Prakruti Bhatt's Assignments

This post is in response to the questions (7-10 and 13) asked here 7) The five advantages of language learning through software include: Development of basic language skills Ease of assessment for the teacher The software is easy to operate, provided the tools are in good condition Teachers can also easily monitor learners' performance Convenient for group work 8) Following are the disadvantages of the language learning software: Inconvenience of time and place Affordability and availability of digital tools Lack of awareness regarding the usage of the software and the usage of the digital tools 9) Following are the few things related to language skills which can be learnt from the software: Communication skills A good vocabulary Standard accent and pronunciation patterns 10) Following are the five new words, in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation, learnt during the survey: Wonk Psychometric Veneer Xerophthalmia Debonair 13) Comparatively, the N...

Hello Readers This post is a bit subjective; considering the fact that it demands the discussion on my understanding and impressions of the text at hand. So, let me begin with my first encounter with a Chetan Bhagat novel and how the initial opinions changed by the time I became a student of literature and what opinions I have now. Chetan Bhagat being a popular writer while I was a teenager, I bought and read his, Three Mistakes Of My Life . At that the time, the novel's plot was very relatable; the language was also easy to grasp and the book wasn't much bulky. These advantages attracted me to Bhagat's Half Girlfriend and One Night At The Call Center ; both of which I couldn't finish since the attraction faded too soon. Once in college, the opinions on Bhagat and his works changed drastically pertaining to the popular opinion that he was a popular writer and not a classic; and therefore, held a lower value in literary terms because his works didn't offer much...

Literature and society have, throughout history, and often even today, shared a relationship of dependency; a literary text, no matter how much we try to, can never be separated from societal concerns while society needs literature to reflect on its own strengths and flaws. Writers have always tried to adhere to the notion that 'literature is a mirror to society'. A mirror indeed, reflecting not just the beauty of the society it reflects, but also its hideousness. Arundhati Roy's works fall into this later function of the mirror. Her works are a documentation of that reality or history which, as mentioned in the above quote, has/had been  'deliberately silenced' or 'preferably unheard' . One might even agree to the argument that literature is where these unheard and silenced voices, find expression and that it is often one of the many reasons behind literary expression. Though I can't recall the very first time I heard the author's name or...

The 21st century has witnessed (and is still going to) the integration of technology with almost all the aspects of human life. From our work environments to our social circles, technology has become an indispensable part of our lives. May be this is why, whether it has eased our efforts or has/had a deteriorating effect on our lives, is a fresh topic for debate these days. Let's take education for example; among the many voices that echo the opinion that technology for education is just a waste of time, there are expert opinions arguing strongly that, it is a helping hand for teachers as well as students. Well we can say that one of the many aims of education is to keep learners updated about the changing times and keep them ready for innovation; which technology can provide time and again, and therefore it becomes necessary to integrate technology with our education systems. Some of the major arguments in favour of this opinion have been presented by the following experts an...

The ongoing technological advances of the 21st century and the amount of information available on the web sources have not only restructured the ways of learning but also changed the very definition of education drastically. However, like every advancement, this one is also subject to risk; the risk of being misused. The phenomenon of Plagiarism is enough to justify the statement. Students today, not only involve in using the web sources for their assignments and homework but also for learning things which are not a part of their curriculum. In such circumstances, it is important to identify the authenticity of the sources we rely on for our purpose. In light of these issues, the English Department at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, organized a workshop addressing the problems faced by students in identifying qualified and authentic content on the internet. For the qualitative analysis of the web resources, the students were introduced to the SEER (Source Education...

In the Post colonial discourse, the Foucoultian idea of power and knowledge, is employed to study how the 'universal' texts of the 'universal' language, construct and spread the markers of identity of those involved in the colonial experience; specifically those belonging to the bottom of the power structure. A close reading of the literary texts of the colonial times would reveal the creation of certain archetypal identity constructions; such as 'the noble savage', 'the sympathetic (white) master' whose responsibility is to civilize the uncivilized. so on and so forth. The problem however, lies, not just in the construction of such generalizations, but also in the continuation and culmination of them in the form of ideologies such as Racism. A good example to justify the above arguments is Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, wherein the character Friday represents the native who is black, without a name, without any 'civilized' identity, a...

Communication is one of the many skills and faculties which distinguishes the human world from the rest of the natural world! In the 21st century however, it is no longer limited to the exchanging of messages. The communication and mass media industry today, can be said to have broken the boundaries of time and space. The virtual world of social media and the wide range of technological advances have truly transformed the world into a digital village; where everybody has access to everybody and everything. Communication and mass media platforms today, function on both, the personal and social levels. At the personal level, it caters largely to the need for entertainment. Whereas at the social level it caters majorly to the informative aspect. However, this can be considered just a general hypothesis for the discussion on the function of mass media and communication platforms in the human world; phenomenons like infotainment can be considered significant exceptions to the same. Pers...

How is a writer or an artist recognized and understood by the society or nation? People critique a writer for the conflicting matters included in his/her work. Girish Karnad, a significant figure in Indian literary tradition, as well as in the nation's politics; passed away on 10th June 2019. And people's, especially media's reactions were varied. Some celebrated the death of an Urban Naxal while some mourned the death of a versatile artist, playwright, and actor. The reason why he faced criticism even at his death was because he raised his voice against religious fundamentalism and strongly advocated freedom of expression. This controversy clearly reflects how hypocritical society is even in today's time. It praises a writer if he/she stays obedient to its ideologies and never questions them; while it condemns the same person if that doesn't happen. Literature, we all know would always stand against the authoritative majority. There is no established truth in lite...

The Modern Times: Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, Chester Conklin Director: Charlie Chaplin Review: Often considered a one of the many acclaimed works of Chaplin, the modern times captures the struggles of a tramp, in a modern industrialized world. Chaplin with his amazing sense of humour satirizes the inequalities and injustices prevailing in the modern institutions."The film is a comment on the desperate employment and financial conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created in Chaplin's view by the efficiencies of modern industrialization." To read the plot of the movie click here. The Great Dictator: Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Henry Daniell, Reginald Gardiner, Billy Gilbert, Maurice Moscovich Director: Charlie Chaplin Review: The film presents Chaplin as, as both a 'ruthless fascist dictator' as well as a 'persecuted Jewish barber'. As i...

Literature has always dealt with the present and past in its own unique way. It looks towards the pastness and often asks for its help for a present situation. Thus,  we are reminded of Eliot's historical sense i.e. pastness of the past and its present whenever a writer deals with the past. Vinod Joshi's Sairandhri is a reworking of the character from Mahabharata with a motive to give voice to this 'lost identity' as the poet himself stated in his interview with SBS Gujarati radio. Mahabharata's Draupadi is known to many, but Sairandhri still remains as a vague memory. Draupadi assumes the role of a maid (Sairandhri) for the queen Sudeshna during the Pandavas' year of disguised exile in the palace of the Matsya king, Virata. The poet states that his Sairandhri is different from Draupadi. She's someone who had to lose her identity of a queen and had to turn into a maid because of her fate. Everyday she compromises with her own identity, in order to hold on t...

Post colonialism looks into those unheard voices of colonial history that were curbed because of the biased historical sense. Films on colonialism either deal with the lost cultures of the colonized as well as how the changes in the imperial power in the political scenario. Shashi Tharoor in his An Era of Darkness, looks back at the colonial history of India and argues, to a great extent, that India could have been a better nation if it wouldn't have been colonized by the British. His way of arguing is what makes his arguments credible and notable to think about. He mentions the deteriorating economical effect the British imperialism had on the nation. He mentions such conflicts of colonial history out of which the nation hasn't been able to rise, even today.  Revisiting the colonial history, is also a common trend among the media and entertainment industry these days. Two glaring examples of this can be The Black Prince and Victoria and Abdul. Both the movies, released in 2...

The three day session with Professor Balaji sir, was an insightful experience. From the discussions on the curricular texts to one on the innovations in the field of literary research, his guidance helped the students to rethink and reconsider their ideas on these matters. His archivist mindset helped the students to connect the post colonial conflicts and arguments to various incidents in history as well as in contemporary times. His teaching method kept the class attentive and active throughout the session. Many misconceptions regarding postcolonial studies were clarified. The session began with an explanation and discussion on how colonialism and imperialism were distinct terms and how they function in the postcolonial discourse. This later moved on to the sequential discussion on the curricular texts which include: 1) Frantz Fanon's Black Skin White Masks 2) Edward Said's Orientalism 3) Aime Cesaire's A Tempest 4) Salman Rushdie's Imaginary Homelands

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement during the 19th century. Its focus was on individuality; which was based on the belief that humans were essentially good and that anything natural was good. The movement developed as a part of the European Romanticism. How much did the ideas of transcendentalism affected Hawthorne?-------- is a question which has been already answered by history. However, how far is his Scarlet Letter transcendentalist in its form or aspect?-- is being debated even today. One observation can be that, considering the author's association with the movement in its early stages, the novel does reflect some elements of the philosophy. However, to call the novel completely a transcendentalist text would be a matter of question. Hawthorne portrays a sort of tension between the Puritan society and the transcendentalist views."Forest and rosebush represent the good and evil sides of nature. And Hawthorne thought that transcendentalism was too optimistic...

Youth festivals are mediums to celebrate the young talent and energy. This year's youth festival of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University was called Rangmohan; celebrating the two Mohans of Indian culture, i.e. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Lord Krishna. The festival was full of a varied range of events; ranging from literary events to cultural and fine art events. Being participant of this festival I learnt many things, apart from the obvious skill of dealing with people; which is by far has proved to be toughest job for me! Anyways, moving to the events, I wasn't able to witness as many performances as are required for writing this blog; for instance, unfortunately I wasn't able to attend any dramatic performances, However, that isn't going to be an excuse for not writing about the dramatic events; since I was there for the practice session of one of them😅 Considering the fact that Gandhi used to fight for the contemporary social issues of his time; the ...

This post is in reference to the questions asked here 1) Absurd plays are known for their little or no detailing of their setting. So is the case with Waiting for Godot. Beckett only mentions "A Country Road. A tree. Evening". Beckett might be suggesting that humanity is stuck between night and day. Between light and darkness. Also the idea that the existential idea that life is transitory. As the sun sets slowly, with the passage of time, so will life one day. And in one or the way we are 'waiting' or as the painting portrays 'longing', for the sun to set. 2) A tree is a symbol of fertility and vegetation. For Beckett however, as for Eliot, in the 'waste land' of modern life nothing grows. Thus, the tree is a dead tree. However, that is also transient. And the next day only one but a leaf grows on one of the branches. Thus, even nature lives a cyclical life. Experiencing life after death and vice versa. It also reflects the uncaring and unaffecte...

Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone & Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter: Feminism & Motherhood Abstract:    It is a misconception that, feminism or any other idea talking about the freedom of the feminine identity, is against or opposes any personal or subjective feminine experience; motherhood being one of them. What can be argued however is that, feminism, and similar concepts oppose or question the normalization and appropriation of motherhood. The fact that motherhood should be a matter of choice for a female identity seems to be the movement’s take on the issue. What problematizes the concept of motherhood is the cultural as well as religious deification, which has happened, and is still happening across cultures. Therefore, texts like The Scarlet Letter and The Millstone become significant. Though both the texts belong to two different times in history, they share a common theme of human relationships as well as female identities as victims of ...

Abstract : The terms mentioned in the title, are often confused with each other while having a discussion on language teaching and learning. With the wide range of advancements in the field of language teaching and learning, it becomes quite difficult to distinguish one term from the other. However, long before these advancements happened, three of the major contributors to the field tried to clarify the ambiguities to a certain extent. Them being: Richards & Rogers and Anthony Edwards. What actually does the word ‘method’ mean for the language teaching and learning classes? is the major concern of the two essays, namely, “Method: Approach, Design and Procedure” & “Approach, Method & Technique” , are taken into consideration by this assignment for the purpose of discussion. Method: Approach, Design and Procedure                           ...

Abstract : Before Post Colonialism developed, there was a discussion of whether the end of colonization marked the end of colonialism as well; since the colonies were now free from their colonizers (primarily the former British colonies). However, because of the coming up of the Post colonial argument, such assumptions were broken down. Post Colonialism with its archival and objective sense of history, argued that although colonization ended in the later part of the 20 th century, colonialism has continued to exist in one or the other form after that. The major concern now, however, is that in the 21 st century, amidst concepts like globalization, will it be possible to argue the same with post colonialism’s phenomenons like marginalizations, hegemonic structures, so on and so forth. The aim of this assignment, therefore, is to look at how has and how will, Post colonialism work in the 21 st century. Since, “Post colonialism as a theoretical discourse has a responsibility to spe...

Abstract: To suggest, is a very natural human activity. When it comes to literature, therefore, which tries to capture every human experience, it takes the form of a technique of literary expression. The formal study of a literary work, thus, involves an analysis of the language and linguistic technique it employs. Language, along with various other constituents such as imagery, prosody, etc, coherently gives a unique identity to the work. Suggestion and Statement, thus, form a part of this analysis. Often these two common-looking terms are confused with each other. The aim of this assignment is to look at how suggestion has been a common technique of using the literary language for narration as well as poetic expression; and how the technique is employed in literary modernism. It takes into account, Krishna Rayan’s critical work on Suggestion for its purpose. Suggestion and Statement: How do they differ?   According to Krishna Rayan, “The distinction between the langua...