Thinking Activity: Modern Poems

Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt.This blog is one of the activities of our academics. And this time it is based on Modernist Literature. This thinking activity task about Modern Poems & assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU).

As a part of the syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called The Twentieth Century Literature (paper-106). So, let’s start friends.But before we start I want to give short information about what kind of things we see here…

Here I have tried to interpret ten Modern poems according to my understanding. Before proceeding forward here I put a brief description of what is Modernism?

What is modernism?

Modernist literature is quite difficult to understand and when it comes to the poetry, it even becomes more difficult. Though meaning of the words can be understood, meaning of the poem is difficult to understand. These ten poems demands thinking and their shortness makes us to think more.

According to the University of Toledo, Modernism is a period in literary history which started around the early 1900s and continued until the early 1940s. Modernist writers in general rebelled against clear-cut storytelling and formulaic verse from the 19th century. Instead, many of them told fragmented stories which reflected the fragmented state of society during and after World War I.

The 20th century was like no time period before it. Einstein, Darwin, Freud and Marx were just some of the thinkers who profoundly changed the Western culture. These changes took distinct shape in the literature of 20th century. Modernism, a movement that was a radical break from 19th century Victorianism, led to post-modernism, which emphasized self consciousness and pop art.

20th Century English Poetry Development The 20th century development poetry emerged in the early of the 20th century through various schools, style and influence. There are three main phase of the modernist poetry movement

Characteristics of Modernist Literature:

1) Experimentation

Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. 

2) Absurdity

The carnage of two World Wars profoundly affected writers of the period. Several great English poets died or were wounded in WWI. At the same time, global capitalism was reorganizing society at every level. For many writers, the world was becoming a more absurd place every day. The mysteriousness of life was being lost in the rush of daily life. The senseless violence of WWII was yet more evidence that humanity had lost its way. 

3)Symbolism

The Modernist writers infused objects, people, places and events with significant meanings. They imagined a reality with multiple layers, many of them hidden or in a sort of code. The idea of a poem as a riddle to be cracked had its beginnings in the Modernist period. Symbolism was not a new concept in literature, but the Modernists' particular use of symbols was an innovation. 

4)  Formalism

Writers of the Modernist period saw literature more as a craft than a flowering of creativity. They believed that poems and novels were constructed from smaller parts instead of the organic, internal process that earlier generations had described. The idea of literature as craft fed the Modernists' desire for creativity and originality.

5) Individualism

In Modernist literature, the individual is more interesting than society. Specifically, modernist writers were fascinated with how the individual adapted to the changing world. In some cases, the individual triumphed over obstacles. For the most part, Modernist literature featured characters who just kept their heads above water. Writers presented the world or society as a challenge to the integrity of their characters. Ernest Hemingway is especially remembered for vivid characters who accepted their circumstances at face value and persevered.

Very Short Modernist Poems:

1) " The Embankment" by T.E.Hulme: 

Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy, 

flash of gold heels on the hard pavement. 

Now see I 

That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy. 

Oh, God, make small 

The old star-eaten blanket of the sky, 

That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.

This poem is about the homeless poor people and 'fallen gentleman' reflects on his past, it is may be related to sexuality. In this poem speaker wants warmth and and shelter to live that is why he request to the God that gave warmth me. So, we can say that this poem is about the basic requirement. There are many metaphor, symbol and images like "Finesse of fiddles", :Flash of gold hills", "Star eaten blanket", Fallen gentlemen"his poem has completed into 7 lines. According to my point of view In this poem has may be central thought is lust and falling of man. How any types of lust leads man towards the decayed. This types of addiction became man's life completely weak and dull. So that this types hopeless people prays to god for shelter. It means that here arise question of existence. Here I will add one more thing that in the poem may be that man wants to decide  to die because he doesn't bear himself and may be he wants to hide himself everywhere. 

2)Darkness- by Joseph Campbell:

I stop to watch a star shine in the boghole –

A star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.

I look at it, and pass on.

Campbell was an Irish poet writing  a similar kind of poetry to Hulme at around same time. Poetry doesn't come much more understated than this. This poem has completed into only 4 lines. According to my point of view I get some thing from title. Darkness also connected with death and something happening bad. Here I can say that Speaker will feel depression. As a part of depression Speaker face mental illness so that speaker don't like to see shining of stars but likes to see light. 

In this poem also we can find the modern metaphor like "Silver ribbon" and image like "Boghole". Joseph Campbell strict modern poet, his poem against the Victorian themes. The present poem's title itself suggest the contradiction between darkness and shiny star. speaker might be tell about the illusions in the life.

3) Image- by Edward Storer:

"Forsaken lovers,

Burning to a chaste white moon

upon strange pyres of loneliness and drought".

The title suggest itself the image of Victorian age. Poem is depiction of forsaken lover is described. The poem as per its title “Image” presents an image of the modern people and their way of living, they requires purity like moon.

4) "In a station of the metro" by Ezra Pound:

"The apparition of these faces in a crowd,

petals in wet, black bough

Pound arrived at this two lines poem after writing a much longer draft which he then cut down, line by line. The poem describes the sight of the crowd of commuters at the Paris Metro Station. In the poem using vivid and original image. So that this poem also based on imagination As the title suggested the image of Metro-station. There are crowded people and everyone rushing. This poem has completed in only 2 lines. In the poem Faces are compared with the petal of the black and wet bough. It means that after the rain when branches becomes black. Here I found some point like as,

* Apparition :-  Ghost, Imagery

* Petals :- Flowers, Faces

* Black and Wet Bough :-  After the rain

5)The pool- by Hilda Dolittle:

"Are you alive?

I touched you

you quiver trembling like a sea fish

I cover you with my net

What are you banded one?

Very first line of the poem, 'Are you alive? arise the question of existence which is one of the important aspect of modern literature. People of modern time became like sea fish that they are controlled or bound by some chain that they can't free from them. The title "Pool" is also symbolize the stillness like water store in it which don't have flowness which is most important things in the life to flow from one to another.n a very different way this poem start with a question which is related existentialism and it is considered as a one of the important aspect of modern literature. The metaphor seafish seems to suggest that the life of modern people is controlled by authority.

6) "Insouciance"- By Richard Aldington:

"In and out of the dreary trenches

Trudging cheerily under the stars

I make for myself little poems

Delicate as a flock of dovesin 

Thy fly away like white-winged Doves.

In this poem the poet presents that how people are living their life insouciance way with carelessness. They try to express their feeling in literature as poet says "I make for myself little poem" the way of living is with no excitement "In and out of the dreary trenches" but though all are walking on their path with such cheer, the reference of "White-winged Doves" is used for modern culture of living life and feeling of isolation is there. Aldington and H.D. were husband and wife in the 1910-1920." Insouciance" is about writing poems in trenches. Aldington, like many men of his generation, saw action at the at the Western front during WWI. I think it is poem of soldier because they lives without fear of death. Title of the also suggest that thing but in the dreary trenches soldiers are might feel boring. Here used metaphor of doves as a death because one day we all gone as white winged doves. This poem has completed into 5 lines only..

 7) “Morning at the Window”- T.S.Eliot:

They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,

 And along the trampled edges of the street

I am aware of the damp souls of housemais

Sprouting despondently at area gates.

The brown waves of fog toss up to me

Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,

And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts

An aimless smile that hovers in the air

And vanishes along the level of the roofs.

The whole poem has negative words. The word 'Rattling' means vibrating, shaking plates and 'Damp' means in low spirits from loss of hope or courage. The fog and twisted faces gives negative glimpse and an aimless smile suggests artificiality of Modern civilization. This poem gives images and symbols of the dead spirit in people.

8) "The Red wheelbarrow- William carols William:

 so much depends

Upon

a red wheel

Barrow

glazed with rain

Water

beside the white

 It is most difficult poem for understanding. We can't say properly that this poem about for that.This poem is best example of Imagination and metaphor. " The Red Wheelbarrow " Which used in farming and for transferring something. Here poet try to used rural imagery. Here In the poem bird of White chicken comes near for look beauty of wheelbarrow. This poem has completed into 8 lines.

* Red Wheelbarrow

* White Chicken

9) Anecdote of the Jar- Wallace Stevens:

I placed a jar in Tennessee,  

And round it was, upon a hill.  

It made the slovenly wilderness  

Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,

And sprawled around, no longer wild.  

The jar was round upon the ground  

And tall and of a port in air.

It took dominion everywhere.  

The jar was gray and bare.

It did not give of bird or bush,  

Like nothing else in Tennessee.

Anecdote of the Jar is an imagist poem in which Stevens explores the question of the superiority between art and nature: Is nature superior to human creations, or does human creativity surpasses nature in some way? This is an age-old and puzzling question. This poem solves the riddle by recognizing the unique differences between art and nature: art may sometimes be more beautiful than nature but it cannot be as creative as the nature.

10)   “ I” – E.E.Cummings:

"A leaf  falls with loneliness"

  This poem appeared in 1958 in Cummings' collection 95 poems, so it's really a late modernist work. Although it's nine line long, it's only contains four words - cleverly arranged so that  'a leaf falls' appears parenthetically within the word ' loneliness'. It was creative poem with imagination. In the poem few lines but it's gives the feeling of loneliness. It's good idea about one single leaf fall on the ground which make poem very interesting.

THANK YOU..................

 (WORDS:2093)

Thinking Activity: The Waste Land

 Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting. This thinking activity task about The Waste Land by T.S.Eliot. & assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU).

As a part of the syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called The Twentieth Century Literature (paper-106). So, let’s start friends.But before we start I want to give short information about what kind of things we see here…

First one is What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answers to the contemporary malaise?. Then we see that What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' leads us to a happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?. Last we see about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred to?). So let’s start....

Firstly, I want to present Main poem & also some interesting details about the poet. So you all are able to connect with this blog and my questions also. The Waste Land is a poem by T.S. Eliot. widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of Modern poetry.

Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.The Waste Land is a poem by T. S. Eliot is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line  poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of Eliot's The Criterion and in the United States in the November issue of The Dial. It was published in book form in December 1922. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the mantra in the Sanskrit language "Shantih shantih shantih".

The Waste Land :

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.

And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,

My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,

And I was frightened. He said, Marie,

Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.

In the mountains, there you feel free.

I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter………

READ MORE

So now we all get basic information about poem and poet.'The Waste Land' is the masterpiece of T.S.Eliot. Eliot describes the rotten state of human life in the 20th century. The waste Land is the land where nothing can be grown. The waste land is the Land of fertile, fruitless, and hollowness of human Beings in the Modern age.  As we all know, the poem ' Modern Epic ' is divided into five parts. Each part juxtaposes fragments of various aspects and it is just like episodic events which seem like 'Story within Story.' 

As per my understanding, I try to give answers to the questions which are mentioned here.

1) What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answers to the contemporary malaise?

T.S. Eliot and F. Nietzche

Frederic Nietzsche was a German philosopher who gave the term ' Übermensch', which means superhuman, a human being with remarkable abilities. Say for example Mahavira swami who was born in royal family and then left his home in pursuit of knowledge. He lived in the 5th-century BC contemporaneously with the Buddha. Both were normal human being and both have practiced intense meditation. Though they were not gods but were having superhuman qualities as compared to other humans. one became a leader in Jainism and another became leader in Buddhism but with passing of time they were considered as god. Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzsche, he have used many myth in his poem waste land, there is nothing wrong in being regressive because people learns from past. If people have done something wrong in past they can recover or learns not to repeat same thing in present. Eliot gave an example of myth in the context of the present.

Friedrich Nietzsche is progressive and forward looking where as T. S. Eliot seems like regressive because both have totally different sights and beliefs. Friedrich has the idea of 'Superman' who believes in faith and Self only. Superman has quality that he only believes in this life rather than after the death of life. Means, he has no belief in any mysticism. Superhuman is the creator of own life and values. He has his own motifs and will power. He thinks that the self is more important than anything else and there is nothing beyond the self.According to me Nietzsche and T. S. Eliot both have different points of view. One believes in God and the other one believes in himself, Nietzsche is a very progressive and forward looking man and he doesn't believe in God. Nietzsche prefers 'self assurance'. While Eliot is quite different from Nietzsche, he is very regressive and has own point of view, he believes in god.

2) Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:

T.S. Eliot and S. Freud

What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' lead us to happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?

Frued and Nietzsche both are the contemporaries but their background and field of working is different. Frued is believed in individuality and talks about "primitive instinct '' whereas Eliot believed in preservation of cultural traditions which means all together.Here I do not agree with the concept of Freud. Because giving free vent to the repressed primitive instinct will automatically lead towards the anarchy. For transitioning happiness we should not create disorganization in the society. Where as here Eliot seems more powerful than Freud because if we lived our lives with some discipline or with organization than life becomes more  easier.Freud was wrote that for progress of any individual primitive instinct was needed but in order to preserve tradition Eliot says that there is need for to grew together, for that example of Buddha was perhaps suitable.

3) Write about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred to?)

There are many Indian thoughts in waste land. Eliot was a well read scholar and he includes Indian Upanishad also in his poems. Eliot also referred to Buddhism and Upanishad. IN this poem ‘The Waste Land’  T.S. Eliot has presented various & many  cultures and languages to connect the world with one universal thought. There are fifth part in the poem &  If we see the  first four parts Eliot described how sexual perversion has overpower than spirituality of human and solution of spiritual degradation by referring to Indian culture and Upanishad. 

 Eliot uses all the Indian references because the situation of his country has become like barren land. Whereas these spiritual ideas of India seem more powerful and people also live the free life without any plunge. So we can say that  to make his own land again fertile Eliot has used these ideas.

1) River Ganga and Himalya :

Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves

Waited for rain, while the black clouds

Gathered far distant, over Himavant.

By these Eliot refers to wisdom of India for spiritual salvation of modern humanity.

2) Eliot uses three DA :

•  which he has taken from " Brihadaranyaka Upanishad"

DA

Datta: what have we given?

My friend, blood shaking my heart

The awful daring of a moment’s surrender

Which an age of prudence can never retract

By this, and this only, we have existed

Which is not to be found in our obituaries

Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider

Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor

In our empty rooms

DA

Dayadhvam: I have heard the key

Turn in the door once and turn once only

We think of the key, each in his prison

Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison

Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours

Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus

DA

Damyata: The boat responded

Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar

The sea was calm, your heart would have responded

Gaily, when invited, beating obedient

To controlling hands

Datta means to give; not only charity but giving oneself for some Noble cause.

Dayadhvam means to sympathies yourself with the sorrows and suffering from other

Damayanta means self control, control over one’s passions and desire ( sexual desire).

3)Shantih shantih shantih :

 This last line is about ultimate peace which every human being is craving for. This can be considered as universal human law.

Shanti Mantras always end with the sacred syllable Om (Auṃ) and three utterances of the word "Shanti" which means "Peace".The Shanti Mantras or "Peace Mantras" or Pancha Shanti are Hindu prayers for Peace (Shanti) found in Upanishads. Generally they are recited at the beginning and end of religious rituals and discourses.Shanti Mantras are invoked in the beginning of some topics of Upanishads. They are supposed to calm the mind of the reciter and environment around him/her. Reciting them is also believed to be removing any obstacles for the task being started.

THANK YOU............

(WORDS : 1725)

Frame Study -‘The Great Dictator’ (by Charlie Chaplin)

Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting.  This thinking activity task about Frame Study of ‘The Great Dictator’ by Charlie Chaplin. This is assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavangar University (MKBU).

As a part of syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called History of English literature 1900-2000 (paper-110). So, let’s start friends. As we all know that this literature had a larger impact of industrialization and World War I and II. This particular blog is designed to read the frames of "The GreatDictator" movie. Directed, Produced and Written and Starred by the great Charlie Chaplin.

Charlie Chaplin is understood to have confided to his friends that, had he known about the full horrors of the Nazi regime, he would probably not have got around to making The Great Dictator. “There are things in our century that wipe away even the most poisonous smile from the face of the most passionate satirist,” wrote one of the 20th century’s foremost historians. He was referring to Karl Kraus, the great Austrian journalist-polemicist-satirist, whose book The Last Days of Mankind, written in the inter-war years, is a 20th-century classic.  When it came to lampooning National Socialism and Adolf Hitler, Kraus says, “nothing occurs to me”. A little later, he adds: “The word fell asleep when that world awoke.”

When the Holocaust became common knowledge, Chaplin must have also felt that his craft was inadequate to render Hitler’s world in any known cinematic genre – political satire or vaudeville, burlesque or tragedy. The Great Dictator was conceptualized and filmed when it was still possible to make fun of the Fuehrer.

“This is a story of a period between two World Wars—an interim in which Insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nosedive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat.”

History	The Great Dictatir
Adolf Hitler (Dictator of Germany)	Adenoid Hynkel(Dictator of Tomainia)
Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda)	Garbitsch- Garbage
Hermann Goring (Minister of War)	Herring
Benito Mussolini (Dictator of Italy)	Benzino Napaloni(Dictator of Bacteria)

 

So let's start this Fram study of 'The Great Dictator'........

"Nothing in the film is quite as frightening as the sight and sound of the ludicrous Hynkel casually ordering the execution of three thousand striking workers.

Chaplin plays around marvellously with this crossover between rollicking humour and unmixed horror. Wood has pointed out how the harmless barber waving a razor over the bare throat of a customer looks more murderous than Hynkel ever does in the film. But the masterly mixing of the strains of Johannes Brahms’ ‘Hungarian Dance no 5’ into this edge-of-the-seat scene adds that piquancy which is signature Chaplin.

As masterful as the casual mixing of horror and humour is the blending of the ridiculous and the sublime in The Great Dictator. Gracefully, even tenderly, Hynkel performs the unforgettable balloon-ballet with Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’ playing softly on the soundtrack. But then he slips on to a tabletop, and goes on bouncing the globe-balloon off his behind, with loving care, a dreamy, enchanted look frozen on his face. When finally he tries to get both his arms around the balloon, it bursts with a scream in his face.

 

The Jewish soldier who appears in the beginning of the film is presented as being completely inadequate and incapable of taking orders and behaving like a soldier should. For instance, the soldier is presented as unable to throw a grenade or to even detonate a grenade. Ironically, despite his incompetence, the Private is tasked with defusing a very complex bomb which eventually detonates anyway.

 

After Hynkel finished his speech, he was helped into his coat by another person on stage and then proceeds to head towards the stair and leave the stage. While Hynkel is on the top of the stairs, a fat dignitary bows down to salute another man and pushes Hynkel down the stairs in the process. While the scene is not witnessed by many, it is an ironic moment which has the purpose of transmitting the idea that politicians are only as powerful as those under them want them to be.

 

When the Private returns, he finds that the world he left changed completely. When he takes his shop back, a few soldiers appear almost immediately to paint the word ‘’Jew’’ on the windows. The Private tries to stand up against them but he quickly realizes that the men painting on his windows will not listen to him. The Private then gets into an argument with them and they start fighting under the window of Hannah who tries to save the Private by hitting the soldiers with a pan over their head. Ironically, the Private is also hit in the process and he almost passes out. When the Private went to tell the soldiers to stop, they started assaulting him. Scared, the Private runs into the arms of another soldier and asks for help, explaining that the other two men were beating him. Instead of helping the Private, the third soldier hit the Private and berated him for his actions. This image is used to portray the violence with which the Jews were treated by the Germans during the Second World War and also the instability they experienced every day.

When the movie starts, the main characters are on the battlefield, trying to destroy an important French landmark. When a bomb falls from the cannon and near the soldiers, no one is willing to go and check if it will explode. Three people come, one more powerful than the other and every person orders the next one in line to check the bomb until a normal soldier has the eventually take the risk. This image repeats itself and has the purpose of showing how during those times, the people who died were not the ones who gave out commands but rather the poor soldiers who could do nothing else except follow the orders given to them.

 

In another scene, Hynkel dictates an official note to a typist in a matter-of-fact manner. He is speaking aloud while she is taking it down on her typewriter. When Hynkel spouts a long, solemn sentence, she knocks out just a couple of letters. But when he offers only a monosyllable, she types furiously for several lines, clanging the machine as she works it intently. Hynkel looks on, amazed, but she remains completely unruffled, business-like. This playing-off of sound against meaning is an idea that could only have occurred to someone who was transitioning  from silent to talking films, but it is hard to imagine anyone else picturising it as brilliantly as Chaplin.

The Barber is already living in the ghetto, which is where the Jewish citizens of those countries under Hynkel's control had been sent, forced to leave their own homes and now living in far worse conditions. The Barber is then arrested and sent to a concentration camp. This is exactly what happened in German under Hitler's regime, and the way in which the Holocaust was able to gather steam and momentum is shown satirically by Chaplin in the movie.

Here we can see how Hynkel is mad for his photo and idol. He wants to have a photo and an idol everywhere and the name of Hynkel to be hailed all over the country. He wants to amaze everyone not with his work but with his photo and idol.

Sycophancy - Bhakti in politics is sure way towards dictatorship ….Here we see that how Charlie Chaplin ironically describe that Hero worship is the order of the day. It is no wonder that we are stuck with incompetent leaders, who are a disgrace, especially in the spiritual field. Have we lost our senses that we cannot have a balanced view. The person thus worshipped gets a false impression of his or her greatness and sooner or later falls down. The followers suffer greatly when such an event takes place. Not only does such hero worship hurt the followers, it hurts the person more. A person, who is too much in the limelight, may stop making further attempts to improve himself or herself, and just tries to bask in such attention. Another reason for hero worship is strong prejudice against others in the field. How can anyone ever imagine that a mere mortal is perfect in all respects and must be blindly followed

The central theme of the movie is Chaplin's own dislike for Adolf Hitler and his regime. This also extends to dictatorships in general; at the time, the rise of Fascism in Europe was deeply troubling, and there seemed to be many nations with a Fascist dictator at their helm. By lampooning Hitler, Chaplin drew attention to his many personality disorders, his despotism, his innate hatred for anyone not fitting his Aryan picture of the ideal human, and also the way in which he was not smart enough to develop his own policies and therefore relied on other, more dangerous minds to do this. He also draws attention to the fact that the German people were either mostly in agreement with Hitler, or extremely gullible in the way they fell hook, line and sinker for his rhetoric.

Did these similarities trouble Chaplin? Many believe they did, Chaplin’s own son telling us they actually haunted his father:

 "Dad could never think of Hitler except with a shudder, half of horror, half of fascination. “Just think,”’ he would say uneasily, “he’s the madman, I’m the comic. But it could have been the other way around.”

 Of course Hitler was not only a madman. Nor was Chaplin merely a comic. But in The Great Dictator, the intersection of insanity and laughter produced a memorable movie. Chaplin says he couldn’t have made the film except in 1938-39. We are grateful that he made it when he did.

Thank You...............

(words : 1664)

Frame Study: The Modern Times (by Charlie Chaplin)

Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting.  This thinking activity task about Frame Study of ‘The Modern Times’ by Charlie Chaplin. This is assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavangar University (MKBU).

As a part of syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called History of English literature 1900-2000 (paper-110). So, let’s start friends. As we all know that this literature had a larger impact of industrialization and World War I and II.

This particular blog is designed to read the frames of "The Modern Times" movie. Directed, Produced and Written and Starred by the great Charlie Chaplin, The inventor of The Little Tramp character. In one of his interviews Chaplin states that (about The Tramp) ….

First, we see that briefly introduction about Charlie Chaplin. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, The Tramp, and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy. For more information to CLICK HERE.

“Pictures could not be accessories to the story -- evidence -- they had to contain the story within the frame; the best picture contained a whole war within one frame.”

                                                                                            -Tatjana Soli, The Lotus Eaters

Here we see that one-by-one frame and also, I want to try from my point of view and exploitations on this frame. And yes for this blog specially I create this ppt. So let’s start.....

'The Modern Times' by Charlie Chaplin from RiddhiBhatt26

1) Time Boundaries:

The significance of clock and its hands. The second hand moves faster, which represents working class of society. Minute’s hand can be seen as middle class society. And hour hand moves slower, so it can be said that rich class, aristocrats tend to have moved slowly with arrogance, engaging in leisure activities such as hunting animals and organizing kitty parties. Because of richness, they govern many areas of society and they can create new norms and regulations which restrict the other lower class of people.

2) Ship + Man = Shipple:

One of Chaplin’s biggest issues with the advancement of technology was the obsession with efficiency that came with it. In a conversation with Gandhi before producing the film, Chaplain came to see that technology that only considered profit had ruined lives and caused unemployment. Because of this, he tried to use the film to dramatize the problems with excessive technological efficiency. We see early on that the President’s desire to speed up the factory. many people were roaming like sheep without direction. One term is used for one such generation: Lost generation. A word can be used for those people: Sheeple.

3)Dictatorial Ruling in Society:

As mentioned above, mill and factory owners, land owners had nothing to do with much of the hardworking jobs. So, they indulge in such leisure activities such as solving jigsaw puzzle and reading newspaper. The factory owner is playing puzzle game. This difference of mental activity done by rich class aristocrats and physical activity and handwork done by lower class or poor people makes big social gap between the two classes. Also, he read a newspaper and like enjoy his time.

4) Money power is greater than Muscle power:

This surveillance system can be seen as dictatorial ruling in society. Half-naked, muscled man receiving orders from suited and booted official. This scene makes one think that mind power is greater than muscles power. Moreover, one can say that money power is greater than Muscle power.

5) Looming presence of the powerful, powerlessness of the poor:

In the early factory scenes, we see The Tramp take a smoke break in the bathroom and the President of the factory booms in over a closed-circuit television to tell him to get back to work. This ubiquitous presence, as well as the President having the only voice in the factory, creates a feeling that the powerful (those connected with industry or the government) are constantly looming over the workers or the less fortunate, and gives a sense that the workers are always under watch or being controlled.

This is shown clearly with the Tramp’s obsession with punching in his time card, one of the important rules of his supervisor. He must punch in and out when he goes to the bathroom, and even punches in and out when he runs out of the factory and returns during his nervous breakdown.

6) Unlimited Mobility:

Chaplin learned that men were suffering from nervous breakdowns on the assembly lines at Henry Ford's auto plants, and was moved by this to make the incompatibility of man and machines into a major theme in Modern Times.

7) Mechanization of Human:

Modern Times. For the first few scenes of the film, the Tramp is gradually broken down by a machine that keeps on speeding up and expecting more and more from him. He nearly becomes a piece of machinery himself, able only to tighten bolts, as shown when he continues twitching as if tightening bolts even when he leaves the line. He fights this off twice and shakes the twitches away, but is eventually sucked into the gears of the machine, symbolically succumbing and become part of the machine. This proves too much for the Tramp, who then completely breaks down and runs around the factory trying to destroy it.

8) Unemployment, Poverty, Hunger:

Unemployment is ubiquitous throughout the film, as most people struggle to find work and, as a result, struggle to support themselves. The Tramp has incredible difficulty finding work after his first stint in the mental hospital, and the Gamin’s father struggles similarly. Machines have replaced human jobs under the pretense that they will increase efficiency and improve lives, but mostly they have only succeeded in creating mass poverty.

We see that the Gamin must steal bananas to feed her family, and that their family dinner consists only of those bananas. Later, she meets the Tramp while trying to steal a loaf of bread to feed herself. In prison, the Tramp hardly gets anything to eat, but it is better than nothing, and so he tries to return—because at least there he won't starve to death.

9) Communism and worker’s Right:

Communism and labor unions feature heavily in the film, and this focus likely came both from the prevalence of labor struggles at the time, as well as Chaplin’s sympathy with workers’ rights movements. He was becoming increasingly outspoken about his political views and was just beginning to suffuse them into his films at this time, and he staunchly opposed the treatment of workers and unions by the government and industry leaders. Anti-communist attitudes were mounting during this time, especially in the US, toward a peak in the 1940s and 1950s, and he saw these attitudes as oppressive.

Chaplain criticizes communist paranoia clearly in the scene in which the Tramp is arrested (and beaten) as a communist simply for waving a flag in the wrong place at the wrong time. Throughout the film, we see examples of police being used to break up workers protests, treating workers with excessive force, and constantly siding with industry over workers, which Chaplin saw as problematic and undemocratic. These opinions would get Chaplin in trouble in the US later, where he was suspected of having communist ties and had his visa revoked during the years of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

10) Fantasy vs. Reality:

 Here we see that the concept of home. So, in our mind question is that what kinds of furnishing house had? but this house is the dream house of the character. Actually no. when Charlie Chaplin dreaming one home in his mind is that look like fantasy. But actually this not reality. Again and again Charlie Chaplin gone to prison and he comes to out prison, so Gamin tries to being small hunt in place. They both are live in this small hunt . They also say that “ It’s paradise!”. So here we see that and also say that fantasy vs. reality.

Such is the timelessness of Charlie Chaplin's work. It is still relevant to the current time and applicable in many aspects of life. I hope you get very interesting information and enjoy this blog.

Thank You

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The Setting of the 20th Century Literature : science fiction

Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting.  This thinking activity task about The Setting of the 20th Century Literature & also science fiction genre is assigned by by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavangar University (MKBU).

As a part of syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called History of English literature 1900-2000 (paper-110). So let’s start friends. First, we see that 20^th century or what is the meaning of modern literature. Also, we discuss about characteristics of 20^th century literature and most important science fiction of this century. Than we see that Jule Vern's most popular novel "Around the World in Eighty Days".

 20th century in literature:

Literature of the 20th century refers to world literature produced during the 20th century (1901 to 2000). In terms of the Euro-American tradition, the main periods are captured in the bipartite division, Modernist literature and Postmodern literature, flowering from roughly 1900 to 1940 and 1960 to 1990 respectively, divided, as a rule of thumb, by World War II. The somewhat malleable term "contemporary literature" is usually applied with a post-1960 cut off point.

Although these terms (modern, contemporary and postmodern) are most applicable to Western literary history, the rise of the globalization has allowed European literary ideas to spread into non-Western cultures fairly rapidly, so that Asian and African literatures can be included into these divisions with only minor qualifications. And in some ways, such as in Postcolonial literature, writers from non-Western cultures were on the forefront of literary development.

The division of "popular literature" and "high literature" in the 20th century is by no means absolute, and various genres such as detectives or science fiction fluctuate between the two. Largely ignored by mainstream literary criticism for the most of the century, the best-selling literary works of the 20th century are estimated to be The Lord of the Rings (1954/55), Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince, 1943), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997, 120 million copies) and Then There Were None (1939,). The Lord of the Rings was also voted "book of the century" in various Perry Rhodan (1961 to present) proclaimed as the best-selling book series, with an estimated total of 1 billion copies sold.

"From 1901 to 1925, English literature was directed by mental attitudes, moral ideals and spiritual values at almost the opposite extreme to the attitudes, ideals and values governing Victorian literature.  The old certainties were certainties no longer. everything was held to be open to question."

-The Modern English Literature' by A C Ward

 

Characteristics of Modernist Literature:

Literature scholars differ over the years that encompass the Modernist period, however most generally agree that modernist authors published as early as the 1880s and into the mid-1940s. During this period, society at every level underwent profound changes. War and industrialization seemed to devalue the individual. Global communication made the world a smaller place. The pace of change was dizzying. Writers responded to this new world in a variety of ways.

1) Individualism:

In Modernist literature, the individual is more interesting than society. Specifically, modernist writers were fascinated with how the individual adapted to the changing world. In some cases, the individual triumphed over obstacles. For the most part, Modernist literature featured characters who just kept their heads above water. Writers presented the world or society as a challenge to the integrity of their characters. Ernest Hemingway is especially remembered for vivid characters who accepted their circumstances at face value and persevered.

2) Absurdity:

The carnage of two World Wars profoundly affected writers of the period. Several great English poets died or were wounded in WWI. At the same time, global capitalism was reorganizing society at every level. For many writers, the world was becoming a more absurd place every day. The mysteriousness of life was being lost in the rush of daily life. The senseless violence of WWII was yet more evidence that humanity had lost its way. Modernist authors depicted this absurdity in their works. Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," in which a traveling salesman is transformed into an insect-like creature, is an example of modern absurdism.

3) Formalism:

Writers of the Modernist period saw literature more as a craft than a flowering of creativity. They believed that poems and novels were constructed from smaller parts instead of the organic, internal process that earlier generations had described. The idea of literature as craft fed the Modernists' desire for creativity and originality. Modernist poetry often includes foreign languages, dense vocabulary and invented words. The poet i.e. cummings abandoned all structure and spread his words all across the page.

4) Experimentation:

Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. The inner workings of consciousness were a common subject for modernists. This preoccupation led to a form of narration called stream of consciousness, where the point of view of the novel meanders in a pattern resembling human thought. Authors James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, along with poets T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, are well known for their experimental Modernist works.

What Is Science Fiction Writing?

Science fiction is one of the most creative genres in literature. Sci-fi novels take readers on adventures from faraway galaxies to underwater worlds and everywhere in between, introducing them to otherworldly characters and technologies along the way. Learn more about the history of this fascinating genre.

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that contains imagined elements that don’t exist in the real world. Science fiction spans a wide range of themes that often explore time travel, space travel, are set in the future, and deal with the consequences of technological and scientific advances.

Sub-genres and Related Genres of Science Fiction:

1) Fantasy fiction: Sci-fi stories inspired by mythology and folklore that often include elements of magic.

2) Supernatural fiction: Sci-fi stories about secret knowledge or hidden abilities that include witchcraft, spiritualism, and psychic abilities.

3) Utopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about civilizations the authors deem to be perfect, ideal societies. Utopian fiction is often satirical.

4) Dystopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about societies the authors deem to be problematic for things like government rules, poverty, or oppression.

5) Space opera: A play on the term “soap opera,” sci-fi stories that take place in outer space and center around conflict, romance, and adventure.

6) Space western: Sci-fi stories that blend elements of science fiction with elements of the western genre.

7) Cyberpunk: Sci-fi stories that juxtapose advanced technology with less advanced, broken down society.

8) Steampunk: Sci-fi stories that blend technology with steam-powered machinery.

 So here I want to talk about a very famous science fiction written during the early half of the twentieth century and that is Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.

 

Introduction of Around the World in Eighty Days:

Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

the stories start in London on Wednesday, 2 October 1872. Phileas Fogg is a wealthy English gentleman living a solitary life. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends the best part of his days. Having dismissed his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water two degrees too cold (at 29 °C (84 °F) instead of 30 °C (86 °F)), Fogg hires Frenchman Jean Passepartout as a replacement.

 At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000 (approximately £2.3 million in 2020)half of his total fortune, from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this time period. With Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m. on 2 October; in order to win the wager, he must return to the club by this same time on 21 December 80 days later. They take the remaining £20,000 of Fogg's fortune with them to cover expenses during the journey.

The following day Fogg apologises to Aouda for bringing her with him, since he now has to live in poverty and cannot support her. Aouda confesses that she loves him and asks him to marry her. As Passepartout notifies a minister, he learns that he is mistaken in the date – it is not 22 December, but instead 21 December. Because the party had travelled eastward, their days were shortened by four minutes for each of the 360 degrees of longitude they crossed; thus, although they had experienced the same amount of time abroad as people had experienced in London, they had seen 80 sunrises and sunsets while London had seen only 79. Passepartout informs Fogg of his mistake, and Fogg hurries to the Reform Club just in time to meet his deadline and win the wager. Having spent almost £19,000 of his travel money during the journey, he divides the remainder between Passepartout and Fix and marries Aouda.

Could you actually go around the world in 80 days?

Around the World in 80 Days is a novel be Jules Verne about an Englishman who makes a bet with some fellow club members that he can travel around the world in 80 days.

Nowadays with modern flight, going round the world in 80 days wouldn't only be possible, but could be done 40 times over.

But at the time the book was published in 1873, there was no flight, just steamships, railways and hot air balloons.

So at this time, would going round the world (visiting every time zone, and at least staying out of the polar circles) in 80 days be possible, or would this feat be quite a big thing which is why the book became so popular and famous?

In Around the World in Eighty Days :

The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation and the prospect fascinated Verne and his readership. In particular, three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869–70 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time: the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in America (1869), the linking of the Indian railways across the sub-continent (1870), and the opening of the Suez Canal (1869). It was another notable mark in the end of an age of exploration and the start of an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for only the most heroic and hardy of adventurers.

Verne's works began receiving more serious reviews in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with new translations appearing. Post-Colonial readings of the novel elucidate Verne's role as propagandist for European global dominance. Verne’s novel, one of the most widely read of the 19th century, played a major role in shaping European attitudes of the colonized lands.

This book is available in Guajarati language and I am glad to say that I read this book many many times and in this reason I purchase this book. So, some few words I want to describe in Guajarati….

બેંક ઓફ ઇંગ્લેન્ડમાં થયેલી એક લુંટના સંદર્ભમાં 80 દિવસમાં પૃથ્વીની પ્રદક્ષિણા કરી બતાવવાનો એક પડકાર કથાનાયક ફીલીયસ ફોગ સામે આવે છે. શાંત, સ્ર્વસ્થ અને ચાલુ થઈ - લંડનથી લંડન વાયા યુરોપ, ઇન્ડિયા, ચીન, જાપાન અને અમેરિકાની જીવસટોસટના સાહસોથી ભરેલી યાત્રા. કથાનો સૌથી રોમાંચક ભાગ લેખકને પ્રિય એવા ઇન્ડિયા સંબંધી છે. મલબાર હિલના મંદિરનો દિલધડક પ્રસંગ, હાથી ઉપરની અનોખી સવારી. બુંદેલખંડની રાજરાણીની વિતકકથા, કલકત્તાની કોર્ટમાં ભજવાયેલું સજા -એ -અમલનું પ્રહસન, ઉપરાંત હજારો જંગલી ભેસોના ટોળા દ્રારા અટકાવતી રેલગાડી અને છેલ્લે નાયક અને ખલનાયક વચ્ચેના દ્રંદ્રના પ્રસંગો કથાના અંત સુધી વાચકને જકડી રાખે છે.

 So I hope you like this blog and interesting facts. My main purpose is also that please this read this book and enjoy your time….

Here is some helpful video to understand this concept (The Setting of the 20th Century Literature) ..

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 THANK YOU