Saturday, October 24, 2015
Sunday, October 18, 2015
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS AND THE PENDULUM
One Thousand Dollars ______by O Henry
A. Plot
It is about a young man who is given one thousand dollars by his uncle and doesn't know how to use it wisely.
It is about a young Gillian that must be providing the report how to use money one thousand dollars. Gillian has a rich uncle but her uncle died. From this will, he's uncle want a report of how Gillian can use this one thousand dollars if Gillian have this money. Gillian meets some people, he want to know and ask of them if they have one thousand dollars. He went to Old Bryson at his club to ask how to use one thousand dollars. After that, he also met Miss Lauriere in theater stage. She also gave an answer as to how to spend a thousand dollars. Mr. Gillian asked the taxi driver to answer the same questions but the answers he is also not the way he wanted to spend the money.
However, no one can help him. Then, he saw the blind man had more than one thousand dollars in the account. Gillian made a sudden decision to give all the inheritance money to Miss Hayden. Finally, he visited Miss Hayden at the library. He also told her that he loved and gave one thousand dollars. Miss Hayden refused to love the Giilian but received the money. Then, he wrote the account shows how he spent one thousand dollars and are ready to provide a report on the accounts to the lawyer Tolman. Then he discovered that there are conditions of his uncle who said that if he used the money prudently, fifty thousand clear would be given to him. However, he was not concerned with conditions set forth. Giilian tore the reports before read by the lawyer Tolman and left happily.
STORY STRUCTURE
ELEMENT 1 - THEME:
In "One Thousand Dollars" by O.Henry related to the money. Theme appropriate of One Thousand Dollars is how to manage money and to manage the money we need to have experience of how to manage. However, the main character does not know how to manage this money. Gillian asked to manage his money that his uncle had died. He is required to provide the reports how he uses this one thousand dollars as soon as possible. Therefore, Gillian immediately asked some people without thinking wisely. Besides that, love cannot buy with money. This is because Miss Hayden rejects his love even received money from him.
"Gillian half turned and looked out the window. In a low voice he said, "I suppose, of course, that you know I love you."
"I am sorry," said Miss Hayden, as she picked up her money."(pg 3, line 24)
One Thousand Dollars Mr. Gillian can open our minds how to make this decision because of the decisions we make have to think about the good and bad for us and the people who are around us. We also need to trust in managing the money that has been entrusted to us. Moral of the story we need to manage finances wisely and must be carefully in action.
ELEMENT 2 - SETTING (Characters) :
The main character of the story "One Thousand Dollars" is Gillian. He is a young teenager who through experience on how to manage the money that had been left by a deceased uncle. If he could spend the money prudently, he will still get fifty thousand. According to his lawyer uncle, named Tolman during their first meeting.
"Young Gillian touched the thin package of fifty-dollar bills and laughed.
"It's such an unusual amount," he explained, kindly, to the lawyer. "If it had been ten thousand a man might celebrate with a lot of fireworks.  Even fifty dollars would have been less trouble."(pg 1,line 3)
In "One Thousand Dollars" Gillian is an ignorant and rude. He does not have the spirit and endurance. He relied on other people, or the people around him to help him on the way to use a thousand dollars prudently.
"Now, what can a man possibly do with a thousand dollars?"(pg 1, line 22)
"What would you do with a thousand dollars if you had it?" (pg 2, line 28)
He also calm and ego because when can know about if he used the money prudently, fifty thousand clear will be given to him, he tore the account and go to whistling happy. Gillian portrayed as an immature, volatile and not responsible for his actions.
"He calmly tore the report and its cover into pieces and dropped them into his pocket."(pg 4, line 24)
"Tolman and Sharp shook their heads mournfully at each other when Gillian left. They heard him whistling happily in the hallway as he waited for the elevator."(pg 4, line 29)
ELEMENT 3 - ATTEMPT:
Attempt is a character takes action to achieve his goals. In the story of One Thousand Dollars, the main character in the short story is Mr. Gillian. He has been taking action to prepare a report on how to make use of one thousand dollars. He tried to ask some of friends are known like Old Bryson at the club, the taxi driver when he boarded a taxi, a blind man on the sidewalk and Miss Lauriere in Stage Theater about what to do with the money of one thousand dollars.
"Eight blocks down Broadway, Gillian got out of the cab. A blind man sat on the sidewalk selling pencils. Gillian went out and stood in front of him."(pg 2, line 33)
"Excuse me, but would you mind telling me what you would do if you had a thousand dollars?" (pg 3, line 1)
He also went to meet a lawyer to find out what his uncle that he wanted to know. However, in the end for the sake of love Gillian was gived the money to Miss Hayden and willing to reject the conditions to get the sum of fifty thousand dollars. Gillian found the solution by asking questions. Finally, he made sure giving his lover the money was the best way.
"I beg your pardon," said Gillian, cheerfully. "But was Miss Hayden left anything by my uncle's will in addition to the ring and the ten dollars?"(pg 3, line 9)
"Paid by Robert Gillian, one thousand dollars on account of the eternal happiness, owed by Heaven to the best and dearest woman on earth."(pg 4, line 1)
ELEMENT 4 - STYLE:
The language is a figurative language. As evidence, there are few words such as "Even fifty dollars would have been loss trouble". (pg 1, line 5) The writer would like to make the text draw readers' attention to read this story further. Besides, "When he saw Gillian coming near he took a noisy, deep breath, laid down his book and took off his glasses." (pg 1, line 14).
There is also having simile language such as "You can go and buy Miss Lotta Lauriere a diamond necklace with the money and then take yourself off to Idaho and inflict your presence upon a ranch."(pg 2, line 11).
Then, in One Thousand Dollars is interesting language such as "I have funny story to tell you, said Gillian"(pg 1, line 16) and " I thought the late Septimus Gillian was worth something like half a million, said Old Bryson showed very little interest.(pg 1,line 23).
ELEMENT 1- THE CRITICAL RESPONSE :
In "One Thousand Dollars" is about how to manage the money of one thousand dollars. It is about a young Gillian. Maybe because his uncle knew he was having less moral, rich uncle died and informed his lawyer Tolman for testing Gillian. If Gillian can use the money wisely, he would receive a larger amount of fifty thousand dollars. At the beginning of the story, the authors draw the attention of the reader to want to know whether this story ends well or not. There, Gillian asked to manage money wisely and promptly. Gillian challenge given to him. This situation makes the reader more eager.
The authors use several different places in the story so that the reader does not get bored to read the next section. First place Gillian was visited at his club and meet Old Bryson, then with Miss Lauriere in Stage Theater, in cab, at street, at library and at office Tolman and Sharp. Overall, the places that used to play an important role so that the reader is easy to imagine the real situation that happened and would consider yourself to be in situations that story. This means that the reader can appreciate this story very well.
At the middle of this story, the authors tried portraying Gillian there he trying to get answers about how to manage the money of one thousand dollars. In addition, the authors use tone that reflects one's feelings at the time as, "Gillian half Turned and looked out the window. In a low voice he said," I Suppose, of course, That you know I love you. "(pg 3, line 24). Climax of this story is that when Gillian Tolman went to a lawyer's office to submit the report the way he uses the money. At the end, Gillian tore reports once knew he was not receive the money of fifty thousand dollars for not meeting the specified requirements.
ELEMENT 2 - THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE:
In the literary criticism, we have to identify the main character Gillian. He's maybe not good person and him do not know how him manage this one thousand dollars in him life. He meet with various partners who have different backgrounds so they give different opinion but him not accept they opinion because their ideas do not same with the requirements. Gillian began to feel confused as to what he would do. Gillian feels he can to manage the money properly. But Mr. Gillian not affords to bear the responsibilities given by his uncle.
Morale:
Thus, the lesson from this story is that we should be well on our way towards financial planning matters that are beneficial. Let the money be properly planned so that the money available to spend on worthwhile things. Finally, we must be wise and clever in managing our own lives.
2. Are the main events of the story arranged chronologically, or are they arranged in another way?
Chronologically
3. How is the story narrated? Are flashbacks, summaries, stories within the story used?
Summary
5. How do the thoughts, behaviors, and actions of characters move the plot forward?
By going from persons to person.
6. What are the conflicts in the plot? Are they physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Are they resolved? How are they resolved? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex?
Physical and Moral.
7. What is the climax of the story and at what point in the story does the climax occur? Is the ending of the story happy, unhappy, or indeterminded? Is it fairly achieved?
The climax of the story is when the young man knows that he was given one thousand dollars to see if he is able to use the money wisely. If he is able to disposes the money wisely, he will be given $50,000.
8. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?
The plot is united. Yes. Naturally to the next.
9. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are these occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story? How improbable are they?
Resolve. The improbable of the story is when the young man must disposes the money wisely with the good account on what he should spends on.
C. Characters
1. Who is/are the main character in the story? What does the main character look like?
The main character is Gillian. Gillian is the man who receives the money from his uncle and doesn't know what to do with it.
2. Describe the main character's situation. Where does he/she live? Does he/she live alone or with others? What does the main character do for a living, or is he/she dependent on others for support?
Gillian lives at Broadway road. The story does not tell exactly where he lives or whom he's living with but I assume that he is living alone. He use to play grumbling as a way of living. He is supported by his uncle.
3. What are some chief characteristics (personally traits) of the character? How are these characteristics revealed in the story? How does the main character interact with other character? Note the degree of complexity of his/her behavior, thought, and feeling; their appearances, their habits, mannerisms, speech, attitudes and values. What is the main character's attitude towards his/her life? Is he/she happy or sad, content or discontented? Why?
Gillian has less confidence, he relies on his friend's advices more than from himself. By that, he lost to have 50,000 more dollars. He interacted with others in the spite of advices from them. He has quite low degree of thought. Gillian is happy and contented with his life even before he got one thousand dollars to handle and accounted. Accounting that amount of money made his life became discontented.
4. What sort of conflict is the character facing? How is this conflict revealed? Is it resolved? If so, how?
Gillian is facing the difficulties on how to handle one thousand dollars properly and how to manage the money well enough to accounted it. It wasn't resolved, instead lost him the 50,000 dollars.
5. Is any character a developing character? If so, is his change a large or a small one? Is it a plausible change for him? Is he sufficiently motivated? Is the change given sufficient time?
There were no developing character in this story.
D. Point of View
1. What point of view does the story use? Is the story told from a first-person perspective, in which the narrator is one of the character in the story, and refers to himself or herself as "I"? Or is the story told from a third-person perspective, in which the narrator is not one of the characters in the story or may not participate in the events of the story?
Third-person.
2.What are the advantages of the chosen point of view? Does it furnish any clues as to the purpose of the story?
Third person narrative can be more objective, less emotional and personal.
The author can cover all characters equally with no bias towards any one. No, it does not.
3. Is the narrator reliable or unreliable? Does he/she have a limited knowledge or understanding of characters and events in the story? Does the narrator know almost everything about one character or every character, including inner thoughts?
The narrator is reliable because as a third person narrating, the narrator can cover the characters equally without being bias, thus, the narrator is reliable. No, there were no limitations. The narrator knew everything about the characters because the narrator told us how they thinks or feels.
4. Does the author use point of view primarily to reveal or conceal? Does he ever unfairly withhold important information known to the focal character?
The author uses the point of view to primarily reveals the story. Never.
E. Imagery
1. What scenes, moments, descriptive passages, phrases, or words stands out in your reading of the story?
When Gillian realizes he lost 50,00 dollars.
2. Did a particular image make you feel happy,or frightened, or disturbed, or angry? Why?
None, because this story isn't that much into the emotions of the readers.
3. Which of your five senses did this image appeal to? What do you associate with this image, and why? What do you think the author wants you to feel about a certain image?
Sense of feelings. I associated the image with the loss of mine. The loss of something due to our actions is the worst of all lost. Author wants us to see feel about how a small thing can leads to something big.
4. How do you think your reactions to the imagery in the story contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
By having us feels the feelings of the character.
2. Is the story humorous or tragic of frightening? Does the author want you to laugh or cry, to feel happy or sad, to experience anger or fear?
It is none of those because this story is based on a moral lessons. This is more of teaching than to let us feel the emotions of the story.
3. What is the author's attitude toward characters or the narrator? Does the author like or dislike, trust or mistrust the characters or the narrator?
The author wanted to show how the character would chose to make the useful of the one thousand dollars. The authors probably likes but mistrust the character because the author wants to see first if the character is able to handle and make a good use of the one thousand dollars.
The Pendulum-------By O. Henry
1. About the Author
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) more popularly known by his pen name O. Henry was one of the most celebrated masters of the short story in the 19th Century America. He had a chequered career as a book keeper, a draftsman in the land office and a teller in the Bank of Austin. He also tried his hand a cartooning, writing and editing before he made a mark as a writer. O. Henry’s stories have a deep human interest. He spins brief and strikingly dramatic tales involving his characters in such a manner that the element of surprise and a twist ending startle the reader.
Perspective: We take things for granted, esp. the love and care of dear ones and it’s only when they depart or leave us that we really appreciate their true value. But what happens, if after this awareness they come back in our life and give us another chance, do we really care more towards them, do we really give them time and love they deserve. This story explains it all in a very beautiful way.
2. Main Characters
John & Katy
John seems to be a man discontented with the drudgery of his routine life. He is always skeptical, desolate and angry.
Katy is harder to characterize because we only get John's perspective of her. She seems feminine, caring, possibly a bit of a nag since she is "wrathful" about his evenings out, and expressed "ire" when he returned.
The two seem to be going through the motions but missing the mark, and don't seem destined for much successs together as a happy couple.
Plot:
“The Pendulum” is the story of a married man who is terribly bored with the monotony of life. In his dull and unexciting life, it is the same routine everyday same office, same job, same public places and life, same friends, same events, movements, words and even food. Trapped in this circle of life, he lives on a repetitive life until one evening, when he retuned home his wife was missing. She leaves behind a note that she is going away to see her ailing mother. Used to be greeted by his wife in her name, predictable manner, Perkins is shocked by the emptiness of his apartment in the absence of his wife. This emptiness, heightened by disorderly things, scattered clothes and leftover packets of only reflect the emptiness of his wife infact all life around him. Unable to bear a break in his usual routine, and a life without Katy, the bored and lonely Perkins realizes his folly of neglecting his wife. Eating his cold dinner, he becomes painfully aware how Katy toils hard to keep his life in order and he has not acknowledged this. Full of remorse about leaving Katy home to go to play pool with his friends each day, he decides to be more caring. He decides to make amends by doing what he had never done. He resolves to cut down his outings with friends and his visits to McCloskey’s for a game of pool. He promised to take his wife out for amusement, to look after her, to love her and to pleas her as any husband ought to do for his soul mate. He would make up for all his neglect, he thinks. What was life without her, he wonders.
Even as he lost in these thoughts there comes Katy as suddenly as she had disappeared, her stupidly and soon all his resolves melt into nothingness and he finds himself a solace of habit again. He reaches for his hat and slips out of the door giving his usual mechanical reply to Katy a question asked in a complaining voice, “Now, where are you going, I’d like to know, John Perkins”, “Thoughtful I’d drop into McCloskey’s and play a game or two of pool with the fellows”, say she.
Analysis:
On one hand, the story shows that the thoughtless and inconsiderate people soon lose interest in their spouses and their mean and selfish approach robs their marriages of all romance. On the other hand the implied massage of the story is that weak minded people fail to reform themselves even when they realize their faults and are filled with remorse. Such people from one extreme to another and cannot stick to their solution. So I recommend others also to read this book and enjoy it.
How is the title of the story "The Pendulum" by O. Henry appropriate?
The pendulum is not associated in any way with the story....only the routine of John and pendulum are "alike".
A pendulum is a component on a clock that swings back and forth with every second in time. It is often used to refer things in life swinging from one extreme to the other. If you have a scale where on one side is John's distaste for his monotonous life, and on the other side is his regret, longing, and craving for that life back, then John swings from one side to the other quite quickly. So, John himself is like the pendulum, swinging back and forth between two opposite extremes, very quickly. You would not expect, that just seconds after his wife returns back home, that he would switch from feeling resolutely determined to be a better man, from fiercely longing for his wife, to wanting to immediately leave, returning back to his old ways. So, yes, John and the pendulum are very much alike, and that is the reason for the title itself.
A. Plot
It is about a young man who is given one thousand dollars by his uncle and doesn't know how to use it wisely.
It is about a young Gillian that must be providing the report how to use money one thousand dollars. Gillian has a rich uncle but her uncle died. From this will, he's uncle want a report of how Gillian can use this one thousand dollars if Gillian have this money. Gillian meets some people, he want to know and ask of them if they have one thousand dollars. He went to Old Bryson at his club to ask how to use one thousand dollars. After that, he also met Miss Lauriere in theater stage. She also gave an answer as to how to spend a thousand dollars. Mr. Gillian asked the taxi driver to answer the same questions but the answers he is also not the way he wanted to spend the money.
However, no one can help him. Then, he saw the blind man had more than one thousand dollars in the account. Gillian made a sudden decision to give all the inheritance money to Miss Hayden. Finally, he visited Miss Hayden at the library. He also told her that he loved and gave one thousand dollars. Miss Hayden refused to love the Giilian but received the money. Then, he wrote the account shows how he spent one thousand dollars and are ready to provide a report on the accounts to the lawyer Tolman. Then he discovered that there are conditions of his uncle who said that if he used the money prudently, fifty thousand clear would be given to him. However, he was not concerned with conditions set forth. Giilian tore the reports before read by the lawyer Tolman and left happily.
STORY STRUCTURE
ELEMENT 1 - THEME:
In "One Thousand Dollars" by O.Henry related to the money. Theme appropriate of One Thousand Dollars is how to manage money and to manage the money we need to have experience of how to manage. However, the main character does not know how to manage this money. Gillian asked to manage his money that his uncle had died. He is required to provide the reports how he uses this one thousand dollars as soon as possible. Therefore, Gillian immediately asked some people without thinking wisely. Besides that, love cannot buy with money. This is because Miss Hayden rejects his love even received money from him.
"Gillian half turned and looked out the window. In a low voice he said, "I suppose, of course, that you know I love you."
"I am sorry," said Miss Hayden, as she picked up her money."(pg 3, line 24)
One Thousand Dollars Mr. Gillian can open our minds how to make this decision because of the decisions we make have to think about the good and bad for us and the people who are around us. We also need to trust in managing the money that has been entrusted to us. Moral of the story we need to manage finances wisely and must be carefully in action.
ELEMENT 2 - SETTING (Characters) :
The main character of the story "One Thousand Dollars" is Gillian. He is a young teenager who through experience on how to manage the money that had been left by a deceased uncle. If he could spend the money prudently, he will still get fifty thousand. According to his lawyer uncle, named Tolman during their first meeting.
"Young Gillian touched the thin package of fifty-dollar bills and laughed.
"It's such an unusual amount," he explained, kindly, to the lawyer. "If it had been ten thousand a man might celebrate with a lot of fireworks.  Even fifty dollars would have been less trouble."(pg 1,line 3)
In "One Thousand Dollars" Gillian is an ignorant and rude. He does not have the spirit and endurance. He relied on other people, or the people around him to help him on the way to use a thousand dollars prudently.
"Now, what can a man possibly do with a thousand dollars?"(pg 1, line 22)
"What would you do with a thousand dollars if you had it?" (pg 2, line 28)
He also calm and ego because when can know about if he used the money prudently, fifty thousand clear will be given to him, he tore the account and go to whistling happy. Gillian portrayed as an immature, volatile and not responsible for his actions.
"He calmly tore the report and its cover into pieces and dropped them into his pocket."(pg 4, line 24)
"Tolman and Sharp shook their heads mournfully at each other when Gillian left. They heard him whistling happily in the hallway as he waited for the elevator."(pg 4, line 29)
ELEMENT 3 - ATTEMPT:
Attempt is a character takes action to achieve his goals. In the story of One Thousand Dollars, the main character in the short story is Mr. Gillian. He has been taking action to prepare a report on how to make use of one thousand dollars. He tried to ask some of friends are known like Old Bryson at the club, the taxi driver when he boarded a taxi, a blind man on the sidewalk and Miss Lauriere in Stage Theater about what to do with the money of one thousand dollars.
"Eight blocks down Broadway, Gillian got out of the cab. A blind man sat on the sidewalk selling pencils. Gillian went out and stood in front of him."(pg 2, line 33)
"Excuse me, but would you mind telling me what you would do if you had a thousand dollars?" (pg 3, line 1)
He also went to meet a lawyer to find out what his uncle that he wanted to know. However, in the end for the sake of love Gillian was gived the money to Miss Hayden and willing to reject the conditions to get the sum of fifty thousand dollars. Gillian found the solution by asking questions. Finally, he made sure giving his lover the money was the best way.
"I beg your pardon," said Gillian, cheerfully. "But was Miss Hayden left anything by my uncle's will in addition to the ring and the ten dollars?"(pg 3, line 9)
"Paid by Robert Gillian, one thousand dollars on account of the eternal happiness, owed by Heaven to the best and dearest woman on earth."(pg 4, line 1)
ELEMENT 4 - STYLE:
The language is a figurative language. As evidence, there are few words such as "Even fifty dollars would have been loss trouble". (pg 1, line 5) The writer would like to make the text draw readers' attention to read this story further. Besides, "When he saw Gillian coming near he took a noisy, deep breath, laid down his book and took off his glasses." (pg 1, line 14).
There is also having simile language such as "You can go and buy Miss Lotta Lauriere a diamond necklace with the money and then take yourself off to Idaho and inflict your presence upon a ranch."(pg 2, line 11).
Then, in One Thousand Dollars is interesting language such as "I have funny story to tell you, said Gillian"(pg 1, line 16) and " I thought the late Septimus Gillian was worth something like half a million, said Old Bryson showed very little interest.(pg 1,line 23).
ELEMENT 1- THE CRITICAL RESPONSE :
In "One Thousand Dollars" is about how to manage the money of one thousand dollars. It is about a young Gillian. Maybe because his uncle knew he was having less moral, rich uncle died and informed his lawyer Tolman for testing Gillian. If Gillian can use the money wisely, he would receive a larger amount of fifty thousand dollars. At the beginning of the story, the authors draw the attention of the reader to want to know whether this story ends well or not. There, Gillian asked to manage money wisely and promptly. Gillian challenge given to him. This situation makes the reader more eager.
The authors use several different places in the story so that the reader does not get bored to read the next section. First place Gillian was visited at his club and meet Old Bryson, then with Miss Lauriere in Stage Theater, in cab, at street, at library and at office Tolman and Sharp. Overall, the places that used to play an important role so that the reader is easy to imagine the real situation that happened and would consider yourself to be in situations that story. This means that the reader can appreciate this story very well.
At the middle of this story, the authors tried portraying Gillian there he trying to get answers about how to manage the money of one thousand dollars. In addition, the authors use tone that reflects one's feelings at the time as, "Gillian half Turned and looked out the window. In a low voice he said," I Suppose, of course, That you know I love you. "(pg 3, line 24). Climax of this story is that when Gillian Tolman went to a lawyer's office to submit the report the way he uses the money. At the end, Gillian tore reports once knew he was not receive the money of fifty thousand dollars for not meeting the specified requirements.
ELEMENT 2 - THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE:
In the literary criticism, we have to identify the main character Gillian. He's maybe not good person and him do not know how him manage this one thousand dollars in him life. He meet with various partners who have different backgrounds so they give different opinion but him not accept they opinion because their ideas do not same with the requirements. Gillian began to feel confused as to what he would do. Gillian feels he can to manage the money properly. But Mr. Gillian not affords to bear the responsibilities given by his uncle.
Morale:
Thus, the lesson from this story is that we should be well on our way towards financial planning matters that are beneficial. Let the money be properly planned so that the money available to spend on worthwhile things. Finally, we must be wise and clever in managing our own lives.
2. Are the main events of the story arranged chronologically, or are they arranged in another way?
Chronologically
3. How is the story narrated? Are flashbacks, summaries, stories within the story used?
Summary
5. How do the thoughts, behaviors, and actions of characters move the plot forward?
By going from persons to person.
6. What are the conflicts in the plot? Are they physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Are they resolved? How are they resolved? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex?
Physical and Moral.
7. What is the climax of the story and at what point in the story does the climax occur? Is the ending of the story happy, unhappy, or indeterminded? Is it fairly achieved?
The climax of the story is when the young man knows that he was given one thousand dollars to see if he is able to use the money wisely. If he is able to disposes the money wisely, he will be given $50,000.
8. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?
The plot is united. Yes. Naturally to the next.
9. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are these occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story? How improbable are they?
Resolve. The improbable of the story is when the young man must disposes the money wisely with the good account on what he should spends on.
C. Characters
1. Who is/are the main character in the story? What does the main character look like?
The main character is Gillian. Gillian is the man who receives the money from his uncle and doesn't know what to do with it.
2. Describe the main character's situation. Where does he/she live? Does he/she live alone or with others? What does the main character do for a living, or is he/she dependent on others for support?
Gillian lives at Broadway road. The story does not tell exactly where he lives or whom he's living with but I assume that he is living alone. He use to play grumbling as a way of living. He is supported by his uncle.
3. What are some chief characteristics (personally traits) of the character? How are these characteristics revealed in the story? How does the main character interact with other character? Note the degree of complexity of his/her behavior, thought, and feeling; their appearances, their habits, mannerisms, speech, attitudes and values. What is the main character's attitude towards his/her life? Is he/she happy or sad, content or discontented? Why?
Gillian has less confidence, he relies on his friend's advices more than from himself. By that, he lost to have 50,000 more dollars. He interacted with others in the spite of advices from them. He has quite low degree of thought. Gillian is happy and contented with his life even before he got one thousand dollars to handle and accounted. Accounting that amount of money made his life became discontented.
4. What sort of conflict is the character facing? How is this conflict revealed? Is it resolved? If so, how?
Gillian is facing the difficulties on how to handle one thousand dollars properly and how to manage the money well enough to accounted it. It wasn't resolved, instead lost him the 50,000 dollars.
5. Is any character a developing character? If so, is his change a large or a small one? Is it a plausible change for him? Is he sufficiently motivated? Is the change given sufficient time?
There were no developing character in this story.
D. Point of View
1. What point of view does the story use? Is the story told from a first-person perspective, in which the narrator is one of the character in the story, and refers to himself or herself as "I"? Or is the story told from a third-person perspective, in which the narrator is not one of the characters in the story or may not participate in the events of the story?
Third-person.
2.What are the advantages of the chosen point of view? Does it furnish any clues as to the purpose of the story?
Third person narrative can be more objective, less emotional and personal.
The author can cover all characters equally with no bias towards any one. No, it does not.
3. Is the narrator reliable or unreliable? Does he/she have a limited knowledge or understanding of characters and events in the story? Does the narrator know almost everything about one character or every character, including inner thoughts?
The narrator is reliable because as a third person narrating, the narrator can cover the characters equally without being bias, thus, the narrator is reliable. No, there were no limitations. The narrator knew everything about the characters because the narrator told us how they thinks or feels.
4. Does the author use point of view primarily to reveal or conceal? Does he ever unfairly withhold important information known to the focal character?
The author uses the point of view to primarily reveals the story. Never.
E. Imagery
1. What scenes, moments, descriptive passages, phrases, or words stands out in your reading of the story?
When Gillian realizes he lost 50,00 dollars.
2. Did a particular image make you feel happy,or frightened, or disturbed, or angry? Why?
None, because this story isn't that much into the emotions of the readers.
3. Which of your five senses did this image appeal to? What do you associate with this image, and why? What do you think the author wants you to feel about a certain image?
Sense of feelings. I associated the image with the loss of mine. The loss of something due to our actions is the worst of all lost. Author wants us to see feel about how a small thing can leads to something big.
4. How do you think your reactions to the imagery in the story contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
By having us feels the feelings of the character.
2. Is the story humorous or tragic of frightening? Does the author want you to laugh or cry, to feel happy or sad, to experience anger or fear?
It is none of those because this story is based on a moral lessons. This is more of teaching than to let us feel the emotions of the story.
3. What is the author's attitude toward characters or the narrator? Does the author like or dislike, trust or mistrust the characters or the narrator?
The author wanted to show how the character would chose to make the useful of the one thousand dollars. The authors probably likes but mistrust the character because the author wants to see first if the character is able to handle and make a good use of the one thousand dollars.
The Pendulum-------By O. Henry
1. About the Author
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) more popularly known by his pen name O. Henry was one of the most celebrated masters of the short story in the 19th Century America. He had a chequered career as a book keeper, a draftsman in the land office and a teller in the Bank of Austin. He also tried his hand a cartooning, writing and editing before he made a mark as a writer. O. Henry’s stories have a deep human interest. He spins brief and strikingly dramatic tales involving his characters in such a manner that the element of surprise and a twist ending startle the reader.
Perspective: We take things for granted, esp. the love and care of dear ones and it’s only when they depart or leave us that we really appreciate their true value. But what happens, if after this awareness they come back in our life and give us another chance, do we really care more towards them, do we really give them time and love they deserve. This story explains it all in a very beautiful way.
2. Main Characters
John & Katy
John seems to be a man discontented with the drudgery of his routine life. He is always skeptical, desolate and angry.
Katy is harder to characterize because we only get John's perspective of her. She seems feminine, caring, possibly a bit of a nag since she is "wrathful" about his evenings out, and expressed "ire" when he returned.
The two seem to be going through the motions but missing the mark, and don't seem destined for much successs together as a happy couple.
Plot:
“The Pendulum” is the story of a married man who is terribly bored with the monotony of life. In his dull and unexciting life, it is the same routine everyday same office, same job, same public places and life, same friends, same events, movements, words and even food. Trapped in this circle of life, he lives on a repetitive life until one evening, when he retuned home his wife was missing. She leaves behind a note that she is going away to see her ailing mother. Used to be greeted by his wife in her name, predictable manner, Perkins is shocked by the emptiness of his apartment in the absence of his wife. This emptiness, heightened by disorderly things, scattered clothes and leftover packets of only reflect the emptiness of his wife infact all life around him. Unable to bear a break in his usual routine, and a life without Katy, the bored and lonely Perkins realizes his folly of neglecting his wife. Eating his cold dinner, he becomes painfully aware how Katy toils hard to keep his life in order and he has not acknowledged this. Full of remorse about leaving Katy home to go to play pool with his friends each day, he decides to be more caring. He decides to make amends by doing what he had never done. He resolves to cut down his outings with friends and his visits to McCloskey’s for a game of pool. He promised to take his wife out for amusement, to look after her, to love her and to pleas her as any husband ought to do for his soul mate. He would make up for all his neglect, he thinks. What was life without her, he wonders.
Even as he lost in these thoughts there comes Katy as suddenly as she had disappeared, her stupidly and soon all his resolves melt into nothingness and he finds himself a solace of habit again. He reaches for his hat and slips out of the door giving his usual mechanical reply to Katy a question asked in a complaining voice, “Now, where are you going, I’d like to know, John Perkins”, “Thoughtful I’d drop into McCloskey’s and play a game or two of pool with the fellows”, say she.
Analysis:
On one hand, the story shows that the thoughtless and inconsiderate people soon lose interest in their spouses and their mean and selfish approach robs their marriages of all romance. On the other hand the implied massage of the story is that weak minded people fail to reform themselves even when they realize their faults and are filled with remorse. Such people from one extreme to another and cannot stick to their solution. So I recommend others also to read this book and enjoy it.
How is the title of the story "The Pendulum" by O. Henry appropriate?
The pendulum is not associated in any way with the story....only the routine of John and pendulum are "alike".
A pendulum is a component on a clock that swings back and forth with every second in time. It is often used to refer things in life swinging from one extreme to the other. If you have a scale where on one side is John's distaste for his monotonous life, and on the other side is his regret, longing, and craving for that life back, then John swings from one side to the other quite quickly. So, John himself is like the pendulum, swinging back and forth between two opposite extremes, very quickly. You would not expect, that just seconds after his wife returns back home, that he would switch from feeling resolutely determined to be a better man, from fiercely longing for his wife, to wanting to immediately leave, returning back to his old ways. So, yes, John and the pendulum are very much alike, and that is the reason for the title itself.
The Pedulum
By O. Henry
1. About the Author
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) more popularly known by his pen name O. Henry was one of the most celebrated masters of the short story in the 19th Century America. He had a chequered career as a book keeper, a draftsman in the land office and a teller in the Bank of Austin. He also tried his hand a cartooning, writing and editing before he made a mark as a writer. O. Henry’s stories have a deep human interest. He spins brief and strikingly dramatic tales involving his characters in such a manner that the element of surprise and a twist ending startle the reader.
2. Main Characters
3. Book Review
“The Pendulum” is the story of a married man who is terribly bored with the monotony of life. In his dull and unexciting life, it is the same routine everyday same office, same job, same public places and life, same friends, same events, movements, words and even food. Trapped in this circle of life, he lives on a repetitive life until one evening, when he retuned home his wife was missing. She leaves behind a note that she is going away to see her ailing mother. Used to be greeted by his wife in her name, predictable manner, Perkins is shocked by the emptiness of his apartment in the absence of his wife. This emptiness, heightened by disorderly things, scattered clothes and leftover packets of only reflect the emptiness of his wife infact all life around him. Unable to bear a break in his usual routine, and a life without Katy, the bored and lonely Perkins realizes his folly of neglecting his wife. Eating his cold dinner, he becomes painfully aware how Katy toils hard to keep his life in order and he has not acknowledged this. Full of remorse about leaving Katy home to go to play pool with his friends each day, he decides to be more caring. He decides to make amends by doing what he had never done. He resolves to cut down his outings with friends and his visits to McCloskey’s for a game of pool. He promised to take his wife out for amusement, to look after her, to love her and to pleas her as any husband ought to do for his soul mate. He would make up for all his neglect, he thinks. What was life without her, he wonders.
Even as he lost in these thoughts there comes Katy as suddenly as she had disappeared, her stupidly and soon all his resolves melt into nothingness and he finds himself a solace of habit again. He reaches for his hat and slips out of the door giving his usual mechanical reply to Katy a question asked in a complaining voice, “Now, where are you going, I’d like to know, John Perkins”, “Thoughtful I’d drop into McCloskey’s and play a game or two of pool with the fellows”, say she.
My Opinion:
On one hand, the story shows that the thoughtless and inconsiderate people soon lose interest in their spouses and their mean and selfish approach robs their marriages of all romance. On the other hand the implied massage of the story is that weak minded people fail to reform themselves even when they realize their faults and are filled with remorse. Such people from one extreme to another and cannot stick to their solution. So I recommend others also to read this book and enjoy it.
How is the title of the story "The Pendulum" by O. Henry appropriate?
The pendulum is not associated in any way with the story....only the routine of John and pendulum are "alike".
ELT METHODS
COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING METHOD:
Community language learning (CLL) was primarily designed for monolingual conversation classes where the teacher-counsellor would be able to speak the learners' L1.
The intention was that it would integrate translation so that the students would disassociate language learning with risk taking. It's a method that is based on English for communication and is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there are certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment as the main focus.
How it works in the classroom
Stage 1- Reflection
Stage 2 - Recorded conversation
Stage 3 - Discussion
Stage 4 - Transcription
Stage 5 - Language analysis
Length of stages
For and against CLL
Working with monolingual or multilingual classes
Working with large classes
Conclusion
How it works in the classroom
In a typical CLL lesson I have five stages:
Stage 1- Reflection
I start with students sitting in a circle around a tape recorder to create a community atmosphere.
The students think in silence about what they'd like to talk about, while I remain outside the circle.
To avoid a lack of ideas students can brainstorm their ideas on the board before recording.
Stage 2 - Recorded conversation
Once they have chosen a subject the students tell me in their L1 what they'd like to say and I discreetly come up behind them and translate the language chunks into English.
With higher levels if the students feel comfortable enough they can say some of it directly in English and I give the full English sentence. When they feel ready to speak the students take the microphone and record their sentence.
It's best if you can use a microphone as the sound quality is better and it's easier to pick up and put down.
Here they're working on pace and fluency. They immediately stop recording and then wait until another student wants to respond. This continues until a whole conversation has been recorded.
Stage 3 - Discussion
Next the students discuss how they think the conversation went. They can discuss how they felt about talking to a microphone and whether they felt more comfortable speaking aloud than they might do normally.
This part is not recorded.
Stage 4 - Transcription
Next they listen to the tape and transcribe their conversation. I only intervene when they ask for help.
The first few times you try this with a class they might try and rely on you a lot but aim to distance yourself from the whole process in terms of leading and push them to do it themselves.
Stage 5 - Language analysis
I sometimes get students to analyse the language the same lesson or sometimes in the next lesson. This involves looking at the form of tenses and vocabulary used and why certain ones were chosen, but it will depend on the language produced by the students.
In this way they are totally involved in the analysis process. The language is completely personalised and with higher levels they can themselves decide what parts of their conversation they would like to analyse, whether it be tenses, lexis or discourse.
With lower levels you can guide the analysis by choosing the most common problems you noted in the recording stages or by using the final transcription.
Length of stages
The timing will depend entirely on the class, how quickly they respond to CLL, how long you or they decide to spend on the language analysis stage and how long their recorded conversation is. Be careful however that the conversation isn't too long as this will in turn make the transcription very long
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLL
ADVANTAGES:
Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analysing their own conversations.
CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.
The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of the time. Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a team.
DISADVANTAGES:
In the beginning some learners find it difficult to speak on tape while others might find that the conversation lacks spontaneity.
We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom and tend to intervene too much.
In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their need for guidance.
Working with monolingual or multilingual classes
I have used CLL with both monolingual and multilingual classes and found that it works well with both. With the multilingual low-level classes I, as the teacher-counsellor, reformulated their English in the same way you might do with higher levels. However, the first few attempts at CLL work better with a monolingual class as the instructions can be given in L1. It's important that the learners understand their and your new roles in the language learning process.
Working with large classes
For the first lesson it's important to record the conversation as a whole class even though this can limit student-speaking time. It's more practical in terms of giving instructions before you start and for moving from one student to another when they need you to translate or reformulate what they want to say. The next time you use CLL however, you could split the class into two groups. This gives them more speaking time.
Make sure the groups are far enough away from each other for the recording stage but not so far that you can't move freely from one group to another.
A further alternative is that they swap tapes for the transcription stage. The language is obviously less personalised but their listening skills are being challenged in a different way and they still feel part of a whole class community.
Conclusion
Although CLL is primarily meant as a 'whole' approach to teaching I have found it equally useful for an occasional lesson, especially with teenagers. It enables me to refocus on the learner while my students immediately react positively to working in a community. They take exceptionally well to peer-correction and by working together they overcome their fear of speaking. I have also found quieter students able to offer corrections to their peers and gladly contribute to the recording stage of the lesson. It's a teaching method which encompasses all four skills while simultaneously revealing learners' styles which are more or less analytical in their approach to language learning. All of which raises our awareness as a teacher and that of our students.
The Silent Way is a language teaching methodology which was devised by Caleb Gattegno in the 1960s. Gattegno states that a foreign language can only be learnt in schools by artificial methods, employing materials constructed for the purpose
Theory and characteristics
As the name already suggests, the method is built upon the hypothesis that inside the classroom the teacher should be as silent as possible, whereas the students/learners should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible.
2.Participation actively in class and in this way become autonomous learners. 3.Silence is regarded as the best instrument for learning in the classroom, because “in silence students concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the potential means for its accomplishment
4. The techniques of the Silent Way “made it possible for the teacher to say less and less as the lessons advanced, while the pupils were saying more and more and using their own inner criteria developed in this approach. In general, there are three basic theories on which Gattegno’s work is founded:
1. Learning is regarded as a “problem-solving, creative, discovering activity, in which the learner rather acts and participates actively than just being passive and doing nothing but listening to the teacher. If the learner is involved directly, he automatically benefits from the so called “discovery learning”.
2. The use of special physical objects such as coloured wooden rods or colour-coded wall charts facilitates learning. These physical objects “provide physical foci for student learning and also create memorable images to facilitate student recall” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 81).
3. Learning is facilitated by involving the learners and letting them solve problems on their own with the help of the provided materials.
Learner and teacher roles
Though the Silent Way is not considered to be a teacher-centred approach, the teacher is very much in control of what happens in the class. While the teacher uses mainly gestures and facial expressions to address the learners, his/her main task is the teaching of the language by letting the students express themselves on a variety of subjects and by making their own hypotheses about grammar, pronunciation, style, etc. The teacher's guidance, though silent, is very active.
The learners are expected to participate in class actively. They should be willing to make mistakes, to test out the basic language elements via the usage of the materials provided and their motivation is solicited by the constant presentation of problems to be solved.
The materials make meaning visible and tangible so Silent Way lessons are usually easily understandable by students. It does require of students that they be willing to take risks and be comfortable about making mistakes which is encouraged by the supportive attitude of the teacher.
Materials and how they can be used
The Silent Way uses a whole set of materials, which can be used in class. It includes:
coloured wooden rods (Cuisenaire rods)
a set of wall charts, containing words of a 'functional‘ vocabulary and some additional ones
a rectangle chart
a Fidel
a pointer for use with the charts
tapes or discs
drawings or pictures
Cuisenaire Rods:
The coloured wooden rods can be used to represent whole situations in an abstract way. The teacher for example could use the green rods to represent a certain number of people, the red ones to represent cars and a single white rod representing a special character, for instance the teacher himself. The teacher then would probably first point at the white rod and thereafter at himself to show the students the meaning of the rods. The next step would be the presentation of the meanings of the other rods (the green and red ones), and after the students get their meaning, the teacher might present a certain everyday situation with the rods. During this presentation, the teacher may feature certain grammatical aspects of the language and let the students find out about these. Another way to use the rods could simply be the usage of them as representing certain parts of the word order of the language. The students might then test out in which order the rods have to be put, so that the correct form is created.
The rectangle chart, the Fidel and the word charts:
The different charts can be used to teach different aspects of the language. The rectangle chart for instance can be used to show the pronunciation of the phonemes of a language. It contains several different coloured rectangles which represent the various sounds of a language. The same colour code which is used in the rectangle chart is also used in the Fidel and the word charts. The Fidel contains several different charts. They present all possible spellings of every single sound of the language. The word charts present the functional words of the language.
Advantage and disadvantage
Advantage
The use of the Silent Way enables a very high degree of interaction as well between the teacher and the students as between the students themselves and additionally raises the participation of the students in class. The students/learners cooperate and help each other in class and in this way the social aspect of learning is supported. For the students it is beneficial that they are expected to develop a certain degree of self-awareness and that they can discover the language on their own via testing things and making use of the materials provided by the teacher.
Disadvantage
Just from reading descriptions some people feel the Silent Way is a very abstract way of learning a language and it is true that it is extremely different from more commonly used methods of language learning. Some learners may have may be put off by this. However most of those who have practical experience of the approach appreciate the way they are given the opportunity to function as autonomous learners.
Some have assumed that the Silent Way can only be used in small classes but this is not in fact the case: particularly with beginners, classes of 40 or more have been successful.
There is also a certain amount of scepticism on the part of some teachers who doubt the utility of a teaching method in which the teacher apparently says nothing.
Community language learning (CLL) was primarily designed for monolingual conversation classes where the teacher-counsellor would be able to speak the learners' L1.
The intention was that it would integrate translation so that the students would disassociate language learning with risk taking. It's a method that is based on English for communication and is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there are certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment as the main focus.
How it works in the classroom
Stage 1- Reflection
Stage 2 - Recorded conversation
Stage 3 - Discussion
Stage 4 - Transcription
Stage 5 - Language analysis
Length of stages
For and against CLL
Working with monolingual or multilingual classes
Working with large classes
Conclusion
How it works in the classroom
In a typical CLL lesson I have five stages:
Stage 1- Reflection
I start with students sitting in a circle around a tape recorder to create a community atmosphere.
The students think in silence about what they'd like to talk about, while I remain outside the circle.
To avoid a lack of ideas students can brainstorm their ideas on the board before recording.
Stage 2 - Recorded conversation
Once they have chosen a subject the students tell me in their L1 what they'd like to say and I discreetly come up behind them and translate the language chunks into English.
With higher levels if the students feel comfortable enough they can say some of it directly in English and I give the full English sentence. When they feel ready to speak the students take the microphone and record their sentence.
It's best if you can use a microphone as the sound quality is better and it's easier to pick up and put down.
Here they're working on pace and fluency. They immediately stop recording and then wait until another student wants to respond. This continues until a whole conversation has been recorded.
Stage 3 - Discussion
Next the students discuss how they think the conversation went. They can discuss how they felt about talking to a microphone and whether they felt more comfortable speaking aloud than they might do normally.
This part is not recorded.
Stage 4 - Transcription
Next they listen to the tape and transcribe their conversation. I only intervene when they ask for help.
The first few times you try this with a class they might try and rely on you a lot but aim to distance yourself from the whole process in terms of leading and push them to do it themselves.
Stage 5 - Language analysis
I sometimes get students to analyse the language the same lesson or sometimes in the next lesson. This involves looking at the form of tenses and vocabulary used and why certain ones were chosen, but it will depend on the language produced by the students.
In this way they are totally involved in the analysis process. The language is completely personalised and with higher levels they can themselves decide what parts of their conversation they would like to analyse, whether it be tenses, lexis or discourse.
With lower levels you can guide the analysis by choosing the most common problems you noted in the recording stages or by using the final transcription.
Length of stages
The timing will depend entirely on the class, how quickly they respond to CLL, how long you or they decide to spend on the language analysis stage and how long their recorded conversation is. Be careful however that the conversation isn't too long as this will in turn make the transcription very long
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLL
ADVANTAGES:
Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analysing their own conversations.
CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.
The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of the time. Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a team.
DISADVANTAGES:
In the beginning some learners find it difficult to speak on tape while others might find that the conversation lacks spontaneity.
We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom and tend to intervene too much.
In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their need for guidance.
Working with monolingual or multilingual classes
I have used CLL with both monolingual and multilingual classes and found that it works well with both. With the multilingual low-level classes I, as the teacher-counsellor, reformulated their English in the same way you might do with higher levels. However, the first few attempts at CLL work better with a monolingual class as the instructions can be given in L1. It's important that the learners understand their and your new roles in the language learning process.
Working with large classes
For the first lesson it's important to record the conversation as a whole class even though this can limit student-speaking time. It's more practical in terms of giving instructions before you start and for moving from one student to another when they need you to translate or reformulate what they want to say. The next time you use CLL however, you could split the class into two groups. This gives them more speaking time.
Make sure the groups are far enough away from each other for the recording stage but not so far that you can't move freely from one group to another.
A further alternative is that they swap tapes for the transcription stage. The language is obviously less personalised but their listening skills are being challenged in a different way and they still feel part of a whole class community.
Conclusion
Although CLL is primarily meant as a 'whole' approach to teaching I have found it equally useful for an occasional lesson, especially with teenagers. It enables me to refocus on the learner while my students immediately react positively to working in a community. They take exceptionally well to peer-correction and by working together they overcome their fear of speaking. I have also found quieter students able to offer corrections to their peers and gladly contribute to the recording stage of the lesson. It's a teaching method which encompasses all four skills while simultaneously revealing learners' styles which are more or less analytical in their approach to language learning. All of which raises our awareness as a teacher and that of our students.
The Silent Way is a language teaching methodology which was devised by Caleb Gattegno in the 1960s. Gattegno states that a foreign language can only be learnt in schools by artificial methods, employing materials constructed for the purpose
Theory and characteristics
As the name already suggests, the method is built upon the hypothesis that inside the classroom the teacher should be as silent as possible, whereas the students/learners should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible.
2.Participation actively in class and in this way become autonomous learners. 3.Silence is regarded as the best instrument for learning in the classroom, because “in silence students concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the potential means for its accomplishment
4. The techniques of the Silent Way “made it possible for the teacher to say less and less as the lessons advanced, while the pupils were saying more and more and using their own inner criteria developed in this approach. In general, there are three basic theories on which Gattegno’s work is founded:
1. Learning is regarded as a “problem-solving, creative, discovering activity, in which the learner rather acts and participates actively than just being passive and doing nothing but listening to the teacher. If the learner is involved directly, he automatically benefits from the so called “discovery learning”.
2. The use of special physical objects such as coloured wooden rods or colour-coded wall charts facilitates learning. These physical objects “provide physical foci for student learning and also create memorable images to facilitate student recall” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 81).
3. Learning is facilitated by involving the learners and letting them solve problems on their own with the help of the provided materials.
Learner and teacher roles
Though the Silent Way is not considered to be a teacher-centred approach, the teacher is very much in control of what happens in the class. While the teacher uses mainly gestures and facial expressions to address the learners, his/her main task is the teaching of the language by letting the students express themselves on a variety of subjects and by making their own hypotheses about grammar, pronunciation, style, etc. The teacher's guidance, though silent, is very active.
The learners are expected to participate in class actively. They should be willing to make mistakes, to test out the basic language elements via the usage of the materials provided and their motivation is solicited by the constant presentation of problems to be solved.
The materials make meaning visible and tangible so Silent Way lessons are usually easily understandable by students. It does require of students that they be willing to take risks and be comfortable about making mistakes which is encouraged by the supportive attitude of the teacher.
Materials and how they can be used
The Silent Way uses a whole set of materials, which can be used in class. It includes:
coloured wooden rods (Cuisenaire rods)
a set of wall charts, containing words of a 'functional‘ vocabulary and some additional ones
a rectangle chart
a Fidel
a pointer for use with the charts
tapes or discs
drawings or pictures
Cuisenaire Rods:
The coloured wooden rods can be used to represent whole situations in an abstract way. The teacher for example could use the green rods to represent a certain number of people, the red ones to represent cars and a single white rod representing a special character, for instance the teacher himself. The teacher then would probably first point at the white rod and thereafter at himself to show the students the meaning of the rods. The next step would be the presentation of the meanings of the other rods (the green and red ones), and after the students get their meaning, the teacher might present a certain everyday situation with the rods. During this presentation, the teacher may feature certain grammatical aspects of the language and let the students find out about these. Another way to use the rods could simply be the usage of them as representing certain parts of the word order of the language. The students might then test out in which order the rods have to be put, so that the correct form is created.
The rectangle chart, the Fidel and the word charts:
The different charts can be used to teach different aspects of the language. The rectangle chart for instance can be used to show the pronunciation of the phonemes of a language. It contains several different coloured rectangles which represent the various sounds of a language. The same colour code which is used in the rectangle chart is also used in the Fidel and the word charts. The Fidel contains several different charts. They present all possible spellings of every single sound of the language. The word charts present the functional words of the language.
Advantage and disadvantage
Advantage
The use of the Silent Way enables a very high degree of interaction as well between the teacher and the students as between the students themselves and additionally raises the participation of the students in class. The students/learners cooperate and help each other in class and in this way the social aspect of learning is supported. For the students it is beneficial that they are expected to develop a certain degree of self-awareness and that they can discover the language on their own via testing things and making use of the materials provided by the teacher.
Disadvantage
Just from reading descriptions some people feel the Silent Way is a very abstract way of learning a language and it is true that it is extremely different from more commonly used methods of language learning. Some learners may have may be put off by this. However most of those who have practical experience of the approach appreciate the way they are given the opportunity to function as autonomous learners.
Some have assumed that the Silent Way can only be used in small classes but this is not in fact the case: particularly with beginners, classes of 40 or more have been successful.
There is also a certain amount of scepticism on the part of some teachers who doubt the utility of a teaching method in which the teacher apparently says nothing.
COURSE OUTLINE
Course Code: ENG516
Subject: English Language Teaching A
Core Texts: 1. Practical English Language by David Nunan
2. A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur
Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman
Week One
1. Chapter One: Methodology (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
2. Module 8: Teaching Listening (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Chapter Two: Listening (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Two
1. Module 9: Teaching Speaking (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Three: Speaking (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
3. Chapter Four: The Audio Lingual Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Three
1. Chapter Nine: The Communicative Approach (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
2. Module 10: Teaching Reading (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Chapter Four: Reading (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Four
Module 11: Teaching Writing (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Five: Writing (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Five
Module 4: Teaching Pronunciation (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Six: Pronunciation (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Six
1. Module 5: Teaching Vocabulary (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Seven: Vocabulary (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Seven
Module 6: Teaching Grammar (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Eight: Grammar (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Eight
1. Module 7: Topics, Situations, Notions, Functions (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Nine: Discourse (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Nine
Module 12: The Syllabus (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 13: Materials (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 14: Topic, Content (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Ten
Chapter Ten: Content-based Instructions (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Chapter Eleven: Course Books (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Module 2: Practice Activities (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Eleven
Module 15: Lesson Planning (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 1: Presentation and Explanation (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 16: Classroom Interaction (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Twelve
Chapter Thirteen: Learning Styles and Strategies (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Chapter Fourteen: Learner Autonomy in Classroom (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Thirteen
1. Module 17: Giving Feedback (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Module 18: Classroom Discipline (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Module 19: Learner Motivation and Interest (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Fourteen
Module 3: Test (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Fifteen: Classroom-based Assessment (Practical English Language
Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Fifteen
Chapter Two: Grammar Translation Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Three: The Direct Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Sixteen
Chapter Five: The Silent Way (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Six: Suggestopedia (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Seventeen
Chapter Seven: Community Language Learning (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Eight: Total Physical Response Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Subject: English Language Teaching A
Core Texts: 1. Practical English Language by David Nunan
2. A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur
Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman
Week One
1. Chapter One: Methodology (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
2. Module 8: Teaching Listening (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Chapter Two: Listening (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Two
1. Module 9: Teaching Speaking (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Three: Speaking (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
3. Chapter Four: The Audio Lingual Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Three
1. Chapter Nine: The Communicative Approach (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
2. Module 10: Teaching Reading (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Chapter Four: Reading (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Four
Module 11: Teaching Writing (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Five: Writing (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Five
Module 4: Teaching Pronunciation (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Six: Pronunciation (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Six
1. Module 5: Teaching Vocabulary (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Seven: Vocabulary (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Seven
Module 6: Teaching Grammar (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Eight: Grammar (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Eight
1. Module 7: Topics, Situations, Notions, Functions (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Chapter Nine: Discourse (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Nine
Module 12: The Syllabus (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 13: Materials (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 14: Topic, Content (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Ten
Chapter Ten: Content-based Instructions (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Chapter Eleven: Course Books (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Module 2: Practice Activities (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Eleven
Module 15: Lesson Planning (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 1: Presentation and Explanation (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Module 16: Classroom Interaction (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Twelve
Chapter Thirteen: Learning Styles and Strategies (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Chapter Fourteen: Learner Autonomy in Classroom (Practical English Language Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Thirteen
1. Module 17: Giving Feedback (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
2. Module 18: Classroom Discipline (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
3. Module 19: Learner Motivation and Interest (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Week Fourteen
Module 3: Test (A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur)
Chapter Fifteen: Classroom-based Assessment (Practical English Language
Teaching by David Nunan)
Week Fifteen
Chapter Two: Grammar Translation Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Three: The Direct Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Sixteen
Chapter Five: The Silent Way (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Six: Suggestopedia (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Week Seventeen
Chapter Seven: Community Language Learning (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Chapter Eight: Total Physical Response Method (Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman)
Course Code: ENG501
Subject: Essay Writing
Core Texts: 1. College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan
2. Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell
Week One
The Writing Process (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Stage One: Invention
Stage Two: Arrangement
Stage Three: Drafting and Revision
Week Two
An Introduction to Writing (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Structure of the Traditional Essay
Parts of an Essay
Diagram of an Essay
The Writing Process (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Prewriting
Technique One
Technique Two
Technique Three
Technique Four
Technique Five
Writing a First Draft
Revising
Editing
Week Three
The First and Second Steps in Essay Writing (College Writing Skills with
Readings by John Langan)
Begin with a Point or Thesis
Support the Thesis with Specific Evidence
The Third Step in Essay Writing (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Organize and Connect the specific Evidence
Introductions, Conclusions and Titles
Week Four
The Fourth Step in Essay Writing (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Revising Sentences
Editing Sentences
Four Basis for Revising Essays (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Introduction to Essay Development (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Week Five
Description (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
2. Description (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Six
Narration (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
2. Narration (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Seven
Process (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Process (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Eight
Cause and Effect (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Cause and Effect (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Nine
Comparison and Contrast (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Comparison and Contrast (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Ten
Division and Classification (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Classification and Division (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Eleven
Definition (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Twelve
Argumentation (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Week Thirteen
2. Argumentation (Patterns for College Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell)
Week Fourteen
1. Writing a Summary (College Writing Skills with Readings by John
Langan)
Week Fifteen
Writing a Report (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Week Sixteen
Writing a Resume and Job Application (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Week Seventeen
Writing a Research Paper (College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan)
Thursday, May 14, 2015
A FMILY AND KABULIWALA
Guy de Maupassant
Author (1850–1893)
Introduction:
French writer Guy de Maupassant,
also a poet, is famous for his short stories, which paint a fascinating picture
of French life in the 19th century. He was prolific, publishing over 300 short
stories and six novels, but died at a young age after ongoing struggles with
both physical and mental health.
It shouldn't be
doubted that Maupassant is one of the most important short-story writers to
have lived. His first published story, "Boule de
Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880), and The
Necklace are often considered his masterpieces.
Maupassant is considered one of the fathers of the modern
short story. He delighted in clever plotting, and served as a model for Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in this respect. His
stories about expensive jewellery ("The Necklace", "La parure") are imitated with a twist by
Maugham ("Mr Know-All", "A String of Beads") and O Henry ("Paste").
A FAMILY
I was to see my old friend,
Simon Radevin, of whom I had lost sight for fifteen years. At one time he was
my most intimate friend, the friend who knows one's thoughts, with whom one
passes long, quiet, happy evenings, to whom one tells one's secret love
affairs, and who seems to draw out those rare, ingenious, delicate thoughts
born of that sympathy that gives a sense of repose.
For years we had scarcely
been separated; we had lived, travelled, thought and dreamed together; had
liked the same things, had admired the same books, understood the same authors,
trembled with the same sensations, and very often laughed at the same
individuals, whom we understood completely by merely exchanging a glance.
Then he married. He
married, quite suddenly, a little girl from the provinces, who had come to
Paris in search of a husband. How in the world could that little thin,
insipidly fair girl, with her weak hands, her light, vacant eyes, and her
clear, silly voice, who was exactly like a hundred thousand marriageable dolls,
have picked up that intelligent, clever young fellow? Can any one understand
these things? No doubt he had hoped for happiness, simple, quiet and long-enduring
happiness, in the arms of a good, tender and faithful woman; he had seen all
that in the transparent looks of that schoolgirl with light hair.
He had not dreamed of the
fact that an active, living and vibrating man grows weary of everything as soon
as he understands the stupid reality, unless, indeed, he becomes so brutalized
that he understands nothing whatever.
What would he be like when
I met him again? Still lively, witty, light-hearted and enthusiastic, or in a
state of mental torpor induced by provincial life? A man may change greatly in
the course of fifteen years!
The train stopped at a
small station, and as I got out of the carriage, a stout, a very stout man with
red cheeks and a big stomach rushed up to me with open arms, exclaiming:
"George!" I embraced him, but I had not recognized him, and then I
said, in astonishment: "By Jove! You have not grown thin!" And he
replied with a laugh:
"What did you expect?
Good living, a good table and good nights! Eating and sleeping, that is my
existence!"
I looked at him closely,
trying to discover in that broad face the features I held so dear. His eyes
alone had not changed, but I no longer saw the same expression in them, and I
said to myself: "If the expression be the reflection of the mind, the thoughts
in that head are not what they used to be formerly; those thoughts which I knew
so well."
Yet his eyes were bright,
full of happiness and friendship, but they had not that clear, intelligent
expression which shows as much as words the brightness of the intellect.
Suddenly he said:
"Here are my two
eldest children." A girl of fourteen, who was almost a woman, and a boy of
thirteen, in the dress of a boy from a Lycee, came forward in a hesitating and
awkward manner, and I said in a low voice: "Are they yours?" "Of
course they are," he replied, laughing. "How many have you?"
"Five! There are three more at home."
He said this in a proud,
self-satisfied, almost triumphant manner, and I felt profound pity, mingled
with a feeling of vague contempt, for this vainglorious and simple reproducer
of his species.
I got into a carriage which
he drove himself, and we set off through the town, a dull, sleepy, gloomy town
where nothing was moving in the streets except a few dogs and two or three
maidservants. Here and there a shopkeeper, standing at his door, took off his
hat, and Simon returned his salute and told me the man's name; no doubt to show
me that he knew all the inhabitants personally, and the thought struck me that
he was thinking of becoming a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies, that dream
of all those who bury themselves in the provinces.
We were soon out of the
town, and the carriage turned into a garden that was an imitation of a park,
and stopped in front of a turreted house, which tried to look like a chateau.
"That is my den,"
said Simon, so that I might compliment him on it. "It is charming," I
replied.
A lady appeared on the
steps, dressed for company, and with company phrases all ready prepared. She
was no longer the light-haired, insipid girl I had seen in church fifteen years
previously, but a stout lady in curls and flounces, one of those ladies of
uncertain age, without intellect, without any of those things that go to make a
woman. In short, she was a mother, a stout, commonplace mother, a human
breeding machine which procreates without any other preoccupation but her
children and her cook-book.
She welcomed me, and I went
into the hall, where three children, ranged according to their height, seemed
set out for review, like firemen before a mayor, and I said: "Ah! ah! so
there are the others?" Simon, radiant with pleasure, introduced them:
"Jean, Sophie and Gontran."
The door of the
drawing-room was open. I went in, and in the depths of an easy-chair, I saw
something trembling, a man, an old, paralyzed man. Madame Radevin came forward
and said: "This is my grandfather, monsieur; he is eighty-seven." And
then she shouted into the shaking old man's ears: "This is a friend of
Simon's, papa." The old gentleman tried to say "good-day" to me,
and he muttered: "Oua, oua, oua," and waved his hand, and I took a
seat saying: "You are very kind, monsieur."
Simon had just come in, and
he said with a laugh: "So! You have made grandpapa's acquaintance. He is a
treasure, that old man; he is the delight of the children. But he is so greedy
that he almost kills himself at every meal; you have no idea what he would eat
if he were allowed to do as he pleased. But you will see, you will see. He
looks at all the sweets as if they were so many girls. You never saw anything
so funny; you will see presently."
I was then shown to my
room, to change my dress for dinner, and hearing a great clatter behind me on
the stairs, I turned round and saw that all the children were following me
behind their father; to do me honor, no doubt.
My windows looked out
across a dreary, interminable plain, an ocean of grass, of wheat and of oats,
without a clump of trees or any rising ground, a striking and melancholy
picture of the life which they must be leading in that house.
A bell rang; it was for
dinner, and I went downstairs. Madame Radevin took my arm in a ceremonious
manner, and we passed into the dining-room. A footman wheeled in the old man in
his armchair. He gave a greedy and curious look at the dessert, as he turned
his shaking head with difficulty from one dish to the other.
Simon rubbed his hands:
"You will be amused," he said; and all the children understanding
that I was going to be indulged with the sight of their greedy grandfather,
began to laugh, while their mother merely smiled and shrugged her shoulders,
and Simon, making a speaking trumpet of his hands, shouted at the old man:
"This evening there is sweet creamed rice!" The wrinkled face of the
grandfather brightened, and he trembled more violently, from head to foot, showing
that he had understood and was very pleased. The dinner began.
"Just look!"
Simon whispered. The old man did not like the soup, and refused to eat it; but
he was obliged to do it for the good of his health, and the footman forced the
spoon into his mouth, while the old man blew so energetically, so as not to
swallow the soup, that it was scattered like a spray all over the table and
over his neighbors. The children writhed with laughter at the spectacle, while
their father, who was also amused, said: "Is not the old man
comical?"
During the whole meal they
were taken up solely with him. He devoured the dishes on the table with his
eyes, and tried to seize them and pull them over to him with his trembling
hands. They put them almost within his reach, to see his useless efforts, his
trembling clutches at them, the piteous appeal of his whole nature, of his
eyes, of his mouth and of his nose as he smelt them, and he slobbered on his
table napkin with eagerness, while uttering inarticulate grunts. And the whole
family was highly amused at this horrible and grotesque scene.
Then they put a tiny morsel
on his plate, and he ate with feverish gluttony, in order to get something more
as soon as possible, and when the sweetened rice was brought in, he nearly had
a fit, and groaned with greediness, and Gontran called out to him:
"You have eaten too
much already; you can have no more." And they pretended not to give him
any. Then he began to cry; he cried and trembled more violently than ever,
while all the children laughed. At last, however, they gave him his helping, a
very small piece; and as he ate the first mouthful, he made a comical noise in
his throat, and a movement with his neck as ducks do when they swallow too
large a morsel, and when he had swallowed it, he began to stamp his feet, so as
to get more.
I was seized with pity for
this saddening and ridiculous Tantalus, and interposed on his behalf:
"Come, give him a
little more rice!" But Simon replied: "Oh! no, my dear fellow, if he
were to eat too much, it would harm him, at his age."
I held my tongue, and
thought over those words. Oh, ethics! Oh, logic! Oh, wisdom! At his age! So
they deprived him of his only remaining pleasure out of regard for his health!
His health! What would he do with it, inert and trembling wreck that he was?
They were taking care of his life, so they said. His life? How many days? Ten,
twenty, fifty, or a hundred? Why? For his own sake? Or to preserve for some
time longer the spectacle of his impotent greediness in the family.
There was nothing left for
him to do in this life, nothing whatever. He had one single wish left, one sole
pleasure; why not grant him that last solace until he died?
After we had played cards
for a long time, I went up to my room and to bed; I was low-spirited and sad,
sad, sad! and I sat at my window. Not a sound could be heard outside but the
beautiful warbling of a bird in a tree, somewhere in the distance. No doubt the
bird was singing in a low voice during the night, to lull his mate, who was
asleep on her eggs. And I thought of my poor friend's five children, and
pictured him to myself, snoring by the side of his ugly wife.
Cabuliwallah/ KABULIWALA [The Fruitseller from Cabul/Kabul]
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
About the author: Rabindranath
Tagore 1861-1941, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature
and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and
beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize
in Literature in 1913. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and
mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and other-worldly
dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West. His "elegant prose
and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced
new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali
literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical
Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture
to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding
creative artist of modern India.
Cabuliwallah [The Fruitseller from Cabul
Gitanjali
(Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World)
are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were
acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and
contemplation.
His compositions were chosen by two nations as
national anthems: the Republic of India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar
Shonar Bangla. The composer of Sri Lanka's national anthem: Sri Lanka Matha was
a student of Tagore, and the song is inspired by Tagore's style.
My five
years' old daughter Mini cannot live without chattering. I really believe that
in all her life she has not wasted a minute in silence. Her mother is often
vexed at this, and would stop her prattle, but I would not. To see Mini quiet
is unnatural, and I cannot bear it long. And so my own talk with her is always
lively.
One
morning, for instance, when I was in the midst of the seventeenth chapter of my
new novel, my little Mini stole into the room, and putting her hand into mine,
said: "Father! Ramdayal the door-keeper calls a crow a krow! He doesn't
know anything, does he?"
Before
I could explain to her the differences of language in this world, she was
embarked on the full tide of another subject. "What do you think, Father?
Bhola says there is an elephant in the clouds, blowing water out of his trunk, and
that is why it rains!"
And
then, darting off anew, while I sat still making ready some reply to this last
saying, "Father! what relation is Mother to you?"
"My
dear little sister in the law!" I murmured involuntarily to myself, but
with a grave face contrived to answer: "Go and play with Bhola, Mini! I am
busy!"
The
window of my room overlooks the road. The child had seated herself at my feet
near my table, and was playing softly, drumming on her knees. I was hard at
work on my seventeenth chapter, where Protrap Singh, the hero, had just caught
Kanchanlata, the heroine, in his arms, and was about to escape with her by the
third story window of the castle, when all of a sudden Mini left her play, and
ran to the window, crying, "A Cabuliwallah! a Cabuliwallah!" Sure
enough in the street below was a Cabuliwallah, passing slowly along. He wore
the loose soiled clothing of his people, with a tall turban; there was a bag on
his back, and he carried boxes of grapes in his hand.
I
cannot tell what were my daughter's feelings at the sight of this man, but she
began to call him loudly. "Ah!" I thought, "he will come in, and
my seventeenth chapter will never be finished!" At which exact moment the
Cabuliwallah turned, and looked up at the child. When she saw this, overcome by
terror, she fled to her mother's protection, and disappeared. She had a blind
belief that inside the bag, which the big man carried, there were perhaps two
or three other children like herself. The pedlar meanwhile entered my doorway,
and greeted me with a smiling face.
So
precarious was the position of my hero and my heroine, that my first impulse
was to stop and buy something, since the man had been called. I made some small
purchases, and a conversation began about Abdurrahman, the Russians, she
English, and the Frontier Policy.
As he
was about to leave, he asked: "And where is the little girl, sir?"
And I,
thinking that Mini must get rid of her false fear, had her brought out.
She
stood by my chair, and looked at the Cabuliwallah and his bag. He offered her
nuts and raisins, but she would not be tempted, and only clung the closer to
me, with all her doubts increased.
This
was their first meeting.
One
morning, however, not many days later, as I was leaving the house, I was
startled to find Mini, seated on a bench near the door, laughing and talking,
with the great Cabuliwallah at her feet. In all her life, it appeared; my small
daughter had never found so patient a listener, save her father. And already
the corner of her little sari was stuffed with almonds and raisins, the gift of
her visitor, "Why did you give her those?" I said, and taking out an
eight-anna bit, I handed it to him. The man accepted the money without demur,
and slipped it into his pocket.
Alas,
on my return an hour later, I found the unfortunate coin had made twice its own
worth of trouble! For the Cabuliwallah had given it to Mini, and her mother
catching sight of the bright round object, had pounced on the child with:
"Where did you get that eight-anna bit? "
"The
Cabuliwallah gave it me," said Mini cheerfully.
"The
Cabuliwallah gave it you!" cried her mother much shocked. "Oh, Mini!
how could you take it from him?"
I,
entering at the moment, saved her from impending disaster, and proceeded to
make my own inquiries.
It was
not the first or second time, I found, that the two had met. The Cabuliwallah
had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and
almonds, and the two were now great friends.
They
had many quaint jokes, which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of
him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would
ripple her face with laughter, and begin: "O Cabuliwallah, Cabuliwallah,
what have you got in your bag?"
And he
would reply, in the nasal accents of the mountaineer: "An elephant!"
Not much cause for merriment, perhaps; but how they both enjoyed the witticism!
And for me, this child's talk with a grown-up man had always in it something
strangely fascinating.
Then
the Cabuliwallah, not to be behindhand, would take his turn: "Well, little
one, and when are you going to the father-in-law's house?"
Now
most small Bengali maidens have heard long ago about the father-in-law's house;
but we, being a little new-fangled, had kept these things from our child, and Mini
at this question must have been a trifle bewildered. But she would not show it,
and with ready tact replied: "Are you going there?"
Amongst
men of the Cabuliwallah's class, however, it is well known that the words
father-in-law's house have a double meaning. It is a euphemism for jail, the
place where we are well cared for, at no expense to ourselves. In this sense
would the sturdy pedlar take my daughter's question. "Ah," he would
say, shaking his fist at an invisible policeman, "I will thrash my father-in-law!"
Hearing this, and picturing the poor discomfited relative, Mini would go off
into peals of laughter, in which her formidable friend would join.
These
were autumn mornings, the very time of year when kings of old went forth to
conquest; and I, never stirring from my little corner in Calcutta, would let my
mind wander over the whole world. At the very name of another country, my heart
would go out to it, and at the sight of a foreigner in the streets, I would
fall to weaving a network of dreams, --the mountains, the glens, and the
forests of his distant home, with his cottage in its setting, and the free and
independent life of far-away wilds. Perhaps the scenes of travel conjure
themselves up before me, and pass and repass in my imagination all the more
vividly, because I lead such a vegetable existence, that a call to travel would
fall upon me like a thunderbolt. In the presence of this Cabuliwallah, I was
immediately transported to the foot of arid mountain peaks, with narrow little
defiles twisting in and out amongst their towering heights. I could see the
string of camels bearing the merchandise, and the company of turbaned
merchants, carrying some of their queer old firearms, and some of their spears,
journeying downward towards the plains. I could see--but at some such point
Mini's mother would intervene, imploring me to "beware of that man."
Mini's
mother is unfortunately a very timid lady. Whenever she hears a noise in the
street, or sees people coming towards the house, she always jumps to the
conclusion that they are either thieves, or drunkards, or snakes, or tigers, or
malaria or cockroaches, or caterpillars, or an English sailor. Even after all
these years of experience, she is not able to overcome her terror. So she was
full of doubts about the Cabuliwallah, and used to beg me to keep a watchful
eye on him.
I tried
to laugh her fear gently away, but then she would turn round on me seriously,
and ask me solemn questions.
Were
children never kidnapped?
Was it,
then, not true that there was slavery in Cabul?
Was it
so very absurd that this big man should be able to carry off a tiny child?
I urged
that, though not impossible, it was highly improbable. But this was not enough,
and her dread persisted. As it was indefinite, however, it did not seem right
to forbid the man the house, and the intimacy went on unchecked.
Once a
year in the middle of January Rahmun, the Cabuliwallah, was in the habit of
returning to his country, and as the time approached he would be very busy,
going from house to house collecting his debts. This year, however, he could
always find time to come and see Mini. It would have seemed to an outsider that
there was some conspiracy between the two, for when he could not come in the
morning, he would appear in the evening.
Even to
me it was a little startling now and then, in the corner of a dark room,
suddenly to surprise this tall, loose-garmented, much bebagged man; but when
Mini would run in smiling, with her, "O! Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah!"
and the two friends, so far apart in age, would subside into their old laughter
and their old jokes, I felt reassured.
One
morning, a few days before he had made up his mind to go, I was correcting my
proof sheets in my study. It was chilly weather. Through the window the rays of
the sun touched my feet, and the slight warmth was very welcome. It was almost
eight o'clock, and the early pedestrians were returning home, with their heads
covered. All at once, I heard an uproar in the street, and, looking out, saw
Rahmun being led away bound between two policemen, and behind them a crowd of
curious boys. There were blood-stains on the clothes of the Cabuliwallah, and
one of the policemen carried a knife. Hurrying out, I stopped them, and
enquired what it all meant. Partly from one, partly from another, I gathered
that a certain neighbour had owed the pedlar something for a Rampuri shawl, but
had falsely denied having bought it, and that in the course of the quarrel,
Rahmun had struck him. Now in the heat of his excitement, the prisoner began calling
his enemy all sorts of names, when suddenly in a verandah of my house appeared
my little Mini, with her usual exclamation: "O Cabuliwallah!
Cabuliwallah!" Rahmun's face lighted up as he turned to her. He had no bag
under his arm today, so she could not discuss the elephant with him. She at
once therefore proceeded to the next question: "Are you going to the
father-in-law's house?" Rahmun laughed and said: "Just where I am
going, little one!" Then seeing that the reply did not amuse the child, he
held up his fettered hands. " Ali," he said, " I would have
thrashed that old father-in-law, but my hands are bound!"
On a
charge of murderous assault, Rahmun was sentenced to some years' imprisonment.
Time
passed away, and he was not remembered. The accustomed work in the accustomed
place was ours, and the thought of the once-free mountaineer spending his years
in prison seldom or never occurred to us. Even my light-hearted Mini, I am
ashamed to say, forgot her old friend. New companions filled her life. As she
grew older, she spent more of her time with girls. So much time indeed did she
spend with them that she came no more, as she used to do, to her father's room.
I was scarcely on speaking terms with her.
Years
had passed away. It was once more autumn and we had made arrangements for our
Mini's marriage. It was to take place during the Puja Holidays. With Durga
returning to Kailas, the light of our home also was to depart to her husband's
house, and leave her father's in the shadow.
The
morning was bright. After the rains, there was a sense of ablution in the air,
and the sun-rays looked like pure gold. So bright were they that they gave a
beautiful radiance even to the sordid brick walls of our Calcutta lanes. Since
early dawn to-day the wedding-pipes had been sounding, and at each beat my own
heart throbbed. The wail of the tune, Bhairavi, seemed to intensify my pain at
the approaching separation. My Mini was to be married to-night.
>From
early morning noise and bustle had pervaded the house. In the courtyard the
canopy had to be slung on its bamboo poles; the chandeliers with their tinkling
sound must be hung in each room and verandah. There was no end of hurry and
excitement. I was sitting in my study, looking through the accounts, when some
one entered, saluting respectfully, and stood before me. It was Rahmun the
Cabuliwallah. At first I did not recognise him. He had no bag, nor the long
hair, nor the same vigour that he used to have. But he smiled, and I knew him
again.
"When
did you come, Rahmun?" I asked him.
"Last
evening," he said, "I was released from jail."
The
words struck harsh upon my ears. I had never before talked with one who had
wounded his fellow, and my heart shrank within itself, when I realised this,
for I felt that the day would have been better-omened had he not turned up.
"There
are ceremonies going on," I said, "and I am busy. Could you perhaps
come another day?"
At once
he turned to go; but as he reached the door he hesitated, and said: "May I
not see the little one, sir, for a moment?" It was his belief that Mini
was still the same. He had pictured her running to him as she used, calling
"O Cabuliwallah! Cabuliwallah!" He had imagined too that they would
laugh and talk together, just as of old. In fact, in memory of former days he
had brought, carefully wrapped up in paper, a few almonds and raisins and
grapes, obtained somehow from a countryman, for his own little fund was
dispersed.
I said
again: "There is a ceremony in the house, and you will not be able to see
any one to-day."
The
man's face fell. He looked wistfully at me for a moment, said "Good
morning," and went out. I felt a little sorry, and would have called him
back, but I found he was returning of his own accord. He came close up to me
holding out his offerings and said: "I brought these few things, sir, for
the little one. Will you give them to her?"
I took
them and was going to pay him, but he caught my hand and said: "You are
very kind, sir! Keep me in your recollection. Do not offer me money!--You have
a little girl, I too have one like her in my own home. I think of her, and
bring fruits to your child, not to make a profit for myself."
Saying
this, he put his hand inside his big loose robe, and brought out a small and
dirty piece of paper. With great care he unfolded this, and smoothed it out
with both hands on my table. It bore the impression of a little band. Not a
photograph. Not a drawing. The impression of an ink-smeared hand laid flat on
the paper. This touch of his own little daughter had been always on his heart,
as he had come year after year to Calcutta, to sell his wares in the streets.
Tears
came to my eyes. I forgot that he was a poor Cabuli fruit-seller, while I
was--but no, what was I more than he? He also was a father. That impression of
the hand of his little Parbati in her distant mountain home reminded me of my
own little Mini.
I sent
for Mini immediately from the inner apartment. Many difficulties were raised,
but I would not listen. Clad in the red silk of her wedding-day, with the
sandal paste on her forehead, and adorned as a young bride, Mini came, and
stood bashfully before me.
The
Cabuliwallah looked a little staggered at the apparition. He could not revive
their old friendship. At last he smiled and said: "Little one, are you
going to your father-in-law's house?"
But
Mini now understood the meaning of the word "father-in-law," and she
could not reply to him as of old. She flushed up at the question, and stood
before him with her bride-like face turned down.
I
remembered the day when the Cabuliwallah and my Mini had first met, and I felt
sad. When she had gone, Rahmun heaved a deep sigh, and sat down on the floor.
The idea had suddenly come to him that his daughter too must have grown in this
long time, and that he would have to make friends with her anew. Assuredly he
would not find her, as he used to know her. And besides, what might not have
happened to her in these eight years?
The
marriage-pipes sounded, and the mild autumn sun streamed round us. But Rahmun
sat in the little Calcutta lane, and saw before him the barren mountains of
Afghanistan.
I took
out a bank-note, and gave it to him, saying: "Go back to your own
daughter, Rahmun, in your own country, and may the happiness of your meeting
bring good fortune to my child!"
Having
made this present, I had to curtail some of the festivities. I could not have
the electric lights I had intended, nor the military band, and the ladies of
the house were despondent at it. But to me the wedding feast was all the
brighter for the thought that in a distant land a long-lost father met again
with his only child.
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