Guest Lecture by Dr. D. E. Benet

Dr. Benet, addressing our PG students

“Although there are lots of concerns about Higher Education, I desire that, our students here at MCC get the highest form of education. And, for that, you need to be getting into more and more challenging situations” said Dr. Stephen Jebanesan, even as he welcomed the guest lecturer of the day, Dr. D. E. Benet, to deliver a lecture on “Cracking the NET/SLET: Panoramic Perspective of English Literature”.

Dr. Benet gave a bird’s eye view of the nuances of English literature, followed by a glimpse into Australian/American/New Literatures. Then, in the afternoon session, he gave an introduction to Literary Criticism and Theory.

Emphasising the need for an aesthetic appreciation of literature, Dr. Benet said that, “for effective understanding of literature, a historical sense with a chronological perspective is very important. Instead of playing truant, if a student is regular to classes, he/she can answer 40% of the questions easily. Moreover, the new format of Paper III is meant to test one’s analytical skills, and hence a familiarity with the literary devices and the various movements in literature is very important,” he added. [Excerpts from his lecture, to follow]