3RD SEM

III SEMESTER ENGLISH 2019 ( June- Nov)

III Semester: Prose                           1.SHYNESS MY SHIELD

                                                                                                                            --M.K.Gandhi

Q. what are Ganhiji’s views about his shyness?

Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi is popularly known as Mahatma. He is the champion of truth and non-violence. The present extract “Shyness my Shield” is taken from his autobiography entitled “My Experiments with Truth”. It reveals his efforts to overcome shyness during his stay in London. In his essay Gandhi states that his shyness has helped him in the discovery of truth.

            Gandhi was a member of the vegetarian society. He could not speak in the executive committee meetings of the society. He could not support Dr. Allinson who was in favour of birth control movement. He trembled to speak in the meeting to promote vegetarianism at Ventnor. He made himself ridiculous while speaking on the eve of his departure from London. He said that his constitutional shyness was not a disadvantage whatever. His hesitancy in speech taught him economy of words. It helped him in limiting his thoughts. He never uttered or wrote anything without giving proper thoughts. He never regretted anything he spoke or wrote.

He says that silence is a part of spiritual discipline and a votary of truth. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech. He admits that his shyness was once an annoyance and later a pleasure.  He concludes that his shyness is his shield 

2.Why People Really Love technology

Alexis c Madrigal

Q. what does Genevieve Bell say about the   new technology?

The present piece “Why People Really Love Technology?” is an interview with Genevieve Bell. She is the director of Intel Corporation. The author Alexs C Madrigal finds many interesting narratives about technology in his interview with Bell.

According to Genevieve Bell the ratio of women using internet is greater than men. She says that computer technology is a fascinating aspect in the global society. The adopters of technology and the gadgets like cell phones, computers etc. came into existence. Both educated and uneducated women use the Skype. Most of the e-readers and smart phone data users are women. People at the age of 40s, 50s and 60s are driven by using this technology

Genevieve Bell diverts the conventional wisdom into modern technology. The use of iphone and ipad is an emerging trend of advanced technology. Face book is an extension of social communication. It has often been used by women. The women are about half the users of communication on the planet. They spend more time on talking and texting services than men. The early ideology of the internet is about free information. Later it spreads into a massive social communication. It is a revolutionary advancement of technology to the present generation

III Semester Poetry: 2016-2017            1. ONCE UPON A TIME

                                                                                                                                --Gabriel Okara

Q. How can a person laugh with his heart and eyes according to Okara in his poem    

     “Once upon a Time”?

             Gabriel Okara is a great poet of Nigeria. His poem” Once upon a Time” is an emotional poem. It is about the story of a grown up man. He wishes that he could once again be as innocent as when he was a child.

             The poet tells his son about the behaviour of people in the olden days and in the modern world. He remembers a time when people had true feelings for one another. They would laugh with their hearts but today they laugh with their teeth. They greet each other with a smile that does not reach their hearts. When they say ‘come again’ to a guest they don’t really mean it. They only say it to be polite. According to the poet, people now- a- days are often interested in meeting people only if they are rich and famous. They do not respect people those who have no wealth or position.

              The poet says that we behave very differently in the office, compared to the way we behave at a party. Once someone enters the adult world, he will change and then change others. Then the young adults will gradually forget how to laugh with their hearts.  The poet has a deep desire to go back to the innocence of childhood. He thinks that his son’s innocent smile could teach him how to express his feelings honestly. He wants to re-learn how to behave in a natural way. Thus the poet wants to be child again to laugh with his heart.

2. DIGGING

                                                                                                            ….Seamus Heaney

Q. what attitude or feeling does the speaker have towards the traditional work of  Digging?               

Seamus Heaney is a famous poet of Ireland. His poem ‘Digging’ is taken from his collection of poems “Death of a Naturalist”.  In this poem all the three generations of the speaker are involved in digging. His grandfather digs turf, his father digs up potatoes and he is digging up his memories with a pen. The speaker regrets that he is no longer able to follow his ancestors’ occupation but wants to become a writer.

The speaker begins writing the poem at his desk near the window. His hand doesn’t hold the pen, but the pen rests in his hand. Suddenly he gets disturbed by the rasping sound of the spade from outside. It makes him to recollect the memories of his father and grandfather. His father wears a coarse boot and working in a potato field for twenty years when the speaker was a young boy. The memory stretches even further back to his grandfather who digs turf for peat. The peat can be turned into great fuel and fertilizer.

              The speaker doesn’t have the proper tool for digging like his father or grandfather. He is something different in attitude. While his father and grandfather dig with spades, the speaker plans to dig with his pen. They would dig down into earth, perhaps the speaker wants to dig down into his past to give proper recognition to his ancestors. Finally the poet carries on the traditional work of digging in a different way as writer.

III Semester:  Short Story       THE INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

-Jhumpa Lahiri

Q. Discuss the central theme of the story “The Interpreter of Maladies”

The story “The Interpreter of maladies” is written by Jhumpa Lahiri. She is an Indian American author. The narrator describes the Das family. Mr. Kapasi is a tour guide. He drives for the Das family to the Sun temple at Konark. Mr. kapasi silently observes the nature of Mr. and Mrs.Das.  They are not at all close with each other. They don’t really enjoy taking care of their three kids. Mr. Kapasi tells the couple that he has another job as an interpreter at doctor’s office. Mrs. Das suddenly shows interest in Mr. Kapasi. She thinks that an interpreter is really romantic.

Mr. Kpasi starts to develop interest on Mrs. Das. He suggests that he should take the whole family to another tourist place. So that they can spend more time with hills and homes. Mrs. Das reveals to Mr. Kapasi that her son Bobby is not the son of Mr. Das. Nobody knows that truth except Mrs. Das. It makes Mr. Kapsi to lose respect for Mrs. Das

            The children and Mr. Das play with the monkeys.  Mean while Mrs. Das joins them, Bobby is missing. They find him surrounded by monkeys. Mr. Das accidentally takes a picture in his nervousness. Mrs. Das cries for help and asks Mr. Kapasi to do something. Mr. Kapasi chases off the monkeys and carries Bobby back to his family. Later the family went back to America.

THE BELOVED CHARIOTEER

-Sashi Deshpande

Q. What is the central theme of the story “The Beloved Charioteer?”

Sashi Deshpande is one of the greatest India English writers of 21^st century. “The Beloved Charioteer” is a delightful short story written by her. It describes the life of three generations of people how they live together with different mindsets. The story reveals the hardships faced by widows in a male dominated society.

Arti is the mother of Priti. She becomes depressed since the death of her husband, Madhav. She loves two persons in life- her father and her husband. As both of them died, her grief knows no bounds. She spends most of her time on smoking and staring at walls with blank face. She does not talk to anyone, neither to her daughter Priti nor to her mother. She even scolds Priti for no reason. She is confined to four walls. She is with a shaven head wearing red saris. Life has been cruel for her.

The grandmother in the story is the narrator. She is called Ajji. She tells her daughter Arti how cruel Arti’s father was when he was alive. In fact, at one stage the narrator envies her daughter’s happy married life. Priti likes to sleep with her grandmother. She hopes to hear stories from Ajji. She does not like to sleep with her mother as she never sleeps well and goes on smoking. Priti does not like the smell. Priti’s affection for her grandmother is a gift from heaven.       

III Semester:  One-act play                                 KANYASULKAM

-Gurajada Appa Rao

Q. Write the summary of Act I & II of the one-act play “Knaysulkam”

The one-act play “Kanyasulkam” is written by Gurajada Appa Rao. It is the first Telugu play to deal with social issues.  It is translated into English by C. Vijayasree and T. Vijayakumar. The play portrays the practice of kanyasulkam which was common among the Brahmins in the Telugu speaking area of southern India. The play also depicts the objections to widow re-marriages and hatred towards English education

The play takes place in a village called ‘Bonkuladibba’ near Vijayanagaram. The lead character in the play is Girisam. He is an English educated man. His life is full of debts. He used to live in the house of putakoolamma.  She is a widow. He goes to Venkatesam’s native place as his teacher to teach him English. In the mean time he enjoys with Mahuravani. Maduravani is a prostitute. She is the muse of Girisam in the beginning of the play and that of Ramappa panthulu in the rest of the play

Agnihotravadhanulu is a key role player in the play. He is an egoistic Brahmin. He rudely slams his food plate on the face of his young widowed daughter when she objects the early marriage of her sister to an old man. Parents in those days sell their pre-pubescent daughters to old men for money which refers to be Kanyasulkam. The writer strongly blames this evil practice in the Indian society

2. Q. Sketch the character of Girisam in the play “Kanyasulkam”

Girisam is a lead character in the play “Kanyasulkam”. He is a very clever young man. He desires for easy money. He tells lies very easily. He stays with a boarding house widow. He borrows money from others and spends on dancing girls. No one is left in the town to cheat and borrow money. He claims to be an educationist. He wins the favour of Madhuravani with his skilful conversation. Madhuravani is a young prostitute. She is beautiful. She likes Girisam more than the boarding widow.

Girisam enters as tuition teacher to Venkatesam, the son of Agnihotravdhanulu. What he teaches Venkatesam is nothing but smoking cigars. He goes to Venkatesam’s village to escape from his creditors. It helps him to pass time with free boarding and lodging. When Venkamma requests Girisam to speak to her son Venkatesam in English, he said ‘Twinkle, Twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are!’ . Venkatesam replies ‘There is a white man in the tent’

Girisam shows another angle in his character. When he sees the young widow Butchamma, he makes his plan to make her his own, at least for some time. He gives a long lecture to Venkatesam on the necessity of child marriages. He says that it is a new discovery to get young girls married to old men. He makes a satire on politics. Unless one changes one’s opinions from time to time, one cannot become a politician.

                       SOMU  B.sc