I BA English - Grammar Class - log:

Seminar Topics:
Shannon - Tense, subject/predicate
Bijoy - Nouns
Judith - Figures of Speech
Bernadette Florence - Active and Passive
Sajeev - Adjectives and Adverbs
Tinku - Verbs

General Course - Updates:

II Hr:
Each group has been asked to choose a topic for seminar. Other groups will ask questions based on the theme chosen.
Taught the analysis of a text with the help of rhetorical devices.
LABELS, HEADINGS and MESSAGES - the difference.
Label - word/word cluster indicating the nature of the thing to which it is attached.
Heading - what the header material is about. (Letter Writing, English Architecture etc)
Messages - Containst two items et al.
Vocab: disheveled - untidy
a baffling problem - puzzling
lenient - not strict
repulsive - disgusting
audacious attempt - bold
parry a blow - ward off
incredible story - unbelievable
indefatigable worker - tireless
clandestine meeting - secret

Part II English - I BSc Phy/Chem - Web log:

I Hr:
Discussed 'Daffodils' in class.
Gave the important figures of speech needed to analyse a text -
Style/Symbol/Pun/Paradox/Antithesis/Sign/Metaphor/Simile/Language et al.
Content:
Who is addressed?
What kind of time and place is the poem set in?
What's the message of the poem?
What's the tone of the poem? is it serious/reflective/ironic/satirical?
What type of peom is it - lyrical/pastoral/epic/narrative/descriptive etc?
Form: Any set pattern or layout - like Ballad, sonnet etc.
Metre: Stress, Pattern, rhyme scheme, rhythm, alliteration, assonace, end rhyme etc.

III BA English - Introduction to R.K.Narayan's THE GUIDE

II Hr
The Guide -

Ideal vs Real in 'The Guide': Looking at the various points of entry within the novel, as they tell us quite a lot about the whole novel they come from. Insight into People/Places/Moods.

Synopsis: The novel begins with Raju sitting beside the temple and meeting the villager named Velan, who mistakes him for a holy man. The novel then alternates between an account of Raju’s career as a holy man, which is told in the third-person, and Raju’s account to Velan of his previous career as a tour guide and lover, which is told in the first-person. This dualism reflects the dualism in Raju’s character. He is transformed from a sinner to a saint, though he is never truly a sinner, and never truly a saint. Because of his capacity for empathy, Raju is a sympathetic character throughout the novel. http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/theguide.html

Part II English Classes - Updates:

A streaming test will be conducted for the I BA Political Science and I BA History classes on 24 June 2004 [IV hr]

A streaming test will be conducted for the I BSc Physics/ Chemistry classes on 25 June 2004 [IV hr]

III BA English - Appreciation of a Text: Short Story

III Hr: Appreciation of a Text:

A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end - but (as they say) not necessarily in that order! But what is a story?
The simplest form of story has:

1. a premise
2. development
3. complication
4. denouement (conclusion; often the twist in the tale).

Taught the aspects of Appreciation of a text - looking into/looking at/looking beyond a Text, with reference to an excerpt from a short story by R.K.Narayan

Expectations: Predictable, or are there unexpected elements?

Traditional: What is traditional, what is not?

Tone: Is it serious or not? (How can you tell?) (And where can you tell?)

Moral/characters/language/symbols/Function etc.

Function - is the author using the fable form to tell a different kind of a story? What is it really about, in your opinion? [to be contd in the next class...]

Welcome to the NEW ACADEMIC YEAR:

Dear Students,
Welcome to the new academic year. Let the new year bring in dynamism and dedication and success in all your endeavours.
Regards and all best wishes,
Rufus