B.A.(Prog.)/B.Com(Prog.

) Semester-III/IV English

CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE-II

SLM-1 (Unit 1-5)

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi

Department of English
 Undergraduate Course

CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE THROUGH LITERATURE-II
SLM-1 (Unit 1-5)

Contents

Page No.

Unit 1 : Understanding Life Narratives-II Dr. Seema Suri 01-23

Unit 2 : Exploring Poetry P.K. Satapathy 24-36

Unit 3 : Beyond the Land of Hattamala : Badal Sarkar Nalini Prabhakar 37-49

Unit 4 : Exploring Fiction–Novella Dr. Neeta Gupta 50-78

Unit 5 : Writing Your Own Academic Essay/Paper Deb Dulal Halder 79-93
for the Classroom

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
 Unit 1

Understanding Life Narratives

Dr. Seema Suri

1. Introduction
What is a life narrative?
A life narrative is a general term used to describe the stories people tell about their lives or
those of others. It could be in the form of a biography, an autobiography, a chronicle, or even
an article about a specific event. It could also be in a digital format like a blog. People write
life narratives for a variety of reasons; to share their experiences or lessons learned over a
lifetime; to express their pain or loneliness, in an effort to help others going through similar
struggles; record their memories of important historical events or document their journey
towards fame and success. The range of reasons is diverse and so is the manner in which the
narratives are constructed.
However, a person’s life narrative is not like a Wikipedia page; with details of birth,
education, marriage and other important facts and events in logical order. It would include
inner feelings, memories of traumatic experiences, observations about the world and human
existence; one’s own or those of the people one is writing about.
In this section of the study-material the following readings from your course will be
discussed;
i) Kamala Das, ‘The Park Street Home.’ My Story. Kottayam: DC Books, 1977.
ii) Mayank Austen Soofi. ‘I had come too far.’ Nobody Can Love You More: Life in
Delhi’s Red Light District. Delhi: Penguin Book, 2012.
iii) Kishalay Bhattacharjee, ‘Back to Where I Never Belonged.’ First Proof: The
Penguin Book of New Writing from India (4). Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005.
iv) Walter Isaacson. ‘4. Atari and India: Zen and the Art of Game Design.’ Steve Jobs.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Objectives
After going through this Study-Material you should be able to
– identify the different types of narratives you have read;
– differentiate between the different styles of writing; and
– write short accounts of your personal experiences.
Each of the following four sections comprise a brief introduction, background, glossary
and critical commentary.

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2. Kamala Das, ‘My Story’
2.1 About the author
Kamala Das (1934–2009) was a famous Indian poet and novelist who wrote in both English
and Malayalam, her mother tongue. While writing in Malayalam, she used the pen name
Madhavikutty. She was born in Thrissur, Kerala into a fairly privileged family. Her mother,
Nalapat Balamani Amma was a well-known Malayali poet who had published around 20
collections of poems; and her father V.M. Nair was a senior executive in an automobile
company and editor of the journal Mathrubhumi.
Kamala Das has written three collections of poems in English; Summer in Calcutta
(1965), The Descendants (1967), and The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973). In
addition, she has written collections of short stories, two novels, and numerous essays as a
syndicated columnist. Overall, she has published 25 books and collections of poetry.
However, it is her autobiography My Story (1976) that remains her most well-known work.
Kamala Das was honoured with the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (English) in 1984 and
nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year. On 1 February, 2018, Google
honoured her with a doodle.
My Story was originally published in serialized form in the Malayalam weekly
Malayanadu and as a book, Ente Katha in 1973. Kamala Das’ autobiography caused a
sensation when it first started appearing. Her honest and undiluted depiction of her loneliness
in her marriage, her adulterous affairs and her literary career appealed to readers, though
many were shocked. There are many accounts about how her own father tried to stop the
publication of Ente Katha.
In My Story, Kamala Das traces her life from her childhood in Calcutta and Malabar; to
her marriage to a much older banker Madhav Das when she was just fifteen years old, and
motherhood at sixteen; her loneliness while her husband remained busy with his work and her
dissatisfaction with her marriage, though her husband encouraged her to write. In her
autobiography, she questions the traditional roles thrust upon women in patriarchal society,
writing openly about her relationships with other men. Kamala Das influenced an entire
generation of women writers in Kerala but her honesty in depicting her physical desires
remains unmatched. It is no wonder that My Story remains the best-selling autobiography
written by an Indian woman.

2.2 Study Guide: ‘The House on Park Street’

‘The Park Street Home’ is the second chapter of Kamala Das’s autobiography. Park Street
was a famous, posh locality in Calcutta in pre-independence India. Her father was a senior
executive at the Wolford Transport Company, selling luxury cars to princes and their
relatives. The family lived above the repair yard of the transport company. In this chapter she
describes her early life in Calcutta, where she and her brother went to a British school.
Neglected by their parents, the sister and brother find ways to keep themselves occupied.

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 The chapter begins with a description of her parents’ wedding. Like many educated
middle-class people, her father was deeply influenced by Gandhiji’s ideals of simplicity and
nationalism. Kamala Das’ mother belonged to an upper-class family of landlords without
much money, and when she got married her husband did not permit her to wear any gold
jewellery or expensive clothes. She was asked to wear only khadi and that too only white or
off-white. Read this passage carefully and note the honesty with which she comments on
their relationship;
My mother did not fall in love with my father. They were dissimilar and horribly
mismatched. (p. 4)
The author, even as a young child, sensed that her parents’ marriage was an ‘illusion of
domestic harmony’ and that too because her mother remained timid. It requires immense
courage to write so openly about the shortcomings of the people closest to you, especially
your parents. In another part of her autobiography, Kamala Das writes about her own
marriage; ‘As a marriage, in the conventional sense, mine was a flop.’ (p. 187) In the first
chapter, Kamala Das talks about her mother who was ‘vague and indifferent’ towards her
children, spending her time lying on her bed, writing poems, while her father was busy
selling Rolls Royces and Bentleys.
Even as a young child, the author could sense the lack of appreciation in her parents’
eyes. Without any irony she writes;
We must have disappointed our parents a great deal. They did not tell us so, but
in every gesture, and in every word it was evident. (p. 5)
She somehow thinks that the parents are indifferent towards them because both she and her
brother were ordinary looking and had dark skin. Children in unhappy marriages often blame
themselves for the problems between their parents. It must have been painful for her to look
at herself this way. There’s no doubt her childhood was lonely; she describes their drawing
room as one where visitors rarely came. At the same time this loneliness nurtured her ability
to reflect and observe. In an interview, Kamala Das once said, “If I had been a loved person, I
wouldn’t have become a writer . . .”
The six-year old Kamala has a special bond with her elder brother and the two children
spend their time playing around the house, which was above the repair yard of the motor
company for which their father worked. Pay attention to the description of their house;
We lived on the top-floor of the repair-yard of the motor car company. One had
to climb thirty-six steps to reach our flat. Midway there was to the right an
opening which led on to the servants’ quarters where night and day a faucet
leaked noisily, sadly. There was a stench of urine which made one pause
precisely on that step of the staircase wondering where it came from.
In the space of a few lines, the author describes sounds and smells; adds irrelevant and
unimportant details like the number of steps, and uses a metaphor as well, ‘sadly’. All these

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together create a certain mood or atmosphere. Almost all good writers use this technique to
create an authentic picture.
Discouraged by the parents’ emotional distance, Kamala and her brother try to stay away
from them. They spend their time chatting with the gardener, the scavenger or the cook.
Otherwise the children look for excitement in little things; like standing at the window and
dangling rubber toys from a thread to surprise passers-by. However, they do find a friend in
Mr. Menon, the store manager in the office downstairs, who is like a father figure. He is the
only person who listens to them and talks to them. The author remembers his warmth and
attention;
We had only one good friend, just one good friend who liked to touch our hands
and talk to us about life in general. (p.6)
Kamala tells Mr. Menon about a doll’s house she saw at a friend’s place and he makes
one for her; taking out the time to carve out little pieces of furniture and paint it. The children
go and look at it frequently, thrilled with the smell of the red paint on the doll’s house.
The cook in their house is an ill-tempered fellow and shouts at the monkeys who steal
food from their kitchen. He seems to be keen to go and settle in England, telling the
scavenger that Mrs Ross, who is the wife of her father’s boss, will take him if he asks her to.
Remember, the year is around 1941, with a strong British presence in Calcutta.
Kamala notices that the scavenger is served tea in a cup kept especially for him. It is an
innocent child’s observation but points to the practice of untouchability in their household.
2.3 Summing Up
This short chapter is about Kamala Das’s early childhood when she lived in Calcutta. Even as
a little girl, she could sense her parents’ incompatibility and felt rejected. Deprived of warmth
and affection from the parents, the brother and sister spend time with the domestic staff. Her
only happy memory from the time is that of Mr. Menon, who sat in the office below their flat.
He was a kind man who made a large doll’s house for the author even before she asked for it.
The two things to appreciate in her writing are her complete honesty and power of
observation. She doesn’t shy away from writing about the lovelessness she observes between
her mother and father. Her memories of her childhood are vivid, indicating that even as a
child she was a keen and sensitive observer.
Glossary
betrothal : engagement.
khaddar : handwoven cotton fabric, symbol of India’s struggle for
independence.
widow’s weeds : black clothing worn by widows in Victorian England; ‘weeds’
is the old English word for garments/clothing.

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arid union : dry, barren, loveless relationship.
swarthy skin : dark-coloured skin.
monthly purgative of
castor oil : it was common to give children castor oil to flush out toxins
and remove parasites from the stomach.
scavenger : person employed to clean.
puny, pale child : thin, unhealthy looking child.
whittled : carved, as with wood.
Vilayat : Urdu for foreign land, a name for England.

3. Mayank Austen Soofi, ‘I had come too far’

3.1 About the author
Mayank Austen Soofi (1980- ) is a well-known author, blogger and photojournalist. His real
name is Mayank Singh, which he changed to Mayank Austen Soofi; Austen was added as a
tribute to his favourite English novelist Jane Austen, and Soofi as he is a follower of the Sufi
saint, Nizammudin Auliya. His blog The Delhi Wala is a popular guide to the city and he
writes a daily column for The Hindustan Times, called ‘Delhi Wale’. Soofi has published four
guides to the city: The Delhi Walla: Portraits, Delhi Food, Delhi Hangouts and Delhi
Monuments; all published by Harper Collins in 2001, and a book Nobody Can Love You
More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District (2012).
Soofi’s pieces in his blog and daily column are almost always about the downtrodden
and neglected residents of the city; rickshaw pullers, street vendors, rag pickers, migrant
workers or tailors in little shops. He also writes about little-known corners, alleys, and
monuments of the city. With more than 3,000 such blog posts and 30,000 Instagram posts, his
aim is to profile one per cent of Delhi’s population. He has rightly been called ‘Delhi’s most
compelling chronicler’ and story teller; focusing on ground level portraits of the city.
In his book Nobody Can Love You More (2012), Soofi has chronicled the lives of the
sex-workers in Delhi’s infamous red-light district, G.B. Road or Garstin Bastion Road;
named after the British collector, who unified the five brothels at that time into one area. G.B.
Road is an ancient, crumbling commercial centre in the city with shops selling automobile
parts or sanitaryware. The hundred or so brothels or kothas, as they are known are on the
upper floors of the buildings lining the road. The author first started visiting one of the kothas
there to teach English to the proprietor’s children but developed an interest in the lives of the
sex workers there. For three years he kept visiting the place; talking to them, sharing their
food, and observing their daily lives. His book was written with the aim to tell their stories to
the world. The title of the book is from a message on a poster on the wall, written by a
customer for one of the sex workers;

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 Nighat, I love u
Nobody can love u more than me
Thanks. Manoj – 21/12/2010
In Soofi’s own words, he wanted to ‘capture the ordinariness of their extraordinary
lives.’ His subject matter is unconventional and without dealing with the uncomfortable
aspects of the profession; the illegality, the human trafficking, or the coercion of minor girls,
he tries to focus on the human aspects. Sex workers have always been treated with disrespect
by society. Their own families break off ties with them if they get to know about their work.
When Soofi interviews the shopkeepers on G.B. Road they tell him that they do not wish to
interact with the women living right above their shops. Even looking up at the kothas is
taboo; people from the neighbouring Farash Khana warn their children not to look up while
passing through G.B. Road. To gather material for his book, Soofi interviewed shopkeepers
on G.B. Road, a priest at the temple, a fellow writer, and many more. However, the focus is
on the residents of one kotha.
The prescribed reading in your course is the first chapter of the book. Do read it carefully
before going through the study-guide.
3.2 Study-Guide: ‘I had come too far’
The author, a well knew blogger, tells us how he started to write this book. A friend had
asked him if he could teach English to the children of the proprietor of a kotha on G.B. Road
and he agreed as he thought it was an opportunity to see a different side of the city. He taught
for a few months and even after his work was over, continued to visit the place;
. . . I still found myself coming to the kotha, fascinated by the ordinary aspects of
the lives of people who, I think, have been shepherded by circumstances into
living extraordinary lives. It was in an attempt to seek signs of normalcy in an
‘abnormal’ world that I started to work on this book. (p. 8)

Most of the first chapter comprises his conversations with Sushma, a middle-aged sex worker
at kotha teen sau, as it is known. You might notice that most of the time, he refers to the sex
workers by name but never as ‘prostitutes’, because the word is almost always used as an
insult or abuse. The word ‘prostitute’ has a history of cultural associations with shame or
disgrace. The preferred term these days is sex worker; used to describe a person, man or
woman, who sells sexual services.
In addition to Sushma, there are Nighat, Phalak, Fatima, and Sumaira. Then there is
Sabir Bhai, the manager of the kotha and his four young children. Sushma is around forty-
seven years old and has been at this kotha for five years. She is not at all like the sex workers
one sees in movies; she’s not young, doesn’t wear heavy makeup or shiny clothes, wears
glasses and has dark circles under her eyes. She dresses in salwar-kameez and prefers light
colours. The author remarks that she could easily pass off as the mother of teenagers.

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 Sushma seems to be quite comfortable with the author and treats him like an old friend;
calling him ‘Soofi.’. She cooks for him, offers to colour his grey hair with henna, and urges
him to get married and settle down. At times she opens up about her life; when the author
questions her about a small tattoo on her face, she says her friend Chhovi made it. Sushma
and Chhovi were close friends for seven years and would look out for each other but now it’s
fifteen years since she went back to Bengal. Sushma feels sad that Chhovi never contacted
her after leaving G.B. Road.
Sushma tells the author that she is from Bangalore and came to G.B. Road to escape an
unhappy life at home. Her mother died when she was very young and her father remarried.
Her stepmother made life difficult for her and when a family friend told her about a job in
Delhi, she came with him, thinking it was some kind of domestic work, but ended up at G.B.
Road. She answers his questions about her past but not always. At one point when talking
about her father’s refusal to accept her when she returns home, she evades answering him;
‘Did you return?’
‘. . . Papa refused to see me.’
‘Did you tell him what you had started doing?’
‘No. But these things are difficult to hide. You know how things are. If a girl
leaves her home even for a night, all honour is lost. See, the dal is ready.’
‘But Sushma . . . ’
‘Leave it, Soofi. Enough. I don’t want to remember old things.’ (p. 16)
What happened to her is the story of almost every sex worker. Most of them are deceived,
sold off to pimps, or forced to come to the kothas. Illiterate and without any skills, it is
impossible for them to find employment elsewhere. Stuck in an unfamiliar city and with
nowhere else to go, abandoned by husbands or their own families, they stay on. As Sushma
tells Soofi;
‘I initially refused, but then I had no choice.’
‘Why are you saying that?’
‘I had come too far. I could not return home.’ (p. 15)
Note that this sentence of Sushma’s is the title of the first chapter. On many occasions, Soofi
wonders if Sushma is telling him the truth; he is not entirely convinced that her real name is
Shireen or that she is from Bangalore, as she says she is, because she speaks Hindi fluently,
like a North Indian.
In a long passage, the author describes Sushma’s room on the roof of the kotha. It is not
even a proper room; just an area covered with a tin roof. Read it carefully and note how each
item is listed; the faded mattress, plastic plates, aluminium bowls, and half a jar of rice. The
overall effect is sad. More than anything else, Sushma’s belongings portray her condition.

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She is so poor that she doesn’t even have a spoon to give to Soofi when serving him dinner.
In winters she sleeps in a ‘box-room’ next to the landing on the staircase; a room so small
that a person cannot stand in it. The accompanying black and white photographs in the book
add to the overall effect; especially the one with Sushma with her back to the camera,
washing utensils on the roof of the kotha. The author doesn’t draw our attention to her
difficult and wretched life with words that invite us to pity her. Yet there is sensitivity in his
behaviour; chatting with her and sharing her humble meal.
The author is curious to know if Sushma has ever been in love and she tells him about
her twenty-year long relationship with Prem Kumar, a car painter from Karol Bagh. She
recalls how he treated her with care and generosity. He left his family to be with her and even
followed her to Meerut when she shifted to Kabadi Bazaar, the red-light district there.
Unfortunately, he died after falling off the roof and Sushma cremated him there, with help
from a friend.
Soofi is not content to interview Sushma and wants to observe her at work, when she
stands at the entrance to the kotha in the early hours of the morning, waiting for customers.
These are usually migrant workers returning from late night shifts. Without displaying a
sense of shock, he describes the manner in which Sushma solicits customers, calling out
unashamedly to men passing by. It is a distressing but realistic picture of a profession that
most people are not acquainted with. Soofi feels sorry for her when she doesn’t get any
customers and promises to come again the next day.
The next night he attends a party at Sujan Singh Park; one of Delhi’s most upscale
neighbourhoods. Surrounded by clean and well-dressed people and sipping imported wine, he
loses the desire to return to G.B. Road and puts off his visit. The next day he arrives to find
Sushma cooking dinner on the roof. He gifts her a cashmere shawl that belonged to his
mother, which she silently accepts. The mixed sounds of evening prayers from a nearby
temple and mosque can be heard in the background.
In addition to Sushma, Soofi interviews Sabir Bhai, the manager of the kotha. He is the
one to whom the sex-workers living there give more than half of their earnings; to cover their
rent and other utilities. He has a very low opinion of the place, calling it a ‘zoo.’ According to
him, all the sex-workers are liars and cannot be trusted. He says that they fight amongst
themselves all the time and if any woman becomes too troublesome, he asks her to leave.
Sabir Bhai and Phalak seem to be a couple and have four children. Fatima is another resident
there, as is Sumaira; who is too ill to entertain customers and is like a servant at the kotha,
doing odd jobs for the other residents.
3.3 Narrative Style
In his book Mayank Austen Soofi gives us a first-hand account of the lives of the inmates of a
kotha on G.B. Road. To gather material for his book, he interviewed many people over the
course of three years. You must have noticed how there are a very large number of direct
quotations; he allows the people to tell their stories, as far as possible, in their own words.

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This makes his narrative more convincing. Soofi keeps asking questions and Sushma’s
replies are reproduced without changes. This method is also popular with writers of
biographies. He doesn’t even leave out the curses used by her when the police drive
customers away; ‘bastards’, ‘bloody _______ .’ (p.20)
Another technique is attention to detail; including seemingly unimportant ones. Read the
passages where he describes Sushma’s appearance, her room on the roof or the description of
the view from the roof. He mentions everything he can see from there; all the buildings and
hotels in Connaught Place and Paharganj. A good writer does not hesitate to include details
that are potentially embarrassing or disturbing. Describing Sushma, he writes;
She is a sex worker. Her rate is 150 rupees. After bargaining it can come down to
120 rupees. A smart customer can bring it down further to 100 rupees. (p. 2)
He does not need to underline her heart-breaking condition; simply giving facts is enough.
This honesty in recording extends to his own reactions too. Soofi does not remain silent
about his doubts or the thoughts that go through his head. When Fatima is waiting, along with
Sushma, for customers he wonders why any man would pay to sleep with her; ‘Why will any
man come to her? What goes on in her mind when young men sleep with her?’ (p. 21) He
wonders if Sushma bathes after entertaining customers but doesn’t have the courage to ask.
Sometimes he feels overwhelmed by the conditions on G.B. Road and wants to escape.
Watching Sumaira, who is ill and doesn’t have long to live, he says;
While sipping the milky tea, I want to hold her hands. But I cannot bring myself
to touch her. Her face looks greasy, her clothes are unwashed, her nails are dark
green with dirt and she smells as if she hasn’t taken a bath in days.
Suddenly I feel revolted. By Sumaira, by the sickly sweet milky chai, by all
the people in G.B. Road. (p. 24)
Even though it makes him appear unsympathetic and prejudiced, the author records his
feelings. For a short while he escapes to the luxurious world of Nizammudin East and Sujan
Singh Park; enjoying a party with his friends.
Journalists are taught to keep an emotional distance between themselves and their subject
matter but Soofi is on first name terms with the inmates of the kotha and they call him ‘Soofi
Bhai’ and joke with him. He is not content with simply interviewing Sushma and involves
himself to the extent that he stands with her outside her kotha, on a cold winter morning at 3
a.m., while she waits for customers. He is anxious when she doesn’t get a single one; ‘I’m
worried. Sushma must get a customer.’ (p. 21) Only a writer with the deepest sense of
empathy would do that. In a heart-warming gesture he brings her a cashmere shawl that
belonged to his mother.
3.4 Summing Up
In the first chapter of his book, Soofi has written about Sushma, a sex worker on G.B. Road.
The overall picture is of a lonely, wretched existence. Soofi doesn’t offer any moral

9
judgement about her work but attempts to show how ordinary she is, as she goes about her
life; buying vegetables, cooking, or discussing her earnings and expenses. With utter
compassion he succeeds in acquainting us with one of the most exploited and crushed
sections of society.
The author’s forthright documentation is matched by the candour with which he records
his own thoughts and feelings. Black and white photographs accompanying the text add a
rich dimension to the narrative.

Glossary
kotha : house where sex workers live.
gara saris : saris with a type of embroidery popular with Parsi ladies.
chamak dhamak : shine and glitter.
middie : long loose frock.
dhanda : a colloquial term meaning business. Here, it means the sex
worker’s profession.
solicit customers : offer services as a prostitute.

Questions
(i) Write a brief account of Sushma’s life?
(ii) Mention some distinctive features of Soofi’s writing?

4. Kishalay Bhattacharjee, ‘Back to Where I Never Belonged’

4.1 About the author
Kishalay Bhattachrjee (1969–) is a well-known author, academic, documentary film-maker,
and former senior journalist, He is the curator of Art East, an annual festival showcasing the
art and livelihoods of the Northeast. In addition, he is the founder-director of the Reachout
Foundation, that works to fight stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination on the basis of race
and ethnicity. Born in Guwahati and educated in Shillong, he has a long association with the
region. He was the resident editor of NDTV, Northeast for seventeen years (1996-2013),
reporting widely on the conflict zones and insurgency. By his own admission, he got tired of
covering the strife. Feeling that it was unfair to only report the violence in the region, he
switched to academics and writing. He has authored three books based on his experiences as
a journalist and resident editor of NDTV: Che in Paona Bazaar: Tales of Exile and
Belonging from India’s Northeast (2013), Blood on my Hands: Confessions of Staged
Encounters (2015), and An Unfinished Revolution: A Hostage Crisis, Adivasi Resistance and
the Naxal Movement (2017).

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 He has received many awards for his journalistic work, among them the Ramnath Goenka
Excellence in Journalism Award (2006-07). The article prescribed in your course was
published in 2005;
Kishalay Bhattacharjee. ‘Back to Where I Never Belonged.’ First Proof: The
Penguin Book of New Writing from India. 4. Penguin Books, India, 2005.
4.2 Historical Background
Northeast India is home to around 238 ethnic indigenous groups, divided by language and
regional identity. The average Indian is not familiar with the history of the region and it is
underrepresented in mainstream Indian culture; overshadowed by stereotypes of the place as
an exotic and scenic landscape or occasional news reports of violence.
Assam, formed as a colonial province in 1874, became a constituent state of India in
1947. At one point, almost the entire Northeast was part of Assam. However, in response to
demands from regional groups it was divided into several states. The state of Nagaland was
created in 1963 out of the Naga Hills district, and in 1972, Meghalaya was created on the
demand of the tribes of the Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo Hills. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram
were created as Union Territories in 1972 and became states in 1986.
After the partition, many refugees from East Bengal settled in Assam, upsetting the
demographics of the state. When Bangladesh was formed in 1971, there was a further influx
of immigrants. Bengalis and other outsiders were perceived as a threat to indigenous
language and culture. Since the 1950s, there has been an intense anti-Bengali sentiment in
Assam, culminating in the six-year long agitation, from 1979-85, to force the government to
deport ‘foreigners’ or illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The agitation was in response to a
sudden rise in non-tribal voters on the electoral rolls and it was led by ULFA, the United
Liberation Front of Assam, an armed separatist group formed in 1979 but declared a terrorist
organization by the government in 1990.
In Manipur, the Gorkhas who had been living there for more than two centuries were
labelled ‘outsiders’ by the local Meitei tribe. In the decade following 1979, Meghalaya too
witnessed violence against non-locals who were driven away to protect tribal rights.
Meghalaya witnessed a decade long movement against outsiders or ‘dkhars’, a term coined
by the Khasi Students Union. Khasi mob violence continued well into the 1990s and in 1987
there was a year-long curfew in Shillong. There was untold damage to the education of
students across all groups. In addition to Bengalis; Biharis, Marwaris, and Nepalis were also
targeted. Violence, extortion and resistance to development characterized the period; as did
human rights abuses. Several thousand people, like the author, left the state and there are no
official records of this exodus. In another article, Bhattacharjee says: “The post-independence
story of the region has been a story of gross violation of the rights of citizens labelled as
‘outsiders.’”
The hill states of northeast India are inhabited by tribal communities with a great degree
of diversity even within groups; based on language, culture, or religion. For instance, there
11
are 220 dialects spoken by various ethnic groups. Ever since the restructuring of Assam after
independence, these groups have been demanding autonomy and sovereignty to protect and
preserve their culture and identity, as well as rights to the land. Many of these organizations
have an armed militia, often getting support from neighbouring countries and routinely
attacking government establishments.
Insurgency in the Northeast has been matched by the government’s failure to address the
grievances of various ethnic groups competing for control of land and power, the lack of jobs
for qualified people, the silence of politicians, human rights violations by the armed forces,
unemployment and a slow pace of development.
4.3 Study-Guide: ‘Back to Where I Never Belonged’
Introduction
India has an uncomfortable record of racial prejudice against people from the Northeast in its
major cities. Newspapers routinely report about the discrimination they face while applying
for jobs or even in their day-to-day activities. They find it difficult to get accommodation
because of a general intolerance towards an unfamiliar culture and people with distinctly
different racial features. At the same time, people from other parts of the country face similar
discrimination and hostility when living in the Northeast.
Kishalay Bhattacharjee spent his childhood and youth in Shillong during a troubled
period in its history. Shillong, earlier the capital of Assam, became the capital of Meghalaya
when the state was formed in 1972. It was a beautiful hill town where Christian missionaries
had set up some of the best schools and colleges in the region. It had a cosmopolitan culture,
with a large Bengali population. However, once Meghalaya was formed, non-tribals were
barred from acquiring property and the new state implemented near total job reservation for
its tribal population. After 1979, at the height of the anti-local agitation, many Bengalis left
Shillong and for his own safety, the author left around 1990. He returns on a visit after 15
years and takes a walk through the town, recording his thoughts. Having experienced first-
hand, what it meant to be an outsider in Shillong, there are many bitter memories. At the
same time, he feels nostalgia for its natural beauty.
This article is an account of his revaluation of his personal pain in the context of the
troubled post-independence history of the region. Returning to Shillong brings back
unpleasant memories but now, as a journalist, he is able to see the larger picture.
Critical Commentary
The title of the article itself is an expression of the author’s sense of alienation from the town
he grew up in. He went away from Shillong around 1990 and has returned after fifteen years;
now as a journalist. His arrival in the town is quite unpleasant. A young man snatches his
wallet and takes half the money in it. This makes the author fell ‘silly and inadequate.’ (p. 37)
Walking through Lachumere, a rich locality in Shillong, he notices that it still has some
of the old Assam type wooden houses, with chimneys that are never used. He recognizes an

12
old house whose owner scolded him for calling her pet a dog. Suddenly he remembers the
circumstances of his final departure and how he was confronted by a local gang;
One fine day, I was simply warned in public that since I was a non-tribal I should
leave immediately. (p. 38)
Upset at the open hostility he vows never to return, but he does. Shillong has changed in its
outward appearance; there is less greenery, too many overhead wires, and vehicles crowd the
streets. It has lost some of its charm. But the author can sense that the attitude towards ‘non-
locals’ has remained unchanged.
The Shillong he grew up in, in the early 1970s, was one where the skies were clear and
jacaranda petals and cherry blossoms fell on the roads. Although his departure from Shillong
was ‘bitter’, he felt a certain sense of pride in its unique cosmopolitan culture. Among friends
in Delhi and Bombay he pretends to be a fan of western music, as Shillong was known as
India’s rock music capital. He also claims to have been a regular visitor to its famous golf-
club, though it was unaffordable for middle class people.
Walking around town the author recognizes some of his ‘non-tribal’ friends who had
stayed behind. He remarks that they seem to have accepted that ‘uneasiness’ would always be
a part of their equation with the indigenous people of the state. He tries to but cannot feel a
sense of belonging. Though tourists are attracted to the charming town he feels detached;
knows that behind the seemingly friendly faces is hostility for ‘outsiders.’ On the Malki Road
he relives the terror of being chased by a group of armed boys because he was a Bengali. He
regrets not having learnt to use a simple weapon to defend himself from the gangs of local
boys. At that time, thousands of outsiders left Meghalaya but the author’s family stayed on.
Bhattacharjee remarks that the student-led agitations in Assam and Meghalaya had
betrayed the trust of the people they represented. He recognizes a Khasi student leader who is
now a political leader. Walking past his old missionary school he is reminded of the Catholic
community’s indifference towards the issue, wishing they had taken a stand against the
violence.
Although this article is an account of the writer’s personal experiences, there are many
gaps in the narrative. For instance, we don’t know how old he was when he went away from
Shillong; what was his parents’ reaction to the harassment he was facing or the reason for his
visit to Shillong after fifteen years. One can only ascertain these things from external sources.
Maybe it is intentional, so that the focus remains on his feelings in the moment, as he walks
through Shillong.
Though the article begins with his personal and painful memories, at this point the
journalist in him takes over and he writes like a political analyst. Looking back at the anti-
outsider movement in Shillong he realizes that, compared to what was happening in other
states of northeast India at that time, Shillong was better off. Assam and Nagaland were
agitating for sovereignty; in Manipur separatists were running a parallel government and
armed groups were fuelling anti-Indian movements. In the middle of so much turbulence;
13
 There was no North-East in Shillong. It was isolated. The real mutinies were being
enacted across the hills when we were reacting to the local demand for a hundred
percent reservation of seats in education and jobs . . . In the midst of this chaos,
Shillong was only focused on silly street-fights which became ugly and serious.
There was no intensity in its grievances or maturity in its politics. (p. 41-42)
He also remembers the disturbing Nellie massacre in 1983, that made it to the front pages of
newspapers all over India. Although the wounds have healed since then, the issue of illegal
migration is a constant during elections. Commenting on the present situation in Assam, he
notes that whereas anti-Bengali sentiment had been very strong at one time, it is ironic that
now the indigenous ethnic groups of Assam do not want to be a part of the state; clamouring
for separate statehood. Bhattacharjee observes that, for a journalist, the Northeast is like a
classroom because of the complex history and politics of the region. The overriding feeling
he has been left with is of being a ‘foreigner’ in his own country; living in fear of being
attacked by local boys.
Old acquaintances whom he meets seem to be disappointed with the present state of
affairs but the author cannot bring himself to share their concerns. Waiting for a friend at a
famous Chinese restaurant, he realizes that it is not even run by Chinese but by Tibetans who
have converted to Christianity to escape persecution. He points out that the conversion of
tribals is another issue, waiting to flare up in the future. Listening to his poet friend from
Manipur talk about his struggles, the author suddenly loses his sense of hurt;
Layer upon layer of conflict came before my eyes and my uneventful childhood–
uneventful in the sense we never went to the cinema, or watched plays, or dined
out- and my sense of hurt at my departure suddenly dissipated. I felt the anguish
as well. (p. 44)
Walking through the market place he sees the orchids and oranges and feels at home.
Though he never talks about his Shillong days the memories of its beauty are part of his
consciousness. But he knows that he will always be a ‘fugitive’ here and people like him are
‘tenants forever’; ‘alienation, adversity, homelessness and anguish’ would always be a part of
his growing up in Shillong.
The article ends on a positive note with the author’s resolution to play an active role in
rectifying the imbalance. As a journalist, he can move beyond his pain and narrate the
‘unheard stories’ of the lives lived in the remote corners of the country and do his bit to
reduce racial prejudice.
4.4 Summing Up
The author visits Shillong where he grew up and studied in school and college but left in
1990, hurt at the attitude of the indigenous people towards ‘outsiders.’ He returns after 15
years and is now a journalist covering the Northeast.

14
 Without providing too many details about his life, he dwells on his anxieties and fears.
Memories of being chased by groups of tribal boys or the hostility of the locals prevents him
from feeling joy in returning to his childhood home. Herein lies the significance of the title;
‘Back to Where I Never Belonged’. For him Shillong never felt like home and he has been
carrying the hurt in his heart all these years.
The narrative keeps shifting back and forth; memories of his youth and the town are
juxtaposed with the larger, troubled post-independence history of the Northeast. In the
process he realizes that the resentment he has been carrying in his heart all these years was
for a comparatively petty reason; the region was grappling with more serious problems. He is
convinced that it is now time for him to tell the stories about the people in this part of the
country.
Questions
(i) The author uses many words to express his feelings about Shillong; such as
‘homelessness’, ‘fugitive’ and ‘non-local’. Make a list of those.
(ii) Discuss the article with reference to its title?
4.6 Study Notes
p. 37
non-tribal: not belonging to one of the major tribes of Meghalaya. The author is a Bengali.
p. 38
padres in their cassocks: Christian priests in long, loose robes.
mugging: being attacked and robbed.
p. 39
Bob Marley: Jamaican singer, songwriter, and musician.
heritage golf club: the Shillong Golf Club, the only natural golf-course in Asia.
taboo: something that is forbidden or prohibited by custom.
p. 40
Bedford buses: blue and yellow buses, made by General Motors; trademark of Shillong.
autopilot mode: doing things without conscious thought.
retro Khasi designs: from the recent past of the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya.
crevices: a narrow crack or space on the surface of a rock.
p. 41
Student politics was fashionable in India’s North-East. In Assam they wrested power, in
Meghalaya they threw the state out of gear: could be a reference to the AASU, All Assam

15
Student’s Union, that played an active role in the six-year Assam Movement against illegal
immigrants. In 1986, the Khasi Student’s Union launched an anti-foreigner agitation in
Meghalaya.
Naga separatist ideology: the state of Nagaland, formed in 1963, comprised twenty-eight
ethnic tribes, demanding full independence.
Mizoram: formed in 1987, the state has been struggling against domination by Assam. After
formation of the state, its Christian majority population started driving the Buddhist Chakmas
and Hindus out of the state.
Tripura: the Liberation Front of Tripura (1980) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (1990) were
formed with the sole aim to expel all Bengali immigrants, as they outnumbered the aboriginal
tribes in the state.
chicken-neck connecting India at North Bengal to this region: another name for the Siliguri
Corridor, a narrow stretch of land, just 22 kms wide and 60 kms long, that connects India to
its north-eastern region.
p. 42
chauvinism: excessive support for one’s cause.
Bodos, Misings, Karbis, Tiwas or even Dimasas: various ethnic tribes in the state of Assam.
p. 43
Nellie massacre in Assam: more than 2,000 immigrants from East Bengal were killed by
natives as the government had decided to give voting rights to more than 4 million
immigrants.
HK restaurant: Hong Kong restaurant
ajinomoto: trade name for monosodium glutamate, a seasoning added to many Chinese
dishes.
p. 44
Manipur was seething: Manipur became part of the Indian Union on 1949 and a state in 1972.
From 1980-2004, the Indian government declared Manipur a disturbed area. Since 1964, the
U.N.L.F (United National Liberation Front) and other groups have been demanding
independence from India, attacking government establishments.
5. ‘Steve Jobs’ by Walter Isaacson
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) is one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Along with his
friend Steve Wozniak, he pioneered the personal computer revolution in the US. They
developed the Apple I, Wozniak’s personal computer and founded Apple Computers in 1977
to sell it. A year later they launched Apple II, one of the most successful mass-produced
computers. By the age of 23, Steve Jobs was one of the youngest people to make it to the
Forbes List of the richest people in the nation. However, Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple
16
in 1985 and, along with a few other former employees from Apple, started NeXT; a computer
development firm specializing in business and higher education. In 1986 they founded a new
company Pixar and produced the first 3D computer animated feature film Toy Story in 1995.
Apple acquired NeXT in 1997 and within a few months Steve Jobs became its CEO; coming
out with a line of products that revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated
movies, music, phones, tablet computing and digital publishing, with the MacBook, iMac,
iPhone, iTunes, iPad, and the Apple Stores. The half-eaten apple became one of the most
recognized logos in the world.
Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955 and given up for adoption soon after. His
biological parents, Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah Jandali were young unmarried graduate
students. At the time, his father did not wish to marry and his mother gave him up for
adoption. They did eventually marry after a few years but Jandali left his family after five
years. Steve never wished to meet his biological father and was angry at the way he treated
his mother. His adoptive parents Paul and Clara Jobs were not wealthy but loving and caring.
Jobs always wanted to know about his birth parents but didn’t want to look for them as long
as Clara Jobs was alive, to avoid hurting her. It was only in 1986 that he met Joanne
Simpson, after Clara’s death. His mother was deeply apologetic about leaving him but Steve
assured her he was alright and thanked her for not choosing abortion and giving birth to him.
Steve was raised in the San Francisco Bay area and joined Reed College in 1972. After a
few months he felt he was not learning anything new and dropped out of college. Even as a
child, Jobs had a reputation for being difficult; a loner who resisted authority. Nevertheless,
he was friends with a number of software engineers in his neighbourhood who were much
older than him.
Jobs’ interest in Eastern spirituality and Zen Buddhism was the result of the pain he felt
at being given up for adoption by his birth parents. He harboured anger and hurt for a long
time. During his years at Reed College he used to hang out with friends who practised
meditation. In 1974, on the advice of a friend, he decided to travel to India in search of
enlightenment. He left his job at Atari, the video game manufacturing firm where he was
working at the time and went to India, spending seven months in search of a guru. Though he
did not find one, he learnt a lot during his stay there; enriching his outlook towards his work.
He continued to practice meditation his whole life, always in search of inner peace. At his
funeral, all the guests received a copy of The Autobiography of a Yogi by Swami Paramhansa
Yogananda, a book that is believed to have deeply influenced him.
5.1 About the author: Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson (1952- ) is an American author, journalist, historian and academic; former
CEO of CNN and managing editor of TIME magazine. He is the author of some well-known
biographies; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and Albert Einstein: His Life and
the Universe (2007).

17
 It was in fact Steve Jobs who approached Isaacson in 2004, requesting him to write his
biography. At the time Isaacson was not convinced that the time was right, as Jobs was
relatively young and had much more to accomplish. Steve Jobs made another request in 2009
and this time Isaacson agreed as he had found out that Steve was suffering from pancreatic
cancer. Jobs was keen that Isaacson talk to as many people as he could and assured him that
he wouldn’t even read the book before it was published. The only control he wanted was over
the cover of the book. For Jobs’ biography, Isaacson interviewed over a hundred people:
family, friends, colleagues, former employees, ex-girlfriends and business rivals, over a
period of two years. He interviewed Steve Jobs forty times. Steve Jobs’ wife urged Isaacson
not to ‘whitewash’ any part of the biography.
The book was published in 2011, exactly nineteen days after Steve Jobs died. It was The
New York Times best seller that year and broke all records for sales of a biography. Isaacson
got the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award for it.
5.2 Study Guide: ‘Atari and India: Zen and the Art of Game Design’
p. 39-41: Atari
Steve Jobs joined Reed College in 1974 but dropped out after a few months as he didn’t want
to waste his parents’ money. In response to an advertisement in a newspaper he landed up at
the office of Atari, video game manufacturer. Its founder Nolan Bushnell was an eccentric
character but impressed by Steve. At the time Steve had long hair, would not bathe for days,
and was arrogant. Steve would openly call his colleagues ‘dumb-shits’. This upset his
colleagues and to tackle the problem Steve was assigned the night shift. Al Alcorn, the chief
engineer there, could see that the young Steve was ‘excited about tech’ and Bushnell, who
had long philosophical talks with him, was willing to excuse his rude behaviour. At Atari,
Steve worked as a technician for 5$ an hour; improving their videogame design. However, he
became friends with Ron Wayne, a draftsman there. Steve was impressed with the fact that
Ron had started his own business to build slot machines and though the company failed,
Steve was excited by the possibility that you could start your own company. Wayne too was
comfortable enough in Steve’s presence to tell him that he was gay.
Notice how the author uses a large number of direct quotations to build a multi-
dimensional picture of Jobs’ personality. He himself remains firmly in the background, never
offering his own impressions although he had known Steve Jobs for many years at the time of
writing this biography.
India
One of the reasons Steve Jobs undertook the job at Atari was that he wanted to save money to
travel to India on a ‘spiritual journey.’ One of his friends from Reed College, Robert
Freidland, had suggested that he meet Neem Karoli Baba, a guru who lived in a village near
Nainital. During his college days, Jobs had developed an interest in Eastern spirituality and
accompanied his friends Robert Friedland, Daniel Kottke and Elizabeth Holmes to meditation
sessions. As Jobs says:

18
 For me it was a serious search . . . I’d been turned on to the idea of enlightenment
and trying to figure out who I was and how I fit into things.
Jobs quit his job at Atari and the chief engineer, Al Alcorn helped him by arranging for
his travel to Munich for some official work. From there Jobs took a flight to New Delhi. In
Delhi Jobs fell ill and after a few days travelled to Haridwar to see the Kumbh Mela. After a
couple of days there he went to the ashram of Neem Karoli Baba in Nainital district, only to
find out that he had died a few months ago. Jobs stayed with a local family who fed him
vegetarian meals and slept on a mattress on the floor. It was here that he found a copy of
Autobiography of a Yogi by Swami Paramahansa Yogananda and read it a number of times.
There he met an epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant who was working to eradicate smallpox
and became a lifelong friend.
Jobs narrates a rather unusual experience he had there. He had gone to listen to a talk by
a young spiritual teacher. After the discourse the guru started laughing when he set eyes on
Jobs, took him to a well and shaved off his long hair. Job thought the man was crazy, not
aware that, according to Hindu spirituality, shaving off one’s hair symbolizes spiritual rebirth
and breaking bonds with the material world. His friend Daniel Kottke joined him there for a
short while, and they simply wandered around. At this point Jobs was not searching for a
guru but ‘seeking enlightenment through ascetic experience, deprivation and simplicity.’ He
returned to America after seven months but continued his search for inner peace. His friend
Kottke says that ‘in the mornings and evenings he would meditate and study Zen, and in
between he would drop in to audit physics or engineering courses at Stanford.’
The Search
Steve Jobs was only nineteen years old when he travelled to India but his interest in Hindu
religious philosophy and Zen Buddhism continued for the rest of his life. Many years later, in
an interview to Isaacson he recalls how his visit to India changed him. He learnt that
Americans depend on the intellect and rational thought, whereas in India they depend on ‘the
power of intuition and experiential wisdom.’ He admits that this revelation has had a huge
impact on his work and design philosophy;
The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do, they use
their intuition instead, and their intuition is far more developed than in the rest of
the world. Intuition is a very powerful thing, much more powerful than intellect,
in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work.
After his return from India, Steve started visiting the Zen centre in San Francisco to
meditate and listen to Shunryu Suzuki, well known author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
When his assistant Kobun Chino Otogawa started a full-time centre in Los Altos, Jobs
became a regular visitor. He spent so much time with Kobun that he irritated his friends and
Kobun’s wife. He confesses how, at one point, he wanted to go and live in a monastery in
Japan but Kobun, his spiritual advisor, stopped him.

19
 For a brief period, he also tried something known as ‘primal scream therapy’ at All-One
Home, a commune run by his old college friend Robert Freidland. An old friend Greg
Calhoun admits that Jobs did benefit from the 12-week course as he seemed more confident.
Friends of Steve Jobs were aware of the pain he carried within him; the pain of being
abandoned biological parents. According to Daniel Kottke’s girlfriend;
“He was struggling with the fact that he had been adopted,” according to
Elizabeth Holmes. “He felt that it was an issue he needed to get hold of
emotionally.”
Breakout
After his return from India, Steve Jobs returned to Atari to ask for his old job. Al Alcorn was
happy to have him back and Bushnell wanted him to work on their popular video game
named ‘Breakout’ and change it so that it could be played by one person. At the time Steve
Wozniak, whom Steve Jobs had met in an electronics class in high school lived nearby. He
was working at HP and Steve asked for his help and offered to share the fee. Wozniak and
Jobs finished the task in four days but in an interview, Wozniak alleged that Jobs did not
inform him about the bonus of 700$ offered by Bushnell, neither did he share it.
This incident is most unflattering for Jobs’ image. He comes across as manipulative and
cheap but Isaacson includes it in his narrative. Wozniak is however generous enough to admit
that it is one of the traits that make him successful; admitting that, like Steve, he could never
have created Apple.
5.5 Summing Up
In this chapter from Walter Isaacson’s famous biography of Steve Jobs, we have read about
some of the early influences on his life. Nolan Bushnell, his boss at Atari, was a man whose
attitude of not taking no for an answer may have influenced Steve Jobs. He was passionate
about his work and could drive others to perform well.
Steve Jobs’ struggled all his life to find inner calm. Many believe that his pursuit of Zen
Buddhism was in response to the emotional scars as a result of being given up by his
biological parents. His quest led him to India when he was just nineteen years old and he
returned with the conviction that intuition is stronger than the intellect. It had a lasting
influence on his work. For his biography Isaacson has included the perspectives of all the
people he interviewed and, as Steve Jobs insisted, included even those incidents he was not
proud of.
Glossary
Pong : a 1972 video game, similar to table tennis.
hippie kid : ‘Hippie’ is a derivative of ‘hip’ meaning fashionable. Refers to a
youth movement that began in the college campuses of the US,
advocating a non-materialistic lifestyle, non-violence and love.
prickly : easily irritated.

20
brashness : rude manner.
Insert quarter,
Avoid Klingons : these are the instructions for Atari’s popular video game ‘Pong’. It
means 1. Insert a 25 cent coin and don’t speak Klingon, the
language spoken by aliens in Star Trek, a popular TV show.
Neem Karoli Baba : a guru with an ashram in Kainchi, in Nainital district. Neem Karoli
Baba (1900-1973) was believed to have been an incarnation of
Lord Hanuman. Many Americans travelled to his ashram in the 60s
and 70s. Among his followers are many tech wizards; Mark
Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and Jeffrey Skoll, co-founder of
eBay.
simpatico : likeable and easy to get along with.
baksheesh : a small amount of money given as a tip or bribe.
dive : a hotel with unpleasant conditions.
ascetic experience : living an extremely simple life.
Zen Buddhism : a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment
by direct intuition through meditation.
experiental wisdom : knowledge gained through experience, as opposed to that acquired
from books.
prajna : the purest form of wisdom and understanding.
ambient sounds : background sounds such as rain, birds.
commune : a group of people living together, sharing resources, income,
beliefs.
Freudian : relating to Sigmund Freud.
haiku : a Japanese poem with only 17 syllables.
‘Be Here Now’ : book written by Baba Ram Dass, or Richard Alpert, an American
disciple of Neem Karoli Baba, who popularized Eastern spirituality
in the West.
paddle games : games similar to tennis.
breadboard : a wooden board used as a base to build electronic circuits.
shortchange : to give somebody less money than due.
take-no-prisoners
attitude : to be determined and not care about others.

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Questions
(i) Write a few lines about Jobs’ experience in India.
(ii) Based on this chapter, prepare a character sketch of Steve Jobs.
6. Conclusion
In this part of the Study Material you have read about a variety of life narratives. Kamala
Das’s autobiography My Story is a deeply intimate account of her life. The second chapter
‘The House in Park Street’ is about her early childhood in Calcutta. She writes about her
loneliness and her parents’ loveless marriage with directness.
Mayank Austen Soofi’s book Nobody Can Love You More introduces us to those
members of society who exist on the margins, with no official recognition as a workforce. In
the first chapter of the book he interviews Sushma, attempting to acquaint his readers with
her life and that of many others like her. In a matter of fact manner, without appealing for the
reader’s pity he manages to give a compassionate account of Delhi’s red-light district.
Though we never get to know what really goes on in Sushma’s head. The narrator is unafraid
to talk about his own emotions: his changing moods, his occasional revulsion, and prejudices.
Kishalay Bhattacharjee’s article ‘Back to Where I Never Belonged’ is an attempt to place
personal pain in a larger, political context. Alienation exists in many forms; the kind felt in a
marriage, at the workplace, or in the family. Sometimes a person can feel isolated even within
the larger community. Bhattacharjee’s article is about his memories of growing up in
Shillong, during the peak of the anti-foreigner/ anti-Bengali agitation in the 1980s. Now, as a
journalist he returns to Shillong, fifteen years after being driven away and walks around the
town, observing changes and reviewing his bitterness against the backdrop of the troubled
history of northeast India. The article documents his changing perceptions.
Steve Jobs’ life was the stuff movies are made of; being given up by his parents for
adoption, his quest for spiritual solace, success and riches at a very young age after launching
Apple, an illegitimate daughter he didn’t acknowledge for many years, his ouster from the
company he founded and then became its CEO after Apple acquired NeXT. Isaacson’s
biography of Jobs is an in-depth account of a man who, throughout his life, kept his personal
life under wraps. In the fourth chapter, Isaacson documents the years immediately after Steve
dropped out of Reed College. There is an account of his seven-month long visit to India in
1974 in search of a guru. He learned many lessons while wandering around the villages of
India.
The overall picture that emerges is of a complex man; a billionaire who believed in
simplicity and a dictator at work, whose methods are now studied by students of business
management. Isaacson remains in the background, while documenting the life of the
legendary figure.
Each piece has its distinct narrative style. Where Kamala Das’ autobiography is intensely
personal, Kishalay Bhattacharjee switches between personal memory and political

22
commentary. Kamala Das includes numerous little details in her story but Bhattacharjee
leaves out a lot of things, with the focus on his feelings of alienation in his own country.
Walter Isaacson never intrudes into his narration, yet creates a fascinating picture of Steve
Jobs. On the other hand, Mayank Austen Soofi is part of the story-telling; standing outside
the kothas with the sex workers, to observe them at work. In all you have read a variety of
life narratives and must have formed a fairly good picture of this category of writing.

23
 Unit 2

Exploring Poetry
P.K. Satapathy

2.1 Introduction
We have already covered some aspects of Understanding Poetry in semester I/II. We
studied poems by Maya Angelou and others. We discussed various literary devices used by
the poets and how we can use our knowledge of literary techniques used by the poets to make
meaning out of the poems that we read. In this semester we will continue with the same and
take it forward by discussing various kinds of poetry and observe how different poets use
different techniques to achieve the different poetic effects. We will try and understand how
different poets use different poetic forms and techniques to express the same thought and how
different forms impact the production of meaning. The list of suggested readings has poems
by four poets and we will try to discuss some of them here. However, our discussion of the
poems will be limited to some thematic issues, use of techniques and form. Some of the
things that we will cover in this lesson are:
 The basic differences between prose and poetry.
 What is form and how form influences content and vive-versa.
 How the context plays a crucial role in our understanding of poems.
 How to identify various poetic elements used in different kinds of poems.
 Writing a critical response to a poem and writing slam poetry
 Appreciate the significance of pauses and rhythm in recitations and poetry
reading by listening to audio/video clips of poets reading their poems.

2.2 Learning Objectives

After going through this lesson you should be able to:
 Use the context to make meaning of the poems that you read
 Identify various poetic devices and techniques used in various kinds of poems that
you read and use them in writing poems on your own
 Write a critical essay on any poem that you are studying.
 Appreciate the importance of rhythm and pauses in poetry recitations.
 Understand the concepts of denotation and connotation and use them in writing
poems.

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2.3 How to read a poem?
It is not unusual to come across large number of students who find reading and writing about
poetry tedious and difficult. When one talks to the students, they often complain that poetry is
difficult to understand and the question that occupies them most is “how to make sense of
poetry?” Is poetry really difficult to understand? What is it about poetry that sets it apart
from, let’s say, a prose narrative? Is it possible to read poems the way one reads a short story
or do we need some special skills to make sense of poetry? These are some of the questions
that we will try and answer in the following sections.
2.4 How is poetry different from prose?
Let us begin by looking at the novel The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth. Book I of The Golden
Gate is recommended reading for you and you will do well to go through it once or twice.
To make a start more swift and weighty,
Hail Muse. Dear Reader, once upon
A time, say, circa 1980,
There lived a man. His name was John.
Successful in his field though only
Twenty-six, respected, lonely,
One evening as he walked across
Golden Gate Park, the ill-judged toss
Of a red frisbee almost brained him.
He thought, "Who'd gloat? Who would be glad?
Would anybody? " As it pained him,
He turned from this dispiriting theme
To ruminations less extreme.
At a very basic level, without going into what the stanza says, all of us can easily identify this
as verse and not prose. The most obvious difference that we notice is the way words and
sentences are arranged and printed on the page. And once we read through Book I we realise
that The Golden Gate has most of the elements of what would constitute a novel except that it
is written in a verse form. The stanzas have fourteen lines of regular length. So we can say
that Vikram Seth uses Sonnets to tell his story and calls it a novel in verse. Telling a story in
verse is not new. We have a long tradition of narrative poetry in various cultures including
our own. Much of it begins with the traditions of oral poetry. But we will not go into that
discussion here. What is of interest to us here is the fact that verses are used to write novels
and at the same time verses are used to compose poems as well. Please remember that verses
and poems are not exactly one and the same thing. Versification is a process through which,
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typically though not necessarily, a poem is created. Then what is it that differentiates prose
writing from poetry? As we observed right at the beginning, we can safely say that the first
difference we notice is the way prose and poetry is visually presented. Prose, which is the
preferred medium of novelists, is generally presented in paragraphs laid out one after the
other and on the other hand poetry is organised in lines of various lengths, stanzas, etc. that
actually advertises itself as poetry.
The next thing that catches our attention in that the first stanza of The Golden Gate begins
with an invocation, “Hail Muse”, to quickly begin the story and it quickly goes on to tell us
about John. The invocation is a part of the epic tradition and is not used in prose writings.
Moreover, grammatically, the sentence structure doesn’t look like or feel like prose. For
instance, if we were writing the same thing in prose we could perhaps write, “Once upon a
time, say around the year 1980, there lived a man named John. Though he was only twenty
six, he was successful in his field. He was respected and lonely.” So the second difference
that we notice between prose and poetry is that prose is generally based on a basic
grammatical structure and follows the natural speech patterns. It uses complete grammatical
sentences and is composed in paragraphs to express a thought, an idea, tell a story, or develop
an argument, etc. Poetry, on the other hand, uses language in a way that is less precise and
more evocative or suggestive. Poetry uses figurative language, rhythm, rhyme, metrical
structures, and many other literary devices that are not frequently used in prose pieces.
However there is considerable overlap between prose and poetry when it comes to using
literary devices like metaphor, similes, etc. and that it may not be always possible to put them
in separate water tight compartments, especially when we are dealing with contemporary
poetry and prose. So we can say that poetry differs from prose primarily in its “form”.
Check Your Progress 1
1. How is poetry different from prose?
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2.5 What is Form?

In the previous section we discussed the difference between prose and poetry and found that
poetry and prose differ from each other, essentially, in their form. Let us continue that
discussion further and try to find out more about form. Often, when we talk about poetic
form, what essentially we are referring to is meter, rhythm, rhyme, syntax and other literary
devices that are used in poetry. But is form a sum total of all the parts of a poem?

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2.5.1 The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse We have seen that The Golden Gate begins with a
poetic invocation to the “Muse” in the true epic tradition. It also uses the sonnet as its
preferred medium to tell us a story. The sonnet itself has many variations and patterns that
different poets have used at different times. Seth uses a sonnet form that is known as the
Onegin sonnet named after the novel Eugene Onegin written by the Russian poet Alexander
Pushkin by using this particular kind of sonnet. The sonnets in Golden Gate have an
AbAb/CCdd/EffE/gg rhyme scheme which is slightly different from the rhyme scheme of the
sonnet used by Pushkin. You will notice that ‘weighty’ of the first line rhymes with ‘1980’ of
the third line and ‘upon’ of the second line rhymes with ‘John’ of the fourth line and so on.
The stanza has three quatrains (four lines) and ends with a couplet (two lines). Generally the
couplet (two lines) affords the poet the opportunity to a thematic break. So if we read the first
three quatrains we get to know that though John is a successful man he is lonely and it pains
him to reflect on the fact that he has no one who cares about him. To get away from these
depressing thoughts he starts thinking about thinks that are less extreme. This turning away
happens in the last two lines.
He turned from this dispiriting theme
To ruminations less extreme.
The sonnet form allows Seth to introduce John in the first four lines. In the first couplet of the
next four lines we get to know two important things about John that sets the story off and
then in the next two lines we are told about an incident that sets off a chain of thought in the
next four lines. The last two breaks off the chain in another direction. Now, if Seth wanted to
write this in prose he could have done it very well. But would it have been as interesting?
There can’t be any definite answer to that question because it is primarily a matter of taste.
But what is undeniable is that Seth manages to weave in a lot of strands of thoughts and ideas
in a beautiful ironic mix in just one stanza. For instance a simple accidental throw of a
Frisbee becomes a momentous occasion where John is forced to confront the fact that despite
his success he has no one who would miss him if he were to die. This is a thought that is
unbearable and hence he diverts his mind away.
While we were able to identify the sonnet form in the Golden Gate, that is not the entire
story. Poetic form is not just a specific arrangement of lines and stanzas to produce a specific
poetic effect. When we refer to poetic form we refer to a whole host of things from the
metrical arrangement to the metaphoric and the symbolic form. When we read this one
stanza, we realise that Vikram Seth is able to compress a very important part of John`s life
and thoughts in just fourteen lines which otherwise would have taken up a lot of space in
prose. We know now that John`s success in his professional life has come at a cost that puts
his success in perspective. His success in professional life has his failure to forge social
relationships as its counterpoint. This is the special quality of poetry; a convergence of forms
that act upon each other to create a world. Poetry tells us many things if you engage with it.
The more we ask the more it reveals itself. It tells us things that we might have thought about
at times but were not able to put together. And that is the beauty of it.
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Check Your Progress 2
1. What are some of the important features of Onegin Sonnet?
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2.5.2 Usage: A prose poem by Hayan Charara In the previous section we discussed a novel
in verse. In this section we will discuss a prose poem by an Arab American poet. When we
say Arab American we are referring to the Arab origins of the poet. Charara happens to be the
son of Lebanese immigrants. Let us have a look at the poem. It is a long poem so we will just
focus on the first twentyfive/thirty lines of the poem.

Usage
By Hayan Charara
An assumption, a pejorative, an honest language,
an honorable death. In grade school, I refused to accept
the mayor’s handshake; he smiled at everyone except
people with names like mine. I was born here.
I didn’t have to adopt America, but I adapted to it.
You understand: a man must be averse to opinions
that have adverse impacts on whether he lives
or dies. “Before taking any advice, know the language
of those who seek to advise you.” Certain words
affected me. Sand nigger, I was called. Camel jockey.
What was the effect? While I already muttered
under my breath, I did so even more. I am not
altogether sure we can all together come. Everything
was not all right. Everything is not all right.
Imagine poetry without allusions to Shakespeare,
Greek mythology, the Bible; or allusions without
the adjectives “fanatical,” “extremist,” “Islamic,”

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“right,” “left,” “Christian,” “conservative,” “liberal.”
Language written or translated into a single tongue
gives the illusion of tradition. A lot of people murder
language—a lot fully aware. Among all the dead,
choose between “us” and “them.” Among all the names
for the dead—mother, father, brother, sister,
husband, wife, child, friend, colleague, neighbor,
teacher, student, stranger—choose between
“citizen” and “terrorist.” And poet? Immoral,
yes, but never amoral? Large amounts, the number
between 75 and 90 percent of the estimated
150 million to 1 billion—civilians—killed during wars,
over all of recorded human history. Anxious is “worried”
or “apprehensive.” American poetry, Americans.
Young, I learned anyone born here could become
President. Older, I can point to any one of a hundred
reasons why this is a lie. Anyway, I don’t want to be
President, not of a country, or club, not here or there,
not anywhere. He said, “I turned the car around because
it began raining bombs.” There’s no chance of ambiguity—
an as here could mean “because” or “when”; it makes
no difference—he saw the sky, felt the ground,
knew what would come next; it matters little
when the heart rate in less than a second jumps from
70 to 200 beats per minute. What they did
to my grandfather was awful—its wretchedness,
awe-inspiring; its cruelty, terrible; it was awfully
hard to forget. Just after 8:46 AM, I wondered awhile
what would happen next. At 9:03 AM, I knew
there was going to be trouble for a while to come.

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When we look at the poem Usage the first thing that strikes us is the lack of stanzas. It looks
like one long paragraph except that it is not a paragraph and doesn’t follow any grammatical
rules of sentence construction. So, in a sense, it neither looks like a poem nor does it look like
a piece of prose writing. But then when we read the poem we notice that it has many poetic
devices like repetition, use of literary devices like metaphors and other figures of speech, an
implied rhythm and devices like alliteration, juxtaposition, and many other effects. We could
call it a prose poem then.
Prose poem is not exactly a new innovation by Hayan Charara. It originated in the west, in
France and Germany, in the 19th century. The obvious reason for using the prose poem form
was to break away from the strict composition rules of traditional verse poetry. However, it
did not achieve much success. Prose poems made a comeback in the early 1950s and 1960s in
the United States of America. Poets like Allen Ginsberg, John Ashbery, and others used it
successfully and the prose poem gained acceptance as well as some amount of popularity.
Without going into a detailed historical survey, let’s try and figure out the advantages of
using the prose poem form and see how Hayan Charara uses the form in his poem Usage.
The first advantage of the prose poem form is that it is a permissive form and frees the poet
from the constraints of a formal structure. The poet can be inventive, abrupt in his
formulations, mix a narrative with a non-narrative, and do a host of other things that a strictly
poetic form does not allow. Charara`s poem, Usage, begins quite abruptly.
An assumption, a pejorative, an honest language,
an honorable death. In grade school, I refused to accept
the mayor’s handshake; he smiled at everyone except
people with names like mine. I was born here.
I didn’t have to adopt America, but I adapted to it.

The title of the poem has already given us an idea that language and its use/misuse will be
one of the main themes. The fact that there are a large number of words that are easily mixed
up is brought home by italicizing them and demonstrating their correct usage. Words like
accept/except, adopt/adapt are highlighted in the first few lines itself. These words draw our
attention not just towards possible misuse but also towards complex social problems. But the
poem is not just about language. It is also about the assumptions and prejudices that it creates.
He is faced with prejudice that is triggered by the assumption that by virtue of being an Arab,
he must necessarily hold a particular world view that is unacceptable to the American people.
The Mayor doesn’t smile at people with Arab names. But the poet asserts that he is as
American as anyone else. He did not have to adopt America because he is born an American.
And yet he had to adapt to America or in other words he learnt to deal with the racial
discrimination that the Arabs were subjected to. Charara goes on to tell us the story of his
grandfather, the horrors of war on an unsuspecting people, and the difficulty of being an Arab

30
American in the poem. When we take into account the complex themes of the poem, it
becomes easier to understand the choice of the prose poem form that Charara makes.
By using a prose poem form Charara is able to use a variety of forms like quotations (“Before
taking any advice, know the language of those who seek to advise you.”), statistics (Large
amounts, the number between 75 and 90 percent of the estimated 150 million to 1 billion—
civilians—killed during wars), references to political figures (Dick Cheney), etc to mix up
facts, images, and narrative to create tension. He is able to mix up the unexpected with the
known that leads to ironic turns and produces meaning.
What they did
to my grandfather was awful—its wretchedness,
awe-inspiring; its cruelty, terrible; it was awfully
hard to forget. Just after 8:46 AM, I wondered awhile
what would happen next. At 9:03 AM, I knew
there was going to be trouble for a while to come.
Charara had said in an interview that the poem opens doors to a conversation. The poem talks
to people, shares experiences, and, in the process, reveals what is barely visible. A poem
doesn’t reveal a truth but it contains clues to reach truths and knowledge and a reader must
engage with it to find his own truth. Chara uses the prose poem brilliantly to explore the
complex world of the Arab American.

Check Your Progress 3

1. What is a prose poem?
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2. What are the advantages of using the prose poem?
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2.6 How to read a poem?

There is no magic formula to read and make meaning of poems. We use a variety of tools to
read and understand poems. The first and the obvious thing to do is to understand the words
on the page. Once we have done that we move on to decipher the various references and
allusions made in the poem. We look at the various literary devices and the symbols used in
the poem, the form and structure of the poem, and various other things that goes into writing
poetry. However, we will not go into all the details here. We will focus instead on trying to

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understand denotation and connotation in poetry which a very basic exercise so far as reading
poems is concerned.
2.6.1 Denotation/Connotation
In very simple terms denotation refers to the literal or actual meaning of the word and
connotation refers to the not only the actual meaning of the word or in other words refers to
the meaning of a word that you will find in the dictionary. Connotations of a word, on the
other hand, would also include all emotions associated with the word. While connotation and
denotation are always a consideration in any kind of writing, it is mostly in poetry that we see
the maximum as well as most impactful deployment of these literary devices. Writers of
descriptive or expository prose generally rely on the denotative aspect of language because
they need to convey something as directly and as logically as possible. Consequently they
need to use precise language. On the other hand, poets generally tend to use the connotative
aspect of language because they need to convey an experience, an emotion, feelings, etc.
Connotation of words includes both positive associations and negative associations as the
case may be. Since associations are culture specific, native users of a language are always
more comfortable with the connotations of words and find it easier to recognise and
appreciate them. Native speakers mostly tend to use connotations appropriately as it comes
almost naturally to them.
It will be a mistake to think of the denotative and connotative aspect of words separately from
each other. They exist together. Words acquire additional meanings or connotations over a
period of time. Hence connotations of words keep growing and represent the evolution of
socio-cultural practices. For instance sentences like “He is a blind man”, few years back,
simply meant that the person did not have eye sight. But over the years it has acquired
negative connotations and is no longer used to describe a man without eye sight. We now say
that the person is visually impaired or differently abled. Both visually impaired and blind
roughly mean the same thing but the word blind has negative connotations.
Let us look at the poem Gargi`s Silence by Rukmini Bhaya Nair. Gargi, is a pupil of the rishi
Yagnavalka. Her insatiable desire for knowledge makes her question her guru incessantly.
This is something unusual in our ancient guru-shishya tradition. However, Gargi is silent now
and in the first stanza the poet highlights Gargi`s silence that is pervasive.
Where in the barefoot world you wander
Will go with you Gargi’s untamed
Silence…………………………….
………………………………………
Her questions fall like soot, black rain
Stir in his groin, make him young again

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The phrase untamed silence simply means that Gargi`s was nor forced to fall silent. Prefixing
silence with untamed the poet is able to point out the complex nature of her silence. What sets
Gargi apart from other women of her time is that she is almost a rebel. But then why did she
fall silent? Was her questioning nature untameable? Was she wild? By using a word like
untamed the poet opens up a way to the complex working of Gargi`s mind. Her questions
perplex and he appeals to her to fall silent. Was he wrong? Her questions obviously trouble
Yagnavalka because he does not have the answers and yet it is this questioning that makes
her desirable. Yagnavalka tries to silence her. But she is untameable. She cannot be tamed
into silence. Her silence, just like her questions, must come from within. By using a word like
untamed, which has several connotations, the poet is able to add layers of meaning to the
simple fact that Gargi likes to question. As an interesting turn, Yagnavalka`s, helplessness,
his inability to answer the questions, sends Gargi on an inward trajectory. Women have been
silenced into their marginal existence by men for a long time. But here, in the context of the
questions Gargi asks, silence could be a way of knowing. Gargi finally falls silent but this
silence is born out of knowledge.
Or let us look at the poem Light-in-The-Night by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih.
Do not ask me the why and the wherefore,
poetry is anoetic, you might as well question the rooster,
or the plums, why they put on spring blossoms.
But how and when poetry first came to me?
If you insist let me flip through the folios of memory.

As you can see, the poem begins with the question about how the poet came to write poetry
in the first place. Though the poet insists that asking him this question is like asking the
rooster how it managed to get its colourful feathers, but he is willing to try and find an
answer. But to find an answer he needs to flip through the folios of memory. Now notice the
use of the words folios of memory. Is it possible that he could have just said “I have to refresh
my memory”? The answer is yes but then that would have completely destroyed the image
that is built up in the first stanza. A folio connotes a careful filing away of important
documents and here it suggests that the poet has carefully filed away those significant
memories that tell the story of his own inner evolution. Or consider a line like “Poetry came
like an illness: a young woman, abandoned and alone”. Illness is a disease. But if we look at
just the denotation of the word then it has sickness, ailment, malady, etc. as its synonyms. But
none of these words have the same connotation as illness which connotes a totally
overpowering emotion that takes hold of both body and mind. It is something that connotes a
state of mind as well. It is these connotations that provide poignancy to the entire stanza. It is
a suffering in the soul that led the poet to writing his first few lines.

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So we can see that it is the connotative dimension of words that adds depth of meaning and
experience to poetry and consequently, poets spend a lot of time in choosing the right with
the right connotations to express their feelings or emotions or creating an image.

Check Your Progress 5

1. What is denotation and connotation?
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2. Why is the connotative aspect of words so very important for poets?

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3. Given below are a few sets of words that, roughly, denote the same thing. Try and list
out a few connotations of the words to show how they differ from each other:
(Home/House) (Unattractive/Ugly)
(Slender/Skinny) (Domineering/Assertive)
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2.7 Slam Poetry

There is another kind of poetry that has gained in popularity over the last three decades. And
that is Slam poetry. Slam poetry is essential poetry that is performed on a stage. This form of
poetry developed in the early 1980s in North America and has steadily gained acceptance in a
large number of countries. Poetry slams have become a regular feature in some of the metro
cities in India as well. But what is it?
2.7.1 How did it all begin?
A former construction worker named Marc Kelly Smith from Chicago is considered as the
founder of slam poetry. Smith felt that poetry had lost touch with the common people and
consequently lost the passion that should be associated with poetry. So, his initial plan was to
bring poetry back into the lives of common people by organising poetry recitation events. In
any case, poetry was always meant to be recited and not just written down to be read quietly
by a reader sitting alone in a quiet corner of the house. To make this recitation more

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attractive, he organised competitions with some very simple ground rules. There were no
rules of composition. The poems had to be original work of the poet and the competition was
judged by 5 judges picked up randomly from the audience. The audience had the right to
criticise or slam any poet they did not like. The name Slam Poetry, perhaps, comes from this
freedom of the audience to slam a poet in public.
Given the circumstances of the public performances, it would seem logical that the subject
matter of this kind of poetry had to be something that people could easily connect with.
Hence the subjects, typically, centred on social issues, politics, art, media. Slam poetry is
performed on a stage and more often than not, the poet is not allowed to use musical
instruments or any other accompaniment except their own bodies. With slam poetry two
important things happened: 1) There was a renewed interest in poetry and poetry moved
closer to people’s social experiences and 2) many poets who could not otherwise exercise
their craft in print due to the economics of book printing got a chance to show their poetic
creations. That is not to say that poets were happy with the competitive nature of slam poetry
or the total lack of any formal guidelines. Nevertheless, slam poetry was successful, to some
extent in bringing poetry closer to the common man on the street. Given below is a link to a
slam performance. It will give you an idea about how important performance to slam poetry.
You could find hundreds of videos of slam competitions on YouTube. Please do watch a few
to get a better idea about what it is like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
2.7.2 Slam Poetry in India
Over the last few years, slam poetry has become very popular in India though it is mainly
confined to some metro cities, university campuses and online poetry slams. The interesting
thing about slam poetry in India is that it has encouraged a large number of young men and
more importantly young women to have a voice and speak on issues ranging from, women’s
oppression to LGBT rights, to politics and generally challenge the status quo. But, as with
every emerging art form, lack of any kind of formal criteria, much of slam poetry slips into
mediocrity. However, it is still an evolving form in India and will take a little time to mature.
Given below are some links to slam poetry in India. Please explore the links and watch some
of these slam events. You will notice that most of the slam poets in India are young and their
poetry is mostly about breaking free from restrictive social structures, gender roles, rights of
the poor, etc. Most of the poets use free verse with very little or no rhyme at all. But many of
them observe a beat in the performance. Since the focus is on performance the focus often is
to establish an emotional connection with the audience. The performances are high on energy
and body language.
https://www.delhipoetryslam.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz4K0xwdVag

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Check Your Progress 6
1. What is slam poetry?
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2. What kind of subjects are popular with slam poets and why?
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2.8 Let us sum up

In this section, we have discussed some important features of novels in verse, prose poems
and slam poetry. We have also discussed the importance denotation/connotation in poetry.
We have also discussed the importance of form in writing poetry. In the section on novel in
verse, we see how Vikram Seth uses a special kind of sonnet form, the Onegin sonnet, to
write a novel and the advantages of using the verse form to write on the specific subject
matter that he was dealing with in The Golden Gate. Similarly, we have discussed the
advantages of using the prose poem form in writing about the complex Arab American
experience in the poem Usage by Hayan Charara.
We also discussed how to read poems by paying attention to the denotative and connotative
possibilities of words. We saw how poets like Rukmini Bhaiya Nair and Kynpham Sing
Nongkynrih are careful is choosing words and language keeping in mind the connotative
possibilities of words in their poems Gargi`s Silence and Light-in-The-Night. And in the final
section we looked at the origin of slam poetry and some of its features and slam poetry in
India. There are a few links that will direct you to some slam performances. Use them to
learn more about slam performances and, if you are an aspiring slam poet, incorporate them
into your own practice of slam poetry.

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 Exploring Drama Unit 3

Beyond the Land of Hattamala

Badal Sarkar
Nalini Prabhakar

Learning Objectives
This lesson will enable you to:
 Understand the defining features of the Third Theatre
 Analyse the play “Beyond the Land of Hattamala” by Badal Sarkar, as a performance
in the Third Theatre.
3.1 Introduction
The primary distinction between drama and other genres of literature is that, drama is meant
to be performed. Therefore when you are asked to read a play and analyse the same, you
should pay attention not just to the dialogues on the page but also to the stage directions,
scene settings, characterization etc. In short, you have to imagine yourself as the audience
and visualize it as a performance. The play suggested for your reading is “Beyond the Land
of Hattamala”, a one act play written by Badal Sarkar. Our primary focus in this unit is to
identify and understand the principal elements of drama and the various dramatic devices
used by the dramatist.
3.1.1 The playwright
Badal Sarkar's (1925-2011) prolific work as a playwright and director has influenced
generations of playwrights and left a deep imprint on the modern Indian theatre movement.
The subject of his plays was anti-establishment in nature and early in his career he realized
that if his plays have to connect with the masses, then the staging of the plays must move out
of the conventional proscenium theatre, into open public spaces. To this end he experimented
with both the form and the language of theatre. Taking inspiration from Grotowskis' “Poor
Theatre” he started a movement in the Indian theatre called the “Third Theatre”. Grotowski
staged plays on a bare stage, with few or no props and no scenery. He kept the costumes
simple and the audience would sit close to the stage. The term “Third Theatre” however was
coined by Eugenio Barba to mark a break from the two kinds of theatre popular in the
European cultural world;
1. Institutionalized, traditional theatre and 2. Avant-grade theatre where the emphasis
was on going beyond traditional theatre by continuously experimenting with new forms and
expression. In Barba's scheme of things, the “Third Theatre” lives on the margins of the
centres of culture created by people for whom theatre is a way of life. All schools and styles
of drama both traditional and avant-garde are discarded by practitioners of “Third Theatre” in
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favour of new expression, often cross-cultural. Although the term is Barba's, Sarkar's “Third
theatre is situated firmly in the Indian context and cultural ethos, influenced in main by
Grotowski's experiments in “Poor Theatre.”
3.1.2 Sarkar's Third Theatre: Sarkar offered “Third Theatre” as an alternative to the First
theatre (Folk and Rural theatre Jatra) and Second theatre (Urban Proscenium theatre). Phukon
and Borthakur argue that this theatre however does not constitute a complete break from the
First and Second theatre, but is an amalgamation of both with new elements added to it. To
bring the plays closer to the masses, Sarkar wrote plays for Third Theatre which were free
from the limitations imposed by traditional theatre. These plays were designed to be
performed anywhere and under all conditions, because whatever was necessary for staging of
the plays could be easily carried by the theatre group themselves. All the important
paraphernalia of traditional theatre like elaborate sets, spot lights, costumes, props, scenery
etc were dispensed with for the performance of these plays. Instead of people going to the
theatre, the theatre went to the people. The distance between the stage and the audience was
eliminated by staging the plays in either halls or courtyards (Anganmancha) or in the free
open spaces (Muktamancha).
In both these categories, the audience is around the actors and acting space and use the
same light and platform. There is no special elevated stage which separates the audience from
the actors. The other aspect of traditional theatre where the stage is lighted and audience sits
in darkness is also absent here. I have already mentioned that all the things associated with
staging of plays is done away with in Third theatre. Let us briefly list them here before we
proceed: 1.Costumes, 2. Makeup, 3. Lights, 4. Sound System, 5. Sets, 6. Music, 7. Scenery,
8. Separate stage, 9. Props. The music, props and lights when used are pretty basic and can be
easily carried and arranged.
Now, in the absence of all these, you may well ask, how can the play be performed
effectively? It is here that we see the influence of the Polish director Grotowski and his idea
of “Poor Theatre”. The Poor Theatre was not in any sense like Sarkar's “Muktamancha” but
the basic principles are the same. The only thing important is acting, acting where body
movement postures and expression express the basic idea of the play. The success of a play in
Third theatre rests wholly on the ability of actors to sing dance, express in gestures and body
movements.
So far we have discussed aspects of stagecraft in Third Theatre. Let us now move to the
subject matter. This is a very important component because it always carries a strong
message. Sarkar in his ideological beliefs was of socialist persuasion. His entire endeavour
was to bring theatre to the working class, marginalized people who otherwise cannot afford
the luxury of proscenium theatre. Participating in the Anganmancha/Muktamancha plays as
audience did not come with a cost. At the end of the performance, whoever felt like making a
contribution could do so, mostly very small amounts and this was wholly voluntary.
Check your progress
1. How is Badal Sarkar’s Third Theatre different from the conventional theatre?
38
3.2 Analysis of the Play
The play “Beyond the Land of Hattamala”, written by Badal Sarkar for the Third
Theatre, is a very simple and uncomplicated play, but what is complex is the play of ideas.
There is a message so powerful, that it undermines and questions the values carefully created
and assiduously encouraged within our society.
3.2.1 Plot and Basic Theme
Two thieves Kenaram and Becharam, residents of Hattamala are being chased by
villagers, and to escape their wrath, they jump into a river. They go under the water and the
villagers leave giving them up for dead. They however wake up in an unfamiliar land. The
way of life in this new land is incomprehensible to the two thieves. Here, there is no concept
of money or ownership, and buying and selling as a concept has not been heard of in this
land. Each citizen is provided clothes, food, etc. according to his/her needs and each one
works as per his/her interest and aptitude. There is no concept of hierarchization of labour or
of things. A fruit seller and a doctor stand on the same footing, just as expensive jewellery
and books and all other things stand on the same footing. All non-perishable things are free
for use on a returnable basis which keeps things in circulation and the burden of ownership is
eliminated. The people in this land have created a truly egalitarian society. This way of life
critiques the society we live in, based on hierarchical structures, full of divisions and
differences based on wealth, caste, class and religion. The new land has happy citizens,
singing, dancing and working in harmony. They are happy because there is no poverty, greed,
crime, hunger, and unemployment.
It is not surprising that Kenaram and Becharam are initially misfits here, for as their
names suggest they are used to a world which believes in “buy” (Kena in Bengali means
Buy) and “sell” (Becha means sell), where wealth is god and private ownership the norm. By
the end of the play both Kena and Becha are converted to the ethos of this new land and join
in the celebratory chorus.
Check your progress
1. Explain the plot of the play.
2. How is the new land different from Hattamala?
3.2.2 The Play as a Performance in Third Theatre
When you read the play for the first time, you might find it confusing, especially figuring out
characters and the stage directions. There are many videos of this play available on the
Youtube. Most of them however cannot be called the Third Theatre, which is our main focus
here. There is one performance “Beyond the Land of Hattamala – School Show” which
comes closest to the way Sarkar envisaged it. You are advised to watch it. Click on the link
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlWGZoU2Fg

39
 Before we move on to summarize the action of the play, let us keep these following
points in mind, which will make our understanding of the play meaningful.
The characters: There are many characters in this play but only 10 actors. Two actors
get to perform fixed characters with a name, Kena and Becha. The other actors have fluid
roles in the sense that they do not have fixed roles to perform. Each actor performs many
roles in the play, therefore they are referred to in the stage directions by numbers – One, Two,
Three etc. Not only does each actor play the role of many characters, but they also become
props that are essential for creating the ambience of the scenes in the play.
For instance, One, Two, Three and Four are seen in the opening scene as villagers
chasing the thieves Kena and Becha, and then become cows in the cowshed, and then become
the river, and are joined by Six, Seven And Eight. Five is the house wife in the opening scene
and later becomes the old woman sitting under the coconut trees.In scene two, all seven
villagers become trees in the new land and later on the houses, fountain, gate etc. One, is the
supervisor of the eatery and also of the fruit shop.
Scene Settings
The stage is bare except for the actors, with the audience sitting around, close to the area
of performance and there are no special effects on the stage. The scene setting is created by
the actors themselves.
To understand this concept of stagecraft in the Third Theatre more clearly, look at the
following pictures. These pictures are screenshots from the performance “Beyond the Land of
Hattamala – School Show” available on the Youtube.

Pic-1: Villagers as cows in the cowshed. Instead of the placard, a simple paper mask of a cow
can also be used.

40
Pic–2: Characters as the river. In this performance sarees are being used to depict the river,
but in the original stage direction, seven villagers stand in two rows facing each other making
the movement of waves.

41
Pic–3: Trees.

Pic–4: Coconut trees

42
Pic–5: Town is made, houses gate, fountains.

Pic–6: Eatery

43
Pic–7: Kena making hole in the wall. Villagers are the wall.

Pic–8: People of new land singing and dancing

44
 Music: Music invariably means a change of scene in the play, which is mostly imitation
of musical instruments by actors, or music played on portable musical instruments. Other
sounds of lowing cows, bird calls, barking dogs are also made by the actors.

Check your progress

1. How is the staging of this play different from staging a conventional play? Explain
with reference to characters and settings.

3.2.3 Summary and Analysis of the Play

Scene–1 Hattamala Village
Two thieves Kenaram and Becharam are being chased by four villagers. To escape their
wrath, the thieves hide in a cowshed. On being discovered by the housewife, they start
running again, and when cornered jump into the river. The villagers leave, giving them up for
dead. (Refer to Pic–1 and Pic-2.)
Scene–2: Garden in a new land, Sound of Birds.
Kena and Becha wake up in unfamiliar surroundings to the call of birds, and cannot
believe they are still alive. They take stock of their bearings and see smoke in a distance. This
they realize is not Hattamala as they are in the midst of a lovely garden. They start walking in
the direction of the smoke, but are fearful of getting caught. They ask a passer-by, where they
can find water to drink. They are told that water would be available in the town, but they can
meanwhile quench their thirst by drinking coconut water, available nearby. (Refer to Pic–3)
Scene–3: • An old woman sitting under coconut trees.
• Music
The old woman offers Kena and Becha, green coconut. Kena ask the old woman the
price for the coconut. She simply replies “As much as you can drink”. She doesn't understand
their question and they don't understand her answer. They pretend to have left the wallet at
home and promise to give her cash the next day. The old woman is confused by the word
“cash”. Old woman:
“What's cash?”
...
Hash? On did they say
“Sash” or “ash? God knows!”
(Refer to Pic–4)

Check your progress

1. Why does the old woman not understand the word “cash”?

45
 Scene–4: • Tower – Houses, Garden, Fountain and gate.
• Music
Kena and Becha enter the town. Since they are scared of getting caught, they ask two
passers by the location of the police station, in order to avoid going near it. They are told that
there is no place called the police station. Unable to digest this piece of information Kena
tries out the synonyms “prison”, “jail” and “dungeon”. The two passers-by interpret
“dungeon” to mean “luncheon” and direct Kena and Becha to the eatery. Kena says “My
God! We have come to a country of idiots”. This is highly ironical coming from a thief.
Instead of being relieved that there is no police station or a prison, Kena thinks that the land
is full of idiots. They start walking towards the eatery and since they have no money decide
to fool the eatery owner just as they think they fooled the old woman.
(Refer to Pic–5)

Scene–5: • Eatery
• Music
In the eatery two men are serving the food and one man is doing the supervision. Kena
and Becha have a sumptuous meal complete with fish and sweet dish. Kena and Becha notice
that people are eating and leaving without making any payment for the food. Kena asks the
supervisor, if he is the owner of the shop. The supervisor replies
“It's everyone's, belongs to anyone who eats here.” Kena and Becha are in a fix. They
could not slip out and now they are face-to-face with the supervisor and have no money to
pay him. The supervisor makes no reference to money, instead asks for their names to enter
in the ledger – Kena tells him that they will pay at the end of the month. The supervisor like
the old woman says
“Pay? Pay what?”
Kena and Becha are informed that dinner is served between 8 pm–10pm. They are also
told that there is a bigger eating place at the centre of the town which is open all night. Kena,
decides to steal the plates from the eatery which according to him would fetch at least 25
rupees.
(Refer to Pic–6)

Check your progress

1. Do you agree with Kena when he says “This country is full of idiots” ?

Scene–6: • Fruit stall on the street

• Music
Kena and Becha sleep for a while, and later explore the town. Becha is again hungry and
they approach the fruit stall. There is no one at the fruit stall except a person standing on the
46
side who goes inside. They decide to steal the fruits. Just when Kena lifts a bunch of bananas,
the person comes back, Kena puts back the bananas. The shopkeeper offers them more than a
dozen and steps inside the shop again. Just as they decide to run with the fruit, the shopkeeper
returns with a ripe jackfruit and asks them to give it to the doctor at the clinic. True to their
nature, they do not give the doctor the fruit, instead eat it themselves. By this time, Becha is
beginning to think that in this land everything is for free, but cannot believe that such a thing
is possible.
Scene–7: Eatery
This is perhaps the longest scene in the play. Kena is eagerly waiting for the midnight
hour, to enter the eatery and steal the plates. The people of the town are dancing and singing
late into the might. Finally when all is quiet, Kena and Becha start making a hole in the back
wall using the poker. Becha goes to the front to see if there is someone watching them, and
realizes that they need not have taken the trouble of making the hole, because the door to the
eatery is wide open. They could have simply walked in and taken whatever they wanted.
Soon they are discovered by one person who is amazed at the perfect hole made with just two
thin sticks. Because thieving is alien to this land, the person assumes that they are architects
testing the strength of the building. He is soon joined by two others. What none of them can
understand is the necessity of making a hole in the middle of the night. They then assume that
it must be a game, that the two strangers from Hattamala play in their land. Kena owns up to
being a thief and why it is necessary for him to steal. On hearing this, the men from the new
land decide this must be a disease, and that the doctor must be consulted. The question which
puzzles them is, why should someone steal something, when the same is available for free.
Kena, doesn't want to meet the doctor, because he had earlier eaten the jackfruit meant for the
doctor.
In this scene we fully understand the philosophy on which this society is based. The
people in this land do not have the concept of money, although they had heard about it in the
grandmother's stories of Hattamala. Money is useless here because all the things which are
bought using money, are freely available to all the citizens. Even if Kena manages to steal the
plates, where and how would he sell them and more importantly why would anyone buy
them?
Kena and Becha are informed that food, clothes, shoes, ordinary watches are available at
the shops but for jewellery to be worn on special days, books and pictures they must visit the
library to borrow it for their use. (Refer to Pic–7)
Scene–8 • Morning on the street Barber's and Shoe shop on one side
• Music
Kena has decided to rob the library for gold. He asks a passer-by for directions. The
passer-by who works in the library not only gives directions but also gives them information
about the library. The library keeps old pictures, designs, maps, tapestry, manuscripts, books
under lock because they are precious and cannot be replaced if they are torn or broken. Gold
47
and other ornaments are kept on open shelves because there is no such fear of damage. Books
in this library are more valuable than the ornaments. Moreover people in this new land prefer
ornaments made from flowers over gold. This is a telling remark on the idea of market
/economic value. Value is a created notion which depends entirely on demand and supply
and also cultural perceptions. Objects and things simply are, they have no intrinsic value.
Value is attributed to it by the society, which places them in categories of high and low value.
Ornaments are for adornment and the primary concern therefore should be, what is less or
more beautiful and not what is more valuable in the market. If the notion of value is removed
from ornaments, then all ornaments no matter what they are made of would be on par, and
people would choose depending on their individual preferences. It is not surprising that in the
new land where market forces (buy/sell) do not exist, people prefer ornaments made from
colourful, fragrant flowers. The library is locked at 10 p.m. to keep book lovers and scholars
away.
When Kena tells Becha that they should rob the library at night, Becha doesn't see the
point in it. Becha rationalizes saying that all that they want including gold is available for
free, moreover what is the use of stolen goods if they cannot sell them. But Kena is adamant.
They go to the Barber's and get a free shave, and then go to the shoe shop and get themselves
new shoes. After this point Kena is very quiet and thoughtful and refuses to move. Becha on
the other hand is like a child, happy with all the new things. He even visits the library and
borrows a gold watch and diamond ring. Kena is unmoved by Becha's happiness. He neither
eats food, nor moves from the place. Becha leaves again, to watch a movie and returns a little
after 10 p.m. By now it seems as if Becha has not only understood the new land's way of life
but is also extremely happy to embrace it. So, when Kena tells Becha they should now go and
rob the library, Becha is reluctant. His reluctance enrages Kena, and he starts shouting and
threatening Becha and the others who gather at the commotion, with the jemmy and poker.
He also removes his new shoes and throws them. Kena is angry at the thought that
although everything is there for taking, nothing really belongs to him. His problem is
one of ownership. The society of Hattamala and by extension ours lays so much premium on
ownership, that it becomes the be-all and end-all of our existence. For Kena it is as if his
existence is threatened because in this new land he cannot own anything at all. He is
overpowered by the people who pin him down. At this point the doctor arrives and
intervenes. He explains to Kena, that each person works according to his ability and that is
the reason why everything works well in the new land. By the end of the play Kena decides
to work as a builder and Becha wants to grow flowers. The play ends here with a celebratory
song and dance and everyone joins in. (Refer to Pic-8)
Check your progress
1. Why is Kena unhappy?
2. Why are all the people happy in this new land?

48
 3. People in the new land prefer ornaments made from flowers rather than gold. Analyse
this statement in the context of the play.

3.4 Conclusion
This play is prescribed for you to help you understand how a play can be staged with
simple or no props and everyday costumes, with actors depending entirely on their ability to
emote, dance, sing, mime etc. The dialogues are in simple language and colloquial style. If
you have an interesting subject try writing a short play using the various features of the Third
Theatre which you have learnt in this lesson.

References
 Phukon, Pranab and Satyakam Borthakur. (2015) ‘‘Third Theatre: A Media Closer to
the Folk’’, Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol. 5, No. 2,
pp. 148-157.
 Sarkar,Badal.(1992) “ Beyond the Land of Hattamala”, Beyond the Land of Hattamala
and Scandal in Fairy Land, trans.Suchanda Sarkar, Calcutta: Seagull Books.

49
 Unit 4

Exploring Fiction – Novella

Dr. Neeta Gupta

4.1 Introduction
The overall objective of your paper is evident from its name: English Language through
Literature and each particular Unit of your paper takes up one specific area /genre of
literature and explores it through texts listed as Suggested Reading. Unit 4 of your syllabus
for Semester III/IV, is dedicated to exploring fiction. Through the study of one particular text
namely The House on Mango Street, included as Suggested Reading, we are going to see how
a narrative text is studied and analyzed while also noting how English language is used in the
genre of fiction.
In the previous year in Semester I/II you had studied a few short stories and seen how a
narrative text presents certain characters, themes and situations and how the story follows a
pattern of:
 presenting a situation,
 moving towards conflict
 providing a resolution in the end
Along the way characters are introduced, themes are explored, social/ moral issues are
presented and discussed and sometimes solutions are found. The stories that we read in the
previous year were short stories and had a tight structure. The text that we have to study this
year is a novella.
A novella is a narrative text that is shorter than a full length novel but longer than a short
story. Apart from its length the other difference is that a novella usually deals with the growth
and evolution of mostly a single character and the sequence of events are limited to a single
setting. In literature there is a term to describe such a work. It is called a bildungsroman
which essentially means a novel or novella dealing with the growth of a character from youth
to adulthood.
Apart from the suggested text The House on Mango Street, there are some other well-
known novellas you can read. You can look at Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad; Turn of
the Screw by Henry James, Catcher In the Rye by J D Salinger to name a few.
4.2 Learning Objectives

After having gone through this Study Material, you would be able to:
 Understand how a narrative text is structured.
 Identify the features of a narrative text such as setting, character, theme, narrative
voice, socio-historic context of the text.

50
  Understand what a novella is and what is a bildungsroman
 Analyze a narrative text critically.
 Understand character development.
 Identify perspective and be able to provide a different perspective to a situation.
 Recognize poetry in prose.
 Understand social commentary.

4.3 What is a Narrative

A narrative is basically a story. It is a story that is creative, imaginative and can be based both
on fact and fiction. Depending on its length, a narrative can be a short story, a novella or a
full length novel.
4.3.1 The Types of Narrative Texts

As already mentioned, a narrative is nothing but a story that is told with imagination and
creativity. It can fall into the genre of any of the following types of narratives: It may be
an adventure story, or it may be a myth, a fairy tale, a romance or love story. It can be
science fiction or a detective story with a lot of intrigue and mystery woven into it. It can
even be a legend about a place or some person. A narrative can also be a fantasy that
transports you to a completely different world on the one hand, while on the other it may
be rooted in reality and talk of real social issues through imaginary characters.
4.3.2 The Purpose of a Narrative
The purpose of a narrative is first and foremost to tell a story. To entertain. Now, in that
story there will be characters and situations. There will be issues that would be brought
to the fore and discussed. Thus at the end of it all a narrative doesn’t just tell a story.
You get to know a variety of characters and see different shades of behaviour. Your
knowledge of human nature is enhanced. You get to experience situations that you might
not have come across. You may even learn to handle such situations if you ever
encounter them in your life. You also get to see these situations from different
perspectives. At times a story may motivate you to do something that you might not have
thought possible. Thus a narrative does not merely entertain. It also teaches us many
things and at times inspires us as readers too.
4.3.3 The Structure of a Narrative
You know from your study of short stories in the previous year that broadly speaking a
narrative usually has a simple structure. Given below is a simple diagram to help you
understand and remember it:

51
4.3.4 How to Read a Narrative Text.
In any analytical reading of a narrative text we have to pay attention to these four
listed elements of its structure to be able to analyze it well.
4.3.4.1 Setting : First and foremost you must concentrate on the setting of the scene
which will also tell you about the socio/historic context of the narrative. Try to answer
the question – Where and When is the action taking place?
Pay attention to the narrative voice. Try to answer the question - Who is telling the
story? Is it in first person? If yes then is it the author or some character in the story?
This will also tell you from whose perspective the story is being told.
4.3.4.2 Characters: Next you focus on the characters and see how they are
developed or revealed by the writer.
4.3.4.3 Conflict: A conflict is always introduced and when that happens you need
to examine how the writer builds up to that point and whether you have different
perspectives on the situation or the issue that the story is raising.
Your own response to the characters and events help you to develop a perspective of
your own.
4.3.4.4 Resolution: Finally, when there is a resolution of the dilemma or
conflict, you can examine whether all your questions have been answered.
4.3.5 Language Through Literature

In addition to the elements listed in Section 3.4, there is another aspect of a narrative
that we need to pay special attention to. The manner in which different authors use
language to build their narrative makes up the style of that particular writer. The use

52
 of images, symbols, figures of speech such as hyperboles, similes, metaphors,
personification oxymorons, juxtapositions, all contribute in enhancing the effect of the
story or the text that we are reading. Therefore, in our reading of The House on
Mango Street we will not only look at the narrative elements of the text but also see
how Cisneros uses language very simply but effectively to convey her ideas.
4.4 About the Author
Sandra Cisneros is a Mexican American author who was born in Chicago in a family of seven
children where she was the only girl. She spent most of her growing years in a Mexican-
American neighbourhood in Chicago. The family often used to travel to Mexico never being
able to feel completely a part of America and always yearning for their roots. Cisneros has
also been called a Latino writer where the term refers to writers from all the Latin American
countries including Mexico. She has been referred to as a Chicana writer too where the term
means a woman of Mexican origin who now lives in America.
Cisneros grew up with six brothers unlike Esperanza, the protagonist of The House on
Mango Street, who has a younger sister Nenny Apart from this there are many similarities in
the personal circumstances of Cisneros and those of Esperanza. Both grow up in a poor Latin
American neighbourhood; both aspire to break free from their limiting circumstances. The
sense of “otherness” or the marginalization is shared by both. As observed correctly by
Christina Rose, this sense of apartness is rooted in the different ethnic background to which
both Cisneros and Esperanza belong and also the fact that both are women and come from a
working class environment. In an interview Cisneros talks of her graduate years remembering
how keenly she felt the difference in her background and that of her fellow classmates with
whom she had little in common. There was a time when she almost felt like quitting but
found a way out in writing. That was the time she began writing The House on Mango Street
and created the character of Esperanza who comes very close to the author. Both share
feelings of displacement, aspirations to break out of their limitations and find an answer to
most of their problems in writing.
You can learn more about the author from her website: www.sandracisneros.com
To read The House on Mango Street you can download the pdf of the novel from the net.
You can use the link given below:
https://www.pdfdrive.com/house-on-mango-street-e25207600.html
http://nlcphs.net/SummerReadings/Freshmen/HouseOnMango.pdf

4.5 The Text: The House on Mango Street

4.5.1 Introduction
Published in 1984, The House on Mango Street immediately won critical acclaim especially
from the Hispanic community. The sensitive subject matter did lead to the book being banned
in various school curriculums in America but those hurdles were soon overcome and its
53
popularity grew steadily. It has now come to be translated into twenty languages and is read
and appreciated by readers all over the world
The novella is set in Chicago and takes us through one year of Esperanza’s life who is a
young twelve year old Chicana (Mexican-American) girl when we first meet her. The story
is told through Esperanza’s point of view as she is the narrator. We get a first-hand account of
the culture of the Mexican -American people and experience their life through Esperanza as
she lives in the poor oppressively patriarchal community of the Hispanic quarter of Chicago.
The book is unique in the sense that it is written in a series of forty four vignettes
(pronounced as vin-yet). We may call them ‘Chapters’ but it would not be entirely correct
because chapters in a novel/novella would usually show a linear progression of the story but
vignettes can be read independent of each other. They usually have no plot.
What then is a vignette?
A vignette is:
 a short descriptive scene or sketch.
 It does not tell a story so it does not have a plot but it does contribute to the
overall narrative.
 It focuses on a theme, an experience or an idea that the author wants to
convey.
 At times a particular vignette may just reveal a character or indicate the mood
of the author or even determine the tone of the narrative.
 At times a vignette may just be included to highlight a social issue through
characters who may never appear again in the entire work.

In a series of forty four vignettes Sandra Cisneros explores various themes such as, identity,
gender, sexuality, racism, domestic violence and sexual harassment. The feeling of
marginalization and the reasons for it are delved into in many of the vignettes. In fact it has
been observed that Cisneros took to writing as a reaction to her personal feeling that she
experienced during her college days, of not belonging to the mainstream. She could see that
she was different from her classmates. Their backgrounds were different and she had nothing
in common with them. Her protagonist Esperanza goes through similar feelings in the book.
It is remarkable that Cisneros is able to delve into such deep issues just by taking us
through one year in the life of a twelve year old girl. In this one year span we see Esperanza
moving from childhood to adolescence, from innocence to disillusionment, from desire to
reconciliation, from resistance to acceptance. It is a journey of experiences that reveals as
much about Esperanza as about the world she lives in and from which she aspires to break
free. Despite a very realistic and disturbing portrayal of discrimination on the basis of gender,
race, class and status, the novel and its protagonist Esperanza never lose hope. In fact the
overriding message of the novel is one of optimism, of looking ahead.

54
4.5.2 A Short Summary
Esperanza begins her story by telling how she and her family arrive at Mango Street after
having moved frequently over the past few years. Their new home in a ramshackle red brick
building is nothing to boast of, yet it is better than their previous homes. Esperanza who has
always dreamed of living in a house like the ones she sees on TV is disappointed as is the rest
of the family but they overcome their disappointment by treating it as a temporary stop-over
till they move to their dream house. She lives in this impoverished neighbourhood in Chicago
with her parents, two brothers Carlos and Kiki and a younger sister, Nenny.
Esperanza often dreams of a white wooden house with lots of trees in a big yard. She
escapes to her world of writing as a means to combat her disappointment and the suffocation
she feels in her new surroundings. One after another the vignettes follow letting us glimpse
the life that surrounds her as well as giving us a peek into the emotional and mental world of
this young girl. She is very perceptive and observes the people and their circumstances
around her. She begins by describing her family members and neighbours. Through these
descriptions she builds up a picture of the social circumstances surrounding these people and
we get to experience a Mexican-American neighbourhood in all its details. We also meet
interesting people such as Alicia who is studying at college; Rachel and Lucy, the two friends
with whom Esperanza enjoys walking around in high heels; Marin, who babysits her young
cousins to help herself financially; Sally who initiates Esperanza into the world of
adolescence with its interest in make-up and boys, Mamacita who yearns to go back to her
home country; Rafaela who leans out of her window only on Tuesdays to ask the children to
buy her papaya juice.
The characters and situations described are innumerable. The focus is mostly on the
various levels of difficulties faced by Esperanza herself or by the people that she is
describing. Women are shown to be mostly living lives of subjugation being constantly
controlled by the men in their lives. Marriage does not seem to be a desirable prospect even
though for girls like Sally it is a means to escape the oppression at home.
The sketches continue one after another and can even be read independently of each
other. Yet they trace the growth and maturity of Esperanza. In the beginning of the book she
is a young girl of twelve who cannot understand fashion or make-up. But as the story
progresses we see her entering adolescence and developing physically as well as emotionally.
She describes her friendship with Sally, a girl few years older than her who is into heavy
make-up, provocative dresses and boys. Esperanza’s coming of age happens in a disturbing
incident when ditched by Sally at a carnival, she is sexually attacked by a group of men.
Another unpleasant encounter at her first job with an old man who kisses her forcibly, makes
her want to run away from Mango Street more and more.
Towards the end Esperanza describes her meeting with the Three Sisters who are also
fortune tellers. It is disheartening to know from them that there is no escape for her. At the
same time she comes to an understanding that she can never escape Mango Street because it

55
has become a part of her identity. She will carry it with her wherever she goes. The book ends
with this realization as well as a promise from Esperanza to herself that even if she leaves she
will always return to help the people on Mango Street.
4.6 Analysis
In the following pages I have attempted to take you through a few selected vignettes from the
novel and analyzed them for you step by step. Since these vignettes or scenes from the novel
can be read independent of each other the task becomes much simpler.
4.6.1 The Plan
As we read these scenes we will focus on all those features of a narrative text that are
important and which I have briefly explained in Section 3.3 and 3.4 above. Thus when we
look at the very first vignette/chapter we will try to identify the narrative voice, make note of
the setting, will attempt to infer the socio economic setup from the setting, see how characters
are introduced, how themes are introduced, social issues introduced and as we progress
further in the novel we will attempt to see how these themes,/characters/issues develop in the
novel.
In addition to the narrative elements we will also try to see how language is used by the
author to make her work more interesting and engaging. We will try to notice the use of
metaphors, symbols, figures of speech, punctuation, pauses, sentence construction etc. that all
contribute towards enriching our experience.
For the purpose of a detailed analysis of a particular vignette I have included the same
for easy reference. You must read it first before you move on to the list of questions that you
should ask yourself for the purpose of analyzing it.
Let us begin:
4.6.2 The First Vignette: ‘The House on Mango Street’
The first vignette or the first chapter in any narrative work is very important. It
introduces you to the narrator; tells you about the point of view; gives you an idea of the
setting; introduces some themes and also gives you an idea of the style of the writer. It also
gives you a sense of what kind of story it is going to be. Will it be a fairy tale, a romance, a
science fiction or something from everyday life.
All page references are to: Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York:
Vintage Books, 1991
Please read the first vignette given below carefully:
Chapter 1: “The House on Mango Street”
“We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on the third floor, and
before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina and before that I can’t
remember. But what I do remember most is moving a lot. Each time it seemed there’d

56
be one more of us. By the time we got to Mango Street we were six – Mama, Papa,
Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny and me.
The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody, or share
the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there
isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it’s not the house we
thought we’d get.
We had to leave the flat on Loomis quick. The water pipes broke and the landlord
wouldn’t fix them because the house was too old. We had to leave fast. We were using
the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons. That’s why
Mama and Papa looked for a house, and that’s why we moved into the house on Mango
Street, far away, on the other side of town.
They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would
be ours for always so we wouldn’t have to move each year. And our house would have
running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway
stairs, but stairs inside like the houses on T.V. And we’d have a basement and at least
three washrooms so when we took a bath we wouldn’t have to tell everybody. Our
house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a
fence. This was the house that Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this
was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed.
But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It’s small and red with
tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath.
Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard
to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city planted by the curb. Out
back is a small garage for the car we don’t own yet and a small yard that looks smaller
between the two buildings on either side. There are stairs in our house, but they’re
ordinary hallway stairs, and the house has only one washroom. Everybody has to share
a bedroom – Mama and Papa, Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.
Once when we were living on Loomis, a nun from my school passed by and saw me
playing out front. The laundromat downstairs had been boarded up because it had been
robbed two days before and the owner had painted on the wood YES WE”RE OPEN so
as not to lose business.
Where do you live? she asked.
There, I said pointing up to the third floor.
You live there?
There. I had to look to where she pointed – the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden
bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn’t fall out. You live there? The way
she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded.

57
 I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it.
The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says
Papa. But I know how those things go.”
( Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street, p. 3-5)
4.6.2.1 Analytical Comments
Now that you have gone through the chapter, what is it that you noticed as you read?
Did you notice that the narrative is in first person? That the story is set in a poor
neighbourhood? That it is about a family of six and more particularly about a girl who dreams
of living in a proper house? Well there is all this and more to it.
Let me take you through it step by step.
Please note that for an analysis of any extract from a narrative text you should follow
similar steps as detailed for you in the analysis given below.
4.6.2.1.1 The Narrative Voice: The narrator is the person who tells the story. Narrative
voice belongs to the narrator. The question you need to ask yourself is ‘Who’.
‘Who is speaking’, ‘who is telling the story’?
We find an answer to our question in the first word that begins the chapter –
“We” which is a first person plural – “we didn’t always live on Mango
Street…..” A little further down in the paragraph we meet the first person
singular “I” – “Before Keeler it was Paulina and before that I can’t
remember.” So we know that it is a narrative in first person. The first person
singular would include the pronouns I, me, my, mine and myself. The first
person plural would include the pronouns we, us, our and ourselves. Since the
narrative is in first person these are the pronouns that will be used throughout.
As we read on we also come to know that the narrator is a young girl who is
one out of a family of six members – “Everybody has to share a bedroom –
Mama and Papa, Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.” Thus the story is being
told from the perspective of this young girl whose name hasn’t been revealed
yet.
The advantage of a first person narrative is that it immediately creates a bond
between the reader and the narrator. It creates an intimacy between the two.
We as readers are included in the scene and stand alongside the narrator/author
and experience it first-hand.
4.6.2.1.2 The Point of View: The point of view is directly linked to the narrative voice.
Whoever is telling the story would be telling it from his/her perspective. The
first person narrative has already told us that in this story we would be
experiencing the events from the point of view of the young narrator whose
name is revealed later as being Esperanza. She describes things as she sees and

58
 observes them and she also expresses her personal opinions on things around
her.
4.6.2.1.3 The Setting: The question we need to ask ourselves is ‘Where’ and ‘When’?
‘Where is the action taking place?’ ‘Where is the scene set’? “When is the
action taking place? Is it in the present? Is it in the future? Is it in the past?
From the above vignette we can make out that the story is set in a place called
Mango Street. While Loomis, Keeler and Paulina are actual places in Chicago,
Mango Street is an imaginary neighbourhood where the narrator says her family has
just moved.
Ask yourself some questions here to understand the setting:
 What kind of a house is it?
 Is the narrator happy moving here?
 How do you know that the house is in a poor neighbourhood?
 Can we say for sure that the story is about ordinary working class people?
You must read the vignette carefully to pick up the pointers. Everything is small
about the house. The narrator describes it as “small and red” with “tight steps” and
“windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath”. The house is also
not in a good condition. “Bricks are crumbling in places” and the “front door is so
swollen you have to push hard to get in”. There is a small garage but the family
does not own a car and there is also a small yard. The stairs are ordinary hallway
stairs and there is only one washroom. Bedrooms too have to be shared.
All the above details tell us that the family is not well off and has moved to a poor
neighbourhood though in a house that is not rented but owned by them.
4.6.2.1.4 The Tone: Tone depends on the way things are said or expressed.
In the above vignette, Esperanza’s tone is one of disillusionment,
reconciliation as well as hope. She is disillusioned by the house they have
moved to because it is not the house of her dreams. She is reconciled to it
because it is at least their house and not a rented one. She is also hopeful of her
dream becoming a reality one day. While we experience these various
emotions the underlying tone of her narrative remains confidential, intimate
and optimistic throughout.
4.6.2.1.5 The Characters: Including the narrator there are six characters who are
mentioned in this vignette/chapter. There is Esperanza the narrator whose
name we do not know yet and there are her parents, her brothers Carlos and
Kiki and there is her sister Nenny. Details about these characters will emerge
in the subsequent sections of the novel as it develops further. We get a hint in

59
 the name Carlos that the family moving into the house on Mango Street is
probably a Latino family – Mexican-Americans.
4.6.2.1.6 The Themes that are introduced
Put very simply, a theme is the main idea in any piece of writing and it answers the
question ‘What is the work about?’ In any literary work there can be more than one
theme and these run through the entire work.
A theme however, is different from Plot. While the plot gives you the action that
takes place, or the story as it develops, a theme gives you the message that the
author is trying to convey through that story. A theme is not stated but has to be
understood from the ideas that are explored by the author and constantly repeated in
the work.
In the first chapter that we are analyzing the entire action revolves around a family
moving to a house of their own. The message or the theme however is that a house
defines who you are. It is directly linked to one’s identity.
Esperanza recounts the incident with the nun to let her readers know how important
a house is for her. She feels ashamed when pointing to her dilapidated house in
Loomis to the nun.
“Where do you live? she asked.
There, I said pointing up to the third floor.
You live there?
There. I had to look to where she pointed – the third floor, the paint peeling,
wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn’t fall out. You
live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there.
I nodded.
I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to.”
The sense of shame that Esperanza feels comes from the fact that she believes that
her house defines her in some way for other people. Linked to the house and the
neighbourhood (Mango Street) are themes of social class, ethnicity, and culture. All
of these surface in this short chapter but will be continuously explored in subsequent
chapters.
The theme of this chapter is therefore how a house can define one’s identity. It can
make you who you are. At the same time it also shapes one’s aspirations thus
Esperanza dreams of moving into her dream house sometime in the future. In that
sense it becomes a symbol.
4.6.2.1.7 The Issues: Having a house of one’s own is of course a major issue here but it
is not as simple as that. A house is so important in this narrative that even

60
 before we are introduced to the narrator we have been told about the house on
mango street. In fact, it is important enough to feature in the title of the
novella.
Why is this so? According to the narrator, having a house, a particular kind of a
house and in a particular locality defines who you are. The dilapidated, small red
brick house in a working class neighbourhood defines their social background, their
economic status and their cultural background as well because Mango Street is in a
Hispanic neighbourhood.
Race, Class and later even Gender emerge as major issues in the novel.
4.6.2.1.8 The Language
Cisneros language though simple is highly poetic at the same time. She writes in a
very simple and easily readable manner but enriches her writing with a liberal use of
images, metaphors, symbols and other forms of figurative language.
Let us take a look at some examples from the vignette that we have just read.
 Use of Complex Sentences
“The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody, or
share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise,
and there isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom.”
[Long involved sentences making a good use of conjunctions and the punctuation
mark of comma (,)]
 Poetic language - Use of “felt words”
“It’s small and red with tight steps in front …”
[using the adjective “tight” to describe steps in front of the house immediately
helps us feel how close together the steps are. Tightness is something that you feel
not see. These are “felt words” that Cisneros uses quite liberally in her narrative.
Use of such words makes her language poetic while at the same time conveys the
idea very effectively].
“Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have
to push hard to get in…”
[the door may be literally swollen but by using the adjective “swollen” once again
Cisneros is able to make us feel, and experience the condition of the door.]
 Use of figurative language
“… and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath.”
[uses personification – talks of windows as if they are people “holding their
breath”]

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 Metaphor: Mango Street becomes a metaphor for the social, cultural and ethnic
background of the characters.
Symbol: The house on Mango Street becomes a symbol for the narrator’s identity.
She feels it defines who she is.
 Poetic style: taking liberties with grammar
“We had to leave the flat on Loomis quick.”
[If we rewrite the sentence in a grammatically correct form it would be written thus
: “We had to leave the flat on Loomis in a hurry” but by using the word “quick” the
sense of urgency has been conveyed very effectively.]
Where do you live? she asked.
There, I said pointing up to the third floor.
You live there?
[No quotation marks are used in the dialogue above. This happens throughout the
novel. It makes for easy readability and adds to the poetic quality of the novella.]
4.6.2.1.9 The Tense: The narrative is written in the present tense so we get a sense of
being present in the situation and experiencing it along with Esperanza.
“The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody, or
share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise,
and there isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it’s not
the house we thought we’d get.”
(The underlined verbs in the above extract are all in the Present Tense).
Interspersed in the narrative are memories of events from the past which of course are written
in the past tense.
“We had to leave the flat on Loomis quick. The water pipes broke and the landlord
wouldn’t fix them because the house was too old. We had to leave fast. We were
using the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons.
That’s why Mama and Papa looked for a house, and that’s why we moved into the
house on Mango Street, far away, on the other side of town.”
(The underlined verbs in the above extract are in Past Tense).
The Past Perfect is also used at times to describe events that had taken place in the past and
the Future tense is used to talk about things that might happen in the future. As in the extract
below:
“. …And our house would have running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would
have real stairs, not hallway stairs, but stairs inside like the houses on T.V. And we’d have a
basement and at least three washrooms so when we took a bath we wouldn’t have to tell

62
everybody. Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing
without a fence.”
(The underlined verbs in the above extract are in the Future Tense)
The novel as a complete work however, is written in the Present tense.
4.6.2.1.10 WRITING
Given below are some activities you can take up as writing tasks:
Activity 1: Change the underlined verbs into Past Tense and rewrite the extract given
below:
But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It’s small and
red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding
their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you
have to push hard to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city
planted by the curb. Out back is a small garage for the car we don’t own yet and
a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side. There
are stairs in our house, but they’re ordinary hallway stairs, and the house has
only one washroom. Everybody has to share a bedroom – Mama and Papa,
Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.
Activity 2: Rewrite the vignette/chapter from the perspective of another character.
Activity3: Summarize the chapter in your own words. Remember to use past tense
throughout.
Activity 4: Write a description of your house. Include a description of your family
members. Do you feel your house defines your identity to some extent?
4.7 Analysis of a Few Selected Vignettes
Sandra Cisneros has a simple but poetic style. As you have seen above she uses images,
metaphors and symbols extensively to enrich her text. There is always something more
to what is being said literally. In our analysis of the vignettes below you will come
across various figures of speech. You must already be familiar with them but I have
included a brief explanation of some of these terms below for ready reference. The
explanation below would serve you as a ready reckoner.
 Personification: using human attributes, qualities, characteristics to describe things
that are not human such as animals, objects or other non-living things.
For example:
If someone said, “the trees whispered their sadness,” this would personify the trees both
as able to whisper and of feeling unhappy.

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 Other examples:
• The angry clouds marched across the sky.
• The stars in the clear night sky winked at me.
• The tulips nodded their heads in the breeze.
 Simile: comparing two different things using “like”, “as”, or “than”
Simile introduces vividness into what we say. Authors and poets utilize simile to
convey their sentiments and thoughts through vivid word pictures.
Examples:
• She is as beautiful as a rose
• Life is like a box of chocolates
• He runs faster than a cheetah.
• He is as brave as a lion
 Metaphor: comparing two different and unlike things without using “like”, “as”, or
“than”. Here the comparison is implicit, implied, or hidden and is between two things
that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics.
In other words, a resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is made based
on a single or some common characteristics.
Examples:
• She is a rose.
• His words are pearls of wisdom.
 Symbol: A symbol is something that has a surface meaning or a literal meaning but it
also has other meaning or many other meanings.
Some symbols are universally recognized such as
 Sun is the symbol of life
 Light is the symbol of knowledge
 Dove is a symbol of peace
 Owl is the symbol of wisdom
In addition to such universal symbols there may be symbols that are constructed by
the authors within their texts. Such as the house in The House on Mango Street is a
symbol for the narrator’s identity, her constraints and also her dreams, her aspirations.
Such symbols become multi layered symbols with many meanings.

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 Let us take a look at a few vignettes (we will call them chapters for convenience)
from the novel to see how we can analyze them to unearth the deeper layers of
meaning that lie hidden in poetic images and their implications.
You must first read the chapter/vignette (that has been included here for your
convenience), then try and answer the comprehension questions on the chapter and
only then move on to read my analytical comments.
4.7.1 Chapter 2: “Hairs”

“Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa’s hair is like a broom,
all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands.
Carlos’s hair is thick and straight. He doesn’t need to comb it. Nenny’s hair is
slippery – slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like
fur.
But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy
circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put
your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of
bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of
the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling
and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.”
(Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street, p. 6)
4.7.1.1 Reading Comprehension

Read the chapter above and try and answer the questions given below:
i. Why do you think Esperanza begins by telling us that everybody in her family
has different hair?
ii. How many people are being described here?
iii. Identify a simile in this vignette.
iv. Do you think hair can be “lazy”? Which figure of speech is being used here?
v. Do we get to know anything about Esperanza’s relationship with her mother
from the way she describes her hair?
4.7.1.2 Analytical Comments
“Hairs” is the second vignette in the novel and as you can see it is very short –
comprising of just two paragraphs. Though short, this vignette is a good example of
Sandra Cisneros’s deft art of characterization and her use of poetic language to do so.
It focuses on a physical description of the hair of each member of Esperanza’s family.
While it helps us to visualize the people being described it goes beyond that to tell us
some more about them by implication. On the one hand we can read the descriptions
literally and not attach any additional meaning to what is being said. On the other
hand, knowing how perceptive our narrator is we can safely assume that much more is

65
being implied in these short descriptions than meets the eye. We have to interpret the
metaphorical meaning and then try and understand the implications.
The very first line is an observation: “Everybody in our family has different hair.”
On the literal level it simply means that each member of the family has different type
of hair. The underlying meaning however is that each member of the family is
different. Hair therefore become a symbol of difference, of individuality, of identity.
Now let’s see how we can get an idea of this difference and of the character behind
the description of his/her hair:
“My Papa’s hair is like a broom, all up in the air.”
Esperanza makes use of a simile here and compares her father’s hair to a broom “all
up in the air”. While a physical image of a man with hair standing up stiffly on his
head is conjured up immediately in our mind from this description it also hints at the
fact that Esperanza’s father is a hardworking man, struggling to make ends meet and
trying to keep his family comfortable and probably never finding any time for
personal grooming.
“And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands.”
In describing her own hair Esperanza makes use of personification – calls her hair
lazy and then moves on to describe how unruly it is. Esperanza’s own rebellious
nature comes through this short one line description of her hair. Her dissatisfaction
with herself also comes through in this one line description.
“Carlos’s hair is thick and straight. He doesn’t need to comb it.”
This is a straightforward observation but the implication here is probably that Carlos
is well adjusted to his circumstances.
“Nenny’s hair is slippery – slides out of your hand.”
Nenny is young and frisky and not easy to manage.
“And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.”
Cisneros uses imagery associated with a warm cuddly furry pet for the youngest
member.
The lengthiest description however, is of the mother’s hair which Esperanza compares
to “little rosettes” and “candy circles.” Both comparisons are to things that are
beautiful and the description emphasizes how safe and secure Esperanza feels with
her mother. The mother’s hair therefore becomes a metaphor for beauty, safety and
comfort. To say that her Mama’s hair smells like bread is another way of telling us
how homely her mother is and how comfortable she makes her daughter feel. Safety
and security are the defining characteristics of this description. The use of hair as

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 metaphor in this description tell us not only about the mother but also about
Esperanza’s feelings for her mother. Thus it is a double edged metaphor.
4.7.1.3 Activity

1 Write a description of your family members. Use similes and metaphors to describe
them as well as your feelings towards them.
2. The first sentence of the last paragraph is one long involved complex sentence. Try
to break up the long sentence into short simple ones and rewrite the paragraph.
4.7.2 Chapter 12: “Those Who Don’t”

“Those who don’t know any better come into our neighbourhood scared. They think
we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with knives. They are stupid people
who are lost and got here by mistake.
But we aren’t afraid. We know the guy with the crooked eye is Davey the Baby’s
brother and the tall one next to him in the straw brim, that’s Rosa’s Eddie V., and the
big one that looks like a dumb grown man, he’s Fat Boy, though he’s not fat anymore
nor a boy.
All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighbourhood of another
colour and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our
eyes look straight. Yeah. That is how it goes and goes.”
(Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street, p.28)
4.7.2.1 Reading Comprehension
Read the chapter above and try and answer the questions given below:
i. Who are the people here that are being referred to as “those who don’t”? What is it
that they don’t know?
ii. Why are these people who come into the narrator’s neighbourhood scared?
iii. According to the narrator is their fear justified?
iv. How does Esperanza see her neighbourhood?
v. What is being highlighted in the line “all brown all around, we are safe.”
Who/what is brown?
vi. How does Esperanza see other neighbourhoods?
vii. What does the narrator mean when she says “That is how it goes and goes”?
viii. Is there an implied social commentary in this extract? What is it?

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4.7.2.2 Analytical Comments

This chapter is an example of social commentary in the novel. Racial and social
discrimination are the themes of this chapter. There is a wide gap between ‘us’ and
‘them’. All the residents of Mango Street are on one side of the line of discrimination
and all those on the other side are the ones who can neither understand nor sympathize
with them. The chapter brings out the prejudices that exist in society based on race,
colour, culture, ethnic background, social and economic status, rich and poor.
The tone of this chapter is one of annoyance. Esperanza calls these people “stupid” who
believe that residents of such a neighbourhood would attack them with knives.
“They think we are dangerous” says Esperanza clearly bringing out the prejudice in
society. Just because a neighbourhood comprises of poor residents who are immigrants
and of different race and culture does not necessarily mean that the neighbourhood is
dangerous. But this is how society reacts to ‘difference’.
The irony however is that Esperanza too looks at people of other cultures and
backgrounds in the same way:
“All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighbourhood of
another colour and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up
tight and our eyes look straight. Yeah. That is how it goes and goes.”
These lines highlight the theme of discrimination on the basis of colour. “All brown all
around we are safe,” says Esperanza highlighting that there is safety in people of the
same colour being together. The colour brown here becomes a symbol for race, culture
and ethnicity which is uniting people in Esperanza’s neighbourhood. But “colour” also
becomes the basis for discrimination because these same people have similar prejudices
against people of “another colour”. What Esperanza seems to be saying is that this is
how society is and this is how it will remain. It is something that is inevitable and is not
going to go away – “That is how it goes and goes.”
The above lines also give us a taste of the prose poetry that is used so liberally in this
novel. “All brown, all around, we are safe.” Also, “Our knees go shakkity-shake, and
our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight.” There is rhythm as well
as rhyme in these lines along with a poetic and imaginative use of words. They evoke
emotions as well as sensory impressions in very few words.
4.7.2.3 Activity

1. Write a paragraph describing your neighbourhood. Say whether you feel safe
living there or not. Give reasons.
2. Compare your neighbourhood to any other place you might have visited that
was different from yours.

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4.7.3 Chapter 29: “Four Skinny Trees”
“They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them.
Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not
belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city. From our room we
can hear them, but Nenny just sleeps and doesn’t appreciate these things.
Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground they grow up
and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with
violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.
Let one forget his reason for being, they’d all droop like tulips in a glass, each with
their arms around each other. Keep, keep, keep, trees say when I sleep. They teach.
When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so
many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this
street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach.
Four whose only reason is to be and be.”
(Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street, p.74-75)
4.7.3.1 Reading Comprehension
Read the chapter above and try and answer the questions given below:
i. The narrator talks about the trees as if she is talking about people. What is the
figure of speech being used here.
ii. Is there a similarity in the circumstances of the narrator and the trees?
iii. Bring out the importance of the line “four who do not belong here but are
here”.
iv. How are the trees able to survive?
v. What can the narrator learn from these trees?
vi. What do the trees come to symbolize for the narrator?
vii. Identify the figure of speech being used in the line “Keep, keep, keep, trees
say when I sleep.”
4.7.3.2 Analytical Comments
This chapter stands out for its use of symbol and personification. Earlier in our
analysis of the first chapter we have already seen how a “house” is used as a symbol
for identity, as something that defines who you are. In this chapter called “Four
Skinny Trees” we see how the trees come to symbolize all people like Esperanza and
other members of her community who “do not belong here but are here”.
The trees are personified in this chapter. Esperanza describes them as if they have
human attributes : “skinny necks and pointy elbows” almost a reflection of herself.
Esperanza’s description of the trees puts an emphasis on the anger that they feel –
something to which she can relate very well. Thus they have “ferocious roots,” “hairy
toes”, and “violent teeth”. They “bite the sky” and never quit their anger even though

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they send their roots deep down into the ground and survive despite the concrete that
surrounds them.
What do you think are the similarities in Esperanza’s situation and the description of
the trees? Why does she feel an empathy with them? Why does she say that they are
the only ones that understand her? What have the trees come to symbolize in the
novel?
Let us just briefly recall what we mean by a symbol. A symbol is something that has a
surface meaning or a literal meaning but it also has a deeper meaning which is
conveyed through implication, through comparison.
The four skinny trees work here as a symbol too. On the literal level or the surface
level they are just trees planted by the city. But the description of their situation and
predicament extends beyond them to include the whole Latino people. The trees come
to symbolize all these people who really do not belong here but are trying their best to
survive even in adverse circumstances.
The anger that these people feel at the discrimination they face on a daily basis is
mirrored in the description of anger that the trees possess. The roots that the trees send
deep down into the ground are the cultural roots of the Hispanic community that they
tenaciously cling to. The trees teach resilience when they say “keep, keep, keep”.
They lean on each other thus showing that the community needs to stick together to
survive.
For Esperanza the trees come to mean survival against all odds. The trees have grown
despite the concrete that binds them. Here is a lesson for Esperanza. She too has to
overcome her circumstances and learn to survive despite the odds. Not only survive
but continue to grow – as a person, as a writer.
The trees become a multi-layered symbol. On the one hand they represent strength,
survival against odds and inspire to reach beyond one’s circumstances. On the other
hand they also represent people like Esperanza, in fact the whole Latino community
that is trying to strike roots in a place where they don’t belong.
For someone like Esperanza who aspires to move beyond Mango Street, beyond her
confining and depressing circumstances the trees become a source of inspiration. Just
when she feels like giving up she looks at them and draws strength from them to keep
reaching upwards whatever may be the odds.
“When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing
against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to
look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do
not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be.”

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 4.7.3.3 Activity

Write a description of any object around you that best describes you and from which
you draw strength and inspiration to deal with life.
4.7.4 Chapter 40: ‘Linoleum Roses’
“Sally got married like we knew she would, young and not ready but married just the
same. She met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazar, and she married him in
another state where it is legal to get married before eighth grade. She has her husband
and her house now, her pillowcases and her plates. She says she is in love, but I think
she did it to escape.
Sally says she likes being married. Because now she gets to buy her own things when
her husband gives her money. She is happy, except sometimes her husband gets angry
and once he broke the door where his foot went through, though most days he is okay.
Except he won’t let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn’t let her look out the
window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is
working.
She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission. She looks
at all the things they own: the towels and the toaster, the alarm clock and the drapes.
She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on
the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding cake.”
(Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street, p.101-102)
4.7.4.1 Reading Comprehension
Read the chapter above and try and answer the questions given below:
i. Is Sally too young to get married? How do we know?
ii. According to the narrator why does Sally get married?
iii. Do you think Sally is happy?
iv. List the things that Sally’s husband doesn’t let her do.
v. When can Sally’s friends visit her?
vi. Why does Sally never go out but just sits at home?
vii. Do you think women like Sally ever get a chance to be independent?
viii. What is the narrator’s comment on marriage as seen in the above vignette?
ix. Comment on the title of the chapter.
4.7.4.2 Analytical Comments
In the novel Sally is Esperanza’s friend who introduces her to boys and make up. She
has a tyrannical father who tries to control all her movements and even beats her up at

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 times. To escape the tyranny at home Sally runs away and gets married at a very
tender age. The narrator gives us a hint when she writes that Sally gets married
“young and not ready” so young in fact that she has to get married “in another state
where it is legal to get married before eighth grade.”
The narrator is correct in her observation here that for Sally, marriage is an escape
from patriarchal oppression. She wanted to escape a life of almost tyrannical
repression and domination. The sad truth however is that she ends up exchanging one
oppressor for another. There is hardly any change in her situation. Instead of her
father it is her husband now who keeps the control on her so much so that she cannot
even step out of the house without his permission. He doesn’t let her talk on the
phone, doesn’t let her look out of the window, doesn’t even like her friends to visit.
Sally is trapped in her house. It is true that she has a house of her own now with her
own possessions but it is more like a beautiful cage for her. She says she got married
for love but the symbolic significance of the title as well as the last line of the vignette
both indicate the falsity of Sally’s feelings. Traditionally rose is a symbol of love but
in Sally’s case the roses she looks at are fake linoleum roses. The linoleum roses
become a symbol of Sally’s loveless marriage. The wedding cake which once again
symbolizes the happy union of two souls is compared to the smooth but lifeless
ceiling. Though the narrator says that Sally “likes looking at the walls, at how neatly
their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding
cake” yet all together they make up the house that traps her, and a marriage that has
taken away her freedom forever.
One of the themes of the novel is position of women in an oppressively patriarchal
Latino society. We see a working out of this theme in “Linoleum Roses”. This
vignette shows how Sally has become one of the many other women on Mango Street,
trapped in their marriage and their homes. The narrator’s tone is of sadness at Sally’s
fate. In all of this there is an implied comment on the gender equation in marriage.
The husband always has an upper hand. He is the one who controls everything. The
woman may find some safety and security in marriage but ends up losing her freedom
forever. There is even a hint of violence and physical abuse in marriage.
4.7.4.3 Activity
1. Do you think gender discrimination exists in Indian homes? Write a paragraph
pointing out some instances where you have observed it.
2. Rewrite the chapter from Sally’s perspective.
4.7.5 Chapter 44: “Mango says Goodbye Sometimes”
“I like to tell stories. I tell them inside my head. I tell them after the mailman says,
Here’s your mail. Here’s your mail he said.

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 I make a story for my life, for each step my brown shoe takes. I say “And so she
trudged up the wooden stairs, her sad brown shoes taking her to the house she never
liked.”
I like to tell stories. I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to
belong.
We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis the third floor,
and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember
most is Mango Street, sad red house, he house I belong but do not belong to.
I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and
Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me
free.
One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to
Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away.
Friends and neighbours will say What happened to that Esperanza? Where did she go
with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away?
They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the
ones who cannot out.”
( Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street. p. 109-110)
4.7.5.1 Reading Comprehension

Read the chapter above and try and answer the questions given below:
i. Who is the first person ‘I’?
ii. How do you come to know that the narrator is a budding writer?
iii. Who is the girl who didn’t want to belong.
iv. The narrator has lived at other places before coming to Mango Street. Name
them.
v. What is meant by “Mango says goodbye sometimes” ? Point out the figure of
speech being used here.
vi. What does the narrator plan to do someday in the future?
vii. Why does the narrator plan to come back?
viii. Comment on the lack of quotation marks in the conversations/dialogues
mentioned in the above vignette.

4.7.5.2 Analytical Comments

The above chapter is the last one in the novel and we seem to have come full circle.
The first chapter of the novel had begun with a description of the red brick house on
Mango Street where Esperanza’s family has just moved. We end here in the same
house but with the narrator being more sure of herself and also aspiring towards a
future which will take her away from Mango Street. The difference is that now

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Esperanza doesn’t want to escape from Mango Street. She wants to leave it to make a
life for herself and then come back and help others do the same.
The maturity that we see in Esperanza now is the result of her experiences on Mango
Street within a span of one year. She has grown not only physically but intellectually
and emotionally as well. In that sense the novel is a bildungsroman. You may recall
that the term means a novel or a work of fiction that traces the growth of the
protagonist from childhood to maturity. Esperanza who began as an immature twelve
year old girl, now has matured into a young adolescent who has the courage to rise
above her circumstances and help others like her too.
In the above chapter Esperanza makes it very clear that she aspires to become a writer
and it is her writing that makes her escape Mango Street emotionally.
“I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and
Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me
free.”
Mango Street is personified as a ‘she’ and is also being used here as a metaphor for
all that makes the narrator who she is. It represents her cultural and ethnic
background, her social and economic circumstances just as it does for all its
inhabitants. All these associations of race, ethnicity, culture and poverty together
make up the “ghost” in the above sentence. Esperanza is able to escape the pain the
moment she begins to write about it.
When Esperanza writes her stories she enters a world of imagination and is thus able
to escape her surroundings. That is what is meant by the line “Mango says goodbye
sometimes”. It is not Esperanza who is saying goodbye here to Mango Street but vice
versa. She cannot turn her back on her roots so it is Mango Street who says goodbye
sometimes. Esperanza’s writing makes Mango Street recede into the background and
she is able to escape from it emotionally. As a writer she is able to distance herself
and become an observer of life on Mango Street and thus place a distance between
herself and her circumstances.
Esperanza also hopes that her writing will help her escape Mango Street physically as
well. Therefore she says: “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day
I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day
I will go away.”
The difference however is that while in the early chapters of the novel Esperanza had
only wanted to escape her circumstances and run far away from them, now in the last
chapter she has matured enough to realize that one can never escape one’s cultural
and ethnic background. In that sense she will never be able to escape Mango Street. It
will always remain a part of her identity. However she can rise above her economic
circumstances and make a better life for herself through her writing. That is the time

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 she will say goodbye to Mango Street only to come back and help those who have not
been able to do so.
“They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left
behind. For the ones who cannot out.”
Esperanza’s maturity at the end of the novel is what makes this a bildungsroman.
Her journey has surely been from childhood to maturity. She has surely come of age
in this novel and this is what a bildungsroman is. From being “a girl who didn’t want
to belong” she has now become one who knows that she belongs here and even if she
gets a chance to leave it will only be to come back and help those who couldn’t.
A few points about the use of language in this chapter. There is poetic repetition in the
first line of the chapter:
I like to tell stories. I tell them inside my head. I tell them after the mailman
says, Here’s your mail. Here’s your mail he said.
It is easier to read it as poetry in prose because there are no quotation marks
separating the dialogue from rest of the narrative.
The last sentence of the book once again takes liberties with grammar. She says she
will come back for those that she left behind.:
“For the ones who cannot out.”
The sentence lacks a verb. For those who cannot ‘get’ out probably. Or for those who
cannot ‘strike’ out on their own or ‘break’ out of the restrictions that life has imposed
on them. But Cisneros leaves it grammatically incorrect and in doing so she throws
open the possibilities of multiple interpretations. It could mean people who cannot
leave Mango Street. It could also mean people who cannot break out of their
limitations of poverty, racial and social circumstances, a life of privation and misery.
Finally it could also mean people who cannot create a brighter future for themselves
like Esperanza has dared to do.
The chapter thus has an open ending.
4.7.5.3 Activity
1. Punctuate the lines given below:
Friends and neighbours will say What happened to that Esperanza? Where did
she go with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away?
2. Imagine that you are Esperanza and you have become a famous writer and have
come back to Mango Street. Write a paragraph about how you would view your
house and the neighbourhood now. Use the first person ‘I’.
3. In the same situation as the one above imagine yourself as Nenny, Esperanza’s
sister and write a paragraph from her perspective.

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4.8 Summing Up
To sum up our exploration and analysis of a narrative text we have understood the
following:
 We have understood how a narrative text is structured – introduction, conflict,
climax and resolution.
 We have also seen what are the various features of a narrative text namely
setting, characters, themes, narrative voice, socio-historic context etc.
 We have grasped what is perspective or point of view.
 We have understood how to recognize the narrative voice and what is a first
person narrator.
 We have understood the use of figures of speech like simile, metaphor,
personification, symbol etc. and also the concept of bildungsroman.
 We have seen the liberties that writers can take with language to make the
narrative easy to read as well as resonate with multiple layers of meaning.
 We can now recognize poetry in prose.
 We have also seen how social commentary can be part of a narrative text.
How racial and social discrimination affect people.
 We have also understood the various ways in which one’s identity can be
determined and defined.

4.9 In Conclusion
Having understood the features of a narrative text and having gone through an analysis of a
few chapters from your Suggested Reading i.e. The House on Mango Street I’m sure you
would now be able to analyze a given extract from any narrative text. The next step of course
would be to try and attempt to write a story. To facilitate your effort you can take a look at
some of the points that I have listed below:
Writing a Story
Before you begin to write a story you should have an idea, a concept and know what kind of
story you want to write. Whether it will be funny, romantic, sad or tragic. Whether it will be a
love story or a mystery or a moral tale. Based on the idea that you have you will have to
develop your characters and also construct a sequence of events. For doing so you can follow
the steps listed below:
1. Exposition or Introduction
When you begin a story the first thing you have to do is to set the scene. This
includes the questions ‘where’ and ‘when’. Where is the action taking place
and also when are the events happening.
You also introduce the characters. This includes the questions ‘who’ or ‘what’.

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 You decide on the narrator – who is going to tell the story. This also determines
from whose perspective you will be showing the events and characters.
2. Introduce a Complication/conflict/problem/dilemma
The second step is to introduce a complication or conflict. The conflict can be
internal or external. This conflict will determine what happens next. It may be
some obstruction in the way of what a character desires or something that is
threatening to disturb his/her life and probably turn it upside down.
3. Chain of events that result from the conflict or complication.
You have now come to the point where the action starts. To make your story
move forward you will now have to write about the chain of events that have
resulted from the complication that took place earlier. Usually events should be
described as they happen. What happened first, then what happened next then
what came later, what followed after that and so on ….
This chain of events would show the problem becoming worse.
4. The Climax
The climax is the most exciting moment in the story. Things are at their worst
at this point in the story. The climax raises the reader’s curiosity to find out if
a solution to the problem would be found.
5. Work towards a Resolution
In this step you have to work towards finding a solution to the problem that
has occurred. Once again a sequence of events will occur. Further
complications can also occur but all of it will work towards a resolution.
6. The Ending
The ending is the final resolution where you describe how all loose ends
are tied up and all questions answered. You may also show how the
character has changed and developed because of the events that have
taken place.

References
 Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1991
 (Tokarczyk, Michelle (2008),""Spiritual Sustenance: An Interview with Sandra
Cisneros"", Class Definitions: On the Lives and Writings of Maxine Hong Kingston,
Sandra Cisneros, and Dorothy Allison, Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press,
pp. 212–219, ISBN 9781575911212 )
 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/27844/the-house-on-mango-street-by-
sandra-cisneros/9780679433354/teachers-guide/

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 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/27844/the-house-on-mango-street-by-
sandra-cisneros/9780679433354/teachers-guide/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_on_Mango_Street

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 Unit 5

Writing Your Own Academic Essay/Paper for the Classroom

Deb Dulal Halder

5.1 Introduction
Writing is thought to be a secondary communicative activity (the primary being speech) as
many people in the world live their life without learning how to write. When one says this
one is wrong in his or her estimate as it presupposes that writing is to present something in
graphic detail and in a coherent structure. Can we not consider the etchings of a child on the
wall or the drawings of the cave man as kinds of writing? If an illiterate person due to some
reason wants to count days and usually draws one line in a wall for each day that passes by,
will it not be considered as writing. If these are writings, then to say that we can live without
writing is a sham. Writing is as essential a part of human communicative activity as speech.
As civilization has progressed, writing became a much more significant activity of human life
and today we cannot imagine our life without it. Think of the many writing activities that you
undertake each day – messaging, emails, blogs, etc. These are some communicative activities
that we keep on doing for our communicative necessities. Some of us even write for pleasure,
whether in the form of personal dairy or some other creative writing – whether poem or short
story or an article or something else.
In this Unit, we will be talking about the writing process in detail so as to acquaint you
with it. It is not that you haven’t written ever in your life or that you will be writing for the
first time. What this Unit intends to do is to make you take writing process from a methodical
and logical point of view so that the writing process becomes smoother and easier for you.
The writing process is not just true for academic writing, but for any kind of writing that you
do, though for academic writing it is much more appropriate. This chapter is a shortened form
of the chapter of the same name from the book Academic Writing and Composition: A
Handbook (2016) Book Age Publications, New Delhi, edited by Deb Dulal Halder. For
detailed knowledge of Academic Writing, you are advised to follow the book mentioned
above.
5.2 Learning Objectives
 In this unit, you will learn the following aspects of writing:
 The Process of Writing
 The Importance of Right Words and Phrases and Correct Sentences in Writing
 Features of Writing
o How to Write an Introduction, Body Paragraph, and Conclusion
o The Importance of Coherence and Cohesion in Writing
o Summarizing and Paraphrasing
o Citing Resources

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5.3 The Writing Process
Academic writing is not a god’s gift that a few do possess and others don’t. It is a kind of
competence which can be inculcated with practice and one can become a better academic
writer if one chooses to be so and works harder to be so.. When one writes poetry as one has
a natural inclination to write poetry; but when one writes an assignment or a term paper, one
does it because of an academic necessity. While writing an assignment or an academic paper
not only you should know about the subject on which you are asked to write on or have
chosen to write, but should also have some basic idea about the format of how to write an
assignment or academic paper. In Academic writing, it is necessary that we approach it as a
craft and learn it. Academic writing is a response to a necessity; therefore writing should be
approached as a process. It is a necessity as if one wants to remain in the academic world and
get once degrees and diplomas then one needs to give exams, produce papers and
assignments and also often wrote dissertation and thesis as well as reports. All these can be
taken very professionally and one can produce greater academic works if one intends to be
scientific in one’s approach to writing.
As writing is a process, therefore it usually follows a particular sequence which we will
learn in this Unit. Most scholars like to believe that academic writing needs to go through
three processes which are as follows –

Prewrite  Write  Rewrite

1. Prewrite – Prewriting is a process which comes before the actual writing begins. While
writing any assignment or term paper, it is presumed that there must be something very
significant that needs to be written. Therefore, one must ponder over certain significant
aspects before one begins writing. They are:
 One should figure out the aims and goals of writing. In other words, one must
make sure that one knows why one is writing. If you are writing an assignment,
your approach will be different from that of an answer you are preparing for the
examination.
 One should gather all the available information and data on the subject one decides
to write on, that is, one needs to do the required research on the topic and figure out
the available literature on that topic.
 One should then determine the style, that is, the way one arranges one’s words and
sentences into a cohesive piece of writing. The same data can be used by different
individuals to produce different arguments even though they may intend to write
for the same audience. Therefore before getting into writing one should also decide
on and choose one’s style of writing.
 Moreover, while writing an assignment or a project, there is a deadline that is given
to us and we need to plan our writing in such a way so as to meet the deadline. It is

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 assumed that during our college or university days, there is not a single assignment
or project to be done, but many. Therefore one needs to plan all assignments
together and make sure that deadlines for each of them are met. Therefore it is
significant that we chalk out a plan.
 Very often, in writing assignments and projects for academic purposes, a word
limit is also set by the instructors / teachers / evaluators. One should limit oneself
within the word limit and therefore while arranging the facts and arguments, give
more importance to the facts and arguments which are primary to support your
topic. Thus one needs to plan or chalk out a rough plan or structure of how one will
progress with the process of writing.
2. Write – Once the relevant information and data has been gathered and a rough structure
of the argument is decided; it is the time to launch oneself into the actual process of
writing. In this phase of writing, one should organize the writing in such a manner that
it is easily comprehensible. Therefore it is very important to ascertain a logical
sequence in writing.
3. Rewrite – Rewriting is the final step of the writing process, and one that is essential to
successful writing. This step requires that one revises the rough draft and edits it.
Revision allows you to perfect your assignment, project or any other writing.
5.4 Features of Writing
5.4.1. Introduction
In most kinds of writing, a good introduction is a must since
 It gives reader(s) an idea / suggestion /scheme of what the rest of the writing will be
dealing with.
 It provides a reason for readers to keep reading, in the sense; it evokes the interest in
the reader(s).
This is why journalists are so worried about writing the perfect lead sentence (the first
sentence), because if the lead sentence is not interesting, no one will bother to read or listen
to the news. Therefore there is not only a focus on writing the perfect lead sentence, but a
good introductory paragraph. It is not always true that the introduction should be a single
paragraph. There are cases where there are introductions which run into several pages. If you
are writing a report, the introduction can run into several pages
The introduction of any writing usually includes–
 A background or history for the topic
 Definition of the term, phrase, or central concept to the writing
 A clear and specific thesis statement, which usually comes at the end of the
introduction. If the introduction is of one paragraph, usually the thesis statement
comes as the last sentence of the first paragraph.
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Ways of Writing an Introduction:
 Formulate a question which will evoke readers’ interest and engage them
 Provide data, statistics, etc. that will surprise the reader or unsettles their common
beliefs
 Provide an interesting anecdote or story related to the topic
 Start with an interesting and relevant quotation
 Provide an unusual or unexpected comparison and contrast

Paragraph
A paragraph can be defined as a group of sentences that expresses a single
idea, supported by facts, evidences, examples, anecdotes, quotations, etc.
Paragraphs primarily indicate the beginning and end of a new idea to the
reader(s). Thus it helps the reader(s) in assimilating the contents in an
organized manner without much difficulty. In paragraph writing, therefore
the writer can develop just one idea. When one is writing something longer
like an essay or a report, each paragraph explains or demonstrates a key
point or thought of the central idea, usually to inform or persuade.
Writing good paragraphs is essential for two reasons:
1. It helps one as a writer, as one remains focused while writing.
2. It makes the writing more readable, and the reader can easily figure
out that a new idea has been introduced.

5.4.2 Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs can be written in many ways, depending on your purpose. However, each
paragraph should have one point which supports the thesis statement. Most body paragraphs
will have:
1. A Topic Sentence
The first sentence in a paragraph is usually known as the Topic Sentence and it introduces
the main idea of the paragraph. In other words, it is a sentence in which the main idea of a
paragraph is summarized so that the readers can figure out what they can expect in the rest of
the paragraph. Though this may not always be true, as the Topic Sentence can also be
elsewhere in the paragraph, depending upon the demand of the writing. One should keep in
mind here that the topic sentence should relate to the thesis statement and in some way should
uphold the thesis.
The following points should be kept in mind while writing the topic sentence –
 The topic sentence should connect to the previous paragraph, so that the readers do
not lose focus.

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  The topic sentence is not about just stating a fact; but it is about a point of view. A
point of view that the writer is about to develop in the rest of the paragraph.
 Every sentence in the paragraph should aim to support the topic sentence.

Activity
Take any an essay or an article or a chapter from any newspaper or journal or
any book and try to figure out the topic sentences of each paragraph.

2. Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences are sentences which support or uphold the topic sentence and make the
body of a paragraph. The supporting sentences support by providing facts, details and
examples to logically present the argument.
One should keep in mind to provide specific details to show how the ideas are valid.
 While stating facts, examples, studies, experts’ opinions, etc. be specific.
o Use the experts’ names and other details.
o Examples should also be specific in terms of their names, places, dates, etc.
o Use specific numbers and dates.
o In case of scientific studies, explain in short how the study was done.
o Use vivid descriptions to provide details.
 One should make sure that all the details provided in the supporting sentences are
relevant; otherwise, the reader may lose interest and focus with unnecessary
digressions.
 Try to explain things in detail so that the readers do not have to think too hard to
figure out the significance.
 Supporting sentences should not be used to merely repeat your topic sentences, but
they should be the explanations, justifications, interpretations and analyses of the
topic sentence.
 One should also make sure that all the supporting sentences are in a logical order.
3. Concluding sentence
The last sentence of the paragraph is termed as the concluding sentence which is usually a
review of the paragraph. It should emphasize on the main point or the topic sentence. It is
advisable not to end the paragraph therefore with a quotation, but to end with your own
words and idea.

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An illustrative example
The Right to Information Act
Before getting into the writing about The Right to Information Act one
needs to get all the required information regarding The Right to Information
Act, such as the historical and the legal background to such an act, the need
for such an act, the history of the enactment of the Act, the details of the act,
the use of the act for the benefit of the citizens, etc. When all these details
are collected then one needs to put them in proper logical perspective so
that when the readers read it they can have a clear notion about what the act
is all about.

The following outline was made before the actual writing –

The Thesis statement – The Right to Information Act opened up the door
of information for the individual citizens and in the process empowered
them.
The Body paragraphs –
Paragraph I – the factors that impaired free flow of information,
Paragraph II – legislation of the Act,
Paragraph III – some important provisions of the act.
The Conclusion – the needs and benefits of the Right to Information Act.

The Right to Information is one of the basic human rights in a democratic society
and is indispensable for free flow of information. If a democratic society has to
function properly then it is essential that it has informed citizens. But many a times
it happens that the government does not share all the information with the citizens in
the name of Official Secrets Act and such other legal provisions. In such a situation
what was necessary was to bring about a legal provision which would make citizen’s
access to information easier. The Right to Information Act opened up the door of
information for the individual citizens and in the process empowered them.

But before one goes into the ways in which the Right to Information Act has enabled
free access to information what one needs to know the factors that impaired free
flow of information. It is usually thought that there are three factors –
a. The legislative framework includes several pieces of restrictive legislation,
such as the Official Secrets Act, 1923;
b. The pervasive culture of secrecy and arrogance within the bureaucracy; and
c. The low levels of literacy and rights awareness amongst India's people.
(http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/rti_dh.htm)

The Right to Information Act came into effect only after a lot of pressure was
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 given to the government to legislate such an act. The demand for the right to
information gained momentum in India in the last three decades. The pressure from
the mass led to the draft bill of Right to Information being introduced to the Indian
Parliament in July 2000. It came into effect on 12th October 2005. Under this law,
information has become a fundamental right of the citizen.

According to the act, the government bodies and government funded agencies
are liable to share any information that the citizens ask for. Under this law all
government bodies or government funded agencies have to designate a Public
Information Officer (PIO) whose role would be to ensure that information sought for
is disclosed to the petitioner within thirty days. Information means any material in
any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press
releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models,
data material held in any electronic form, etc. According to this act citizen also has
firstly, the right to inspection of work, documents, records; secondly to take notes,
extracts or certified copies of documents or records; thirdly to take certified samples
of material; and finally to obtain information in the form of diskettes, floppies,
tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where
such information is stored in a computer or in any other device.

In conclusion, it can be said that any healthy democracy requires an informed

citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and
also to contain corruption and to hold governments and their instrumentalities
accountable to the governed. Consequently, it can be said that Right to Information
is essential as it gives citizens the chance to get any information (barring some
which are official secrets for various reasons) and help them make political, social
and financial decisions.

 The first paragraph is the Introduction which provides the necessary

background for Right to Information Act. The last line of the first paragraph
is the Thesis Statement – “The Right to Information Act opened up the
door of information for the individual citizens and in the process
empowered them.”
 Each paragraph starts with a Topic sentence which sums up the theme of that
paragraph. For example, in the second paragraph the topic sentence is “one
needs to know the factors that impaired free flow of information.” All
the other sentences after the topic sentence go on to support the topic
sentence. These sentences are known as the Supporting sentences.

5.4.3 The Conclusion

The conclusion is as important as the introduction as the conclusion serves the purpose of
giving the findings of the writing in a nutshell. In other words, it can be said that a good
conclusion–
 Usually restates / reemphasizes the thesis of the writing in different words/phrases.

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  Should reinstate the significance of the findings of the writing.
 Briefly summarizes the main points of your paper. Though it should not be done using
same words as that would be repetitive and boring.
 Usually does not quote sources or new facts as that need to be done in the body of the
writing. It is better to put one’s own thoughts in one’s own words in conclusion.
 Do not try to conclude with anything ambiguous that leaves the readers uncertain
about your meaning. Though it does not mean that one should not end in a way that
makes the reader thoughtful about the idea.

The last paragraph in the writing on Right to Information Act sums up the need for
Right to Information Act and it is the Conclusion.

5.5 Cohesion and Coherence

One can have a great idea, but if that idea is not presented in a logical and smooth flowing
manner, then reader(s) will miss the greatness of the idea. Therefore it is essential that one
presents the idea in such a fashion that the reader(s) remain engaged with the topic. To
achieve it, Cohesion and Coherence are two elements which needs to be followed as they
bind the writing together. No writing can be effective if it is not bound together by a string of
thoughts and ideas and if the links between the words and sentences and paragraphs are not
tightly bound. Coherence refers to the way the ideas are sequentially presented in writing to
make the reader(s) comprehend the idea. Writing has coherence if its arguments are in a
clear, plausible and comprehensible order, if there are no logical gaps in its line of reasoning,
and if it avoids unnecessary digressions. In other words, it can be said that Coherence is
about how meanings and sequences of ideas relate to each other in writing such as, from
general to particular, from problem to solution, from question to answer, from claim to
counter-claim, etc. Cohesion, on the other hand, refers to formal (stylistic) aspects of writing,
specifically on the paragraph and sentence level. Cohesion is achieved by a skilful use of
lexico-grammatical forms that highlight the sense relations binding the paragraphs and
sentences. Cohesion is achieved through the use of synonyms, lexical sets, pronouns, verb
tenses, time references, grammatical reference, transitional words and phrases, etc. For
example, ‘it’, ‘neither’ and ‘this’ all refer to an idea previously mentioned. ‘First of all’,
‘then’ and ‘after that’ help to sequence writing. ‘However’, ‘in addition’ and ‘for instance’
link ideas and arguments. In other words, cohesion is a means of establishing connections
within writing at different levels, e.g., sections, paragraphs, sentences and even phrases.

In short, it can be said that Coherence refers to the content element

in writing, whereas Cohesion refers to the stylistic devices.

In the above writing on Right to Information, the information on Right to Information

Act are presented coherently by presenting the details in a manner which would be
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 easier for the readers to grasp it. The Introduction deals with a background about the
need for the Right to Information Act. The second paragraph provides legal details
and the socio-political framework which would not allow free flow of information
and hence the necessity of Right to Information Act. The third paragraph provides a
historical detail of the Act. The fourth paragraph in short sums up some important
provisions of the act. And the last paragraph is a summary of the essay along with the
necessity of such an act in the Indian context.

5.6 Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Summarising and paraphrasing are very useful skills because they allow us to use the work of
authors whom we wish to cite, while using our own words. In other words, we are not merely
doing a copy paste of the works of other writers.

In Short
Paraphrasing means putting a piece of writing in new words, so that most of the
language or expression is different, while the content or idea is retained.
Summarising means reproducing the main points of a piece of writing while
substantially cutting down its length.

Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing means changing the words in which something you have read has been
expressed. The result of paraphrasing should be significantly different from the original
source, so that as far as the expression goes, it counts as your original writing. At the same
time, because you will be giving credit to the original author of the text you have read, s/he
must not be misquoted. Therefore, the meaning should not be changed in any way from what
the author you are paraphrasing had intended it to be.
Some of the effective paraphrasing tools are –
(a) Use a different sentence structure than the original.
(b) Mostly use different words. Changing few words here and there will not make it a
right paraphrase of the original.
(c) Retain the same meaning as the original. The meaning should not be changed in any
way in the paraphrasing. The meaning of the original text should be there in the
paraphrased text as closely as possible.
(d) Do not try to forcibly replace the words or phrases that are in common use, or have
no effective substitute, or whose replacement would make the statement clumsy or
unclear, e.g. ‘industrial revolution’ or ‘eighteenth century’.
At the same time, it should be kept in mind that there is no single way to paraphrase. Each
text that you will try to paraphrase will need a different set of skills. So to merely say that one
has learnt the key to paraphrasing by doing a few passages is a hoax. One needs to be
constantly in practice of paraphrasing so that one gets the necessary skills.
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Summarising
Summarizing can be easily defined as process by which the main points of a text is written in
one’s own words, while maintaining the meaning of the original. Brevity is essential in the
act of summarizing where one should cut out the unnecessary details and just write what is
the essential argument or the main points that the writing deals with. In short, it can be said
that Summarizing is a process in which one reads, selects the essential information and
rewrites it in one’s own language keeping in mind that the signification of the original write
up is not compromised in any way.

An Act of Summarization
Original Paragraph
John Locke was a very rich man, with investments in the silk trade as well as
in the slave trade, and income from loans and mortgages. He invested heavily
in the first issue of the stock of the Bank of England, just a few years after he
had written his Second Treatise as the classic statement of liberal democracy.
As adviser to the Carolinas, he had suggested a government of slaveowners
run by wealthy land barons. Locke's support of people's government was
actually support for a revolution in England, leading to the free development
of mercantile capitalism. (Zinn, A People’s History of the United States)
(a) This can be summarised as follows, in 47 words:
Citing John Locke’s writing of key liberal democratic works in the same years
as he grew wealthy from investments, and proposed that a slave-owning,
landholding elite rule the Carolinas, Zinn argues that he actually favoured not
democracy but unlimited growth of merchant capitalism following an English
uprising. (Zinn, A People’s History of the United States)
(b) It can be made even shorter, as follows, in 25 words:
John Locke’s wealth, and his support for slavery and unelected government,
lead Zinn to argue that he supported unrestricted merchant-capital growth
rather than liberal democracy. (Zinn, A People’s History of the United States)
Source: From Sumati Dwivedi’s Chapter on “Summarizing and Paraphrasing” from
the book Academic Writing and Composition edited by Deb Dulal Halder, published
from Book Age, New Delhi in 2016.

5.7 Citing Resources

As suggested earlier, whenever we are about to write something academically we use a lot of
resources starting from research papers to books to audio-visual material to different websites
as well as blogs. All these needs to be cited in our writing so as to make it appear just and
hassle free from all plagiarism. In order to do so, from early on in our academic life, we need
to get into the habit of citation so as to make ourselves prepared for the greater academic
achievements in life.

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The methodical way of going about it is–
 To prepare a list of resources while drafting the paper. Keeping track of the author,
publication details, websites as well as details of audio-visuals needs to be kept in an
organized manner so as to not miss anything at the end. To repeat, it should be a
simultaneous exercise as that of writing a paper.
 To make the list in alphabetical order so as to figure out the resources in an easier and
comfortable manner.
 To first create a working Bibliography and then finalize it at the end of writing
process.
 Keeping the different resources in separate headings such as Primary Sources and
Secondary Sources. Then differentiate between books, essays and articles, web
resources, audio-visuals, encyclopaedias, etc.
 Keeping the resources handy so as to check their page numbers before finalizing the
final drafts.
While Preparing a Working Bibliography, the things which should be worked upon are–
 The first detail should be the name of the author where the last name should be put
first and then the first (and if any middle) name.
 In case of a book, quote the full title of the book. Name of the book should be
italicized.
 In case of a chapter from the book, then first write the name of the chapter and then
the name of the book from where the chapter is taken. Also the editor the book should
be mentioned to locate the exact book that one is talking about.
 In case of an essay or article from a journal, then the name of the article or essay in
full should be provided in double quotations, followed by the full title of the Journal
along with the Volume No and also the Issue no.
 In case the article is taken from a newspaper or magazine then the full name of the
article followed by the Name of the newspaper along with the date of publication.
 In case of multiple papers or books of the same author then the titles should be
arranged in alphabetical order.
 Not only author(s)’s name and the book or journal’s name is enough to figure out the
book or the article, but what is also required is to also mention the name of the
publisher along with the place of publication as well as the year of publication.
 For essays and articles, one should also mention the page numbers in which the essays
appear in the journals or books.
 For an Internet Source, all of these have to be included along with some more
information like:
o URL (Full Web-Link)
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 o Name of the Website
o Name of the Editor (if any)
o Date of last update of the Website
o Date when you accessed the work
5.8 Different Style Sheets

MLA Format
Sequence of the Details to be Included:
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. (In case of multiple authors, only one name is
inverted). Title: Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Year of Publication.
In case of Single Author and Single Title (Article/Book):
 Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. London: Oxford University Press,
1977.
 Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. London: Abacus edition, Sphere Books, 1972.
 Valmiki, Omprakash. Joothan: A Dalit’s Life. Trans. Arun Prabha Mukherjee.
Kolkata: Samya, 2007.
 Spacks, Patricia Meyer. ‘Logic and Language in Through the Looking Glass’. Lewis
Carroll, Through the Looking Glass. Brinda Bose (ed.). Delhi: Worldview
Publications, 2000.
In case of Two or More Authors:
 Ashcroft, Bill, Gareths Griffilhs and Helen Tiffin. Key Concepts in Post-Colonial
Studies. London and New York: Routledge, 1995.
In case of two or more books by the Same Author:
 Gordimer, Nadine. July’s People. New York: Penguin Books, 1981.
 ---. The Conservationist. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1974.
In case of Articles taken from the Internet:
 Perusek, D (1993). “Subaltern Consciousness and Historiography of Indian Rebellion
of 1857”. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28 No. 37 Article Stable URL:
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/4400141> Downloaded on 12 July 2015.
 Howden, Daniel. “Planet of the slums: UN warns urban populations set to double.”
27 June 2007 <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/planet-of-the-
slums> Downloaded on 13 March 2020

90
APA Format
Sequence of Details to be Included:
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. (Year of Publication of the Work Cited). Title:
Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher’s/ Institute’s Name.
In case of Single Author and Single Title (Article/Book):
 Williams, Raymond. (1977) Marxism and Literature. London: Oxford University
Press.
 Millett, Kate. (1972) Sexual Politics. London: Abacus edition, Sphere Books.
 Valmiki, Omprakash (2007) Joothan: A Dalit’s Life. Trans. Arun Prabha
Mukherjee. Kolkata: Samya.
 Spacks, Patricia Meyer. (2000) ‘Logic and Language in Through the Looking Glass’.
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass. Brinda Bose (ed.). Delhi: Worldview
Publications.
In case of Two or More Authors:
 Ashcroft, Bill, Gareths Griffilhs and Helen Tiffin (1995) Key Concepts in Post-
Colonial Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
In case of two or more books by the Same Author:
 Gordimer, Nadine (1981) July’s People. New York: Penguin Books.
 ---. (1974) The Conservationist. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.
In case of Articles taken from the Internet:
 Perusek, D (1993). “Subaltern Consciousness and Historiography of Indian Rebellion
of 1857”. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28 No. 37 Article Stable URL:
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/4400141> Downloaded on 2015, July 12.
 Howden, Daniel. “Planet of the slums: UN warns urban populations set to double.”
27 June 2007 <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/planet-of-the-
slums> Downloaded on 2020, March 13.
Note: In APA, both the Names have been inverted in case of Multiple Authors.

5.9 Referencing
There are three different methods of citing a reference within the text of a paper.
1. End Notes: Each time you refer to a paper/chapter/book you could number the
reference and prepare a list of End Notes (right at the end of the paper/book, just
before the Bibliography) where each entry number corresponds with the reference
number within the text.
2. Footnotes: Footnotes appear right at the end of a page and details of all the references
on that page could be mentioned in the footnotes. Again, you can number a reference
and the corresponding entry in the list of Footnotes would provide details.
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 3. In text Referencing: The most commonly followed method though is that of
parenthetical referencing wherein the details of a reference are included within the
text of the paper/ book in brackets.
5.10 Self Check Questions
1. Write a brief note on writing as a process.
2. Why do you think that writing should be approached as a process? Give reasons for
your answer.
3. What is the importance of writing a good introduction? Enumerate the ways of
writing a good introduction.
4. What is the significance of Cohesion and coherence in writing? Give examples to
illustrate your answer.
5. What is a body paragraph? What does body paragraph consist of? Write a paragraph
on a topic of your choice to illustrate your points.
6. Why should we summarize and paraphrase? What is its significance in academic
writing?
7. What are the differences between the APA and MLA Style Sheet?
8. Create a bibliography using the following sources. First use a citation convention to
rewrite the details of each source and then arrange the five sources in the correct
sequence.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak wrote A Critique of Post-Colonial Reason: Toward a History of
the Vanishing Present which was published from Harvard University Press, Cambridge in
1999.
VS Seturaman edited the book Contemporary Criticism: An Anthology, which was published
from Macmillan, New Delhi in 1989.
Patrick Williams and Chrisman, Laura edited Colonial Discourse and Post colonial Theory: A
Reader which was published from Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hempstead in 1993.
Edward Said wrote Orientalism which was published in 1978 and its 25th Anniversary
Edition was published by Penguin Classics in 2003.
Robert Young wrote Post colonialism: An Historical Introduction which was published from
Blackwell, Oxford in 2001.
Recommended Readings
 Deb Dulal Halder edited Academic Writing and Composition: A Handbook (2016)
Book Age Publications, New Delhi.
 Deb Dulal Halder, Anjana Neira Dev and Prerna Malhotra (2012) Technical Writing
and Communication in English, Book Age Publications, New Delhi.

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 M. Deane (2010) Academic Research, Writing and Referencing. Harlow” Pearson
Education.
 P. Elbow (1981) Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process.
New York: Oxford University Press.
 Prerna Malhotra, Neerja Nagpal, Yamini and Deb Dulal Halder (2015) Business
Communication. Book Age Publications, New Delhi.
 Trevor Day (2013) Success in Academic Writing, Palgrave Study Skills. Palgrave,
Macmillan, New York.

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