I am Bhavna Sosa, a student of the Department of English,MKBU.This blog is the part of my classroom activity that is given by our Prof. Dr.Dilip Barad sir.
First of all I would like to give a brief introduction about this poet and poem.
About T. S. Eliot :-
Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there.He became a British citizen in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his American citizenship.
About Poem :-
The Waste Land is a long poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry.
Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of Eliot's The Criterion and in the United States in the November issue of The Dial. It was published in book form in December 1922.
Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the mantra in the Sanskrit language "Shantih shantih shantih".
The poem's structure is divided into five sections.
1)"The Burial of the Dead"
2)"A Game of Chess"
3) "The Fire Sermon"
4) "Death by Water"
5)"What the Thunder Said"
1) What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answer to the contemporary malaise?
I think of the Eliot view as regressive compared with the Nietzsche view as progressive. No doubt Eliot had historical sense and tried to explain univer problems with the reference of religion. So his work may have become a universal reality of human beings. While Nietzsche talked about the practical truth of humanity.
Nietzsch was a German philosopher, cultural,critic,composer,poet, philologist and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history.
Then I think he was better in various fields than Eliot. Because he was not only a great historian but also a great scholar who thought in various ways and also gave solutions to the problem of contemporary crisis in faith and self.
2) Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:
What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' leads us to a happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?
Frued is believed in individuality and talks about "primitive instinct '' whereas Eliot believed in preservation of cultural traditions which means all together.
I disagree with Eliot. By suppressing the desires or by controlling it the desire gets stronger and it also affects at psychological level. It is better to give free vent to primitive instincts as Freud suggests.
3)Write about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred?)
1) The Fire Sermon :-
“The Fire Sermon” is also the name of one of the sermons given by Buddha.
Here Eliot gave the same name to the third part of his poem. The whole poem describe the theme of sexual perversion and by referring to this sermon of Buddha because he also wants to convey a message to stay detached from all the senses.
2) River Ganga and Himalaya :-
"Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
Waited for rain, while the black clouds
Gathered far distant, over Himavant."
River Ganga is known for its purity and also for purification. While Himalaya is known for spirituality and peace. Eliot finds the solution of all contemporary problems in spirituality. That is the reason he refers to Ganga and Himalaya here.
3) What The Thunder Said :-
In Upanishad the Prajapati spoke the message of salvation through thunder which was called “Akashvani”. Here Eliot also gives reference to Thunder to convey that now the solution of all problems will be given by Thunder, that is the reason he gave name to his 5th part of poem “What the Thunder Said”.
4) Three DA :-
DA-
Datta means to give
DA-
Dayadhvam means sympathise
DA-
Damyata means Self Control
5) Shantih, Shantih, Shantih :-
The Shantih mantra is for inner peace, peace that passes understanding. Eliot ends his poem with this mantra and with hope. The hope of re-birth, end of modern malaises, and growth of spirituality. To show the hope he ends this poem with Shantih mantra.
I am Bhavna Sosa, Student of MK Bhavnagar University. This task given by our Pro. Vaidehi ma'am. Here I have discuss war poetry.
1) What is your understanding of war poetry?
War poetry is, simply put, poetry that deals with the subject of war. War poetry as we know it effectively began during World War I.
Often composed during a particular conflict, these poems are usually written by soldiers. However, nurses and doctors in military hospitals, and even war correspondents have written war poetry. In general, the authors are all people who have seen what really happens on the battlefield with their own eyes. Although people have been writing verses about war for thousands of years, war poetry differs considerably from previous eras’ poems about conflicts. The poems written by soldiers from World War I and later conflicts were not epics; these verses did not praise heroes or epic battles. Rather, they often questioned the purpose of war, why people fight, and overall an unflinchingly realistic portrayal of the nature of battle. War poetry is exclusively realistic, showing warfare in an unglamorous and unromantic light.
What is a War Poet?
Rupert Brooke : 1887-1915
Siegfried Sassoon: 1867-1967
Wilfred Owen : 1893 - 1918
Robert Graves : 1895-1985
Edward Thomas : 1878-1917
Wilfred Wilson Gibson :1878-1962
Ivor Gurney:1890-1937
Note down the difference of all the War Poets.
Rupert Brooke : 1887-1915
Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". He was also known for his boyish good looks, which were said to have prompted the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as "the handsomest young man in England".
Siegfried Sassoon: 1867-1967
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his "Soldier's Declaration" of 1917, culminating in his admission to a military psychiatric hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. Sassoon later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as the "Sherston trilogy".
Wilfred Owen : 1893 - 1918
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon and stood in contrast to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are "Dulce et Decorum est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Spring Offensive" and "Strange Meeting".
Wilfred Wilson Gibson :1878-1962
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson was a British Georgian poet, associated with World War I but also the author of much later work.
Ivor Gurney : 1890-1937
Ivor Bertie Gurney was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from manic depression through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in psychiatric hospitals. Critical evaluation of Gurney has been complicated by this, and also by the need to assess both his poetry and his music. Gurney himself thought of music as his true vocation: "The brighter visions brought music; the fainter verse".
3.)Compare any two poems with reference to the subject, style of writing and patriotism.
1) The Soldier
The poem "The Soldier" is one of English poet Rupert Brooke's (1887–1915) most evocative and poignant poems—and an example of the dangers of romanticising World War I, comforting the survivors but downplaying the grim reality. Written in 1914, the lines are still used in military memorials today.
Subject :-
If I should die, think only this of me:
From the first line, the reader is asked to pay close attention to what the speaker (henceforth referred to with male pronouns) has to say. The reader will be instructed on how best to commemorate the speaker once his time has come to pass. This is clearly a very important matter.
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
These two lines form a rather confusing sentence. How will a foreign place be another place, specifically England? The wording "some corner" also makes it sound like the place being referred to is out of the way and likely to be forgotten. This presents another type of conflict because the reader is being told how to remember the speaker.
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
As the stanza continues, the reader may continue to be confused. Now the speaker claims a "richer dust" will be covered by a "reach earth." By earth, the speaker most likely means dirt or soil. If the dirt is covering something, the conclusion of burial can be drawn and the three lines begin to come together.
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Now, the ideas formed from the previous lines really begin to be more cohesive to the reader. The "dust" that will be buried was born and raised by England. This strongly suggests the speaker is referring to himself. He will pass away and be buried; he will be forever English just as sure as he was born. With these observations, the lines "That there’s some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England" make sense. The speaker is the piece of England and, should he die and be buried in a foreign land, that area right around him will be English.
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
The "her" in this line is England personified in a nurturing, or motherly, role. Along with the previous line, the reader truly begins to feel the strong attachment the speaker has with his homeland. The speaker’s English background is brought up within the first three lines of the poem and further explored as it progresses.
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
The speaker’s attachment to England becomes all the more evident in these lines. He is not only very devoted to his homeland, but very proud of it as well. This is perfectly plausible given he is a soldier and out fighting for his country. He even goes so far as to claim his body belongs to England. "A body of England’s" sounds quite possessive, given the use of the word of rather than for. He is entirely English and belongs to England, so much so he has proudly served his country’s military force. It is unclear if the soldier is thinking of death or is dying due to warfare.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
This is the first line of the sestet, marking a turn in the poem. The reader is directly addressed again for the first since the first line of the poem. Similar to the beginning, the speaker is instructing the reader’s thoughts. In essence, he is asking to be remembered in a positive way. This is insinuated with him saying his heart has "shed away" evil.
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
A pulse is a sign of life. However, it is death that is being discussed. For this reason, the "eternal mind" is mentioned. The mind is what lives on, not the physical brain. Once again, the speaker’s devotion to his homeland of England is demonstrated. He claims his thoughts were "given" to him by England and to England they shall return. He attributes everything he has and is to his homeland, including his very body and his thoughts. He was born from England and he will die to and in England, even if just spiritually.
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
The poem ends on a peaceful note of death. The speaker describes the calming effects of England. The "her" in these lines is used to refer to England, as was previously done in the poem. Through the use of words such as dreams, laughter, and gentleness, the reader is able to feel as tranquil as the speaker does. The final line may be taken as the end of the soldier’s life. Now that he has said what was on his mind and what he would like the reader to think of, he is able to rest peacefully "under an English heaven."
Style of writing :-
The Soldier” borrows from both the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet tradition and the Elizabethan, or Shakespearean, tradition. Like a Petrarchan sonnet, Brooke’s poem is divided into two main parts, the octave and the sestet.
However, Brooke’s octave is rhymed in the Elizabethan tradition, ababcdcd, while his set follows the Petrarchan rhyme scheme, efgefg.
Patriotism :-
Brooke’s poem was famous for its expression of patriotism. The speaker’s unflinching acceptance of his possible death and the way by which he assigns meaning to it, all underscore his unquestioning pride in his country and his devotion to it.
He equates his very body with England in the first stanza, stating that the earth in which it is buried is richer because of his nationality. Even the speaker’s thoughts are “by England given,” and the sky his corpse lies beneath is “an English Heaven.” Extreme patriotism, where one not only loves and is devoted to one’s nation, but also holds that nation as better and more important than any other, is called nationalism. Nationalism ran rampant in the Western world at the beginning of the twentieth century and was a primary cause of World War I.
Ironically, it was the language of nationalism that both the attacked countries and the attacking countries used in justifying their actions.
2) The Hero :-
The Hero, by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886-1967), is one of the disputed war poems this British officer and poet wrote in the period 1915-1918. When The Hero appeared in print, in 1917, many people were shocked. Fellow-officers condemned him.
Subject :-
Jack fell as he’d have wished,’ the mother said,
And folded up the letter that she’d read.
‘The Colonel writes so nicely.’ Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. ‘We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers.’ Then her face was bowed.
The diction in the first stanza imitates older war poems that focus on honor, misleading the reader. The mother’s diction in this stanza is characteristic of old-war rhetoric and alludes to themes such as honor and pride about a soldier’s death.
In this stanza the mother comments on the colonel’s nice writing almost immediately. Readers wonder why the mother focuses on something as insignificant as the colonel’s writing when she should focus on her son’s death. By emphasising the inappropriate comment on the colonel’s writing, Sassoon demonstrates how World War I made romantic diction in poetry appear inappropriate. Sassoon accentuates “dead soldiers” by dividing the mother’s sentence between two lines. By emphasising that the soldiers are dead, the poem suggests that mothers are only proud of their soldiers when they die. Sassoon overstates this pride mothers have for their dead sons when, later in the poem, the mother is so proud of her son that she “brimmed with joy”. Such seemingly incongruous diction Sassoon dramatises society’s obsession with the honor of dying for one’s country.
At the end of the first stanza, the reader pities the mother but takes comfort in knowing she is proud of her son. The reader then discovers an unexpected turn that defines the purpose of the poem. As the “Brother Office"leaves, the speaker reveals the “gallant lies” the officer told the mother. Instead of thinking the soldier died an honorable death, the reader experiences the final instance of dashed hope by learning the son died as a “cold-footed, useless swine”. Sassoon misleads the reader into believing the soldier died in a more romantic sense characteristic of older wars. He did not die heroically, but rather could not cope with the horrors of trench warfare and, after many failed attempts to return home, finally died in a panic.
Style of Writing :-
Written in iambic pentameter, ‘The Hero’ comprises three stanzas of six lines length largely made up of rhyming couplets, save the first four lines of the second stanza, which have an alternating rhyme scheme. Rhyming couplets, of course, are particularly effective in relaying neat epigrams or moral statements. The simplicity of the rhyme scheme perhaps apes the newspaper poetry of the time, which often went in for sentimental attitudes about the heroism of the British ‘boys’ and their sacrifice.
Patriotism :-
Perhaps the mother should know the truth so that she can become more aware of reality. However, the mother is so certain of her son’s bravery and war’s prestige that she would not be able to assimilate the truth with her own misconceptions. The mother’s ignorance represents society’s inability to accept the reality of war and therefore there is little reason to try to reform society’s outlooks toward war.
4.) Do you find any such regional poem/movies/web series/songs which can be compared to any one of the poems given here. Also, give a proper explanation of the similarity.
There are many songs and poems relevant to war. Here I have compared one song ' Oo Desh Mere ' with 'The Hero' poem.
Here we can see that 'Oo Desh Mere' song and 'The Hero' poem are very similar.
This blog about Waiting for Godot by Samuel Buckett. This task given by our Pro. Dr. Dilip Barad sir.
About Samuel Buckett :-
He was an Irish writer.He write various forms in English language.He write this form like playwright short story , theaet.. He famous as director, poet, and literary translator. A resident of Paris for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French.He was famous English writer in his time.
About Waiting for Godot :-
Waiting for Godot is one of work by Samuel Beckett.It is tragic comedy in two parts. It is original play in French language. This is an attendant Godot.In the play we find various character but two character is very important.Vladimir and Estragon.They both are famous as didi and Gogo.They both doing discussion about the Godot and both conversation is very interesting.
The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949.The English-language version premiered in London in 1955.It was voted as the "most significant English language play of the 20th century".
This is only one scene throughout both acts. Two men are waiting on a country road by a tree. The men are of unspecified origin, though it is clear that they are not English by nationality since they refer to currency as Francs and tell derisive jokes about the English – and in English-language productions the pair are traditionally played with Irish Accents.
The play opens on an outdoor scene of two bedraggled companions.The presents Godot as a baker who ends up being condemned to death by the four main characters.So let's we can try to explain very well with this discussion :
1) In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?
In this picture we can see that both wait for Godot and wait also nightfall.They believe that every night and moon come that time we will waiting for Godot.Here we can see the interpretation of night like dark we can compare with the death also.
Nightfall is the correct time. While Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, they also wait for nightfall. For some reason (again, arbitrary and uncertain), they don't have to wait for him once the night has fallen. The classic interpretation is that night is death.This is main concept of the picture in Waiting for Godot.
2) The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the contours of debris in the setting of the play?
We found setting with scattered fragments, something wrecked or destroyed. After two world wars people's life became miserable. They find nothingness in the world. It inspires many literary writer to portray such images in artistic expression. Buckett was one of them. Setting reflects the influence of World war ll.
3))Do you agree: “The play (Waiting for Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As I saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: 'No matter what— atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, anything—life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can't kill life." (E.G. Marshal who played Vladimir in original Broadway production 1950s)?
Yes i agree because its representation of absurdity and philosophy an existentialism, that's why display is not negative or Pessimistic just because it's a reflection of hope that at the end of the life there is good thing happened up till and of the last breath we have to wait for something which give us success peace honour or some kind of social important anything which we are waiting for.
4) Do you think that the obedience of Lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic? Even when the master Pozzo is blind, he obediently hands the whip in his hand. Do you think that such a capacity of slavishness is unbelievable?
Pozzo and Lucky can sustain spectator's attention because it shows the universal desire of mastery. Every human wants to be like pozzo, the master. Which Nietzsche called "Ressentiment". Plcan ay shows the culture of mastery of contemporary era. Even if Pozzo was blind, Lucky obediently hands the whip in his hand. it shows the slavish mindset of the people. Even if they are free they can not feel liberty after several years of slavery.So the behavior of lucky is not a newer one.
5)Do you think that plays like this can better be ‘read’ than ‘viewed’ as it requires a lot of thinking on the part of readers, while viewing, the torrent of dialogues does not give ample time and space to ‘think’? Or is it that the audio-visuals help in better understanding of the play?
According to me the reading and viewing both can be beneficial and required of the play. Because if you only watch the movie then it can be bore. Because it has the continuous dialogues and less action. For the understanding of the deeper philosophy one has to read the play. only reading also makes you boring because you will not be able to imagine vladimir and Estragon and their useless actions. We have done both the things in the class which enriched our understanding of the play.
6)Which of the following sequence you liked the most:
-Vladimir -Estragon killing time in questions and conversations while waiting
-Pozzo – Lucky episode in both acts
- Converstion of Vladimir with the boy
I like the here conversation between Vladimir and Estragon because both characters are present reality of human being during conversation. Both are create interesting conversation through hat and boots. I like the Estragon’s idea rather than Vladimir because his idea reality of human being and daily life.
This Blog-post is a response to the thinking activity on Bob Dylan and Robert Frost,given by our professor Vaidehi Hariyani Ma'am.
About Bob Dylan:-
Bob Dylan, original name Robert Allen Zimmerman, American folk singer who moved from folk to rock music in the 1960s, infusing the lyrics of rock and roll, therefore concerned mostly with boy-girl romantic innuendo, with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry. Hailed as the Shakespeare of his generation, Dylan sold tens of millions of albums, wrote more than 500 songs recorded by more than 2,000 artists, performed all over the world, and set the standard for lyric writing. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.
In April 1963 Dylan played his first major New York City concert, at Town Hall. In May, when he was forbidden to perform “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” on Ed Sullivan’s popular television program, he literally walked out on a golden opportunity. That summer, championed by folk music’s doyenne, Joan Baez, Dylan made his first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival and was virtually crowned the king of folk music. The prophetic title song of his next album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), provided an instant anthem.
His songs are :-
Blowin' in the wind
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along the Watchtower
About Robert Frost :-
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1884 following his father’s death. The move was actually a return, for Frost’s ancestors were originally New Englanders, and Frost became famous for his poetry’s engagement with New England locales, identities, and themes. Frost graduated from Lawrence High School, in 1892, as class poet , and two years later, the New York Independent accepted his poem entitled “My Butterfly,” launching his status as a professional poet with a check for $15.00. Frost's first book was published around the age of 40, but he would go on to win a record four Pulitzer Prizes and become the most famous poet of his time, before his death at the age of 88.
His poem's are :-
Stopping by woods on a snowy Evening
The Road Not Taken
Fire and Ice
Merge the five chosen shots and upload the video on your YouTube channel with any background music you like.
Answer this two questions:
1.Write down the message you want to give from your lyrics.
In this YouTube video,I choose the Bollywood song, this song sung by Kishore Kumar and lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music given by Laxmikant Pyarelal from the movie Rajput. We go through the entire original song, the lyrics also connected with memories. This song has a deeper meaning of nature and life.This entire song gives us beautiful messages from memories Fair. The lyrics are,
अकेला गया था मैं हाँ मैं
ना आया अकेला
मेरे संग संग संग संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
मेरे संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
अकेला गया था मैं हाँ मैं
ना आया अकेला
मेरे संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
मेरे संग संग संग संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
तेरी गली से
तेरी गली से मैं जब निकला
सब कुछ देखा बदला बदला
जैसा अब है वैसा कब था
ये मौसम अलबेला
मेरे संग संग संग संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
मेरे संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
अकेला गया था मैं हाँ मैं
जीकरता है
जी करता है बापस जाऊं
जाकर तुझको साथ ले आऊं
मैं यादों के इस मेले में कैसे रहूँ अकेला
मेरे संग संग संग संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
मेरे संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
अकेला गया था मैं हाँ मैं
ना आया अकेला
मेरे संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
मेरे संग संग संग संग संग आया तेरी यादों का मेला
2. Which Poem/Song of Bob Dylan/Robert Frost is relatable with your Video. Why?
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Say by Robert Frost has a deeper meaning of life. In early spring, the fresh buds on the trees are gold. This colour is the quickest to disappear from the natural world, however. The fresh blossoms on the trees are flowers, but these flowers disappear quickly too. They turn into leaves that fall to the ground, just as humankind fell from the paradise of the Garden of Eden, and just as the promising early light of morning gives way to daytime. Nothing beautiful, fresh, or pure can last forever.
So in my video shoot the community of cow and set of birds spend their life with nature.
I am Bhavna Sosa and I am student of MK Bhavnagar University. We are going to making a video on ‘Breath’ By Samuel Buckett. This task given by our pro. Dr. Dilip Barad sir.
Meaning of the Breath : -
Breath means both life and death. In life it consider as the symbol of action. Sometimes person so much habituated of breathing. Person doesn't realise its actually importance for live life. The play reflects the reality of human life. It reflects meaningless and Existentialism. Meaningless in the sense that people has no any purpose of living life. We live life just waiting for death. Breathing help us to reach ultimately death. So Breath is the symbol of Bridge between life and death.
The script of the play: -
CURTAIN Up
1. Faint light on stage littered with miscellaneous rubbish. Hold about five seconds.
2. Faint brief cry and immediately inspiration and slow increase of light together reaching maximum - together in about ten seconds. Silence and hold for about five seconds.
3. Expiration and slow decrease of light together reaching minimum together (light as in 1) in about ten seconds and immediately cry as before. Silence and hold about five seconds.
CURTAIN Down
My interpretation :-
Here I put one video so in this video wa can see that everyday our life is meaningless. We studied Existentialism and Absurdity. In this shortest play has wild meaning. In my video I choose tree. Whole video in black. In our every day life, we always try to live how other people lives.
In this blog about Flipped Learning task. This activity given by our Pro. Dr. Dilip Barad sir.
Existentialism :-
Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. It focuses on the question of human existence and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core of existence. It holds that, as there is no God or any other transcendent force, the only way to counter this nothingness (and hence to find meaning in life) is by embracing existence.
Video-1 What is Existentialism
Here is the existentialist philosophers:
1. Soren Kierkegaard
2. Martin Heideggar
3. Jean Paul Sartre
4. Albert Camus
5. Friedrich Nietzsche
6. Simon De Beauvoir
In this video another somewhat profound way but they all share a basic belief for all of them philosophical thought in an existing beginning with each thinking subject namely the individual. However there are at least two other equally important parts which will constitute existentialism, passions, and freedom. That might be one reason why believing or not believing in God would make one holding a title as an existentialist because even if you believe in God.
Video 2: The Myth of Sisyphus: The Absurd Reasoning (Feeling of the Absurd)
In this video we'll be taking about an absurd reasoning Conus starts this essay by bringing our attention to an intriguing and somewhat unusual start he writes…
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is Suicide."
As we go on you'll see why he is focusing on the matter of suicide. Right from the beginning it your life is filled with despair and absurdity and you see that something deprived of all meaning you might consider to commit suicide.
I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. So I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions for Conus suicide is an individual act he says we are concerned here adults that with the relationship between individual thoughts on suicide and act.
Video 3: The Myth of Sisyphus: the notion of philosophical suicide
In this video he talk about the absurdity in life.
"Absurd is neither in man not in the word, it can only occur in their presence together - man and the world"
As we think our world is irrational and yes it is and you need human beings for this irrationality to be conceived. We have to think that if there would not be any human being then there would not be any desire for human nostalgia to be satisfied. We have to accept all the consequences which we face in our life and obviously the absurdity ends with death.
There are three important thing which we have to remember. A total absence of hope, a continuous,rejection ,conscious dissatisfaction
Video 4: Dadaism, Nihilism and Existentialism
In this video the three philosophical concepts are Dadaism, Nihilism and Existentialism.
Dadaism : -
Dadaism is an artistic movement, which emerged during 1916, in the midst of the First World War which was during 1914 to 1918. Dadaism rejects old values upon the evidence that World War first is the result of Old tradition and Conventions. Another interesting fact is that Dadaism only questions the Old tradition instead of creating new values of living life. It questions why we fail to live according to those values? Dadaism is a quest for change which is a path to new culture and civilization. Hugo Ball, Jean Arp, Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco are great dadaist thinkers who were disgusted by war and found a new movement which rejects the old school of thought.
Nihilism :-
Nihilism is a philosophy which is rooted into the notion of meaninglessness of Life. It argues that everything on this earth cannot be known like to get every knowledge is not possible, find meaning of life is merely impossible, everything in life is baseless. So, It is a kind of Escapism and Pessimist attitude towards life. But Existentialists accept these meaninglessness and try to find answers in this irrational universe.
Existentialism : -
Dadaism is a movement which emerged after the First World War in the same manner Existentialism emerged after the Second World War which emphasised the existential angst of human beings. It questions Who you are? And and Don't impose upon your individual identity what other people say to you. Existentialism is a movement which is more associated with Individuality and Freedom of Choice.
Video 5: Existentialism - a gloomy philosophy
In this video Existentialism called Gloomy philosophy and then discussion about it doesn’t deal with anxiety and despair. For example some believe in God that is one person true but other can find their own meaning of life.
Video 6: Existentialism and Nihilism: Is it one and the same?
Existentialism believe in subjectivity like individuality, nothingness, absurd life while Nihilism believe in objectivity like everything is illusion in life.
Video 7: Let us introduce Existentialism again!
Existentialism is a fyu century some of the cavy century. the history of existentialism. Examine what for existentialism is the key concern of philosophy. Ather examine sartre's famous statement "existence precedes essence" with various example. most notable thing is cleverly define different between existentialism and nihilism.
Video 8: Explain Like I'm Five: Existentialism and Nietzsche:
In this video I see how teachers teaching Nietzsche ideas and explain Existentialism. Ubermensche suggest to make free choice as well as freedom to do anything. We are free to build our own values and take our own decision.
Video 9: Why I like Existentialism? Eric Dodson
In this video Eric Dodson who had shared his experience of existentialism. And also he was interestingly discussing how existentialism helped him. Movement of extraordinary or something staggering honesty, Understanding like holistically this is also important one.
Two sides to the way of deep looking : mind and body.
Video 10: Let us sum up: From Essentialism to Existentialism
up:There is a difference between essentialism and existentialism. As a human being only after the birth we can decide our essence by our choice.
This Blog-post is a response to the thinking activity on Northrop Frye's Theory of Archetypes. This task given by our professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir.
About Northrop Frye :-
Northrop Frye (1912-1991) was a Canadian literary scholar. His literary theories, which outlined a science of literary criticism based on a core of identifiable mythic forms, had unusual importance internationally, particularly in the late 1950s to late 1970s.
Herman Northrop Frye was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec. After the failure of his father's hardware business, his family moved to Moncton, New Brunswick, where he completed his primary and secondary education. His skill as a typist brought him to Toronto to compete in an Underwood-sponsored contest in 1929. He enrolled in Victoria College of the University of Toronto.
Here I am giving answers to the questions.
1) What is Archetypal of Criticism? What does the Archetypal Critic do?
Archetypal literary criticism is a type of analytical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types in literary works. Archetypal criticism argues that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works, that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths.
2) What is Frye trying to prove by giving an analogy of 'Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature'.
Northp Frye says that all organised body of knowledge can be learn progressively, and Physics is organised knowledge of Nature thus, the students of Physics learn nature but in other hand Literature can not teach but the criticism of literature can be teach to prove that Frye giving an analogy physics to nature and criticism to literature.
3) Share your views of criticism as an organised body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with history and philosophy.
Here in this literature is the division of humanities. These two parts in divided humanities first is history and second is philosophy. In two parts according to the events and ideas. Then criticism would be to art what philosophy is to wisdom and history to action.
4) Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave Digger's scene.
Inductive method is using particular facts and from particular to general.Shakespeare's "Hamlet" grave digger scene is best example of inductive method. In this scene we can see that the grave digger was not affected by the death of others because of their routine work. They enjoy your work.
5) Briefly explain deductive method with reference to analogy to music, painting, rhythm and pattern.
Defective method using general to particular. Some arts move in time, like music and others are presented in space, like painting. In both cases the organising principle is recurrence, which is called rhythm when it is temporal and pattern when it is spatial. Thus we speak of the rhythm of music and the pattern of painting; but later, to show off our sophistication, we may begin to speak of the rhythm of painting and the pattern of music.
6) Refer to the Indian seasonal grid (below). If you can, please read small Gujarati or Hindi or English poem from the archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.
Here I found one Gujarati poem, the entire poem of the winter season. This poem tries to explain the atmosphere of the Indian winter. In winter people also want to sleep for a long time in the morning. The poem is as below.
I am going to discuss about the novel ' The Great Gatesby' and it's film adaptation.
The Great Gatsby, third novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Set in Jazz Age New York, the novel tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. Unsuccessful upon publication, the book is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been called the Great American Novel.
1)How did the film capture the Jazz age the Roaring Twenties of the America in 1920s?
Jazz music became wildly popular in the “Roaring Twenties,” a decade that witnessed unprecedented economic growth and prosperity in the United States. Consumer culture flourished, with ever greater numbers of Americans purchasing automobiles, electrical appliances, and other widely available consumer products.The achievement of material affluence became a goal for many US citizens as well as an object of satire and ridicule for the writers and intellectuals of the Lost Generation.
Technological innovations like the telephone and radio irrevocably altered the social lives of Americans while transforming the entertainment industry. Suddenly, musicians could create phonograph recordings of their compositions. For jazz music, which was improvisational, the development of phonograph technology was transformative. Whereas previously, music-lovers would actually have to attend a nightclub or concert venue to hear jazz, now they could listen on the radio or even purchase their favourite recordings for at-home listening.
2) How did the film help in understanding the characters of the novel?
This whole film gives a clear idea that I understand every character. Movie and novel in different scenes.The Great Gatsby is a text written by Nick that is not entirely original with Luhrmann—though the filmmaker takes this much further than Fitzgerald, showing Nick writing by hand, then typing, and finally compiling his finished manuscript. He even titles it, first just Gatsby, then adding, by hand, “The Great,” in a concluding flourish.
3) How did the film help in understanding the symbolic significance of the 'Thee Valley of Ashes , 'The Eyes of Dr. T J Eckleburg 'and 'The Green Light'?
The Valley Aahes :-
The valley of ashes is the depressing industrial area of Queens that is in between West Egg and Manhattan. It isn't actually made out of ashes, but seems that way because of how gray and smoke-choked it is.the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes.
The Eyes of Doctor T. J Eckleburg :-
The first time we come across Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and his eerie eyes, we are in the midst of a double whammy of terribleness. First, Nick has just described Queens as a depressing, crumbling "valley of ashes" that is "grotesque" and "desolate". Second, Tom is about to introduce Nick to Myrtle Wilson, his married mistress.The second time T.J. Eckleburg's eyes appear, Tom, Nick, and Jordan are stopping at Wilson's garage on their way to Manhattan to have it out with Daisy and Gatsby. In the world of The Great Gatsby, there is no moral center. Every character is shown to be selfish, delusional, or violent. Even Nick, who, as our narrator, is ostensibly meant to reflect on who is good and who is bad, turns out to be kind of a misogynist bigot. It's not surprising that none of these characters is shown to have faith of any kind. The closest any of them come to being led by an outside force, or voice of authority, is when Tom seems swayed by the super racist arguments of a book about how minorities are about to overwhelm whites.
Green Light :-
Nick first sees Gatsby stretching his arms towards a green light at the end of Daisy's dock. Here, the green light is a symbol of hope.This symbolises the destruction of Gatsby's dream. By the end of chapter seven Gatsby is watching over nothing. Nevertheless, at the end of the novel Nick's final thought is that the human race will continue to strive for the unattainable.
4)How did the film capture the theme of racism and sexism?
There are many differences to be found between F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, and the movie directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2013. These differences are examples of how times have really changed. In 1925, instances of racism and sexism were not uncommon. However, racism and sexism are not really tolerated or accepted in today’s time. To suit the modern audience, instances of racism and sexism were omitted in the production of the movie. Many other differences can be found between the movie and the book. As times change, so do the accepted norms of society. The changes can be found seen in the characters and themes of the story.
5) Watch the video on Nick Carraway and discuss him as a narrator.
Nick, the narrator does not appreciate Tom Buchanan's extramarital relationship with Myrtle Wilson. He also knows Gatsby's longing for Daisy's love and her loveless conjugal life. Once time and money which crept in them. That is why he sees nothing wrong in these two love-lorn-souls spending some time together which raises him above our narrow value of judgement and from a proper evaluation of life.
Nick's narrative written nearly two years after the experience of 1922, assesses events by investing them with significance. To achieve such understanding turns out to have been the real goal of his journey of discovery. As narrator, he shows himself able to share Gatsby's imaginative act of transforming the material world into "the promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world" while at the same time retaining a belief in the value of personal morality.
6) watch the video on psychoanalytical study of Jay Gatsby and write about his character.
The psychoanalytical model focuses solely on the unconscious, microstructures of power and identity, and small-scale domestic environments. Or, in other words, this model focuses on the relationships characters have with themselves and with other characters within their own social systems. From these relationships, conclusions and inferences can be made about larger cultural phenomenon and social trends that occur or exist within a narrative. Thus, I believe a character-driven film such as The Great Gatsby, which takes place during the colorful period in history known as the Jazz Age
In some point in the middle of the novel, in chapter 6, we learn that his shame of his class. His parents were only a farm workers and they were not very successful. That part tell us that Gatsby is already had a dream when he was a child and did not accept of being poor. He thought that this kind of life is blocking his dream., later on in the story, when the first time he met Daisy, this shame was become more influencing in his life.
I am Bhavna Sosa , Student of MK Bhavnagar University. This Blog-post is a response to the thinking activity on 'Transcendentalism' given by our professor Vaidehi ma'am.
What is Transcendentalism ?
Transcendentalism is a term associated with a group of new ideas in literature that emerged in New England in the early-to- mid 19th Century. The major figures in the movement included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau.
Ralph Waldo Emerson :-
Ralph Waldo Emerson began his adult life as a Unitarian minister. He completed his studies at Harvard. As a child, he was greatly influenced by his aunt who introduced him to concepts such as the ideas of Hinduism. Emerson brought ideas of science, mysticism, and Eastern religions into the transcendentalist movement.
Emerson's background as a minister greatly helped spread the ideas of transcendentalism. He preached in many churches, so many people were inclined to believe him. Emerson travelled a lot which encouraged the spread of trascendental ideas.
One of Emerson's most prominent works was "The American Scholar." In this famous essay, he encouraged Americans to be proud of themselves and to stop looking elsewhere for ideas and inspiration.
David Henry Thoreau :-
Henry David Thoreau placed great emphasis on the importance of nature in one's life. For two years of his life, Thoreau lived in a hut he built on Walden Pond. He later wrote a book called Walden which described his experiences while living amongst nature. He also wrote an essay called "Civil Disobedience." The main purpose of this essay was that one's own conscience should be held at a higher priority than the law.
These authors, along with others, were part of The Transcendental Club. The group met in Boston at the home of George Ripley. They started a publication known as The Dial which was edited by Margaret Fuller. Fuller was a radical feminist at the time.
Transcendentalists talks about Individual’s relation with Nature. What is Nature for you? Share your views.
According to me, nature is fundamental to our life. Nature also gives peace of mind. Nature performs major miracles for us every day – from giving us great views and helping to prevent floods to regulating the weather and keeping us supplied with clean water, fresh air and plentiful food.
Transcendentalism is an American Philosophy that influenced American Literature at length. Can you find any Indian/Regional literature or Philosophy came up with such similar thought?
I found many similar thoughts in Indian philosophy. Some of them I have discussed here.
There are six major schools of Vedic philosophy-Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimansa,and Vedanta, and five major heterodox schools-Jain, Buddhist, Ajivika, Ajnana, and Charvaka. However, there are other methods of classification; Vidyaranya for instance identifies sixteen schools of Indian philosophy by including those that belong to the Śaiva and Raseśvara traditions.
The main schools of Indian philosophy were formalised and recognised chiefly between 500 BCE and the late centuries of the Common Era.Competition and integration between the various schools was intense, despite later claims of Hindu unity. Some schools like Jainism, Buddhism, Yoga, Saiva and Vedanta survived, but others, like Ajnana, Charvaka and Ajivika did not.
Samkhya :-
Aphilosophical tradition which regards the universe as consisting of two independent realities: purusha and prakrti and which describes a soteriology based on this duality, in which purush is discerned and disentangled from the impurities of prakriti. It has included atheistic authors as well as some theistic thinkers, and forms the basis of much of subsequent Indian philosophy.
Yoga:-
A school similar to Samkhya which accepts a personal god and focuses on yogic practice.
Nyaya :-
A philosophy which focuses on logic and epistemology. It accepts six kinds of pramanas (epistemic warrants): (1) perception, (2) inference, (3) comparison and analogy, (4) postulation, derivation from circumstances, (5) non-perception, negative/cognitive proof and (6) word, testimony of past or present reliable experts. Nyaya defends a form of direct realism and a theory of substances.
Vaisesika :-
Closely related to the Nyaya school, this tradition focused on the metaphysics of substance, and on defending a theory of atoms. Unlike Nyaya, they only accept two pramanas: perception and inference.
Purva-Mimamsa, a school which focuses on exegesis of the Vedas, philology and the interpretation of Vedic ritual.
Vedanta:-
Focuses on interpreting the philosophy of the Upanishads, particularly the soteriological and metaphysical ideas relating to Atman and Brahman.
I am going to discuss W.H. Auden's poem. This task was given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir.
About W.H. Auden :-
Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, on February 21, 1907. He moved to Birmingham during childhood and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. As a young man he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English verse. At Oxford his precocity as a poet was immediately apparent, and he formed lifelong friendships with two fellow writers, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood.
This blog discuss to Auden's three poems which are 'Sept, 1 1939, Epitaph on a Tyrant, and In Memory of W. B. Yeats.
Auden's poems seem to be written in our times for 2022. Justify this in context of pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war.
Let's discuss Epitaph on a Tyrant…
Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.
W. H. Auden spent some time in Berlin during the 1930s, and it was here that he probably wrote ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’, which was published in 1939, the year that the Second World War broke out. The specific tyrant Auden had in mind, then, was probably Adolf Hitler, though the poem can be analysed as a study in tyranny more generally, too.
We start with the word ‘Perfection’, which is immediately undermined by the qualifying clause ‘of a kind’. Something is either perfect or it is not; there is no such thing as perfection ‘of a kind’. This shows the unrealistic nature of the tyrant’s dream, which often stems from a desire to create some kind of utopia. The poetry the tyrant wrote, we are told, was easy to understand.
This suggests someone who believes art should be democratic and enjoyed by everybody, and such anti-elitism appears to be a positive trait at first. But the late Geoffrey Hill observed, in defence of difficult art, ‘that genuinely difficult art is truly democratic. And that tyranny requires simplification.’ Although we like to talk of difficult poetry as elitist and anti-democratic, perhaps it is the poetry which tries to fob us off with overly simplistic black-and-white depictions of the world which is the truly anti-democratic art.
And besides, what does it mean to talk of somebody having ‘invented’ poetry? Poetry is made, composed, written, created – but invented suggests that the tyrant wishes to take credit for having come up with the idea of poetry itself, or at least a whole new kind of poetry.
The ‘easy to understand’ poetry of the tyrant then feeds into the cliché in the next line, about him knowing folly ‘like the back of his hand’. This seems to be deliberate cliché, a ready-to-wear idiom that everyone can hear, understand, and interpret. But it also summons the more sinister idea of the back of one’s hand – used as a weapon for discipline or control of another – which reminds us that this is a tyrant’s hand, and that the same hand that pens all that accessible poetry also wields weapons to crush those who step out of line.
Again, this is a cliché – though here, a cliché with a twist. We usually speak of bursting into laughter, although bursting with laughter is not unheard of either. But given that this is a tyrant these senators serve, their (forced, false) laughter would be excessive as if they actually were in danger of exploding with the effort. And then comes the final chilling line: when the tyrant is angry or unhappy, children are killed in the streets because he lashes out and loses any remaining shreds of his humanity.
In this Auden's poems are related to pandemic and war. Then Epitaph on a Tyrant compares the Russia and Ukraine War to the start of the Russia - Ukraine war. Putin has been President of Russia in long time.
Now let's discuss Sept,1,1939.
The poem, ‘1st September, 1939’ by W.H. Auden, was occasioned by Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. In this poem, the poet expresses his shock at the news. In the present stanza, he expresses his view that Germany alone is not to blame for starting the Great War. He says that correct research into the thinking of the German people from Martin Luther’s times to the present age can lead us to the conclusion that the Germans are great lovers of national freedom, self-respect, and national honor. The researches can also reveal the whole nature of the offense which lies embedded in the Versailles Treaty of 1918 and which has inflicted a great psychological wound on the German mind.
When we saw Hitler's invasion of Poland today, it was the same as Putin's invasion of Ukraine. World War ll is similar to today's situation of Ukraine- Russia.
Let's discuss In memory of W.B. Yeats.
In ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ Auden taps into themes of life after death, the power of poetry, and the human condition. The powerful and wide-ranging themes are discussed within the context of Yeats’ life and death. Auden uses an exacting tone and direct language to depict the events around Yeat’s death. The mood is at times uplifting and at others concerning and worrying. There are many dark images and many fewer hopeful ones.
We can say that after the Corona PandemicMany people died in the Corona pandemic but it had no effect on the world except for empathy. World was affected with economic breakdown and not many people died.
To wind up, three poems are relates to today's situation.
