Geoffrey Chaucer- The first British poet of significance

Geoffrey Chaucer lived to a ripe old age, as per middle-age standards, of sixty. He lived an active life in public service, moving in and around different parts of England, to Italy, France and in Flanders. Between the responsibilities of the courts, he zealously pursued his literary career.  He was self-taught, with an interest in sciences and familiar with French, Italian and Latin literature. A multifaceted student Chaucer worked hard and untiringly, only to stop to enjoy Nature in its bloom in the months of May, as he says:

That it was May thus dreamed me

In time of love and jollity

By 1380 however, due to court intrigues, Chaucer had lost both his court jobs and was living in monetary distress being sustained only on pensions. Yet he hoped to complete his magnum opus, the ‘Canterbury Tales’. But his last ten years were also of physical debility and the great works were never to be completed. The smaller poems written during this period indicate him worthily striving to bear adversity with fortitude. In his ‘Ballads of the Painted Face’, on reality of things not as they seem but as they are- he resolutely rises above material paucity and indicates his resignation to fate:

My suffisance shall be my socour

For finally, Fortune, I thee defye

Fortune in turn defends herself, saying that she has taught him many things, and being born in her ‘reign of variance’ he cannot complain of her changeable self.

With the ascent of King Henry IV to throne, his monetary condition eased to an extent, as he was granted additional pension, doubling his annuity. However his vivacious person was already much worn; yet gleams of characteristic humor shine in his latest pieces, at places.

October 25^th, 1400 is accepted as the date of his demise. He was buried in the Cloister of the St Mary’s Chapel, or the Old Lady Chapel, later to be known as Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, and about 150 years  later his remains were moved and buried to the east aisle of the south transept, near the site of the tomb which was at that time erected in his honor by an admirer versifier Nicholas Bringham. Later this became a ‘poets’ corner’ when others like Spenser, Browning and Tennyson, and many more came to rest around.

On his original tombstone are the words ‘a rest from troubles..’ which describes his death perfectly. Narrow minded priests had persuaded him in his weak state of body and mind to apologize for what needed no apology. The general tone of his works, though not entirely chaste, had always been healthy and health giving. What if they occasionally seem gross to a modern reader, it must be borne in mind that it was as per the manner of the age (middle age), and his artistic principles. He is at times frank and simply natural but never can he be accused of deliberate and lingering sensuality. He takes men as he finds them and does not shrink from portraying the coarse as well as the refined. He knows that all sorts go to the making of the world, and he paints all sorts. But he never forgets that a villain is a villain, and no one has given more sympathetic pictures of what is liberal, noble, chivalrous.

At the close of the Nineteenth century, 500 years since the death of Chaucer, studies were newly undertaken by many with a different vision of the artist. He was more widely and intelligently appreciated than earlier, his works edited with reverent care and high ability equivalent to the care employed for the Roman and Greek ‘classics’, and he has been recognized as a master in literature, by more than mere bookworms. The chaff that had been ascribed in his name has also been cleaned out, differentiated from the originals by their grammar, metre, language, allusions. A volume that is a most excellent comment on Chaucerian style is Professor Skeat’s ‘Chaucer Canon’, with the well chosen motto from Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendar: ‘‘Dare not to match thy pipe with Tityrus his style.

Ref: Chaucer by John W Hales

Reading E.M.Forster some more

When reading “A Passage to India” by E.M. Forster, I got interested about his other works and chanced upon the earlier of his works “A Room with a view”. This week we read this book. As you will agree, the title in itself is very exciting. It is like a promise of showing us vistas of the unseen; titillating our curiosity on prospects of what ‘views’ may unfold as we read on. Even before you have read beyond a few pages, it is like you are leaning out of the window opening upon an unknown city, people and the river Aron flowing yonder.

This none too short story is a travelogue in a sense, on Italy and Rome; I would say – a romantic travelogue.As in “A Passage”- here too is one country interacting with the thoughts, manners and biases of another and gradually getting under the skin of the main protagonist. The typical English character, particularly the stiff cousin,Charlotte Bartlett, is being introduced as being self-righteous, judgmental and very conventional – with medieval notions of propriety and honor. Her young cousin, Lucy Honeychurch, is sensitive and with a natural goodness of spirit, but really intimidated by the necessity to behave by the rule book of her chaperon, Charlotte, and her mother, who is as of now absent from the scene of action. As expected, there is also the antithesis of the typical British portrayed in the persons of Mr. Emerson and his son George. They are an interesting pair – both to Lucy and the 21st century reader; unabashed by the lack of scruples about English conventions and niceties and with a good deal of kind and honest disposition evident in their manner and behavior.

Another character that got me interested even in these first few paragraphs is the omniscient, third person narrator of this story. Forster has an easy going, rambling style of story-telling here and none-the-less so for the not too caustic. humorous but finger-in-the-eye for British fatuousness.

An interesting read on the subject is to be found here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/nov/01/classics.zadiesmith

After a preliminary reading I thought to myself, why not check out the visuals? I am not sure if students of literature would consider this interesting, but movies often will come up with a new interpretation of the work- the literary work- in trying to depict it in terms of the spatial and temporal limitations of the screen. That is really a personal comment, my interpretation of the necessity of movie adaptations of large and complex novels.
Anyway, visuals clearly help me occasionally. They kind of help to retain the crux of the story.

So I found this video of 1985 make of Merchant Ivory production of the novel. Forster forever seems to be Merchant Ivory favorite.

Though I had found a lot of reasons to be dissatisfied with ‘A Passage to India’, I leave you to express your own sentiments for this one. The film went on to win several awards including Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Costume, which is a point that could be interesting while watching the film. Charlotte, in the opening scenes of the book was the most attractive character that caught my attention, much more than Lucy herself. Maggie Smith since her incarnation as Minerva Mcgonagall, remains a favorite, and I discovered she was just as charming way back in 1985 too.

Unorthodox Resources to Study

I had promised to discuss the British Novel in the earlier post, on Critical Reading, but I thought of just putting in this one small post in between. This is on the other resources that may help you in critically reading assessing and knowing the text and its author, which I find allows you to exercise and assist your imagination along.

When my generation was studying, forget the internet the computer itself wasn’t much of a thing in India. I remember we went visiting the Super Computers in the one or two places they were in, from school as part of science study. We were probably some of the earlier ones who started off with using desk-tops.

For students of today, the internet can be a big help, provided you learn to be discerning, cleaning off the chaff from the grain. What I mean to say that, whatever is there on net is not worthy, but some resources are.

I suggest to my students that don’t jump and begin to copy answers to questions from different sites on the internet. Rather look for help that will allow you to think, and write for your own. That way, you may need to put in longer hours at study, but will also come away equipped with understanding, appreciating and knowing what you study.

The orthodox resources are the ones we are all familiar with. The different libraries, with the online resources. Get yourself a membership with the British Library, the National Libraries or any other that you may find helpful. There are also numerous wonderful online academic libraries too, where with some little charge you can get to read articles that otherwise you wouldn’t dream of reading.

The orthodox resources, are something more or less we all use. But I suggest today some unorthodox resources to study.

Recordings (Audio):

For example when reading Dylan Thomas, I came upon these beautiful recordings of the poets recitations of his own works. I found listening closely to those, actually helped one delve into the meaning and get a clarity on the works of Dylan. Yu also kind of get the verse by heart, which helps with the annotation question…J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XG1B_7r4y8

Films (Video):

Similarly when reading ‘A Passage to India’, MEG-03, I suggest students to take out some spare time and may be just watch a film of Forster. In ‘A Passage to India’ as in other of his work, Forster puts in a lot of himself into the fiction, and it is just as important to understand the author as it is to understand the work. Watch ‘A Room with a view’ from another chapter of Forster’s life, to look closer.. I had earlier seen another version, but this newer film may be just as interesting…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mldXUTz3yg

Documentaries :

This week end I was reading the fact fiction ‘In Cold Blood’ (those doing MEG-07 will find a reference to this in Unit -01) and I found several documentaries on the Clutter Murders. But I liked one particularly- while reading you may also watch this, it not only helps you get over the tough part of reading, but fills in on where the writer had allowed for artistic fiction over the facts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHsYqk_HwJE

What resources on internet to stay away from:

Don’t pick out amateur plays, amateur readings of text and interpretations of text, or explanations in video that you find are not factual but rather subjective, like someone expressing his own opinion- you may go through these at times, if the person extolling them seems convinced enough but with a pinch of salt. Do not quote these in your answer sheets as authoritative source of study.

Reading Critically

We will discuss here about how to read a text critically, whether you are a casual reader or are attempting to prepare for a board examination. We will be considering the case of “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol. If you fail to get hold of a copy of the text , you may get one easily on internet, grab it and go through with me, to understand the method of reading as I attempt to show you in here. We begin with:

1. The first reading.

The first reading of a text should be spontaneous, unhampered by any other consideration except for your love of reading, the enjoyment of unraveling the plot and the characters. During this first reading, stop to think, time to time. There will be authorial comments that will strike you, characters will unfold in a way, allowing you to be partial to some and biased against others, just as happens in life. This surrogate living, in the fictive world, is the enjoyment that should be unalloyed- even though this may be a text you need to prepare for examination.

2. After the first reading.

After this first reading – you already have questions in mind that need to be addressed. To begin with, if we are reading ‘The Overcoat’ what are the things that may have puzzled you or been difficult to totally comprehend?

Firstly, the author, Nikolai Gogol, the form and the circumstances of the story.

Unless you are Russian or Ukrainian, I am assuming, you are reading this great story as an English translation. In translation, there is always a manner of loss and addition, depending upon how poorly or how well the translation was done. Even so, some nuances of the language are retained, sometimes literally translated, that are difficult for readers from a different culture to comprehend. For example, as a young reader, sleeping over a samovar (which I equated to a kettle or even a stove and kettle) was something that quite puzzled me, Russian tales were replete with this scenario. With regular reading of text from a different culture, you grow into them, and begin to understand the thoughts and actions, even the cultural ambiguities. Then again, the eastern culture is more or less similar, while the western culture is a notch different. Being an Indian or Chinese, makes it easier to understand the Russian world of mythical creatures, superstitions, magic – which a student from the UK may find tad difficult to comprehend or accept.

When reading any text, we need to know the period and the circumstances under which the text came to be written. To understand ‘The Overcoat’, it is not only important that we know about its author Nikolai Gogol, but also about his time frame which was the early nineteenth century in Russia. History bears a lot on serious works of fiction. Hence after the first reading of “The Overcoat” I suggest we read some well written biography of the author, some critical comments made by other important authors and critics about the work and the man.

I was reading “The Overcoat” from a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, published by Raduga Publishers. The Foreword is by Prof. S.Mashinsky. A very well written foreword, that sums up not only Gogol’s biography, but also discusses the salient points of his literary works.  So, after the first reading of the text, I propose you read the ‘Introduction’ or ‘Foreword’ given with the book. This gives you much material and insight into the author’s mind and the thought process behind writing of the book you are reading.

Nowadays, lots of good reference material are easily available on internet for the discerning pupil. Skim through some of them- to find out relevant information about the author, his society, the work you are reading, the issues you think may be the subject matter being highlighted by the author in his works etc. When reading “The Overcoat” I came upon this interesting site, and the topic of the Russian Society, which seemed very relevant to the text I was reading.

http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-society/

Reading for the casual reader and the examinee, who has the goal to answer questions concerning that text at the end of the reading of it, have not much difference in approach to reading of the text, up to this point.  Hereafter the casual reader may or may not concern himself/herself with the questions of the theme, analysis, language and such other aspects of the text; but the examinee will need to continue critically to study the text, to prepare himself to understand complexities of the textual form and content. This is the detailed second reading.

As a casual reader of “The Overcoat” I found this small note, obviously targeted at students of literature on the merit of Gogol’s short stories, rather interesting.

https://www.enotes.com/topics/nikolai-gogol/critical-essays

3. Before the second reading.

Before the second reading, in case you are an examinee preparing for an upcoming examination, Masters Degree or other, you may want to quickly browse through the last five years question papers to see what are the insights that the examiner expects from the student on this text. Quickly note down some of the essay questions and some of the short questions or annotations that have been asked. If you once study these questions, and proceed with your second reading of the text, these questions tend to stay with you, and when the relevant passages or as the reading proceeds the answers begin to crystallize in your mind. Otherwise bear in mind, you want to understand the genre, the themes involved, the characters and what ultimately the author tries to put across. Understanding these in the course of reading, leads to a successful and critical second reading of the text.

4. After the second reading.

After the second reading I suggest attempting to answer some of the questions that you had noted before your second reading.

You may choose other questions too, from past assignments  or examinations, or simply Universities and courses other than your own. That way you get a wider berth to test out your understanding of the text up to this level. This is really the phase where the casual reader and the examinee must part ways. Here on will be the journey of the examinee, who will have to understand the requirements of his/her course and what sort of questions and answers are expected, before his/her preparation for the final exam.

I am now ready to go deeper into studying for MEG (for now the novel) in my next post.

How to write your elective essay in Poetry

Though I have written this post explicitly targeted at IGNOU, MEG students, it can be helpful for any higher class students of a school, college or university who struggle to write out a subjective essay. Essays, as assignments become a regular task for higher students but many are apprehensive of it. However, as of other aspects of study, writing an essay too has a method, and once you understand, it becomes easy.

The MEG-01 Assignment is the only essay one gets to write for IGNOU.

In a way it is very limiting, but at least be happy you can write this one essay of 3000 words (in and around) and start off your practice to delve freely, deeply, critically- about anything poetical – here it can be about a poet, a period (in English Poetry History), a particular poem, a group of poets who are associated together or whatever you deem worth discussing about British Poetry.

Remember, though that we are engaging in a discussion of poetry of the mainland, England, and not of the wider colonized English-speaking populace and poets across the globe, who practice their art in the language English!

The assignment question paper as also the module books amply supply you with helpful information to facilitate this function. Firstly, you have listed topics that you may select (from the list given in 52.2.1 (p.70) in Block X).

The other explicit directions by the program designer are:

1. Decide your topic
2. Do your research
3. Read section 36.5, in Unit 36, Block VIII
4. Do not quote from unacknowledged sources.

Now these directives are very comprehensive. But you still may tend to feel clueless as to how to go about beginning to write that assignment. I will be explaining each step as given above.

1. First, on deciding your topic. I would suggest at the very onset – fall back on your earlier studies- I mean the graduation experience (or maybe even pre-graduation study of English Literature). You must have already had a favorite poet(s) or poem(s). If they are included in the Masters’ syllabus, reconsider studying them extensively. Say for example, both, The Tiger and The Lamb tend to be included in our studies since school days, and there are few who have never fallen for the magic of Blake- what with his vivid language and his sketches to elucidate deep mysticism. For you Blake can be a subject and his mystic symbolism in his poetry may be what you want to write about.
2. Selecting a known poet, piece or period is a way of cutting down on work load- since we must keep in mind that this is not only about studying poetry because you love it, but it is also about an examination at the end of the day and the goal is to score.
3. Another approach, though less suggested, can be to pick a subject that is (may be) least discussed. This is for the bold, who like to take up a challenge. But the payoff can be that whatever you write, with a little care.
4. Doing your research comes after the topic is selected. At this stage, I suggest to begin with whatever material is available at hand. The easiest thing to do nowadays is to thoroughly search the net for resources- mostly research articles, googled texts from renowned books and other such materials. What this does is, it helps you understand the different venues in which you may proceed to elucidate on your chosen subject. For example, when selecting Chaucer (which means sticking to The Canterbury Tales), I may begin my research posing a question as to ‘oblique queries on Chaucer’, thus pulling up research material that will be way different from the common study notes and suggestions. Not only does this give the student a scope to write about the much-discussed poet and his work in a somehow different way, but also study about him in a manner that may pique your interest further.
5. The next point(3) is obvious. There is a sample essay given in in Unit 36, Block VIII, section 36.5
6. After you’ve understood and picked up the pointers on how to write a good essay begin the serious task of picking up research material and jotting down. Chart off the main points you want included- or how you would like to develop the essay. Accordingly reach out to the nearest library and take the help of experts, authors, researchers, critics who have already extolled on the subject. Read and collect as much as you can manage. Remember there is no short cut for reading. Even if you begin in an uncomprehending manner, with more and more reading, the cloud clears, and you see light.
7. Start writing. After writing out the first draft read carefully. At this stage check to see whether you have a structured essay or not. You will yourself be able to find holes in what you have written. This may require another hunt around for more material on the missing information.
8. The second draft will be more structured. This is the stage when you must trim the fat. Lot of rambling will not add up to the essay, it will only increase the weight of the paper. Being precise and yet establishing your points is your aim at this stage.
9. The final draft will be when you just read and check out for any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes etc. There may be many readings and rewriting in between depending upon your own style and ability- it doesn’t matter whether you do it quickly or slowly- provided you do not overstep your IGNOU deadline.
10. The final pointer by IGNOU was, very appropriately, not to quote unacknowledged sources. Since nowadays most of our reading tends to become net related, and there are so many blogs etc. around which may play a role in supplying you necessary data, which is okay so long as you do not quote them verbatim as established facts unless they are academic published material. Even in that case, at the end, add a Bibliography listing out for the examiner all the resources you had used to write out your essay. Be it one be it ten, your examiner will understand how authentic has been the information provided, if it is something new, also appreciate how you may have slogged for accomplishing your task.

Now you should be ready to submit that assignment essay. Best of luck!

 

How to write an Assignment- when not a full timer at University

For those studying in any Open University, the challenge is to find time for all the activities involved in completion of a course. An Open University understands that you are otherwise employed and not a full timer. You have a flexible completion time and date, a nearly open-ended program – to be decided by you, according to the resources available to ‘you’. Yet, like any goal, the goal of a successfully completed Master’s Degree needs some planning ahead.

The first important hurdle is a well written Assignment.

Since an assignment is to be written at home, you can pull out all sorts of reference material, take adequate library help, write and rewrite drafts of the answer till you are perfectly satisfied and then submit the essay to the examiner.

Another great advantage, to be looked forward to, is that with a well written Assignment, that is one in which you may score an A grade, you have already assured a better aggregate score.

Here are a few pointers on how I would plan writing my assignment:

• First of all read and re-read the assignment question. Write it down. There will most probably be more than one part to the question, and answer. Clarify to yourself which of these parts is of the utmost importance.
• Do a cursory reading of your course ware, to see if it directly answers your question or not. Most often it will not, at least not directly – the examiners want you to read a little deep and beyond what is apparent. If yes, then read that portion of the course ware thoroughly and try to grasp at the answer. If no, then straightaway go to external help.
• External help, to begin with, can start at your home, if you have an internet connection, or at the nearest cyber café. Type the question or its most relevant part into the browser. A long list of reading material will be searched out by the search engine. Go at it indiscriminately- that is read through, quickly. You will soon have a list of links that seem sensibly related, and also begin to make sense of how to answer your question. Keep a time allotment of not more than 3 days for this work.
• When reading online material, always take note of the Bibliography mentioned. These are the reference books and articles used by the author. When later you go for library work, you can search for specific books that seem relevant to you. Once this phase of reading, and that involves some note making also, is done, you can now proceed for library work.
• Before going to the library try to write out a draft answer- you will realize how far you have been able to understand and put together necessary material to answer the assignment and which are the missing areas. When you go to the library next, you easily search out only the missing information- this will lead to any correction, if necessary, of your online study too.
• Once the notes from library have also been accumulated, you are ready to draft you answer in earnest.
• Write and rewrite, if necessary. First, check to see that the answer has adequate material, then make sure of grammar and spelling. Even a very well written answer can miss to impress the examiner if riddled with bad grammar and wrong spellings.

I think if you keep these points in mind, you will be able to answer your assignment considerably well, and in so doing will already be a step ahead to the study of that MEG paper.

Which Blocks to take up in Second Year and Why

The topic of my post today may seem funny…and quite unnecessary. You’ll probably ask me why this question should be at all discussed. My reason is this- this question regularly appears in all the FB MEG Groups, every year, just before registration time.

In the Second year of our Masters study in English, from IGNOU, we have to make a choice of 4 papers, just as we did in the first year, with the difference that unlike the first year these 4 are not compulsory except for MEG-05; the other three are optional, to be chosen from a list of several offered papers. We can study Australian, Canadian, Indian or American English Literary works, or New Literature, which is a combination of works selected from different post-colonial countries and sub-continents.

Quite a few times I have suggested to students who want to be very thorough in their study, to take up American Literature (MEG-06) and American Novel (MEG-07) as two of these 3 optional papers. Two subject papers, more or less related, each kind of supplementary to the reading of the other- this I feel is a great way to study. American English anyway, in today’s date, demands quite a lot of attention, not next to but on parallel grounds as British English. Similarly, being Indian, if you want to know closely the Indian English Literary works- that too seems very legitimate demand.  Indian English Literature (MEG-07) and English Studies in India (MEG-10) can be taken up, two related paper that make your task a bit easier.

However, I must also point out that none of the papers that are offered in second year are less in importance, so if a student refuses to give up the privilege to study Australian (MEG-09), Canadian (MEG-12) and New Literature/American Literature all at the same time- I don’t see why he/she should not.  In this case I propose, you take up New Literature as one paper, and combine it with Australian/Canadian/American/Indian- any two of these four.

My young friends sometimes ask me, whether the choice of any paper to study should not be based on the availability of study materials. My answer to this is, that the IGNOU Block study material are self-sufficient – follow them up with some library work, the reference books mentioned in each block can be helpful, and also online material. That is adequate- and there is no need to select your papers based on the study help that you can find in the market.

Examination Pattern and Preparation for MEG-03, How to select your novels

After the earlier block, in which I have hinted as to how you can match your capabilities, your time allocation possibilities and choose a answering and studying pattern for your MEG-03 British Novels examination, this post is about how to actually take up the challenge.

For all three types of choices, I would suggest, the student first pick up a concise copy of the novels (all) and give a cursory reading to the story in each. You can get these concise editions in any library, or may even be online at some of the most popular study sites. That way you have an idea of what it is all about and whether you take to the theme or not. You then are more prepared to choose the novels you would want to give a thorough reading, and take up for your examination.

One of my students, for example, told me that Muriel Spark’s ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ was particularly difficult reading for her. She chose to skip that novel for her final preparation. Another thought ‘Passage to India’ was too vast and the questions on that work could have diverse dimension, so she chose to study it only in a limited way, preparing a few common questions, after a thorough reading of the novel. That way, while she was acquainted with the text, and if required could answer impromptu, she was not betting on it.

As a mentor, I would say, all novels are on an equal standing- they each have the value of being in context with a particular time, and genre- and reading each is pleasurable and reading them all helps get an overview of the evolution of the British novel. That is why I suggest reading of a concise version of each text, to begin with.

But reading, for pleasure and reading for examination, are unfortunately two different matters for many students. Once you have read the concise text go through your Block text, and you will begin to make sense and feel the need to read the novel in detail. This is also when you may not want to take up a particular novel for further study. But once you have made up your mind, go for the unabridged novel and your first detailed reading of it.

Since you already know the story line, this is when the other literary nuances will draw your attention.

Accompany the reading whenever possible with the block. At the end of this reading you will be sure of how to carry on with your study of that novel, the characters involved, the theme and many such more important and relevant questions.

My next blog will discuss further on this topic.

Examination pattern and preparation for MEG-03

MEG-03 is all about the British Novel. Hence it had held a special place in English literature study for aeons and aeons of time, or as far as one can remember about the Indian University courses.

Similarly, for as long as one can remember, the questioning pattern for MEG-03, the British Novel, in IGNOU, has been unalterably same. Since there are nine novels prescribed, and instruction to study them all,  I consider this question pattern to be lenient and student friendly. There are 5 questions to be answered, maximum marks for each is 20, and to be chosen from a list of 9 questions, one from each block.

The easiest course would be to choose 5 novels from the syllabus – this would also need the most intensive study of the novels you choose, as you will have no option to choose from in the examination hall, and must answer all the 5 questions asked from your chosen novels (blocks).

The other safer course, though involving a little more study, would be to keep a margin for eventualities and study 6-7 novels of the prescribed 9. That way, in the examination hall you still have the flexibility of 1-2 options to choose from.

The third and final method is the extensive study, for the most scholarly student, who is bent less on passing and more on learning and scoring well. In this case you read all nine novels, as instructed by the course designer, and use your options in the examination hall, to choose those 5 questions which you think you are best prepared to answer.

In the case of MEG-03, understanding the question pattern and deciding how you will handle it is only the very tip of your problem. The real question is how should you study this vast course. The next post will discuss in detail, the merits of choosing one from the above three methods of study and how to further prepare yourself for successfully scoring.

Examination Pattern and Preparation for MEG-01, part 2

For the last three term end examinations, we have seen that the pattern B, as mentioned in my earlier post, has been the pattern chosen by examiners for the Poetry Paper, namely MEG01. Pattern B asks the student to answer all of 10 questions, and a choice is given for each question. All 10 questions are reference to context questions.

Several friends have come up with relevant questions requesting discussion on this pattern in detail. I will try to address some of these questions here, and maybe come up with further posts and some specific illustrations to elucidate.

One question was as to how not to have to read through all the blocks of MEG01 in this pattern. It is true that even if you do analyze the past few years’ papers and accordingly choose only 6-8 of the blocks to study, you are betting liberally, and always run the risk of not being able to answer 100% of the paper. But then, if you have studied well and thoroughly those chosen blocks, you can rest assured of answering 60-70% surely, and not only getting pass marks, but in all probability close in on 55%. I would still suggest, that if you set your goal on an M.Phil or Ph.D, then go the extra mile. Slog on as much of the course as possible to assure of a high score.

Next question was on how to study for and answer the reference to context questions. One thing positive about the reference to context questions is that these are objective rather than subjective questions, and like Mathamatics, if you don’t go wrong, you score full marks. That is, if you identify the poem, and remember the poet, you can be sure to score 4 out of 10 easily; the remaining 6 marks will have to be wrenched through qualitative discussion on the context. So the easiest way to approach the poetry paper is to put as much time as possible in being familiar with the text- read the poems over and over. The more you do so, the better you will understand the nuances of each poet and the poetic age he /she represents. Even though the course is huge, the task will not be herculean.

Finally, I will suggest that before beginning your preparation for MEG-01, do read thoroughly the Unit 52, of Block 10, where Term end examinations, and particularly how to answer reference to context questions has been thoroughly discussed, with a breakup of marks. This can be a very good guide. Write out as many of the context questions as you can from last few years’ papers, as per these guidelines, and you will be ready for the sprint. In the next post, I will try to bring to you one or two such examples.