Prakruti Bhatt's Assignments

George Bernard Shaw known for his contemporary satire and historical allegory, is one of the greatest dramatists of his generation and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. He wrote more than sixty plays, out of which his major works include: 1) Arms and The Man 2) Pygmalion 3) Man and Superman 4) The Doctor's Dilemma In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Pygmalion is a sculptor who falls in love with his own creation when it comes to life. Shaw's play is a modern adaptation of Ovid's work. The play centers around the transformation of a Cockney flower girl to a lady of the upper class by a phonetician, Henry Higgins , who believes that such a transformation is possible by working on the flower girl's language for six months. The play is a good example of the dominant class conflict in English society as well as gender politics. To read a detailed summary of the play click here A popular adaptation of the play was the movie My Fair Lady:     L...

Name: Prakruti Bhatt Roll Number: 25 Subject: Literary Criticism Topic: ‘Nature Writing’ and Henry David  Thoreau’s “Walden” Abstract : According to M.H Abrams, “Ecocriticism designates the critical writings that explore the relationships between literature and the biological and physical environment, conducted with an acute awareness of the damage being wrought on that environment by human activities.” The main argument of ecocriticism lies in the fact that literature has always been antropocentric and that it has been subject to literary descriptions since the birth of language itself. Nature Writing is one such field which studies and understands nature and the natural cycles. The aim of this assignment therefore is to have a brief view on what this field is all about and to analyze Thoreau’s “Walden” as a text of ecocriticism as well as nature writing. What is Nature Writing? “ Nature writing  is  nonfiction  or  fiction   prose  ...

Name: Prakruti Bhatt Roll Number: 25 Subject: Victorian Literature Topic: Archaism in Tennyson and Browning’s poems Abstract: Though Victorian age is usually characterized by a rapid change in terms of literature as well as society. And yet, one can observe a kind of nostalgia towards, to put it in Tennyson’s words, ‘the days that are no more’; a wish to bring back the values such as nobility and morality, which were, according to some, were fading in the Victorian time. This is clearly evident in the poems of the two major poets of the era, namely Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. Some of the major works of these two poets reflected the theme of archaism. Needless to say that the treatment of the theme by both of them was different and significant in their own way. How far did this archaism help in the increase in the popularity of their works is still a question. Nevertheless, it is the aim of this assignment, to have a brief of this theme and its treatment by b...

Name: Prakruti Bhatt Roll Number: 25 Subject: Romantic Literature Topic: Comparative Study of Kubla Khan’s “Damsel with dulcimer” and Christabel’s “Geraldine” Abstract: A fasciantion for mysterious, supernatural, and unknown world is one of the central themes of Romantic poetrty. Whether it is Coleridge or Keats, Romantic poets have dealt with this theme in their own distinct way. Not only do these elements provide the reader a sense of wonder, but they also reflect the psychological framework of the poet. It is interesting to note how female characters become a part of this mystery. The aim of this assignment therefore is to study the two mystrerious female characters of Coleridge’s Christabel and Kubla Khan. Samuel Taylor Coleridge- a brief introduction to his poetry: “Though not the first of Colerdige's published works,  Lyrical Ballads established Coleridge among the foremost poetic voices in 18th century England. Coleridge often uses a matter-of-fact, conv...

Name: Prakruti Bhatt Roll Number: 25 Subject: Cultural Studies Topic: Diaspora and Cultural Hybridity Abstract: Diaspora life and literature becomes an interesting study under cultural studies. Not only is it a field for understanding identity politics and post modern life but also is identified by a deep discourse on what does the ‘sense of belongingness’ mean in human life. On the other hand, Cultural Hybridity is equally an important aspect while understanding the dynamics of identity in a cross cultural set up. These concepts also play a significant role in analyzing larger structures like globalization. The aim of this assignment therefore, is to have a brief understanding of these two concepts and their relevance and significance in cultural studies. What is Cultural Hybridity? “Hybrid talk , the rhetoric of hybridity, is fundamentally associated with the emergence of post-colonial discourse and its critiques of cultural imperialism. It is the sec...