical and deals with problem of existentialism.

What is Point Of View

What  is Point Of View

Definition  of  Point View ….

Point Of  View is the angel of  considering  things, which  shows  us  the opinion , or  feelings  of  the  individuals   involved in a situations

In Literature…

    
With the objective  point of view   writers  tells  what happens without Stating more than can be  inferred from the  story’s  action and dialogue . The Narrator never discloses anything about  what  characters   think  or feel ,   Remaining a detached observer.


In  the  literature  is  the  mode  of  narration     that an author employs to let  the  readers “ Hear” and  “ See”  what  take  place  in  the  story.

Function of Point of view

Point of view is an integral tool of description in the author's hands to poetry. Personal emotions or characters  feeling about an experience and situation.Writer uses the point of view to express effectively what they want to convey to their reader.

 First person point of view 

  First person point of view involves the use of either of the two pronouns “I” and “ We” .In the subjective case, the singular form of the first person is “I” and the plural from is “We”.

“I” and “We” are in the subjective case because either one can be used as the subject of a sentence.

Second person point of view

 Second person point of view is the last commonly used point of view in literary writings. In the point of view, the narrator uses the pronoun “You”. To refer to one of the character in the story and to address the reader to listener directly.

Third person point of view 

 The third person point of view  is the most commonly used mode of point of view.When it is used, the narrator relates all action in third person. Each character in the story is referred to third person pronouns such as “He”, “She”, “It” or “They”.

Characteristics of Robert Frost 's Poetry

Characteristics of Robert Frost 's Poetry

Introduction :

                                                

                                                 

  Robert Frost is one of the most popular and most honored Poet of America. He thoughts against the traditional poetry, he wanted poetry, he wanted poetry to be as free and natural as love. His central themes are men and women, Humanity, loneliness , isolation and Nature, like Wordsworth, he chose incidents and situation from common life as the subjects of his poem.

Clarity and Simplicity :

The first things that strikes a student of Frost 's Poetry it is clarity. At a time when poets were inclined to show off their erudition, and when a poetry was full of esoteric reference, Frost' s Poetry is clear and specific.

Universality and Depiction of Rural life :

Frost 's Poetry celebrates the countryside of New Hampshire. But he is not a regional Poet. He may began with geography, he has ability to take his poetry into an unmappable country. His poem give real and living people. Frost shows a wordsworthian interest in the  poor common people, and portrays them realistically.

Realism :

"Frost truly said of himself,

"I am not a regionalist, i am a realist. I write about realms of democracy and realms of the spirit. "

Ezra pound has commented on the effectiveness of the portrayal of Frost 's Character. "Mr. Frost' s people are distinctly real. Their speech is real ; he has know them i don't want much to meet them but i know that they exist, and what is more that they exist as he portrayed them.

All this makes it obvious that Frost 's method was that of realism. He was not like the romantic poets interested in extraordinary and remote things.

Dramatic Quality

A very important feature of Frost 's Poetry it is Dramatic Quality. Poems like'  Home Burial ','  Blue Barriers 'and '  The witch of coos ' the best example of Frost' s genius in writing Dramatic poems. In 'Home Burial' we have a man and wife facing a crisis. The wife is almost cracking up under the strain of the grief caused by death of their child.

The feeling of horror that she experiences on seeing the graveyard "so small window frames the whole of it" and the quickly piled burial mound with the gravel leaping in the air, and the stains of mud on the man 's shoes is vividly conveyed.

His Language, Diction and Versification :

As for Frost 's Language, it may be said that his poetry speaks itself. He uses simple words and weaves into verse the actual tones of common speech. His words come from plain language of every day talk. Every words counts, every words somehow is made to add to the mood of the poem. "In Mending Walls" There is not only the attitudes but actual tone of the countrymen lines such as these..

He is all pine and i am apple orchard

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cone under his pines. I tell him.

Out of their context, lines sound as If they have  been drawn straight from the country man 's stock of proverbial wisdom. But their fuller meaning strikes up when we read them in their context. Frost is perhaps the only Poet who satisfied the wordsworthian theory of poetic Diction. His tone is conversational and his manner dramatic, but his experiments with Various meters are no less significant. A skilled versifier, he has employed a large number of meters in his poetry.

His Philosophy :

The Simplicity of Frost 's verse is leading. It, at time cloaks the depth of his Philosophy. He was always a patient and persistent seeker after truth. Neither in Politics nor in poetry was he willing to surrender himself and his conviction as he says in "The Black Cottage". And "Mending Walls" is one of those poems where Frost makes certain significant observations of human life and conduct. He airs two contradictory opinion regarding the erection of a wall between the compounds of two neighbors

One is......

Something there is that doesn't love a wall

And the other...

Good fences make good neighbors.

As a Poet of Democracy :

Like Whitman, Frost was a Poet of Democracy. Both writers are profoundly interested in Brotherhood and fellowship. But they approach the problem differently. But Frost, more realistic than Whitman. Like Whitman, Robert Frost was also patriotic though he expressed his patriotism in more subdued tone than Whitman 's loud trumpeting of national sentiments.