Literary Quest

              “The Escape” is one of the short stories in Katherine Mansfield’s Bliss and Other Stories (1920). During the winter of 1919 to 1920, she was in Menton, France without her husband, John Middleton Murry, which made her feel deeply lonely, nervous and irritated, a condition which was worsened by her failing health. She wrote “The Escape” after coming back to England in 1920.             The husband and wife in the story depict their contrasting emotional approaches. They try to determine who is in control of their marriage. The wife constantly displayed impulsive, negative reactions. The story is more like an interior monologue of the wife.  There is a sense of distance as the characters are unnamed. The story begins abruptly, "It was his fault, wholly and solely his fault..." The narrator says that the wife puts all the blame on her husband if they miss the train. It shows her dominance over her husband. The wife is already upset about what her husband could

I had heard a lot about Miss Beam’s School, but I did not get the chance to visit it till last week. When I arrived at the school, I saw a girl of about twelve with her eyes covered with a bandage being led carefully between the flowerbeds by a little boy of eight. She stopped and asked who it was that had come in and he seemed to be describing me to her. Then they passed on.  Miss Beam was all that I had expected - middle-aged, authoritative, kind and understanding. Her hair was beginning to turn grey, and her round figure was likely to be comforting to a homesick child.  We chatted for a while, and when I asked her some questions about her teaching methods, which I had heard were simple, she said: ‘…We teach only those things that are simple and useful to pupils- spelling, adding, subtracting, multiplying, writing, etc. The rest is done by reading to them and giving them interesting tasks. There are practically no other lessons.’ ‘... I have heard so much,’ I said, ‘about the origin

Click This link to get the PDF https://drive.google.com/file/d/15leg4nJ8gYZwDjjkHPkUNKT-T540kZqx/view?usp=sharing

Definition            Tragedy in literature is defined as a genre that focuses on a noble character who struggles against strong external challenges. The protagonist suffers greatly and fails as a result of his own flaws. The word tragedy comes from the Greek tragodia, meaning “a formal play or poem with a sad ending.” Historically, tragedy of a high order has been created in only four periods and locales: ·       Attica, in Greece, in the 5th century BCE;  ·       England in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, from 1558 to 1625; ·       17th-century France and Europe  ·        America during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. The Function of a Tragedy            Aristotle stipulated that the purpose of tragedy is to evoke fear and sympathy as a result of the hero’s fall, leading to catharsis or a healthy emotional purge for the audience. Elements of Tragedy In the third century BC, Aristotle outlined a few genre norms for tragedies in his Poetics: ·

The athletes had come from all over the country To run for the gold, for the silver and bronze Many weeks and months of training All coming down to these games.   The spectators gathered around the old field To cheer on all the young women and men The final event of the day was approaching Excitement grew high to begin.   The blocks were all lined up for those who would use them The hundred-yard dash and the race to be run These were nine resolved athletes in back of the starting line Poised for the sound of the gun.   The signal was given, the pistol exploded And so did the runners all charging ahead But the smallest among them, he stumbled and staggered And fell to the asphalt instead.   He gave out a cry in frustration and anguish His dreams and his efforts all dashed in the dirt But as sure as I’m standing here telling this story The same goes for what next occurred.     The eight other runners pulled up on their heels The ones who had trained for so long to compete One by one they

    The things that haven’t been done before, Those are the things to try; Columbus dreamed of an unknown shore At the rim of the far-flung sky, And his heart was bold and his faith was strong As he ventured in dangers new, And he paid no heed to the jeering throng Or the fears of the doubting crew. The many will follow the beaten track With guideposts on the way. They live and have lived for ages back With a chart for every day. Someone has told them it’s safe to go On the road he has traveled o’er, And all that they ever strive to know Are the things that were known before . A few strike out without map or chart, Where never a man has been, From the beaten path they draw apart To see what no man has seen. There are deeds they hunger alone to do; Though

Introduction: ‘Prologue to Androcles and the Lion’ is an excerpt from the play “Androcles and the Lion” written by George Bernard Shaw. Androcles and his wife Megaera leave their home to flee from the Roman Persecutors. The Humble Man: Androcles is a thin, little man. He has very poor looks. He and his wife flee the Roman Empire and reach the middle of a dense jungle. He seems to be tired and hungry carrying a big bundle. The pampered Megaera: Megaera is his wife who has pretty looks and is always in her comfort zone. She is well-fed, also very quarrelsome and quite disrespectful in her words. She is famous for her negative qualities. She walks with the help of a stick through the forest. Refusal and pleading: Megaera throws her stick and refuses to go any further. Poor Androcles pleads with her to keep walking to reach the nearby village before dark. He scares her about the lions in the forest. She calls him a cruel person for making her walk. She does not believe his words abo

The poem “Gitanjali” by Rabindranath Tagore is a collection of devotional songs in praise of God. It is an allegorical poem because beneath its surface meaning there is another meaning-a deep spiritual significance. In the song 50, the beggar is Everyman, while the king of all kings is God. God is not only the giver, he is also a beggar. What God demands from man is complete self-surrender. Man must make the supreme sacrifice of his complete self to God. One day the poet-beggar was begging from door to door in the village path. Suddenly he saw at a distance a golden chariot coming towards him with the king of all kings seated in it. The king came down from the chariot and looked at the poet-beggar with a smiling face. Then the poet-beggar felt that the luck of his life had come at last. But contrary to his expectation the king himself held out his hand asking for alms. The poet-beggar was utterly confused. He could not make out how a king could beg from a beggar. He took it for

“The Thief” by Ruskin Bond is about an artful thief, Deepak, whose life is changed by Arun’s unspoken words and kind gestures. Deepak, a 15-year-old boy is the narrator of this story. One day, he met a young writer of twenty-five named Arun, at a wrestling match. He gave him an artificial smile to have an acquaintance with him. Arun avoided him. Deepak asked him for work. Arun agreed to engage Deepak if he could cook food for both. The thief lied that he was a good cook. Arun had to throw the bad meal, prepared by Deepak to the dogs, on the first day. Arun taught cooking, writing and reading to Deepak. Deepak made the morning tea and bought the daily supplies. Arun was aware of the fact that Deepak made a profit from the purchases. Arun is not a rich man. He borrowed money sometimes but repaid the loan whenever he earned money through his writings for magazines. One day, Arun brought home a bundle of notes and put it under his mattress. The thief had not stolen anything there because A

  Show how the poet traces the growth of a tree, giving it a human quality A giant oak tree on the campus of Cook College, a part of Rutgers University inspired Joyce Kilmer, an American poet to write the poem “Trees”. It is a nature poem that celebrates the beauty of trees, created by God. The poet is amazed at the beauty of a tree and feels that no poet can write a poem that is as beautiful as a tree. Then the poet describes the tree as a baby. When the tree is growing, its roots go down deep into the ground, drawing up nourishment from the earth as a baby sucks milk from its mother’s breast. Next, the tree is personified as a child praying to God. The tree is looking up to God in Sky lifting up her arms like branches in prayer. Thirdly, the tree is described as a young woman wearing a pretty dress in summer with a nest of robins in her hair. As the seasons change the fully grown tree experiences the different seasons. Snow falls on the tree in winter and in the rainy season, it is

Introduction             John Holt is a famous educationalist.  “Discipline is a Great Teacher” is an extract from his famous book Freedom and Beyond.  In this, he talks about three disciplines that would help a child learn things to emerge as an individual. They are the Discipline of Nature or Reality, the Discipline of Culture or Society, and the Discipline of Superior Force. The Discipline of Nature or Reality             The discipline of nature or reality is the most important teacher for a child.  If a child is doing something wrong or if it is not able to do something right nature would teach it perfectly. For example, while playing with blocks, if he fails to build a plastic building on a slope, he never gets weary. Instead, He learns not to build on a slanting surface. While learning through this discipline the child would get immediate feedback.  Nature is a good teacher, which will not be partial and indifferent. The Discipline of Culture or Society            Holt

      Nehru expresses great sorrow and shame that an Indian and a Hindu raised his hand against “ the greatest Indian of the day and the greatest Hindu of the age.” The whole world has paid its tribute to Gandhiji and we cannot add to that with our empty words of praise. As the children of his spirit, We have to do more than just talk. Gandhiji is the Sun that has warmed and brightened our lives. Now the sun has set, and we shiver in the cold and the dark. As a man of divine fire, Gandhiji has given each Indian a small spark. Though he is no more today, he lives in the hearts of millions, and he will continue to live for immemorial ages.     According to Nehru, each Indian should feel humble for failing to protect Gandhiji. Mere words of praise are useless when Gandhiji himself demanded a life of labour and sacrifice. He loved the Indians as his own children, and he was grieved when they went away from the path shown by him. Ultimately one of his children, an Indian, struck him down. N