FAQ
No. 1. Briefly explain the contribution of Christopher Marlowe for the
development of Elizabethan drama.
Christopher
Marlowe is one of the pioneer dramatists of Elizabethan drama. He contributed a
lot for the development of tragedy in English literature. Bloodshed, revenge,
violence, hunger for power and thirst for knowledge are the main themes of his
dramas. His first tragedy ‘Tamburlaine the Great’ is in two parts. It is
written in the splendid blank verse that he brought to the stage. The first
part deals with the rise to power of Tamburlaine, a shepherd and a robber. In
the second part, Tamburlaine is pulled to Babylon in a carriage drawn by two
kings defeated with him.
In
his next drama, ‘The Jew of Malta’, the governor of Malta taxes the Jews there,
but a rich Jew, Barabas, refuses to pay. His money and house are taken from him
and in revenge he begins a life of violence but meets with a terrible death at
last.
Another
play Dr. Faustus deals with the uncontrolled thirst for knowledge and power.
Even he sells his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles, for 24 years of splendid
life. In the end, he gets a tragic and terrible death. Christopher Marlowe also
influenced other Elizabethan dramatists through his powerful blank verse and
the development of characters.
FAQ
No. 2. Briefly explain the contribution of William Shakespeare for the
development of Elizabethan drama.
William
Shakespeare was the greatest Elizabethan playwright. The main glory of
Elizabethan period was its drama and especially the dramas of William
Shakespeare. No other English authors has equaled his brilliant verse and
characterizations. He wrote 37 dramas, many sonnets, lyrics and poems. He
introduced English sonnet in literature. His dramas can be divided into three
main categories; historical plays, tragedies and comedies. (Write other detail about his dramas)
The
Piece of String
FAQ
Is Hauchecome more of an ignorant or an innocent man? Why?
In
my opinion, Hauchecome is more of an innocent man. He just went to Goderville
without knowing that he was going to meet his misfortune there. He had just
picked up the piece of string as of his habit of collecting things that may be
helpful in future. He was a simple villager. He was unknown of the fact that
someone was looking at him so carefully and he was his enemy. He was also
ignorant in the case he was suspected even though he was not the one who stole the
pocketbook. Moreover, it was his ill fate that the pocketbook was lost the same
day at the same place. He was unaware of the fact that his enemy already
disgraced him. Although he told that it was just a piece of string that he
picked up from the floor, no one on the earth could believe that a man can just
pick up a piece of string in such a crowded place. And by the time the
pocketbook was returned, people in his surrounding still talked behind his back
negatively.
FAQ.
Who do you think should be blamed for the death of Hauchecome? He, himself or
the society? Why?
For
me both he and the society should be blamed for his death. He, himself should
be blamed since he let the people around him affect him. He should have ignored
them for he knew to himself that he was innocent. He wasn’t able to remain
strong when people tried to accuse him. He should have understood that there
would be many enemies in the society who would try to laugh at someone else’s
sufferings. He should have tried to make other people convince from his good
deeds in the society like helping others in their need, going with them and
talking face to face and trying to make them clear about his habit of picking
up a piece of string. Moreover when the pocketbook was returned, he should have
visited each and every family in the village and told them about the truth and
his innocence.
Moreover,
the society should be responsible for his death as they were the reason for the
weakness of Hauchecome. They kept on saying bad ideas to him which made him
feebler and made him feel not to fight anymore. The society should be
structured to help the innocent and punish the guilty one. Moreover, the
society shouldn’t have treated him badly unless and until he was found guilty.
They should have stood in favour of the weak one and make him comfortable.
How
does the story mirror the problem of social injustice?
Appending
to the story, Hauchecome was blamed for the crime he did not commit. People
easily judged him even though they did not know the truth. Towards the end of
the story, he was still not given any justice. This shows the problem of the
society where injustice is not being reasonable. Some criminals are away from
penalties, while innocent people are being punished and are becoming the
victims. People easily believe in rumours and give accusations immediately
without asking for the real story.
The cactus summarySummary
The Story Cactus by O. Henry is a story of a
boy named Trysdale who was in love with a girl. Later on, the boy had to
separate with her. The reason why Trysdale had a break up with his beloved
remains in suspense till the end of the story.
At the beginning of the story he was seen
drinking alone at an apartment and his friend, the girl's brother came there
and asked the reason of drinking alone. Then he tells him the story how he
happened to broke up with his beloved.
Trysdale, actually had told her a lie that he
knows Spanish well to impress her. However, when he proposed she did not give
the answer immediately to him and asked him to wait till next day.
Trysdale waited impatiently for the answer of
the girl. But the next day, the girl sent him a red vessels with a cactus
plant. There was a tag which he thought that was the vernacular name of the
plant. There was no note at all.
His friends asked him if he knew English well.
He said no. Neither he knew what was written on the vessel. Actually the word
written on the vessel was VENTOMARME, which means come and take me.
Trysdale did not get what was it until the
girl's brother or his friend told him about this. Just because of his white
lie, he had to be apart from his love. If he had not told the lie, the girl
would have sent the message in some common language. But due to his one mistake
he lost her.
Even if the lie is insignificant and small it
sometimes can create a big and undesirable result.
1. What had happened israel in
the past?
Trysdale had a love affair in the past which
could not last longer. His girlfriend had broken up with him and had married
someone else.
2. Does Chris Dale blame
himself for the misfortune instead of blaming the girl?
Trysdale blames himself for the misfortune
because he thinks that whatever happened, happened because of him. He
thinks that he is not worthy to get someone's love. He thinks that the girl
left him because she knew that he doesn't deserve it. She could not spend her
whole life with such a man. He thinks that he is an average, unworthy and
undeserving man to be loved by a girl.
3. How does the coincidence of
the Spanish language bring a counterproductive move in the story? discuss.
Trysdale had once told his girlfriend a lie
that he knew Spanish language. Thinking that her boyfriend knew Spanish, the
girl send him a cactus with a message written in Spanish language. The message
actually was the acceptance of the marriage proposal made by Trysdale but
Trysdale could not understand the message written in Spanish due to which he
lost her.
He had told himself that her paleness was from
thoughts of another then the man to whom she was about to give herself. It
means that Trysdale thinks that she rejected and broke up with him because she
liked someone else. She had feelings towards someone else to whom she married
later. But it was just his thought before knowing the truth that the girl
had actually accepted his marriage proposal.
One and only person who is guilty in this
entire incident is Trysdale.Had he not told lie to his girlfriend that he knew
Spanish they would have married each other and their life would be different.
Lies will always be bitter at the end no matter how sweet we made it in the
beginning.
Trysdale had hidden the matter even with his
close friend. The reason behind this maybe he wanted to tell him later as his
girlfriend once accepts his marriage proposal. But she broke up with him
and he becomes sad. He in tragedy, may have decided to deal with his sorrow by
himself. He may have thought why would he be involving anyone in his sorrow. So
he didn't tell even with his close friend.
Summary
of Half a Day
The story opens in an unnamed city
early in the morning. The narrator, a young boy, is struggling to keep up with his father,
who is walking him to school for the first time. Although his father is
cheerful and reassuring, remarking that the day represents an important step
forward in life, the narrator is nervous; he feels he’s being punished: “I did
not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from the
intimacy of my home” (Paragraph 5). His anxiety only increases when he arrives
at school, where he and the other children are divided into groups and welcomed
by a woman who advises them to accept the school as their new home.
The narrator and the other students
do so and find themselves enjoying their new environment; they attend classes,
play games, nap, and make new friends. As time goes on, however, they realize
that their new lives also involve a great deal of hard work and frustration:
“And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often scowl and scold”
(Paragraph 14).
As sunset approaches, the narrator
emerges from school expecting to find his father waiting for him as he
promised. When his father doesn’t show up, he begins walking home by himself
and runs into a middle-aged man who greets him familiarly. They exchange pleasantries,
and the narrator continues walking, only to find that the city has changed
dramatically since the morning; he’s now surrounded not by gardens, but by
crowds of people, cars, and tall buildings. Increasingly alarmed and more
desperate to reach home than ever, the narrator is trying to cross a busy
street when a young boy approaches to help him, addressing him as “Grandpa.”
Summary
of 'Boys and Girls'
The narrator of 'Boys and Girls,' a coming of age
story, tells us about her life as a child on a fox farm and how she discovered
that her role in this place changes once she learns to become a 'girl.'
She begins the story by announcing that her father was a
fox farmer. She describes the gruesome work of skinning the foxes for pelts and
notes that it disgusted her mother. The narrator, however, found the smell of
blood and flesh reassuring. She and her brother, Laird, are both close to the
work that her father and his hired man Henry Bailey do.
Bedtime Stories and Early Ties
While the children enjoy the outdoors, they're uneasy in
their upstairs room at night, where Laird sings himself to sleep and the
narrator tells herself stories. These stories combine the world that the
narrator lives in with fantasies about opportunities not available in that world.
For example, she saves people from a building, shoots rabid wolves, and rides
into town heroically on horseback.
Both the narrator and Laird assist their father with his
duties. The narrator is proud to be part of her father's world, and she prefers
his reserved manner and his focus on work to her mother's ramblings about boys
she used to date and dresses she used to wear.
The narrator's mother tries to find things for her to do
in the house, but she finds the kitchen depressing and rushes out as soon as
she can to do her father's work, which she considers more important. Her mother
complains that it's like not having a girl at all, and that once Laird gets
older her father will have 'real' help and she can retain her daughter in the
kitchen.
Bloody Deeds
The narrator tells us that the foxes eat horse meat and
that the family sometimes kept horses in the stables to be butchered. She tells
of two such horses, Mack and Flora, that the family has when she is eleven
years old. She has also become conscious of the fact that she is expected to
become a 'girl' and that this is an identity that implies inferiority.
The narrator and Laird hide to watch their father and
Henry shoot Mack. This seems to disturb Laird, so the narrator takes him into
town to see a show. When it comes time to shoot Flora two weeks later, she
realizes that she is now ashamed of her father's work and has started paying
more attention to how she looks and whether or not she will be pretty.
Flora breaks away from the narrator's father as he leads
her out of the stable to be killed. Flora heads for the gate on the other side
of the stable, which has been left open. The men yell for her to shut it, but
she opens it wider instead. Henry and her father don't see her do it, but Laird
does. The men take Laird with them to chase down Flora.
Becoming Girls and Boys
Meanwhile, the narrator tells us that she has sectioned
off the room she shares with Laird, and the stories she tells herself at night
have changed. Now she's more concerned about what she looks like and instead of
rescuing others, she's being rescued.
Gender
Roles In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls”, the story is focused on a working
class family who lives on a farm. A man’s role on the farm or in general is to
work for the family and do the heavy work that a woman wouldn’t be able to do.
The daughter in the story is very much inspired by the father and wishes to
pursue in the activities that are being performed around the farm. The mother
needs help around the house and that was the role many females took over for
many centuries and generations. Throughout the existence of society gender roles are often exchanged and unfairly
distributed. The point of view Alice Munro wants to establish is that women are
capable of doing a fair share of the things men can do. There is a diversity
among males and females both for the obvious and not so obvious reasons. The
characteristics society defined as a man was someone who was strong and able to
care for the land. Society defined a female as the complete opposite. “She’s just a
girl” occurs in this short story twice, and yet each time it is presented it
has a different meaning. The first occurrence was the comment made from a
salesman. The salesman said it in admiration to the young girl, praising her
for being a girl however, the second occurrence was by her father negatively
belittling her at the dinner table for letting the horse out of the gate. The
protagonist’s father belittles the girl in accordance to the male feeling
superior and degrading the women due to the secondary objects.
Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” was
first published as an individual story in 1964 and was also included in Munro’s
1968 collection, Dance
of the Happy Shades.
The story takes place at one home in rural Canada, and the narrator, a soon to be 11-year-old girl, carefully describes her
father’s work as a fox farmer. The work is seasonal, but the narrator begins in
the “several weeks before Christmas” when her father would begin the task of
removing fox pelts from the “small, mean, and rat-like” bodies in the basement.
Her mother, the narrator notes, “disliked the whole pelting operation”
(Paragraph 2). The family’s “hired man,” Henry Bailey, helps the narrator’s father and teases the children.
At that time of year, the narrator
and her younger brother, Laird, “were afraid at night.” They sleep upstairs in an unfinished room
where, she imagines, “bats and skeletons” live. The children have “rules to
keep [them] safe,” which define which parts of the room they can enter with or
without the lights on (Paragraph 4). Both children sing themselves to sleep.
Once Laird falls asleep, the narrator starts to tell herself stories that
continue “from night to night.” These stories are about her, “when [she] had
grown a little older; they took place in a world that was recognizably [hers],
yet one that presented opportunities for courage, boldness, and self-sacrifice”
(Paragraph 7).
Like the narrator and her brother,
the foxes also live in an enclosed space. Their pen is “surrounded by a high
guard fence, like a medieval town, with a gate that was padlocked at night”
(Paragraph 8). All of the foxes have names, given by the narrator, her father,
and Laird. The narrator’s job is to provide the foxes with water every day. But
despite everyone’s familiarity with the foxes, “naming them did not make pets
out of them, or anything like it” (Paragraph 10).
The narrator notices that, when she helps
her father with the foxes, he is quiet, which is “different from [her] mother”
who often told her stories (Paragraph 11). He refers to her as a “hired hand”
to a visitor, which she considers a compliment. The visitor, though, remarks:
“I thought it was only a girl” (Paragraph 11).
One night, the narrator overhears her
father and mother discussing her. They meet in front of the barn, which is an
“odd thing” because her mother “did not often come out of the house” (Paragraph
13). The narrator overhears her mother comfort her father, encouraging him to
“wait till Laird gets a little bigger,” because then he’ll “have a real help”
(Paragraph 14). Her mother longs to have help in the house; at the moment, she
says how “it’s not like [she] had a girl in the family at all” (Paragraph 16).
The narrator recognizes that her
mother loves her but is also her “enemy.” She recognizes a plot to “get [her]
to stay in the house more,” though she notes that, in retrospect, “it did not
occur to [her] that [her mother] could be lonely, or jealous” (Paragraph 17).
Things change the winter that the
narrator is 11 years old. Her grandmother visits, and she begins “to hear a
great deal more on the theme [her] mother had sounded when she had been talking
in front of the barn” (Paragraph 21). The family’s foxes eat horsemeat from old
local horses who are put down. As more farmers purchase tractors at the end of
World War II, the narrator’s family has more horses to buy. That year, they
purchase two, Mack and Flora, who the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey will shoot in
the spring.
Laird and the narrator sneak into the
barn to watch from the loft, and they see their father and Henry shoot the
horse. The narrator notices how Laird “had drawn a long, groaning breath of
surprise” after their father shoots the horse, and she hurries him out of the
barn. As Laird becomes “young and obedient again,” she remembers a time, years
before, when she endangered him on the top beam of the barn (Paragraph 32). She
makes Laird promise not to tell that she brought him to watch the horse
killing, and then she takes him into town to watch a movie.
Two weeks later, when she knows that
they will kill Flora, she “[doesn’t] think of watching it.” She is “a little
ashamed” and has “a new wariness, a sense of holding-off,” in the way she
thinks about her father (Paragraph 36).
But when the men take Flora out of
the barn, she breaks free and runs through the backyard. It is “exciting” to
the narrator “to see her running, whinnying, going up on her hind legs,
prancing and threatening like a horse in a Western movie” (Paragraph 38). When
Flora runs to the gate, the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey shout to her to
run and close the gate. But “instead of shutting the gate,” she “[opens] it as
wide as [she can]” (Paragraph 41).
The men, including Laird, pass
through the gate to catch Flora, and the narrator “[shuts] the gate” (Paragraph
42). She returns inside to her mother, knowing that they would catch Flora but
also fearing what would happen, because she “had never disobeyed [her] father
before.” The narrator recognizes the she is “on Flora’s side” (Paragraph 43).
The narrator sits upstairs on her
bed, in the room which she had begun to decorate, and reflects on her and
Laird’s nighttime routine. They “did not sing at night any more.” In her
nighttime stories, “something different was happening,” and instead of rescuing
others, “somebody would be rescuing [her]” (Paragraph 45).
When the men return, Laird boasts
that “[they] shot old Flora” and holds up “a streak of blood” on his arm as
proof (Paragraph 46). Over a meal, Laird tells the group that it was the
narrator’s fault that Flora escaped. At her father’s disbelief, and “to [her]
shame,” the narrator feels herself start to cry. She has no answer when he asks
her why, but, “with resignation,” he dismisses her with the phrase, “she’s only
a girl.” The story ends with the narrator wondering: “Maybe it was true” (Paragraph
48).
Summary Boys and Girls
The story is set in a rural Canadian home, and the narrator, a
soon-to-be 11-year-old girl, describes her father’s work as a fox farmer with
care. The work is seasonal and the narrator begins removing fox pelts from the
small, mean, and rat-like bodies in the basement a few weeks before Christmas.
The narrator mentions that her mother despised the whole pelting operation.
Henry Bailey, the family’s hired man, assists the narrator’s father and teases
the children. The narrator and her younger brother, Laird, were afraid of the
dark. They sleep upstairs in an unfinished room where bats and skeletons, she
imagines, live. To keep them safe, the children have rules that specify which
parts of the room they can enter with or without the lights turned on. Both
children fall asleep singing to themselves. When Laird falls asleep, the
narrator begins telling herself stories, which she continues to tell herself
night after night. These stories are about her when she was a little older, and
they took place in a world that was recognizable as hers and offers
opportunities for courage, boldness, and self-sacrifice.
The foxes, like the narrator and her brother, live in a small
space. Their pen is encircled by a high guard fence, reminiscent of a mediaeval
town, with a padlocked gate at night. The narrator, her father, and Laird give
each of the foxes a name. Every day, the narrator’s job is to bring water to
the foxes. Although everyone was familiar with the foxes, naming them did not
turn them into pets or anything similar. When the narrator assists her father
with the foxes, she notices that he is quiet, in contrast to her mother, who
used to tell her stories. To a visitor, he refers to her as a hired hand, which
she takes as a compliment. The narrator overhears her father and mother talking
about her one night. They meet in front of the barn, which is unusual because
her mother didn’t leave the house very often. The narrator overhears her mother
console her father, telling him to wait until Laird is a little bigger so he
can get some real help. Her mother longs to have help in the house; at the
moment, she says how it’s not like she had a girl in the family at all.
Her
mother loves her but is also her adversary. She recognizes a scheme to persuade
her to spend more time at home, though she admits that it never occurred to her
that her mother might be lonely or jealous. Things change the winter that the
narrator is 11 years old. When her grandmother comes to visit, she starts to
hear a lot more of the same theme that her mother had sounded when she was
talking in front of the barn. The foxes in the family eat horsemeat from
retired local horses. The narrator’s family has more horses to buy as more
farmers buy tractors at the end of WWII. That year, they buy two, Mack and
Flora, who will be shot in the park by the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey.
The narrator and Laird sneak into the barn to watch from the loft, where they
witness their father and Henry shooting the horse. After their father shoots
the horse, the narrator notices that Laird has drawn a long, groaning breath of
surprise, and she rushes him out of the barn.
As Laird regains his youth and obedience, she recalls a time when
she put him in danger on the barn’s top beam years ago. She makes Laird promise
not to tell anyone that she took him to see the horse slaughter, and then she
takes him to see a movie in town. She doesn’t think about watching it two weeks
later when she knows they’re going to kill Flora. In the way she thinks about
her father, she is a little embarrassed and has developed a new wariness, a
sense of holding back. Flora, on the other hand, breaks free and runs through
the backyard when the men take her out of the barn. Flora is running to the
gate when the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey shout at her to hurry up and
close the gate. Rather than closing the gate, she swings it open as wide as she
can. The men, including Laird, pass through the gate to apprehend Flora, and
the narrator closes it. She returns to her mother, knowing that they would
apprehend Flora but also fearful of the consequences, as she had never
disobeyed her father before. The narrator realizes she is siding with Flora.
The narrator reflects on her and Laird’s nighttime routine as she
sits upstairs on her bed in the room she had begun to decorate. They stopped
singing in the evenings. Something different was happening in her nighttime
stories, and instead of rescuing others, she was being rescued. When the men
return, Laird brags about shooting old Flora and shows a streak of blood on his
arm to prove it. During a meal, Laird informs the group that Flora’s escape was
due to the narrator’s fault. The narrator begins to cry, much to her father’s surprise
and embarrassment. When he asks why, she doesn’t have an answer, so he
dismisses her with the phrase “she’s only a girl.” Perhaps it was true, the
narrator muses at the end of the story.
Boys and Girls | Analysis
In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls,” the protagonist is
a young girl growing up in Canada in the mid-twentieth century. She lives on
their farm with her family, which consists of her mother, father, and younger
brother Laird, and her life is marked by gender roles.
Munro doesn’t give the girl a name, and as a result, the protagonist is
portrayed as a person without a name. She has no sense of
self-identity or power. The existence of a name for the girl’s younger
brother indicates that he is more important simply because he is a boy and that
he is the one in charge. The protagonist of the story is torn between her
“girl” life in the kitchen with her mother and her “boy” life outside the house
with her father helping out on the farm.
The story’s conflicts are the differing expectations
of a girl and a boy, as well as the protagonist’s feelings about and
struggle to find her own identity. The girl’s belief that she can contribute
significantly to her father’s work is shattered when she discovers that she
can’t. She realizes what society thinks of her and what it expects of her. The
protagonist wishes to collaborate with her father on a project. She enjoys the
attention she receives from her father while working on their fox farm. When a
salesman arrives at the farm while the protagonist is raking the freshly cut
grass, her father introduces her as his “new hired man,” to which the salesman
replies.
Why I write
Do you think that the images that she
creates in her mind help her writing. Does this apply to all writers?
The essay ‘Why I Write’ written by Joan
Didion presents her experiences in writing. In this essay, she describes the
way she writes by using some images in her mind. In her way writing is the act
of saying, of imposing oneself upon other people and changing other’s mind. She
says that she creates some mental images before she starts writing, and then
she uses these images for her writing process because the concepts of her
images tell her what is wrong and what is right. When she writes her novel she
doesn’t use the sequence of time or character. She draws something in her mind
before she starts writing. She explains that she is not inspired by ideas like
she believes other writers are, but that she finds herself fascinated by
seemingly trivial details and pictures that inspire her to come up with stories
and scenes to explain them. Especially she has two pictures in her mind. The
first is empty white space and second is something actual, a young woman with
long hair waking in the casino.
I don’t think this applies to all the
writers. There are some writers who might focus on the story first. They would
think of the story and the details of the novel first and then start writing
according to their thought. Some would focus on the characters and the conflict
aroused between the characters reaching to a climax. Some writers would
completely focus on their imagination and fantasy to create some literary works
unlike Joan Didion. Unlike other writers, she focuses on the simple sentences
filled with vivid descriptions and detail of scenery and imagery. The purpose
of her essay is informative and entertaining. Didion doesn’t seem to care
whether the reader thinks her style of writing as superior nor she seems to be
interested in a how-to guide for up and coming writers. Her sole purpose in
this essay is to get inside her own mind and explain what she finds for anyone
who might be interested to know, her conclusion is that the reason she writes
and the method by which she writes are one and the same.
