workshop- thinking activity

 Workshop - Thinking Activity 

At the department of English of MK Bhavnagar University we had the workshop of thinking activity by Prof. Milan Pandya . He is a teacher, trainer and educator in the field of thinking skills. he is a specialist in critical, creative and design thinking. It was a two days seminar(13th and 14th August) for the students of the  Department of English.

in the beginning our classmate greeted prof. Milan Pandya.

Than our department Head Dr. Dilip Barad sir gave brief introduction about Milan sir.

The workshop  was for two days. On day 1 Milan sir discussed what is creative or critical thinking and have to develop it and how to apply it. On the day2 we did some activities to learn and increase our ability of creative thinking.

Day 1

 

  The workshop started on 13th august. The very first question that the professor asked was “what is creative or critical thinking?”

   When we gave that question some thought and also had some hard time to think it out, some of us tried to interpret the meaning of it. Later sir explained it to us.

The critical thinking depends on three aspects,

1. logical

2. Rational

3. Scientific

The way to think critically happens by those three points. when we have to think critically and i think in the present time is the time when we have to observe everything and check facts to understand reality and truth we have to think critically we need to be logical, rational and think scientifically.

Professor Milan Pandya gave his own definition of creative thinking and that is

    “ Thinking about thinking in order to improve thinking”

In his definition he used word thinking three types that reflect the importance of thinking.

The thinking of one person reflects his or her ideology, psychology, nature and capacity of applying logic or separating their emotions while making their opinions.

           He said that ”context is everything” and if we find that we can understand the situation or problem. To apply critical thinking Milan sir gave this key sentence,

“If something is true, what else has to be true”

To apply this sentence he also gave some examples to us.

1. The first example he gave us was a photo of an advertisement for Lux soup by Kareena Kapoor.

The question was why she is smiling in the advertisement? It was the ad of lux soap that give three rupees discount and that's why she is smiling in the photo, but if we critically think about about it we can understand that the actress comes from wealthy background and she is the type of the persons that don't even have to see the price of anything that they want to buy. So, smiling for a three rupees discount in the advertisement is not appropriate in her positions. It is only limited to her role of promoting the soup.

2. Second example was of an Indian drama series “Yeh hai Mohabbatein”

By the fist look at the picture you can not find any flow in it. It was just a normal photo of a husband(maybe typical Indian) trying to help his wife. But we have to find a flow in it and it has one. The flow was that the wife was wearing perfect makeup and had a very beautiful hairstyle that leads to great handwork to one who is injured by one hand but there she was, having those things perfectly done but not able to wear her saree. Then we can say that it does not have any reality, but just a dramatic situation of lame writing.

3rd, 4th and 5th example was about people who are in higher position or famous

Like Satish Shah, Shraddha Kapoor and a politician provides false information to the public on social media knowingly or unknowingly.  

Importance of those examples was to think thoroughly about whether it was intentional or an innocent mistake. If we think deeply  about those things we can find a critical point of view.

If someone claims that something is truth that they have to prove that what they say is truth because

          “Burden of proof lies on the person who claims.” 

We can understand this by the example of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial(the example is given by me).

I am not saying that she was wrong or Johnny was right, but if she is right about her claim then she needs to provide proof. 

Professor Milan Pandya concluded 1st day by giving a quote of Tao Te Ching 

“Your teacher might be wrong, learn to think for yourself”

Sir said that you don't have to believe everything you are taught because sometimes your teacher also can make mistakes, if you analyse things and have a critical point of view then you can come up with creative ideas and find what is true.

Day 2

        Day two was all about activities to understand what creativity is, understand where it lies and how much we can think creatively.

Our day started with whether men are rational or not. For that Milan Sir said that,

 

  “ Men have the capacity to practise rationality.”

He said that for men to be rational they need training. Men are not born with rationality, so it depends on  what he learns. Man is also an emotional animal, so if he cultivates rationality then he can be rational. He needs to be critical and creative.

Creativity lies in four steps. They are,

• Person

• Process

• Press

• product

To understand creativity sir gave us a picture that contains various symbols and items, and asked us to categories those differently.

Some of us came up with different creative categories like,

• Nature vs science

• Religion vs modernity

• Journey of inner and outward

• Things that are in cirlce

• Creative vs destructive

• Different proverbs like- ‘Pen is mightier then sword’, 'Hardwork is the key to success’,

• Different literary works like- Macbeth, Othello, The Gun Island, The Home and The World, Journey to the centre of the Earth.

The second activity was about solving problems provided by Milan sir. The two problems he gave were paradoxical, which makes us dilemma and makes us in situations very hard to solve. 

First problem was trolley problem, in which you see five people on a railway track and there is other track where is only one person, you have a gear to change the way or trolley, if you change the way five people will be saved but one person dies and if you don't change the way five people will die.

The second problem was the footbridge dilemma, in which you see five people off the bridge and train running toward them and one giant person is on the bridge. If you want to save those people you have to push the giant person and he will die.

Those questions were hard to answer because they put us in a dilemma that either way someone is going to die and that makes us uneasy. 

My learning throughout this workshop-

 We all think but not always critically or not for all the things. Sometimes we are driven by emotions or beliefs, that we sideline critical thinking. Sometimes we don't question what we are convenience to believe.

We are living in a time where we always have to be critical and observing. Not everything that we are taught, said and asked and what we see and hear is true. We have to become critical and creative in thinking in order to keep up the right path of knowledge. We can be distracted, deceived , deluded easily and if we do that we will create a chain of misinformation and miss belief because what we know or understand we pass to the others because humans are the race who like to talk and communicate they like to tell stories they like to gossip. So, we have to become critical and creative thinkers.

thank you for visiting.

    

   

Geoffrey Chaucer

 Geoffrey Chaucer:

   Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet,author and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales.

    In his lifetime he was able to achieve many accomplishments in a variety of fields including most famously as an author and poet but also as a philosopher, astronomer, diplomat and civil servant. He is still considered to be one of the greatest poet of English poetry.

Early life and education:

Geoffrey Chaucer was born circa 1340 in London. His Father was a prosperous wine Merchant. While his mother, Agnes Compton, was a homeworker.

 There is no source to confirm his former education but it is believed that he attained formal education at the popular st. Paul's Cathedral School. Where he learned Latin and was inspired by Ovid and Virgil. He adored their versatile style and also tried to imitate it.

Political Career: 

 He joined the government in 1357 at the court of Elizabeth Countess of Ulster, her Husband was Lionel, Earl of Ulster. 

  In 1359 Chaucer took part in the Hundred year's war when king Edward III invaded France.In the conflict Chaucer was captured during a siege at the French city of Reims. Fortunately for the young Chaucer, Edward III paid a large ransom (£16) in order to secure his release. 

 As young man mixing in aristocratic circles he subsequently met John of Gaunt, who later became influential figure in Chaucer's political career as well as serving to inspire his first poems.

In 1366 Chaucer married to Philippa Roet, a lady in waiting in the queen's household. By that Chaucer and John of Gaunt became relative because they both married to the daughters of Sir Payne de Roet, french knight.

          In 1367 Chaucer served as a valettus and later as a squire in the court of Edward III; granted a payment of 20 marks per annum for life.His association with the royals brought him a fortune when King Edward-III fixed a good salary for his services. During this service, he travelled through France and after retirement, the king paid him a pension of twenty marks for his illustrious career. 

  Geoffrey Chaucer died in 25th October 1400 in London. He was buried at what has since come to be called Poets Corner, in Westminster Abbey.

Chaucer's literature: 

   Chaucer was one of the most prominent figures in the literature of Middle English. today’s readers will find it difficult to read Middle English, some dialects of Middle English are not as difficult to understand. The type of Middle English Geoffrey Chaucer used in his work is somewhat closer to Modern English than other Middle English dialects.

           His most famous work today is The Canterbury Tales but he also wrote many other poems and stories. Some of his works is mentioned below:

Major works: 

• Translation of Roman de la Rose, as The Romaunt of the Rose.
• The Book of the Duchess
• The House of Fame
• Anelida and Arcite
• The Parliament of Fowls
• Translation of Boethius The consolation of Philosophy
• Troilus and Criseyde
• The Legend of Good women
• Treatise on the Astrolabe
• The Canterbury Tales

The Book of the Duchess:

                     Chaucer's literary career formally began when the Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt asked him to pen down a memorial poem for his deceased wife. Following his wish, Chaucer composed a poem, The Book for Duchess that was regarded as a fitting memorial to the highest-ranking women of English royalties

This is considered to be one of the earliest poetry collections of Chaucer. 

Other minor works:

 The House of Fame:

                          This poem contains over 2,000 lines in octosyllabic couplets. It is divided into three books and takes the form of a dream vision. In this poem, the narrator ponders over the nature of fame and reliability of recorded renown, indicating the poet’s questions reporting the lives of fortune.

The Legend of Good Women:

           This poem also takes the form of a dream vision and is the third longest poem written by Chaucer. It is written in a series of short narratives in the iambic pentameter. He recounts stories of ten women: Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido, Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucrece, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis and Hypermnestra. However, the structure seems unfinished

Troilus and Criseyde:

                   This poem is a retelling of the tragic story of Troilus and Criseyde during the siege of Troy. It is written using rhyme royal and is considered by some Chaucer scholars to be the best work of Chaucer since it is complete and more self-contained than the better-known work – The Canterbury Tales.

Parlement of Foules:  

      Parlement of Foules is a poem of approximately 700 lines. It is also in the form of a dream vision in rhyme royal stanza and speaks of the concept of Christian love.

The Canterbury Tales:

The foundational English literary book of tales in verse was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the pioneers of English poetry. The book is stated to have been published around 1387 to 1400 when Chaucer joined the royal court. The stories, in verses, though some are in prose, present the social norms, characters, situations, and religious devotion of the pilgrims presented in them. The stories have become so much popular that they have become classics across the globe.

             The book opens with The General Prologue comprising a gathering of all the characters at the Tabard Inn tavern in London ready to on the pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas in the town of Canterbury. The prologue shows a total of 77 persons, including some from the religious order such as the Friar and the Monk, and social order such as the Squire and the Knight with some examples from the lower order. Harry Bailey, the host, throws the suggestion for each guest to narrate a story to pass the time during the long journey

 

Themes in The Canterbury Tales:

Social Satire: 

The Canterbury’s Tales is a satire on the existing society of that time in which the three pillars, the church, the nobility as well as the peasantry, are not only corrupt but also morally bankrupt. Chaucer includes all the characters of the society from the knight to the squire and from the Wife of Bath to the Nun and from the Friar to the Cook. Then he proves that highly any character is upright and pious as they are supposed to be. He shows that most of them are quite allergic to their actual duties and poke their noses quite often into the fields irrelevant to their calling. 

Courtly Love and Lasciviousness: 

The Canterbury Tales shows the theme of love and lasciviousness through the tales of the Knight, the Miller, and the Wife of Bath who narrate their tales about both of these points. The Knight’s Tale shows this love for the fair lady that leads to a duel in which they forget their personal duties, while the Squire is busy writing poetry and ballads in the praise of his fair lady. 

Religious Corruption:

 Although it is mild and somewhat latent in ironic remarks of different characters, Chaucer lets his character engage in religious criticism. This happens through different characters who show it through their corrupt practices such as the greed of Pardoner and the lasciviousness of the Friar, who is a hypocrite to the core. Similarly, the tale of the Pardoner also demonstrates the corruption prevalent among different religious characters, who are hoarding and extracting money rather than performing their duties.

Class: 

The theme of class in The Canterbury Tales is apparent through different characters selected from different walks of life to narrate a story during the journey. For example, where Chaucer has presented the characters from the Church such as the Nun or the Friar, he has also presented professionals such as the Miller and the Merchant, or for that matter the Peasant or the Knight, and so on. In fact, these characters have presented their respective classes as well as the prominent features of the class whether the class is good or bad.

Characters: 

                  The novel, The Canterbury Tales, shows diverse characters from antiquity. These characters include the Host, the Knight, The Miller, the Wife of Bath, the Squire, The Friar and the Nun.

Writing Style of The Canterbury Tales:

                                        Written in the heroic couplet, The Canterbury Tales show not only the poetic skills of Chaucer but also his descriptive and narrative skills respectively through character descriptions and narrations of the characters. Chaucer’s use of diction corresponds with his satire and irony, while for figurative devices, he turns to personifications and similes.

Chaucer’s contribution to English literature:

       Chaucer in some ways inaugurated English poetry at the time when English was considered a vernacular in England and French and Latin reigned. he was the pivotal figure in English literature who encompassed earlier traditions, genres and novelty in forms and literary content with his ingenious innovations. John Dart has called Chaucer the father of English poetry due to his exceptional contributions to the English language. 

       Similarly, Matthew Arnold has remarked, “with him is born our real poetry.”

                      Chaucer was the first English poet who gave full expression to the new hopes and aspirations of the people of his time. He was a realist who found fitting subjects for his poetry not in gods and heroes of a Golden age but in life that unfolded before his eyes. He mixed freely with humanity and expressed its aspirations and concerns in his poetry with sincerity. Chaucer’s realism is truly discernible in his mammoth work The Canterbury Tales in which he has painted the truthful picture of 14th-century life through a group of pilgrims.

                                   Another remarkable aspect of Chaucer’s work is his humour which is delightful and stimulating. Before Chaucer, English humour was synonymous with buffoonery and horseplay, but he refined and raised it to the standards of literary humour which were kind and patronising as in the case of the clerk of Oxenford and semi-farcical in the case of Wife of Bath.

             Chaucer is known for his metrical innovations. He invented Rhyme Royal stanza pattern which is a seven lined stanza in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ababbcc. He was also one of the first to use blank verse for his poetry with only a few anonymous short works using it before him.

So, we can say that Chaucer was the greatest poet and writer of the middle English.

(Words:1699)

The Neo-classical age

 The Neo classical age        

    In the Neo classical age writers were inspired by Roman writers and thinkers.  its writers looked back to the ideals and art forms of classical times.

  The Neo classical age is divided in three periods.

1. The restoration age (1660-1700)

2. The augustan age (1700-1750)

3. The age of Johnson or the age of transition (1750-1798)

The Neo classical age is also known as :

 The 18th century 

The age of reason

The age of enlightenment

The age of prose

The age of satire.

    

Q.1 Write about the 18th century women poets.

Anna Laetitia Barbauld :

       Anna Laetitia was poet, critic and author of children literature. She was called 'woman of letters'.

She was famous for her romantic poems and she laid the foundation of development of romanticism in England. 

   In her poem 'washing day', she described a normal routine day of the life of woman. The day when all the women of community do their laundries together.

She describes 'bubble' as children's game and women's imagination and also criticised the invention of hot air balloon as military equipment and Milton's paradise lost.

 She also wrote a faminist poem "the rights of women" in she says that woman can rise herself and achieve what she wants.

Charlotte Smith: 

     

 Charlotte Smith was novelist and poet of the school of sensibility. She was well known for her romantic Sonnets. She was the first of the romantic poets and letter others follow her. She also helped to set convocations for gothic fiction.

            Charlotte Smith wrote Elegiac Sonnets in 1783 when  she was in debtor’s prison with her husband and children. William Wordsworth says that she is  very important influence on the Romantic movement. 

Q.2  Write in brief about your favourite major/minor - writer/poet of the age.

Jonathan Swift: 

        Jonathan Swift was Irish author and satirist, he was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667. His father's name was also Jonathan Swift and he was attorney. When his father died his mother gave him to his uncle, Godwin Smith. 

                       Godwin Swift sent him in to the Kilkenny Grammar School (1674–1682), which was the best school in Ireland at the time. Swift's transition from a life of poverty to a rigorous private school setting proved challenging. He made friends with  William Congreve, the future poet and playwright.

    At the age of 14 he started his graduation in Trinity College and in the year 1686 he became Batchelor of arts.His mother found a secretary position for him under the revered English statesman, Sir William Temple. For 10 years, Swift worked in Surrey's Moor Park and acted as an assistant to Temple, helping him with political errands, and also in the researching and publishing of his own essays and memoirs. Temple was impressed by Swift's abilities and after a time, entrusted him with sensitive and important tasks.

                   During his Moor Park years, Swift met the daughter of Temple's housekeeper, a girl just 8 years old named Esther Johnson. When they first met, she was 15 years Swift's junior, but despite the age gap, they would become lovers for the rest of their lives. It was rumored that they married in 1716, and that Swift kept of lock of Johnson's hair in his possession at all times.

 

 Major works

              

In the year 1704 Swift published his work A Tale of a Tub and The battle of the Books. His work became widely popular. After Torries came to power he became the editor of The Examiner.

 In the year 1713 he became dean at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.he engaged in a romantic relationship with Esther Vanhomrigh. His courtship with her inspired his long and storied poem, "Cadenus and Vanessa." He is also rumored to have had a relationship with the celebrated beauty Anne Long.

       

                               While leading his congregation at St. Patrick's, Swift began to write what would become his best-known work. In 1726, at last finished with the manuscript, he traveled to London and benefited from the help of several friends, who anonymously published it as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships — also known, more simply, as Gulliver's Travels. The book was an immediate success and hasn't been out of print since its first run. Interestingly, much of the storyline points to historical events that Swift had lived through years prior during intense political turmoil.

       In 1742, Swift suffered from a stroke and lost the ability to speak. On October 19, 1745, Swift died. He was laid to rest next to Esther Johnson inside Dublin's St. Patrick's Cathedral

Q.3  Tom Jones/ Moll Flanders as picaresque novels.

   

              The term picaresque comes form Spanish. The word Picaro  means rouge or knave or a villain etc.

                    The picaresque novels are basically about a law class Hero, a picaro  who do adventurous things and lives by his smartness and wit in the corrupt society. Those novels  basically have elements of comedy, sarcasm, social criticism and satire. Most picaresque novels have autobiographical form of telling and first person view of narration.

   Tom jones :

  Tom Jones has been considered a picaresque novel. Though it is not a regular picaresque novel, it reflects the major characteristics of the picaresque form.Tom Jones, the protagonist of the novel, is an illegitimate child. He is turned out of home by his patronTom Jones has a lot of picaresque elements. But in many respects it does not follow the picaresque tradition. Its hero is not a rogue. He is kind, generous and sensitive person. He is a man of helping attitude. Its plot construction differs from the picaresque novel. The aim of the novelist is definitely moral. Its adventures are not arbitrarily designed. Thus it can be said that though Tom Jones has a lot of elements of picaresque novel, but it is not a regular picaresque novel.

  

Moll Flanders: 

        Moll Flanders is an eighteenth-century novel by Daniel Defoe. It was first published in 1722, and it is about the adventures of Moll, a poor young woman from London who becomes a criminal by necessity to support her illegitimate child.

          She becomes a thief, pickpocket, and prostitute. Eventually, she finds redemption through her religious faith. There are two main characters in this novel. One is Moll. The other is Flanders, who represents the “real world.” Both of these characters are shown through the eyes of a third-person narrator.

                         The novel follows the pattern of the picaresque novel. It also has elements of realism, fantasy, and satire. The picaresque novel has a lot of historical roots.