What is the difference between story and plot? What is the difference between plot summary and plot interpretation? How do you analyze the relationship between the main plot and a subplot? What are the purposes of literary elements and literary techniques? What are the writer’s literary devices and reader’s literary devices? How do you recognize and appreciate ways in which writer use language, structure and style to achieve his intended effects on the reader? How do you shift from mere appreciation of a literary text to critical literary appreciation? How do you engage in literary analysis & what is the purpose? What is the difference between topic and theme and how do you arrive at the theme? How do you compare the theme and the moral message? How do you develop an interpretation of a work of literature (drama, poetry and prose) and what is the purpose? How do you present critical appreciations or your individual responses to literary texts composed in different forms and in different periods and cultures? How do you know your individual response is valid? What are the differences between Critical Literary Appreciation, Literary Criticism, and Literary Theory? Why should there be a Literary theory at all?
QUESTION [Undergraduate level, B.A. in English] “Examine how international writers writing in English attempt to portray the social, cultural and political issues unique to their countries of origin, through the medium of poetry. Discuss with reference “Prayer Before Birth” by Louis Macneice, “A worker Reads History” by Bertolt Brecht and “Slave’s Dream” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ANSWERBy bunPeirisInternationally renowned poets […]
Read moreQuestion [Undergraduate level. B.A. in English, Sri Lanka]“Uprooted”, English translation of Sinhalese Gamperaliya is an authentic portrayal of the sweeping social transformation that took place in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in the mid-20th century, subsequent to the collapse of the feudal system. Discuss.Answer Written by bunPeiris of Moratuwa. It is true “Uprooted” of realistic fiction genre is an authentic portrayal […]
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In Macbeth “we are shown a soul tortured by an agony which admits not a moment’s repose, and rushing in frenzy towards its doom.” (Bradley, A.C., Shakespearean Tragedy) Discuss. “Let every man be master of his time” Shakespeare: Macbeth [3.I.4] Macbeth, a Soul Tortured Written in PEEL [Point, Evidence, Explanation, link] format by bunpeiris. A Once beautiful mind is […]
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In “Book the First-Sowing” of Hard Times, Dickens explores the effect of a system of education which values the factual knowledge over creativity and imagination. Comment. Following is an undergraduate level essay written using the paragraph writing technique PEEL [Point, Evidence, Explanation and Link] . As such, those who study for Cambridge OL literature may ignore/delete information from secondary sources […]
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The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht is apparently about and child whose ownership claimed by two mothers. But it touches social, political and emotional aspects broadly. Discuss. Written in PEEL [Point, Evidence, Explanation and Link] format by BunPeiris ______________________________________________________________________ Transformation Of Grusha And Azdak In The Backdrop of Political and Social Upheavels in Grushnia Such is the anarchy […]
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Q. Though written with Russian Revolution in mind, Animal Farm is a novel with universal appeal. Discuss. Written in PEEL [Point, Evidence, Explanation and Link] format by BunPeiris The Universality of Animal Farm Goes Unchallenged Animal Farm (1946) written by George Orwell is a satirical fable. It reveals the ironical passage of a oppressive regime that yokes the human frailties […]
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“The Divorcee” and “The Defeated”: the socially condemned “Both Ken Saro-Wiwa and Nadine Gordimer portray the plight of groups of people who have been socially condemned.” Discuss this statement with reference to short stories ‘The Divorcee” and ‘The Defeated.” Written in PEEL [Point, Explanation, Evidence, Link] format by BunPeiris Both Ken Saro-Wiwa and Nadine Gordimer portray the plight of groups […]
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Plot construction & Aspects of Love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Written by BunPeiris “Are you sure That we are awake? It seems to meThat yet we sleep, we dream” [A Midsummer Night’s Dream: William Shakespeare] Plot construction A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy composed and stage directed by the foremost dramatist, the ultimate humanist writer ever. But Shakespeare would […]
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Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte : women ahead of their times Written by BunPeiris In what ways might the knowledge of the social and political context in which Jane Eyre was written and first published contribute to an understanding of the novel? “I resisted all the way; a new thing for me…,” [10 year old Jane, while being dragged by […]
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Metaphysical Poetry Written by BunPeiris Metaphysical poetry possesses its typical themes and techniques which depict the contemporary issues of the era. Discuss As everything under the sun, moon and stars are do change with time, throughout the literary periods, especially in poetic ages, themes and techniques too kept changing. The age of metaphysical poetry was no exception. As such metaphysical […]
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Canterbury Tales: Sea Captain’s Tale and The Prioress’s Tale Written in PEEL [Point, Evidence, Explanation and Link format] by BunPeiris. Compare & contrast the content, themes and character portrayal in “The Sea-Captain’s Tale” & “The Prioress’s Tale” Geoffrey Chaucer is humble: appeals to the readers to credit Jesus Christ for the inspiration of everything they would have learned in reading […]
Read moreThe Employability Skills Hoax Written by bunPeiris. Meden Agan (μηδὲν ἄγαν) – ‘Nothing in excess’ [An inscription at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece] In the beginning it was only snares: Soft Skills. Now they have begun to flaunt the guns: Employability Skills. If the concept of Soft Skills is the camel’s nose, the notion of Employability Skills is the […]
Read moreFortitude and Attitudes of Robinson Crusoe Written by bunpeiris Robinson Crusoe is a fiction not only of the perseverance and fortitude of a man in trouble, but also of the attitudes of the “white man” towards the “black man.” Discuss The question is answered using the paragraph writing technique “PEEL”: Point; Evidence; Explanation; Link. You may follow this technique in […]
Read moreAncient Literary Criticism by Casper C. de Jonge Throughout Antiquity, Greeks and Romans interpreted, analyzed, and evaluated the texts of poets and prose writers. They formulated ideas about the nature of poetry, its effects, and its function in society. They also developed theories on the effective composition of prose texts, and they commented on the style of orators, historians, and philosophers. […]
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Literary Criticism: Aristotle onwards by bunpeiris I bumped into a pile of second-hand books causing one of the books to be swept off the pile. It was a dusty, discoloured & dog-eared book titled “Classical criticism“. I wasn’t interested in literary criticism at all then. I was too young to digest the serious stuff; furthermore I felt falling short of the […]
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