Summary of literary texts and key concepts of literature

  About the Poet : James Mercer Langston Hughes  (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was a multifaceted literary figure, who was an eminent Black American poet, a social activist, novelist, playwright, and a radical columnist. He hailed from Joplin  Missouri . He is also regarded as one of the earliest proponents of the literary genre, known as jazz poetry . Hughes is best known as one of the prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance . Harlem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Dreams, I, Too, are some of his notable work of poetry.   About the Poem : The poem was first published in 1921. According to Hughes, the poem was written while he was seventeen and on a train crossing the river, Mississippi  on the way to visit his father in Mexico  in 1920. It is also said that he wrote the poem within ten or fifteen minutes. Summary: In this poem the poet recounts his experience of observing ancient rivers . Rivers have played considerably huge role in the development of human civilization. S

                                                         According to Cambridge Dictionary, the word fantasy denotes a ‘pleasant situation that you enjoy thinking about, but is unlikely to happen.’ In the context of literature, it is a type of story that delineates situations, completely different from real life, often involving magic. Unlike science fiction, in fantasy, there is no attempt on the part of the author to rationalize the plausibly unrealistic setting and incidents happening in the story with pseudo scientific principles. E.M.Forster in his Aspects of the Novel brilliantly captures the essence of this particular literary genre. Fantasy is a work of fiction with its own distinctive features. For the sake of demonstration, Forster selects two masterpieces, Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy , and Her man Melville’s Moby Dick . Apart from the story, human feelings, and sense of value for the characters, intelligence and memory for the plot, in any form of fiction offers, F

  After a gap of ten years, the author starts the story of Harry Potter. He is eleven years old now. The memory of that night when Petunia Dursley found Harry at the doorstep of their house still haunted her. Dudley was grown into a ‘large blond boy’. There was no sign to prove Harry’s existence in the house. Harry used to do chores with his aunt. In the morning, Petunia would wake him up with her shrill voice. Harry would try to remember what he was dreaming about. Most of the time, he would dream about a flying motorcycle. His aunt used to use Harry as a helping hand during breakfast. The day was Dudley’s birthday and Petunia wanted to make sure that everything goes perfectly. Harry lived in a cupboard under the stairs which was full of spiders. He was kind of used to it.   Dudley was a pampered child, whose every demand was fulfilled by his parents, as any refusal could lead him to the display of severe tantrums. He was fat and hated exercise. He even used to abuse Harry physically,

The story begins with the introduction of the Dursley family, who lived in house number four, in Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley, the director of a firm named Grunning his wife Petunia, a homemaker, and their pampered and spoiled son Dudley lived a perfectly normal life. Mr. Dursley had a huge stature with a large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was a thin blonde woman with a long neck. Apparently, there was nothing unusual with the family. Especially, Petunia always tried to portray her family as the perfect one. She always tries to find out what is happening in her neighbour’s home. But, Petunia Dursley kept a secret. She had a sister, Lily potter, who was a wizard. She was married to James Potter, who was also a wizard and they had a son, named Harry.   On a dull , and grey morning, when apparently everything seemed normal, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase and got into his car. The first mysterious sign was a cat, who seemed to be reading a map .As he was stuck in the traffic jam, he

    Bildungsroman and Picaresque narrative, both are types of novels. Though, these two literary genres may appear to be the same and they have some similar features, but they are two distinct literary terms.   Bildungsroman can be loosely defined as formation novel or education novel. The term is of German origin. Generally, this particular type of novel deals with the account of a youthful development of the protagonist. It can be seen as a journey of the protagonist who finally achieves maturity, through the various ordeals of life. The story of the novel mainly focuses on the development of the protagonist’s mind and character, through varied experiences, and after undergoing spiritual crisis resulting in a successful recognition of self-identity.   Picaresque Novel emerged in the 16 th century in Spain. ‘Picaro’ is a Spanish word which means rogue. It narrates the story of a knave or picaroon, who lives by his wit, but lives a servile life and works for multiple masters. The

  The painters of the ancient era had a clear perception of real life and the nature of human suffering. They were well aware of the fact that common people are least bothered about the suffering of the great entities. This nonchalance and indifference on the part of the common people have been minutely portrayed by famous painters of the ancient ages. These painters have also reflected in their paintings, how people go on with their daily chores, while great incidents are happening right in front of them and people are suffering terribly when these tragedies befall them. Great souls are undergoing excruciating pain, the ordinary folks concentrate on dull duties without paying any heed to them. The poet takes three instances from three famous paintings of Pieter Brueghel, naming, The Census at Bethlehem , The Massacre of the Innocents, and Landscape with the Fall of Icarus .   In the poem, from line 3 to 8 , the poet describes the scene of the painting, The Census at Bethlehem

    About the poet: Wystan Hugh Auden ( 1907-1973) is considered one of the leading poets of the thirties.Among his best known poems,   "Funeral Blues"; which is based on the theme of love,   "September 1, 1939" on political and social themes,   and "The Shield of Achilles";   , The Age of Anxiety; based on cultural and psychological themes and on "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae" religious themes .His work was inspired by the oeuvre of great literary figures like Hopkins and Eliot. The hollowness of the disintegrating, post war civilization , was also one of the major themes explored by Auden. He was an advocate of communism as well as Marxism. He revives the old concept that a writer is a professional craftsman who teaches and entertains, rather than expressing his personality which again contradicts the ‘egotistic sublime’ of the romantic poets. On the poem: This poem is a typical poem which on one hand, focuses on