ENGLISH

Notes
UNIT- I: COMMUNICATION SKILLS
USAGE OF A DICTIONARY- IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
Question: How is International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) relevant in the usage
of Dictionary? Illustrate with a few examples from existing sound system in
English language. (2016)
Or
Discuss the significance of International Phonetic Alphabet with the help of
existing sounds in English language. (2016-Repeat Exam)
Or
How does International Phonetic Alphabet help in learning the English
Language? Discuss with the help of existing sounds in English language. (2015)
Or
Why phoneticians have evolved an alphabet called the International Phonetic
Alphabet? Discuss with the help of existing sounds in English Language. (2014)
(2013)
Answer: We need to know IPA for its usage in learning a language. The IPA is
used in dictionaries to indicate the pronunciation of words. The IPA often been
used as a basis for creating new writing system and even for creating languages
that are unwritten.
The IPA is used in some foreign language textbooks and phrase to transcribe to
the sounds of languages which are written non-alphabetic. It is also used by
non-native speakers of English to standardize their own English language.
In the learning and understanding of IPA symbols and sounds are focused to
understand the structure of language.

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Minimal constructive units of sound which is responsible for the change of
meaning is called Phonemes. Whereas a sound may have its physical realization
in a different manner in more than one environment. These physical assertions
of sounds are called allophones.
Example-
1) Pot /ph)t>/
2) Top /th)t> /

Phonemes
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
Diphthongs
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)

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19)
20)
Consonants
21)
22)
23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)
33)
34)
35)
36)
37)
38)
39)
40)
41)

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 Transcription
It is a process where representation of existing sound in a word or words
through symbols provided by IPA is done.
Two most commonly observed patterns are:
1) Phonemic Transcription
2) Allophonic Transcription

Syllable
Syllable is the next higher unit of sound made up of one or more than one
speech sound and there can be either vowels or consonants. The vowel
component is essential for the structure of a syllable.
 No. of vowels = No. of syllable
Example:

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 Phonemic Transcription
1) CCCV:

2) VC:

3) CV:

4) CVC:

5) CCV:

6) CCCV:

7) CCCVC:

8) CCCVCC:

9) CCCVCCC:

10) VCCCC:

11) CCVVVVC:

12) CCVCCC:

13) CCVCC:

14) CVCC:

15) VCC:

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 Attempt Phonemic Transcription
1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Count the No. of Syllable

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

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9)

10)

Transcribe to show the structure of the Syllable

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

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Question: Do you agree that in its final form, communication is a manifestation
of the personalities of both the sender and the receiver? Discuss with special
reference to barriers of communication. (2017)
Or
Which of the models developed with the passage of time, best illustrates the
process of communication? Supplement your answer with a note on Barriers to
Communication. (2016)
Or
Discuss and display a graphical study on the types of communication. (2013)
Answer: Communication is characterized by speed, efficiency and the ability to
hammer physical or geographical limitation and therefore it is more than
swapping/ messaging information and is inclusive of the use of all our senses.
Therefore, the ingredients to communication as a process must include:
(i) At least two persons (Speaker-Receiver, Interlocutors, Addresser-
Addressee)
(ii) The topic that is the content of the message, the channel, the medium,
the code and the form the setting - social and physical.
(iii) Communicative feedbacks

Role of Decoder
The process of decoding by the addressee or by the receiver is an active one, it
is this ingredient that provides potential to the language for the meaning –
making process on basis of his/her background knowledge, personal attributes,
knowledge of the subject or topic, addresser – addressee relationship,
knowledge of the code, physical & social content etc.
Emotive function of language
To derive the inner state and emotion of language.
Directive function
As the term suggests, language is used to direct a person to do something and he
acts accordingly. In legal world it is known as ‘Speech Act’ and is very
important in law of contracts. It seeks to affect the behavior of others.

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 Poetic function
Opening the channel of communication and checking it to see if its working
properly. It should be assumed that everything is communicate properly among
the interlocutors.
The particular form chosen for communication is the essence of the message.
Proper form of communication ensures effectiveness of the whole process,
pertaining to aesthetic pleasure.
Referential function
To carry information with the help of references.
Metalinguistic function
Focusing on the language code itself.
Contextual function
Creating a particular kind of context.
Barriers to Communication
Code of language
First important barrier to communication is code. It is important for the
interlocutors or participants who participating in a speech event, to know the
code. Speech event may mean conversation, group discussion, lectures,
interviews, debates and discussions. It is necessary to check that the code used
between interlocutors is comprehensible. This includes vocabulary too.
Vocabulary
If the interlocutors are not familiar with the vocabulary, it will prove to be a
barrier to communication. It is important to know the proper use of vocabulary
of a language to understand the message applicable in the appropriate context, it
should be understood which form of communication should be used during
dissemination of message.
Example:
The market constantly undergoes persistent base hammering.
 Those who are not aware with the vocabulary of stock exchange would not be
able to understand what this sentence exactly mean. So it is important to go
through the vocabulary of a subject first.
Concept
Technical and subject-specific concepts may prove to be a barrier to
communication. It can impede conversation. It is recommended that proper
spirit and concept to be used, should be made clear.
Background Knowledge and Shared Assumptions
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Background knowledge and shared assumption may question the validity of the
chosen expression and therefore a professional should be properly tuned with it,
otherwise it will be a barrier. There should be flexibility of in questioning
background knowledge and shared assumptions to prevent destructive
feedbacks. There should be rather fitting to the communication.
Culture-Specific Communication
One must be aware about the culture of the receivers to put forth
communication in a batter way. Since culture provides several paralinguistic
features to the language of a person.
Sound-based understanding of language can be barrier to communication. A
standard pronunciation of a particular language is necessary for a better
communication. If a particular language is not twist with its proper
pronunciation, intonation, accent or stress, it will somewhere impede
communication when we talk about professional communication.
Physical Environment
Environment disturbance and physical distance can also impede
communication. Various features like noise, distance etc. act as disturbance to
the communication.
Affective factors
Anxiety, fear, attitude, motivation, beliefs, values, lack of mutual trust, lack of
time, lack of attention, pressure of work and personal rivalries can also impede
communication.
Sender-Oriented Barriers
1) Groping for the right message
2) Superior attitude
3) Lack of Collaborative effort (‘I’ attitude instead of ‘leading’ attitude)
4) Lack of language skills
5) Mental Blocking
6) Bye-passing: Inability to read the intent behind the words.
7) Frame of references
8) Distraction
9) Over and under communication
10) Loss in-pact (Incomplete information)
Receiver-Oriented Barriers
1) Mental turbulence
2) Ineffective grasp of message or Partial grasp of topic
3) Difference in reception and comprehension
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 4) Distancing from speaker
5) Misunderstanding
6) Biased listening
7) Lack of provision of correct feedback
Principles of Co-operative Behaviour
Philosopher Grice has described four important maxims based on principles of
co-operative behaviour in order to characterized professional communication.
(i) Maxim of Quantity
Make your contribution just informative as per the requirement.
(ii) Maxim of Quality
Authenticate the information and make your contribution which is true.
(iii) Maxim of Relation
Make your contribution related to the communication. Do not much above the
head, nor below the foot.
(iv) Maxim of Manner
Avoiding all kinds of obscurity and ambiguity.
 Professional communication is more than a series of exchanges which are
initiated and interpreted according to intuitively understood and socially
acquired rules & norms that stands for certain language equations which
become the basis structural unit in defining any speech event.
1) Adjacency Pairs
One way in which meanings are communicated & interpreted in professional
environment is through the use of utterances produced by two successive
speakers such that the second utterance is identified and related to the first as an
expected follow up. The two form pairs is technically called Adjacency Pairs.
Adjacency Pairs become basic structural unit in defining any speech event
under the ambit of professional communication.
2) Openings and Closings
The Openings and Closings of any professional communication are/is event
specific, organised & orderly, and all transition from a state of non-talk to talk
or vice-versa, require channelize formal training for engineered solutions.
As far as closings are concerned, important dimensions of conversational
organisations depend on how the topics are selected for discussing and planning
strategies towards further development and switching over to next conversation
with decent and professional endings.
Coherent conversation respect norms concerning, choice of topic and
recognizable structure.

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 3) Turn taking
Communication by definition involves two or more people which is governed
through norms and so conversation that determine who talks, when and for how
long, is technically called turn taking.
It pertains to the distribution of talking among the participants and it should be
random. The term suggests that the norms and conventions that govern
professional communication is valued on who talks, when and for how long,
and it depends upon the speech event.
4) Repair
The process of professional communication or conversation involves
monitoring to ensure that the intended message(s) have been communicated and
understood. It refers to the efforts by the speaker or the hearer to correct
troubles-spot in the ongoing conversation. This involves correction, coherence
and It is suspected that message has not been received as intended in the true
spirit. Technically the term repair refer to the convincing efforts by the
successive speakers in corrected the trouble spot of professional
communication.
Types of Communication
 Brown & Yule in 1983, differentiated communication into two types:
1) Transactional: Where the transfer of information is involved.
2) Interactional: Based on social relations and personal attitude.
 On broader scale, communication may be classified into several categories:
1) Based on Expression
Based on expression, communication can be categorized into written, oral and
gestural system. It should be understood what kind of communication should be
used in which situation to keep the targeted audience engaged in the whole
process.
(a) Oral
(b) Written
(c) Gestural
2) Based on flow
(a) Internal
(i) Vertical
There is also the need to communicate within the company itself. Example:
Between a superior and sub-ordinate (Higher to lower level authority)
(Downward communication) or sub-ordinate to higher authority (Upward
communication) (Reports, suggestions opinions or charter of demands)
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 (ii) Horizontal
Communication between people at the same level of management is called
horizontal or lateral communication.
(b)External
In emergent situations it is a need of organisation/company or individual
concerned to communicate with outside agencies (Government bodies, private
bodies, newspapers, advertisers, manufactures of machinery, builders, suppliers
of goods and services, clients and customers etc.)
3) Based on Relationship
(a) Formal
Communication done through the chain of commands reflective in the
expression chosen is technically called formal communication and it will carry
organized structure. It will be planned and established by management itself.
This will clearly indicate the relationship of interlocutors involved.
(b)Informal
Informal communication would be spontaneous in nature, reactionary, may be
sometimes incomplete or may carry incorrect information. This would be
indicated in change of form and language depending upon the relationship of
the interlocutors. It is also known as grape-wine communication.
Question: Write a note on difference between written and oral communication
and where to place gestural communication?
Answer: Written and Oral communication can be differentiated depending
upon their forms and manner.
1) The speaker has available to him/her, full range of voice quality effects
(sound system) as well as facial expressions - postural and gestural
system. These Paralinguistic features are denied to a writer. A writer has
typographical variety at his/her disposal.
2) In oral communication, the speaker being face to face with the
hearer/receiver can do the following:
(a) Can monitor all paralinguistic feature,
(b) Match with the reactions,
(c) On the spot planning of utterances, moderation of overall pattern,
interruption from the interlocutors may be invited to patch up the
overall command on conversational skill.
(d) It is quicker, economical, with repaired options for getting immediate
response or result. However, oral communication may suffer from
geographical, social and cultural differences. Differences in dialects

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 may interfere with accent differences finally associated with
corresponding paralinguistic features and body language.
(e) Oral communication is less reliable. It is also not available in future
and can be affected by the attitudes, personality, self-interest, beliefs
values, and prejudices of the sender as well as receiver in time and
circumstances of communication. Also oral communication is not
suitable for lengthy messages as scientifically human mind can
restored and retreat the information for a limited time period.
(f) Since the writer is writing for an absent reader in far space and time,
he or she may overlooked, reflect, edit without being monitored or
repaired with a variety of options open to him/her for strengthening
the message through the use of language tools and devices such as
dictionaries, thesauruses etc. Moreover, there is no pressure on a
writer and can do justice to his/her emotions and feelings without any
fear of offending readers. Written communication ensures
transmission of information in a uniform manner with a little risk of
unauthorized alteration of the message. It serves for a permanent
record for future references.
(g) Written communication can be repeated at regular intervals, however
it is time consuming, expensive and rigid.
 A professional must IMPRESS upon its readers or hearers or receivers.
IMPRESS: Idea, Message, Pose, Receiver, Empathy, Sender,
Security
Idea: Idea pertains to the invocation, germination or incubation of an idea in the
mind of the speaker. This need to be identified and sequentially arranged.
Message: It should be concrete and in a form that is acceptable and
comprehensible.
Pose: Sound and Symbols
Receiver: He has to be good decoder as well.
Empathy: Exactly thinking and developing a feeling like your receiver. Getting
into the shoes of receiver, that is a humane approach.
Sender: Sender has to encoder.
Security: Security check for any discrepancies.

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 Paragraph Development
Question: Discuss any three methods of expanding or developing an idea/topic
into a paragraph or a composition. (2016)
Or
What are the different techniques of paragraph development? Explain any two
with example. (2015)
Or
Explain Re-statement technique of Paragraph development with example.
(2014)
Answer: In a comprehensive manner, methods of Paragraph development fall
into three categories:
1. Those that stay strictly within the topic: To remain intact within the
topic-sentence. Topic-sentence is the main theme (title) of the entire
writing which is reflective with the elaboration of idea. In this category,
in order to define a topic you keep on offering examples.
Illustrations
Illustrations ground our assertions in facts and enable us to check that assertion
against are knowledge. They anchor an abstraction, in particulars, translating
difficult ideas into everyday terms. Citing illustration or example is a way to
support a generalization. It helps in translating and narrowing down the difficult
concept to simple terms.
Re-statement technique (Parallelism)
The Re-statement technique talks about the repetition of the main idea and the
purpose is to emphasis the effectiveness or the importance of the statement.
There are two ways of restatement-technique:
1) Positive-Negative Restatement technique
Positive-Negative restatement technique begins by saying what the case is and
then asserts what it is not.
2) Negative-Positive Restatement technique
Negative-Positive begins by saying what not the case is and then asserts what it
is.
In order to define philosophy, Bran Black Shaw uses the negative restatement
technique. He says, “I’m not thinking of philosophy as courses in philosophy.
I’m not thinking of it as a subject exclusive of other subjects..... I’m thinking of
it in its old Greek sense, the sense in which Socrates thought of it as the love
and search for wisdom, and the habit of pursuing an argument when it leads the
delight in understanding for its own sake.”

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 Specification
Specification is about developing an idea or topic from general to the particular.
Brief specification are found within the single sentences with the help of hyphen
(-) as a means of giving substance to an abstraction(s).
While specification resembles illustrations, it differs in an important way in the
sense that an illustration is one of several possible cases, whereas specification
covers all the cases.
2. Techniques that involve another subject: Whether secondary or of
equal importance, introduced for the purposes of analogy.
Analogy
As part of analogy, a subject of secondary importance which may be of quite a
different in nature is used for the purposes of elaborating primary subject.
Causal Relationship Technique
Why something happened or why it is true or false are the basis of casual
relationship behind numerous strategies for developing a topic and simplest way
is keep on answering why.
Development by reasons may be subtle but it helps a writer in leaving the casual
relationship implicit and one is able to establish connection in the sub-structures
of the topic however not spelled out.
Effect Technique
Effects or consequences are handled much in the same way as reasons that
support the elaboration of the topic.
In facts, it is suggested to use both the techniques together for establishing
intimate connection in the sub-structures of ideas.

3. Techniques that explore ramifications of the topic more fully and

completely with the help of defining the topic itself based on its root level
or looking into its causes and effects.
Definition
In its most basic sense, it will help us to set limits and boundaries but the
problem of defining is further complicated by the fact that these different kinds
of definition serving different purposes, use different means also.
1) Nominal Definition: It is a definition of word or words or phrase
communicated through dictionary.
2) Real Definition: Real definition talks about definition of the entity
(Object, concept, emotion or whatever that word signifies)

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Depending upon purposes there can be following definitions:
1) Consensual Definition: It is an elaboration of how people commonly use
a word or how they understand and in what way.
2) Stipulative Definition: A special meaning given to a word or an entity
for a particular purpose.
3) Legislative Definition: This definition helps an author to put forward as
what the word ought to mean.
The various techniques for developing a definition can be through:
1) Defining by genus and species
2) Defining by synonyms
3) Defining by illustrations
4) Defining by metaphor and simile
5) Defining by negatives
6) Defining by etymology
7) Defining by semantics
8) Defining by history
9) Hypothetical Definitions
10) Paired or field definition (empirical research)
Analysis Technique
In abroad sense, all kinds of paragraphs can be brought to exposition in an
analytical manner that is developing a topic by distinguishing its component and
then discussing each in turn. Analysis begins with the general and works into
particulars, whereas classification starts with particulars and sorts them into
different categories.
Qualification Technique
It is often necessary to admit what you are asserting is not always true and
always applicable, doing so is called qualification. Qualification always risks
blurring your facts or focus but the art is to qualify exaggeration without losing
the track.
You can qualify with the help of:
1) Sub-ordinate clauses
2) By using qualifying words and phrases (Example: although, few, big
time, in general etc.)
3) Qualification can be expressed in a separate sentence and then substituted
words may be used to bring stress on the obviousness of the main topic.

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Question: Write a detailed note on the prose style of Francis Bacon and EV
Lucas with reference to their essays “Of Studies” & “On Finding Things”
respectively. (2017)
Or
Write a detailed note on the prose style of Francis Bacon and E.V. Lucas.
(2015)
Answer: A good prose-style is both a matter of choice of the words and their
arrangement to form a complete meaningful sentence. The writer should have a
large store of words ready for use. There are three principal characteristics of
good prose: clarity (lucidity), simplicity and euphony.

Among the greatest prose-writer of the 20th century are A.G. Gardiner, E.V.
Lucas, Robert Lynd, Francis Bacon and many others. They are all conscious
stylists, who revise and re-revise, polish and re-polish what they write till
perfection is achieved. Their essays are models of clarity, lucidity, and
simplicity. Often their style is conversational and chatty, without being vulgar
and slipshod. Theirs is an art which conceals art.

Francis Bacon
Bacanian style is an aphoristic style, an entirely new cult where an entire
mammoth body of thoughts portrays in a few words. Bacon expands these
thoughts in a syllogistic folds which could bring lucidity and clarity. He has
adopted inter-disciplinary approach in order to impart scholarly thoughts from
other establishments. His essays forces a reader to make up for fine
comparisons inviting a lot of physical and intellectual exercise.
If brevity is the soul of wit, Bacon’s essays reflects that style. Bacon’s writing is
direct and to the point.
Example:
1) In his essay “On Truth”, Bacon writes in direct terms, “A mixture of a lie
doeth ever add pleasure”, meaning that will like our truths softened by
untruths.
2) In his essay “Of Studies”, Bacon is similarly direct, writing the following:
“Crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men
use them”
These sentences have the feel of aphorisms, pithy and memorable truths stated
in just a few words.

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Bacon’s style is also systematic, moving logically from point to point. He is
considered one of the early empiricists, basing his ideas on observation from the
real life, not received truths.
Finally, Bacon’s essays mix the Greek and Latin phrases, an educated person
would be familiar with alongside homey images of everyday life such as
comparing natural abilities to plants. His essays were accessible to both highly
and moderately educated people of his time.
Of Studies
‘Of Studies’ is illustrative of the purpose, the use and the abuse of studies. It is
an means of wisdom teaching and didactism, written in epigrammatic style.
Bacon’s essays are defined under impersonal style morses with wit obsenation
and a lot of knowledge one experience shared by him.
The essay also reflects Bacon’s method of moral counselling which he has
categorically explained as the outcome of the studies.
 Privatiness and retiring
 Disposition of business
 Plot apart from plans or ideas pertains to acclaims of life for getting
expertise & experience.
Bacon’s essay ‘Of Studies’ is part of The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral,
of Francis Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban (London, 1625)
Bacon argues that studies ‘serve for Delight, for Ornament, and for Ability.”
For delight, Bacon means one’s personal, private education, studies for
ornament he means in conversation between and among others, which Bacon
labels as discourse and studies for ability lead one to judgment in business and
related pursuits. From Bacon’s perspective, men with worldly experience can
carry out plans and understand particular circumstances, but men who study are
better able to understand important political matters and know how to deal with
the problem according to their severity.
At the same time Bacon encourages studies, he warns that
1) Too much studying leads to laziness
2) If one uses one’s knowledge too often in conversation with others, then
one is showing off
3) To be guided solely by one’s studies one becomes a scholar rather than
practical man.
Bacon’s argument about the value of studies is that moderation is the key to
using studies appropriately: studies are wonderful only if influenced by

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experience because a person’s natural abilities are enhanced by studies, but
studies without experience lead to confusion in dealing with the outside world.
According to Bacon, dishonest men condemn education; stupid men admire
education but wise men use education as their real world experience dictates.
He warns the educated man not to use his education to argument unnecessarily
with people, not to assume that education always leads to the correct behaviour
or understanding; not use education merely to focus on conversation with
others. Rather Bacon argues that education (some books) should be read but
their advice ignored; other books ignored completely, and a few books are to be
“Chewed and Digested” that is understood perfectly and used to guide
behaviour. In addition, Bacon advises that some books can be read by others
who take notes and the notes can substitute for reading an entire book, but these
books should not be those that cover important subjects.
Bacon returns to addressing the effects of reading, conversation, and writing:
reading creates a well-rounded man; conversation makes a man think quickly
and writing by which Bacon usually means argument essay, makes a man
capable of thinking with logic and reason. Further Bacon argues if a man
doesn’t write very much, he has to have a good memory to compensate for what
he doesn’t write. If he doesn’t exercise the art of conversation, he needs to have
a quick wit and if he doesn’t read very much, he has to be able “to fake it”, to
pretend that he knows more than he does.
Bacon argues that History makes men wise, poetry makes men clever,
mathematics makes men intellectually sharp and logic & rhetoric make men
skilled in argument. Further, Bacon believes that there is no problem in thinking
that cannot be fixed by the appropriate study just as the right physical exercise
cure physical illnesses. Every disorder of the mind has a cure for example if a
man cannot use one set of facts to prove the truth of an unrelated set of facts,
Bacon advises the study of law.
EV Lucas
Edward Verrall Lucas was an English humorist, essayist, playwright,
biographer, poet, novelist, short story teller and editor. His work on Charles
Lamb is one the most remarkable.
Lucas has carved a picturesque description of even the minutest detail of the
issue in question and therefore the issue becomes crystal clear and we as readers
fell well informed. Lucas is more of an artist of human psyche. His base
prepares him as a writer who has taken the reader in flights of fear, fantasy but
the important thing is it is fluent style through a deep understanding of technical

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editing and mechanics of writing. Taking some commonplace incidents from
daily life as the subject of his essays, he has been imparting imaginative and
romantic color through narratology.
Apart from being praised as genuine entertainer, Lucas can be seen as witty and
capable of unusual insights where he is reluctant to provide self-revealing ideas
through his writing which might have given deeper significance.
On Finding Things
‘On finding things’ essay is written by EV Lucas. It talks about his things, the
ones he has found in his lifetime. Lucas talks about the trifle things he found
such as pennies, broach, pencil, and other things that had seemed important
then. Lucas also talks about his anxiety at what he may discover when looking
around.
‘On Finding Things’ establishes that finding things is one of the purest of
mundane joys. Finding Things is characterized by unexpectedness and
separateness. Lucas believes that it pampers human weakness. It is at once so
rare & pure an excitement that to trifle with it becomes the part of special
quality of an act through which he has established lightness and seriousness in
trivial matters.
Finding things is one of the purest of earthly joys. Lucas enumerates his
lifetime’s findings: a brown-paper packet, some pennies, a gold brooch, a
carriage key, a safety-pin, a pencil, and some other trifle things. The gold
brooch was returned to him which constitute nearly half a century's haul.
Lucas describe the special quality of the act of finding something is half
unexpectedness and half separateness. There being no warning, and the article
coming to you by chance. Lucas said that when you find something that has
been lost, that time you don’t have to be thanked to someone else or not be
owed anything. In short, he said that you have achieved the greatest human
triumph i.e. you have got something for nothing.
Finding things is at once so rare and pure a joy that to trifle with it is peculiarly
heartless. There are people who so want only in need as sport to do so. Lucas
explains the importance of finding through an example: Everyone knows that
one purse laid on the path or pavement beside a fence, which, as the excited
passer-by stoops to pick it up, is twitched through the palings by its adherent
string. There is also the coin attached to a thread which can be dropped in the
street and instantly pulled up again, setting every eye at a pavement scrutiny. He
apprehended that could there be lower tricks? He fear so, because some years
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ago, in the great days of a rendezvous of Bohemians in the Strand known as the
Marble Halls, a wicked wag once nailed a bad but plausible sovereign to the
floor and waited events. In the case of the purse and string the butts are few and
far between and there is usually only a small audience to rejoice in their
discomfiture, but the dénouement of the cruel comedy of which acquisitiveness
and cunning were the warp and woof at the Marble Halls was only too bitterly
public. He said that such is human resourcefulness in guile, that very few of
those who saw the coin and marked it down as their own went for it right away,
because had they done so the action might have been noticed and the booty
claimed. Instead, the discoverer would look swiftly and stealthily round, and
then gradually and with every affectation of nonchalance (which to those in the
secret, watching from the corners of their wicked eyes, was so funny as to be an
agony) he would get nearer and nearer until he was able at last to place one foot
on it.
This accomplished, he would relax into something like real naturalness, and,
practically certain of his prey, take things easily for a moment or so. Often, I am
told, the poor dupe would, at this point, whistle the latest tune. Even now,
however, he dared not abandon subterfuge, or his prize, were he seen to pick it
up, might have to be surrendered or shared; so the next move was to drop his
handkerchief, the idea being to pick up both it and the sovereign together. Such
explosions of laughter as followed upon his failure to do so can (I am informed)
rarely have been heard. Such was the conspiracy of the nailed sovereign, which,
now and then, the victim, shaking the chagrin from him, would without shame
himself join, and become a delighted spectator of his successor's humiliation.
Stony Cross: William Rufus accidentally shot with an arrow by Walter Tyler.
Plover’s nest: Plover is a delicacy is London, its egg is a symbol of class.
Bohemians: Men of thoughts & letter, life of unconventional thought.
Denouncement: Ending of a climax
Subterfuge: To avoid blame by deceiving.
Impish: Child of the devil

22
 Précis Writing
 Summary form
 One third of the original text without destroying its essence.
 Two types
1) Continuous matter
2) Correspondence matter
 Précis of Continuous matter
 After having the first reading of the original text, count no. of paras
depending on the no. of topic-sentence.
 Prepare a list of technical terms with reference to discipline specified.
 Roughly make an idea of condemned form and to no. of phrase.
 Give an appropriate title based on the topic-sentence.
 Having underlined all important and major details including technical
terms from the select list, write the précis in your words without adding
anything in personal view or spirit.
 Avoid all kinds of figurative devices.
 Make use of one word substitution.
 Finally, divide the précis in paras to convey the different ideas.

Précis of Correspondence matter

 Minutes – decision taken in a meeting on the issue put up in the agenda
sheet.
 Opening state – what, where, when
 Members present
 Members absent: Apologies submitted for the same.
 Minutes: concise, crisp.
 Any description should be given in appendix

23
 Figures of Speech
Question: Discuss any seven figures of speech with examples. (2016)

Answer: Figures of Speech

A word or phrase that is used in the speech or writing in a non-literal sense to
make it becomes more persuasive, vivid and relatable to the listener or reader.
These expressions called figures of speech and they are used in a non-literal
sense to convey some other meaning altogether.
Figures of have following features:
1) They adorn the language
2) They add colour and interest.
3) They awaken our imagination.
4) They cause a moment of excitement.
5) They provide emphasis, freshness and clarity to expression.
There are hundreds of figures of speech in English, some of them are given
following:
Based on Resemblance/Comparison
1) Simile: A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with
another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more
emphatic or vivid.
 It is an explicit comparison where you say one thing is like another.
 Compares one thing to another thing (of different kind and yet alike in
some significant way)
 Often introduced by words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
 Describe one object in terms of another, both the objects are of different
categories.
There are two common patterns that simile follows:
(A)He eats like a pig. (Verb + ‘like a’ + Noun)
(B)He is as big as a giant. (as + Adjective + as + Noun)
24
 2) Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an
object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
 A metaphor is a word or phrase for one thing that is used in place of
another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar.
 ‘Like’ or ‘as’ is not used.
 In metaphor, we can say that ‘object 1’ is ‘object 2’, so it is an implied
comparison.
Example:
(A)Life is one big roller-coaster ride.
(B) Life is a dream.
3) Transferred epithet: A figure of speech in which an epithet (or
adjective) grammatically qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it
is actually describing.
Example:
(A)I have had such a wonderful day!
In this sentence, the 'day' was not wonderful, but the experiences that you had that
day made you feel wonderful. The feeling of wonderfulness has been transferred
from you to the day.
(B) I had a sleepless night.
In this sentence, the night was not sleepless, you were.

25
 Based on Contrasts
1) Oxymoron: An Oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements
that appear to be contradictory.
 Oxymoron is a compound word made up of two elements Oxus meaning
sharp and mōros meaning stupid.
 Association of two conflicting ideas.
Example:
(A)This glass is fully empty.
(B)His life is an open secret.
(C)His honour rooted in dishonour stood, and faith unfaithful kept him
falsely true. (Lord Alfred Tennyson) 
2) Antithesis: Antithesis is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas
are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.
 Idea, words set against another, heightening the effect of what is said.
 Literal meaning of antithesis is opposite.
Example:
(A)This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. (Neil
Armstrong)
(B)Better to reign in hell, than serve in Heaven. (Satan in Milton’s Paradise
Lost)
(C)Speech is love, silence is golden.
3) Pun: A pun is a humorous way of using a word or phrase so that more
than one meaning is suggested.
Example:
(A)As a successful pilot, her career has really taken off.
(B)The Republican Party has played its Trump card in 2016 U.S. Presidential
elections.

26
  Playing with the words in such a way that it is capable of hearing two
meanings in order to create humor, appreciation, surprise etc.
4) Climax: A figure of speech in which a series of ideas is arranged in order
of increasing importance or forcefulness.
 The sense rises by successive steps towards the higher side.
Example:
(A)I came, I saw, I conquered. (Julius Caesar)
5) Anti-Climax: A figure of speech in which a sudden transition in
discourse from an important point to a laughable or trivial one.
Example:
(A)In that terrible accident, he lost his family, his car and his stylish watch.
6) Bathos: Bathos is the act of a writer or a poet falling into inconsequential
and absurd metaphors, descriptions, or ideas in an effort to be
increasingly emotional or passionate.
 Bathos is a literary term derived from a Greek word meaning depth.
 The sense falls from higher to lower level of excitement.

Example:
(A)He spent his final hour of life doing what he loved most: arguing with his
wife.

Whereas the description of someone’s final hours is usually respectful and

solemn, this one is surprisingly and unexpected humorous due to bathos.

7) Epigram: Epigram is a rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief,

interesting, and surprising satirical statement. 
 The epigram is an apparent contradiction in language which causes a
sudden surprise and arouses our attention to something more significant
as underneath the statements.
 Reading between the lines, a brief saying, and prose/verse remarkable for
brevity.
Example:

27
 (A)Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to
mankind. (John F. Kennedy)

8) Paradox: A Paradox is a statement that appears to be absurd or self-

contradictory but is actually valid or true.
 Seemingly false, absurd but true statements.
Example:
(A)The child is the father of man. (William Wordsworth)
In this sentence, it can be implied that the childhood habits and experiences
become the basis for all adult occurrences. The childhood of a person shapes his
personality and his life, and consequently fathers or creates the grown-up adult.
9) Irony: It refers to a situation that is strange or funny because things
happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what you expected.
Example:
(A)The Minister of Law and Justice gets arrested over a fake law degree.
Difference between Irony and Paradox
In irony, there exists a mismatch or incongruity between what is expected and
what occurs; but a paradox is a clear contradiction, it’s like a logical puzzle
where the statement may seem weird, but actually turns out to be true or valid.

28
 Based on Association
1) Metonymy: The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for
that of the thing meant.
Example:
(A)The Pen is mightier than the sword.
In this sentence, the implied meaning is this: written words are more effective
than military power or bloodshed.
 Writer/Speaker changes one word for another but this substitution is in
some way related.
2) Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the
whole or vice-versa.
Example:
(A)I bought myself a new set of wheels to travel to work everyday.
In this sentence it is well understood that we are referring to a car.
 Close to metonymy with the difference that is gives more expression to
an object and refer to the part of something instead of the whole & vice-
versa.
Difference between Metonymy and Synecdoche
1) Synecdoche refers to the whole of a thing by the name of any one of its
parts. However, in Metonymy, the word we use to describe another thing
is closely linked to that particular thing as an adjunct, but is not
necessarily a part of it.
2) In Synecdoche, just like we can use a part to represent a whole, we can
also use the whole to represent a part of it.
Example:
(A)India won the ICC World Cup in 2011.
In this sentence, it is understood that the ‘Indian National Cricket team’ won the
world cup.

29
 Based on Imagination
1) Personification: The practice of representing an inanimate object or an
abstract idea as a person, and endowing it with human traits.
Example:
(A)Opportunity knocks at the door at once.
(B)The sun stretched his golden arms and greeted everyone with his kind
smile.
 Adding human characteristics to inanimate objects.
2) Apostrophe: The addressing of a usually absent person or a personified
thing rhetorically.
Example:
(A)Twinkle-Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are!
(B)O Liberty, what things are done in thy name!
 Attributing or finding godly powers in simple emotions.
3) Hyperbole: It is an exaggerated statement or claim which is not meant to
be taken seriously.
Example:
(A)I am dealing with a million issues these days.

30
 Based on indirectness
1) Innuendo: An innuendo is a veiled remark about someone or something
that indirectly insinuates something bad or impolite.
 Words that are prima facie innocent but have a hidden meaning.
Example:
(A)Ross: I’m going to make myself happy.
Chandler: Do you want us to leave the room?

2) Irony: It refers to a situation that is strange or funny because things

happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what you expected.
 Saying something & meaning something else provide comic relief.
Example:
(A)The Minister of Law and Justice gets arrested over a fake law degree
3) Sarcasm: Sarcasm is a literary and rhetorical device that is meant to
mock, often with satirical or ironic remarks, with a purpose to amuse and
hurt someone, or some section of society, simultaneously.
 Irony but in negative sense, someone to harm someone.
Example:
(A)Friends, countrymen, lend me your ears. (William Shakespeare)

4) Understatement: When one says that something is smaller or less

important than it really is.
 It is exact opposite of hyperbole.
Example:
(A)He is not too thin. (Describing an obese person.)

5) Litotes: It refers to an ironic understatement in which an affirmative is

expressed by the negative of the contrary.
Example:
(A)He is hardly an Einstein.
(B)He is not the brightest bulb on the tree.

31
 (C)You do look a bit under the weather.
 It is also known as Meiosis.
 Negative words to explain affirmative meanings.
6) Exclamation: In this figure of speech, the exclamatory form is used to
draw greater attention to a point.
 Taking sudden attention, exclamatory mark.
Example:
(A)What a piece of work is man!
(B)How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

7) Repetition: Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or

phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable. 
Example:
(A)If you think you can do it, you can do it.

32
 Based on Sounds
1) Onomatopoeia: It refers to the formation of a word from a sound
associated with what is named.
 Sound words to describe physical attributes.
Example:
(A) The buzzing bee flew away.
(B) The rustling leaves kept me awake.

2) Alliteration: It refers to the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at

the beginning of words.
Example:
(A)Don’t Drink and Drive.
 Alliteration is derived from Latin word “Latira” which means “letters of
alphabet”.
3) Assonance: It refers to the use of two or more words that have same or
very similar vowel sounds near to one another. (Though they might start
with different consonant sounds)
Example:
(A)The fat cat had a snack.

33
 Others
1) Euphemism: A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one
considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something
unpleasant or embarrassing.
Example:
(A)He is physically challenged. (Differently abled) (Handicapped)
(B)He is between jobs nowadays. (Unemployed)
(C)His uncle is in a correctional facility. (fail)
2) Dysphemism: A derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant
or neutral one.
 Dysphemism is the use of a harsh, more offensive word instead of one
considered less harsh.

Example:
(A)Snail mail for postal mail.
(B)Egghead for genius.
3) Anaphora: Anaphora is a literary and rhetorical device in which a word
or group of words is repeated at the beginning of two or more successive
clauses or sentences.
 The use of a word referring back to a word used earlier in a text or
conversation, to avoid repetition, for example the pronouns he, she, it,
and they and the verb do in I like it and so do they.
Example:
(A)What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to
what lies within us. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
4) Anagram: An anagram is a word, phrase or name formed by rearranging
the letters of another.
Example:
1) The letters of word ‘Thing’ can be rearranged into another word ‘Night’.
2) The letters of word ‘Secure’ can be rearranged into another word
‘Rescue’.

34
 Unit- IV: Law & Literature
John Galsworthy: Justice
Justice was a 1910 crime play written by the British writer John Galsworthy. It
was part of a campaign to improve conditions in British prisons. Winston
Churchill attended an early performance of the play at the Duke of York's
Theatre in London.

Act I
The play opens in the office of James How & Sons, solicitors. The senior clerk,
Robert Cokeson, discovers that a check he had issued for nine pounds has been
forged to ninety. By elimination, suspicion falls upon William Falder, the junior
office clerk. The latter is in love with a married woman, the abused and ill-
treated wife of a brutal drunkard. Pressed by his employer, a severe yet not
unkindly man, Falder confesses the forgery, pleading the dire necessity of his
sweetheart, Ruth Honeywill, with whom he had planned to escape to save her
from the unbearable brutality of her husband.  Notwithstanding the entreaties of
young Walter How, who holds modern ideas, his father, a moral and law-
respecting citizen, turns Falder over to the police.
Act II: Trial Scene
Act II technically called trial scene is one of the most significant and suggestive
because it has theoretical dimension, dramatic importance and thematic towards
denouncement (last phase). It is here we find action arising towards conclusion.
It is dramatically important because Galsworthy is able to present both sides of
the case and it is thematically important. He has been able to touch in detail
upon the problem of Justice.
In this scene, in the words of defence lawyer, we can read the blindness of law
when it has no consideration for compelling circumstances under the pressure of
which a crime is committed. In fact, he says that Falder is victim of tragic
infetchuation towards Ruth Honeywill.
It is here that we observe that forgery is very serious crime.
Judge said that Falder not only forged the cheque but also altered the counter
foil and behaved in a manner of a guilty man.
The appeal for merely is virtually based. Criminal tried to ran away with other’s
wife and children. Therefore, Act II while revealing the shortcomings as
English Legal System presents certain problems which were the common

35
problems facing the society of his days. He means to suggest that law should
take into consideration not only the nature of a crime but also the circumstances
and mental state under which crime is committed.
Act III
Act III scene I portrays different prisoners in different set patterns reflecting
polyphonic voices accounting for evils in the system. We as readers realize that
prison system show is replica of the actual society of prisoners and governing
system that need reformation. The situation can be studied from the behavior of
Moaney, O Clary and another Irish man who have been reported to act like
dumb animals. As far as William Falder’s condition is concerned, we can find
him deteriorating in health as well as mental state. His melancholy is not about
losing his weight but something about the prison system and solitary
confinement where he spending penal servitude 3 years of imprisonment and
this horrifies the reader as well which reflects the craftsmanship of Galsworthy
towards catharsis.
As far as Act III Scene II and Scene III are concerned, various discourses with
an effort to make escapism through illegal means inside the prison presents the
harsh reality of the system. Behavioural stand and noisy reality reply against
every report of the prisoners along with Falder’s, heightens the effect of
absurdity which is reflected through human behavior. Even the work allotment
and assignment inside jail system is helpless for allowing broad day light to
peep inside the prisons.
Act IV
Act IV is an inquiry towards William Falder’s identity crisis and added values
without inventing necessary details for existence of an individual, the scene
presents William Falder completely devastated with no option than to find rest
in Jesus Shrine. As readers we have come to know that thought of solitary
confinement horrifies William Falder and when he was discovered for forging
an address the same thought compelled him to jump out of window and Falder
broke his during one at the conversation that happened in the same law firm, he
died and Cokeson remarks that he is now safe in ultimate hands.
Make such sensitive to Galsworthy claim that this kind of justice can be a
problem and therefore reformation on humanitarian values must find a dignified
place in structuring a society and its system.

36
Question: Justify the title of the play Justice. (2014)
Or
Write a critical note on justification of the title of the play by John Galsworthy.
(2013)
Or
Discuss the suggestive and ironical title of ‘Justice’.
Answer: Justice is suitable as far as its theme and subject matter has been
treated by the play write. It is ironical in the sense that wherever the justice is
expected it is only injustice which individual especially the poor individual gets.
The title is also realistic as it is named after a tragedy is a result of justice. It is a
problem oriented title in the sense that it directly relate to the theme and hint at
the major problems that the work is going to deal with.
Galsworthy has presented the rigid condition of the prisons of his time and as
the readers realize the miserable condition of the jails and other social evils that
need reformation. Therefore, the play portrays problem being more important
than the individual.
In general, it (title) may be evaluated as a plot where William Faldar is only a
means and justice is the end. We as reader want to criticize the prison life and
the system of justice and consider Faldar as a tragic hero out of modern society.
The play is symbolic in the sense that William Faldar has been himself a
symbolic throughout of a person who is branded as a criminal for the wrong that
he did and the punishment that he completed.
William Faldar as a prisoner was devastated every day during his term of
imprisonment. For want of human insides and is completely a lost man as a
result of justice. The law require that after the release, a convict must regularly
report to the Police station about his where-about. Such procedures if not
evaluated under the proper circumstances, can have extreme devastation.

37
Question: Discuss John Galsworthy’s Justice as a problem play. (2017)
Answer: Problem play is a type of drama that developed in the 19th century. It
deals with controversial and contentious social issues in a realistic manner, to
expose social ills, and to stimulate thought and discussion on the part of the
audience.
No subject of equal social importance has received such thoughtful
consideration in recent years as the question of Crime and Punishment. A
number of books by able writers, both in Europe and this country discuss this
topic from the historic, psychological, and social standpoint, the consensus of
opinion being that present penal institutions and our methods of coping with
crime have in every respect proved inadequate as well as wasteful. This new
attitude toward one of the gravest social wrongs has also found dramatic
interpretation in Galsworthy's Justice. It is a problem play that satirizes criminal
law system at force in then England.

The play opens in the office of James How & Sons, solicitors. The senior clerk,
Robert Cokeson, discovers that a check he had issued for nine pounds has been
forged to ninety. By elimination, suspicion falls upon William Falder, the junior
office clerk. The latter is in love with a married woman, the abused and ill-
treated wife of a brutal drunkard. Pressed by his employer, a severe yet not
unkindly man, Falder confesses the forgery, pleading the dire necessity of his
sweetheart, Ruth Honeywill, with whom he had planned to escape to save her
from the unbearable brutality of her husband. Notwithstanding the entreaties of
young Walter How, who holds modern ideas, his father, a moral and law-
respecting citizen, turns Falder over to the police.

The second act, in the court room, shows Justice in the very process of
manufacture. The scene equals in dramatic power and psychological verity the
great court scene in "Resurrection." Young Falder, a nervous and rather weakly
youth of twenty-three, stands before the bar. Ruth, his faithful sweetheart, full

38
of love and devotion, burns with anxiety to save the young man, whose
affection for her has brought about his present predicament. Falder is defended
by Lawyer Frome, whose speech to the jury is a masterpiece of social
philosophy. He does not attempt to dispute the mere fact that his client had
altered the check; and though he pleads temporary aberration in his defense. He
pleads with the jury not to turn the weak young man into a criminal by
condemning him to prison.

But the chariot of Justice Rolls mercilessly on, for-as the learned Judge says-

Judge: “Your counsel has made an attempt to trace your offense back to what he
seems to suggest is a defect in the marriage law; he has made an attempt also to
show that to punish you with further imprisonment would be unjust. You will
go to penal servitude for three years.”  

Thus the whole episode of judgment and punishment is hoax and

inhumane. John Galsworthy, not on by its theme , but also deliberately chose
the title Justice in order to satirise the contemporary social and legal systems of
the country, which in the name of ‘justice’ forced the helpless individuals like
Falder and Ruth to suffer and perish finally in the most inhuman way in a
‘civilised’ society. Ironically it is injustice told in the justice drama.

39
 St. John Hankin: The Constant Lover
Question: Write a short note on the Constant Lover as a youth comedy. (2017)
Answer: The Constant Lover is a comedy of youth. Youth comedy deals with
follies and weaknesses of mankind which attempts to remove them by making
them appear as unworthy or ridiculous.
St. John Hankin basically deals with attempts that has robbed the society of
meaning and existence of mankind. This genre is defined as a youth comedy
where the play-write steps down into the personal arena fearlessly and attack
those evils and shams shortcomings which has poisoned modern life and has
resulted in creating a space where actual joy and beauty is missing.
The play-write has inclined to its culmination by a series of interruptions and
we as readers as finds its as crisis situation however as audience/ reader realize
that the ending actually is so to create splendid moments that arrest our attention
towards artfully delayed plot.
He did it by knitting together by energies of his characters into a situation which
is left to the readers to decide that whether it is happier or haunting.
His techniques of drama lies in ordinary diction and spoken language
appropriate to appeal the human emotions. Tensions has been seen to be created
and screwed up by curiosity and anxiety sometimes and relief comes through
realization where our emotions are diverted in new directions. This kind of
relief often takes the form of surprise and effective in reading the psychology in
any youth comedy. Eternal vitality that binds people in some kind of
relationship.
This play portrays anti-romantic interpretation of love and says that love is from
mind and not from heart. This debate of the constant lover opens a light not on
heterodox rational but on sociological aspects and compel readers to evaluate
the play as if it is worked in selfish irresponsibilities.

40
When the play opens we find that entire society is depicted through symbolism
and analogy which reflects upon irony and paradox beautifully intertwined in
the arrangement of actions and characters are evolve through it.
In the play, Evelyn and Cecil are two lovers who meet in the woods. They talk
about love and slowly find their way into a kiss. Upon that instant Evelyn
laments her other intended, Reggie. When she suggests they go talk to her
mother, Cecil wonders why they have to ruin a moment with parents, it always
ruins the moment. Evelyn finds out Cecil has been in love many times before.
Evelyn find out that Cecil has constantly been in love with various different
women. Cecil believes that being constantly in love is best way to be in love.

41
 A. A. Milne: The Man in the Bowler Hat
Question: Write a critical note on situational comedy with reference to either of
the plays The Man in the Bowler Hat. (2015)
Answer: Alan Alexander Milne is known for his children’s stories. He was
born in 1882 in London, England. He joined the British Army in World War I in
1914. While serving in the army, Milne wrote plays for his fellow soldiers.
After the World War I, he wrote a play ‘Mr. Pimp Passes By’ in 1919.
Milne wrote his first mystery novel The Red House Mystery in 1922. Apart
from this his ‘children’s literature’ and Collection of poems such as ‘When We
Were Very Young’, ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’, and ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ are
remarkable. In 1952 he suffered a stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. He
died in 1956 at his home in Sussex.
‘The man in the bowler hat’ is also one of his remarkable works. It can be
described as a tempest in a tea pot that is situation where people are very angry
or worried about something that they and even the readers finally realize that it
is not at all important. An insignificant affair can be observed as terribly
existing and sometimes irritating that compel readers to come to some kind of
conclusion. This kind of plot is often defined as high comedy.
The plot is random with a lot of feature from absurd theatre. The final
culmination comes to us as a sudden surprise but impressive which shows that
the playwright has intentionally delayed the plot for purpose in concern – there
is hope in life and search for aim.

42
 Gertrude Jennings: Five Birds in a Cage
Question: Write a critical note on the thematic concerns in the play Five Birds
in a Cage. (2017) (2014)
Or
Write a short note on the thematic concerns in Gertrude Jenning’s Five Birds in
a Cage. (2016)
Or
Write a critical note on situational comedy with reference to either of the plays
Five Birds in a Cage. (2015)

Answer: Gertrude Jennings is the comic playwright. She is a prolific writer of

one-act plays and immensely popular for a multitude of reasons. No humorist is
more fully aware than she that people begin to be comic when they get into an
awkward situation, and as the situation becomes more and more hopeless the
fun grows more furious. Her characters are clearly defined and usually broadly
contrasted in temperament as well as in social position.
Comedy deals with follies and weaknesses of mankind which attempts to
remove them by making them appear as unworthy or ridiculous. We find in her
works comedy created out of situation so her theory of drama lies in situational
comedy. She has chosen for situations that become worsen to create comedy,
therefore character worse than the average can be seen trained in a particular act
of fault or humor where they become ridiculous but this kind of mistake or
deformity is not protective of pain neither it harms anyone in any way. It is
therefore gentle and healthy genre.
Her plays may be defined as slice from life and she believes in the comedy of
humors where she extended comedy as generic term and humor as a part of it,
so that her audiences and reader could clearly associate his or her sensibility
with the plot of the play. Her plot can be defined as arrangements of actions
from the scenes that are invariably plausible from everyday life. Two important
features of the play as far as comedy is concerned are the use of farce and
slapstick element.

43
Farce is a light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations and
characters are exaggerated for humorous effect.
Whereas Slapstick is a boisterous (noise) form of comedy marked by chases,
collisions and crude practical jokes and apart from these elements Gertrude
Jennings blends the plot with terror of farce. Her pathos as well as laughter
elements can be compared with the writings of Charles Lamb.
As far as other features of the play are concerned, the play meats touchstone
parameters, there is verisimilitude (life likeness). There is local use of language
appropriate to the spoken language or writings that seeks the effect of informal
speech. The play can be read from the post-modern perspective as far as
following things are concerned:
1) Problem or problems of working class,
2) Hollowness of modernity,
3) Echo criticism,
4) Socialist concern,
5) Common people for common readers.

In the play ‘Five Birds in a Cage’, five birds is symbolic and stands for five
people and cage is for the lift. Susan is an important character who is Duchess
of Wiltshire. She has been shown as upper-sophisticated class lady. She has
been shown as a lady who is very particular about having things to be happened
on time. Leonard is Lord Pother who worked in a brick factory. Nelly is the
assistant of miller. Bert is a workman and Horace is a liftman whose job is to
take care of functioning of the lift. Once the five people caught up in the lift and
lift has stopped for some time and whatever is happening inside the lift becomes
the plot.

44
 Unit- V: Legal Comprehension in Films
Movie: Philadelphia
Question: How would you describe the ethical dilemma confronted by the
mangers at the law firm?
Or
Are the managers at Wyant & Wheeler justified in firing Andrew Beckett?
What set of criteria would you use to arrive at this decision?
Or
Discuss Philadelphia as a case study of ethical dilemmas at the workplace.
(2014) (2013)
Or
Discuss the issues of discrimination and professional ethics with special
reference to the movie Philadelphia. (2016)
Or
Discuss the important issues in Philadelphia. (2016-Repeat)
Answer: In the movie, Andrew Beckett, a successful lawyer, conceals his
sexual orientation and HIV status from the senior partners at Wyant & Wheeler,
the law firm where he works. When he is promoted to Senior Associate, he was
given a very important case. He left some important documents of the case on
top of his desk. The following morning, the documents disappeared along with
all backup files in his computer. He almost misses the court filing deadline and
just at the last minute, a hardcopy is suddenly found. Mysteriously, the
document reappeared a few minutes before the court's closing time.

The next day Andrew is fired for the incident. The senior partners tell Andrew
that he has an attitude problem and has become unreliable. For these reasons,
they claim, his future in the firm is no longer secure and they fired him.
However, he suspects that he has been fired because of his HIV status and
sexual orientation. He believes that his boss deliberately sabotaged the

45
documents to make him look bad so they could fire him for incompetence rather
than his illness. Many lawyers turned down his case. He sought help from an
African-American Lawyer named Joseph Miller. Miller turned his request down
because he was gay and he was afraid of getting the AIDS virus from Andrew.
During the time Andrew was in Miller’s office, Miller’s face was visibly
fearful.

The question to be discussed here is that whether the partners at Wyant &
Wheeler are confronted with an ethical dilemma or not.
An ethical dilemma arises when two primary values conflict with each
other and engaging in one action precludes another.
Many ethical concepts can be used for making the decision. An example is
Kant's Categorical Imperative, which stipulates that ethical propositions demand
an action (Kant, 1785). However, according to this concept, ethical actions
sometimes go against social custom. This is an important concept and based
upon reasons.
In other words, as Rest (1986) puts it, “The person must give priority to moral
values above other personal values such that a decision is made to intend to do
what is morally right.”
For example, the risk of HIV infection at work is very low, not zero.
‘Rest’ describes that ethical decision-making involves four components:
1. Identifying an ethical dilemma
2. Making a moral judgment
3. Establishing moral intent
4. Engaging in moral action
We can choose Cavanaugh et al model (1981) to solve these ethical dilemmas.
According to which there are three different ethical criterion which may be
taken:
(a) Utilitarian approach

46
 (b)Rights approach (Human Rights or fundamental rights)
(c) Justice approach
Utilitarian Approach
The Utilitarian approach stresses the consequences of an action in obtaining
maximum good for the greatest amount of people and accordingly it is
important to identify the common good for Wyant & Wheeler’s stakeholders.
For instance, it may be argued that the infection that might come from Andrew
Beckett towards health, hazards of the people and therefore he may be
positioned as the cause to increase firm’s health insurance cost. However, the
morality of Andrew Beckett is another case.
Rights Approach
The Rights approach focuses on each individual or a particular group that might
be affected concerning fundamental rights and human rights. This approach
may require evaluating Andrew’s rights against other employer, clients and
managerial staff. However, you may mention moral opposition for working in a
HIV positive environment.
Justice Approach
The procedural aspect in the organization concerned that focuses on the fairness
of the procedures that determine a given ethical decision in the case as here each
party affected by the managerial decision had a voice in presents their views
towards the people making decisions. This includes presenting evidence and
any kind of information they think necessary. From this perspective, Wyant &
Wheeler must create processes that protect the interests of all parties involved.
There is a conflict that this was a process that thwarted Andrew’s voice. Since
the process did not provide Andrew Beckett a fair hearing and therefore, he was
left with no option other than litigation.

47
Question: How is the fact that Andrew Beckett concealed his illness relevant to
the case?
Answer: Andrew Beckett is an excellent lawyer who works for a law firm in
the city of Philadelphia. He is a homosexual. One night, he enters a porno
movie theatre and is infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
by engaging in sex with a stranger. His family, partner and friends know that he
is infected with HIV. Andrew has always been sincere to them. They have a
better knowledge of the disease than the general population. All of them love
Andrew and support him. His family accepts his illness and his homosexuality.
His parents are proud of who he is and encourage him to fight for his rights.
Although his family, partner and friends, know that he is infected with HIV, he
has maintained his sexual orientation as a secret in his professional life. Things
go well at his job, because of his excellent professional skills, and he is to be
made a Senior Associate. When he is promoted to Senior Associate, he was
given a very important case. He left some important documents of the case on
top of his desk. The following morning, the documents disappeared along with
all backup files in his computer. He almost misses the court filing deadline and
just at the last minute, a hardcopy is suddenly found. Mysteriously, the
document reappeared a few minutes before the court's closing time.

The next day Andrew is fired for the incident. The senior partners tell Andrew
that he has an attitude problem and has become unreliable. But when his bosses
become aware of his disease and that he is a homosexual, surprisingly some
important documents disappear from his office and they use this as a reason to
justify letting him go. The law firm where he works claims that they fired
Andrew Beckett because he is no longer a good lawyer. However, Beckett was
sure that the real reason he is fired because his bosses find that he has AIDS.
Andrew decides to sue for unfair dismissal but no lawyer wants to take his case.
Finally, Joe Miller, a specialist lawyer in difficult cases, agrees to help him
because he believes that it is a clear case of discrimination.
All this appears in the media and the process begins to acquire considerable
social transcendence. At the end, the jury finds in favour of Andrew, whose
health has deteriorated during the legal process.

48
Question: Is Joe Miller morally obliged to accept Andrew’s case? Why do you
think that Joe finally accept the case?
Answer: Joe Miller is a lawyer in the movie named Philadelphia. He is
brilliantly used as a symbol to portray an average person in society. Miller’s
initial reaction upon grasping the nature of Beckett’s affliction is especially
telling. However, he soon realises and identifies with the effects of prejudice (as
an Afro-American, he would have encountered his fair share of prejudice) on
Beckett in the library scene. In the library Patrons begin feeling discomfort
when they realised the presence of a man with AIDS. The librarian’s reaction
was disgusted but the social convention of good manners did not allow such
outward negative expressions, is reminiscent of the way any member of the
public would react. A bond slowly evolves between Beckett and Miller,
culminating in the final scene where Miller visits Beckett on his death bed and
shares a moment with him. This symbolises that when a man puts aside his
prejudices against a homosexual and AIDS victim, he would realise that they
are more alike than ever.
The director made good use of the scenes in the library, the supermarket and the
bar to portray the shallowness of the public.
Joe Miller’s encounter with the homosexual student in the supermarket and
experiences in the bar where he was mislabelled a homosexual are indicative of
the public’s tendency to jump to hasty conclusions. If a man was defending a
seemingly morally-bereft homosexual man by their standards, then the only
plausible explanation for his actions is that he is also homosexual.
The actors were good in their little actions which insinuate their thoughts. For
instance, when the few partners were discussing at a back alley about the suit
that Beckett was bringing against them, they were full of themselves that their
action was justified and not wrong. However, their reaction when someone
passed by the alley showed that they instinctively knew that they were wrong.

49
The director paid attention to details of the situation and inserted subtleties in
various parts of the movie to express the mood of the scenes and the
development of the characters in the story. At the start of the movie, the director
showed us the daily lifestyle of the Philadelphia city and people going on
normally with their lives. If the viewer had not read the synopsis, he/she would
not anticipate the heavy themes ahead. The purpose of that scene, later
contrasted with the public outcry against homosexuals outside the court
proceedings, was to let the audience later on reflect that homosexual
discrimination was lurking underneath the calm of the society waiting to be
explode despite “All men are created equal.”

50
Question: How does our interpretation alter the experiences of others? What
are the consequences of believing or even not believing these experiences? (M.
Imp.)
Answer: In the movie Philadelphia, the trial scene presents the question that
“To what extent are we free to give a different interpretation to the experience
of others?” The defense lawyer's interpretation of Anthea's experience as a
"misunderstanding" reaches beyond the realm of interpretation and discounts
Anthea's experience. Such an interpretation implies that Anthea does not have
the ability to assess her own experience. To the extent that interpretation is an
inherent component of experience, interpretation is not ethically neutral.
Furthermore, social power plays an important role in this process of
reinterpretation. In certain circumstances, social power may be exercised by re-
interpreting the experience of others. Therefore, re-interpreting experience can
further victimize a person. Thus, it is important that If a person narrates their
experience about discrimination and the listener has two options: to believe it or
not to believe it. However, in either case, there are consequences for the person
whose narrative has been exposed. Do those consequences belong to the realm
of ethics? It is our belief that they do.

51
 Movie: The Great Debaters
Question: Discuss the issues of discrimination and professional ethics with
special reference to the movie The Great Debaters. (2016)
Answer: Denzel Washington’s The Great Debaters was released in 2007. It
presented the story of Wiley College’s debate triumphs. The debating team of
Wiley College had a remarkable record of winning, without a loss from 1929 to
1939. For the sake of creating the film certain facts were altered, such as the
final debate being between Wiley College and Harvard rather than University of
South California (USC). Wiley College is one of the oldest black colleges in
USA, founded in 1873.

There are some powerful scenes in the film that deal with the discrimination and
oppressive conditions of racism because of the Jim Crow system that was
prevalent in the South well in 20th century.

The very first scene of the discrimination can be seen when the Farmer family
was going for a drive and Farmer Sr. accidentally ran over a pig that belongs to
white farmers. The owners of the pig humiliated him in front of his family and
demanded twenty-five dollars from him, which was more than the pig’s worth.
He agrees to give his entire monthly pay of $25.

In another scene, as the team is driving to participate in Howard University

debate, they come across a lynching of a black man. A group of white males are
burning a black man whom they have tied up from a tree. Traumatized, Tolson
tries to reverse his car without being noticed. However, the mob realizes that
the car is occupied by African-Americans and begins to attack the car. The
team narrowly escapes in the car and eventually arrive at a house for the night.

The Great Debaters (Melvin Tolson & his team) portrays racial segregation not
only as part of practice of individuals but also rooted in Government policy and
established institution. Therefore, the movie presents more than one discourses
52
where educationalist have a pivotal role in taking the society forward by
evolving tools and techniques that shall be shed off from the society to create a
healthy environment and space every voice equally especially the oppressed
black people. We as audience need to understand that the term ‘argument’ refers
to reasoned attempt to convince the audience to accept a particular view point
about a debatable topic.
Racism means making the race of other people a factor in attitude or action that
compels a belief in the superiority of one’s own race. The key concept here is to
convince the audience and make them believe your positions so that your logics
and evidences become acceptable and therefore fallacious reasoning should be
avoided for jumping to conclusion out of excessive generalization. The movie
advocates that one can support proposition through four categories:
1) Through evaluating scientifically
2) Through modus operandi of the system
3) Though observation
4) Through statistics
Professor Melvin Tolson believes that these helps in expressing the opinions
based on authority moreover what is not debatable shall become the part of
closing strategies. These debating skills helped the team of Professor Melvin
Tolson to stand against the Harvard’s team. However, we as audience feel
cheated at the places where our expectations go beyond professionalism and
competitive spirit.
Apart from the major themes of racism, love and betrayal, the movie has stored
lot of suspense and we can detect it through the silence and pauses that throws a
strong variable in evaluating whatever maximum could have horrified black
people. Moreover, the debate proves to be the voice in the form of struggle of
independence and the rigorous exercises that the debaters went through
symbolizes, determination and the zeal to be able to deliver.

53
Question: If you witness an instance of discrimination, would you intervene?
What would inform your decision? Discuss with special reference to the movie
Philadelphia and The Great Debaters. (2015)
Answer: Philadelphia
The movie Philadelphia, was an excellent example of the severe discrimination
many people with Aids are exposed to. In the movie, the main character was
Andrew who was gay. Unfortunately, he was faced with a double whammy in
our society. The guy is controversial enough, but to compound that in the work
force with having Aids would be almost unbearable for any person to cope with.
The movie was well cast and thoughtfully portrayed Andy's serious
predicament. It made me realize how lucky I am to not have to deal with those
kinds of problems. But if I were witness a situation like this than definitely it is
my duty to protect such kind of person from the double whammy that is
prevalent in our society.
In the movie, when Andy started looking for a lawyer, he found many people
who did not want to represent him because of his illness. The frustration he felt
must have been a real burden. Most people were afraid of him. Even the Joe
Miller who finally represented him was initially afraid of him. He soon came to
understand Andy was no threat to his health.

Andy himself feared his disease even before he was sure he had it. He did not
want to go for his blood test. He didn't want to face the reality of having AIDS.
He really didn't have any choice. After the doctor confirmed his fears and
diagnosed him having AIDS, Andy began to deal with the news and the way it
was changing his life and how people treated him.

The turning point in the movie for Andy was when he was in the library trying
to learn more about AIDS. He was asked by the librarian to go to a private
room. His lawyer Joe Miller was there and saw this happening, although he was
hiding behind a pile of books. I guess this is when he realized Andy needed him
54
to help protect his rights. I think that just because someone has an illness which
people don't understand because of their ignorance and they behave in a way
that they normally wouldn’t, is the main cause the librarian discriminated Andy
on the sole ground of AIDS.

After the Joe Miller intervened in this matter and took the book Andy was
holding out of his hand to show the librarian he was not afraid getting the
disease by touching something Andy had touched. Andy have felt a big relief
when that happened. He finally had someone on his side.

I hated the firm Andy worked for. At first they seemed okay, but after they tried
shafting Andy. He worked for them, produced for them, was an asset to their
business and then they just blew him off. The blowing him off part wasn’t as
bad as how they tried to do it. They tried to make him look like a loser. They cut
down his work, his character, and his abilities as an employee. The question is
what gives them the right to try and destroy someone's life? Especially someone
whose life is being destroyed anyway by the disease he has. The illness didn't
affect the way he did his job or how well he did it.

I agreed with the verdict of the trial hands down. It really made me happy to see
Andy get true justice. I have to ask myself how many people in the real world
suffer from this kind of discrimination and don't get the help Andy had. It's a
terrible reality because it probably happens every day. The most important thing
I learned from this movie is not to be too quick to pass judgment against people
who, for whatever reason are different than you are. It could be their health,
financial status, color of their skin, the way they talk, they the walk or the
culture they grew up in. None of these things should matter. People are people.
They all deserve the same consideration, compassion and right to live their lives
in a way that's comfortable to them. No one should be so quick to “judge a book
by its cover!”

55
 The Great Debaters
Denzel Washington’s The Great Debaters was released in 2007. It presented the
story of Wiley College’s debate triumphs. The debating team of Wiley College
had a remarkable record of winning, without a loss from 1929 to 1939.

There are some powerful scenes in the film that deal with the discrimination and
oppressive conditions of racism because of the Jim Crow system that was
prevalent in the South well in 20th century.

The very first scene of the discrimination can be seen when the Farmer family
was going for a drive and Farmer Sr. accidentally ran over a pig that belongs to
white farmers. The owners of the pig humiliated him in front of his family and
demanded twenty-five dollars from him, which was more than the pig’s worth.
He agrees to give his entire monthly pay of $25.

In another scene, as the team is driving to participate in Howard University

debate, they come across a lynching of a black man. A group of white males are
burning a black man whom they have tied up from a tree. Traumatized, Tolson
tries to reverse his car without being noticed. However, the mob realizes that
the car is occupied by African-Americans and begins to attack the car. The
team narrowly escapes in the car and eventually arrive at a house for the night.

The Great Debaters (Melvin Tolson & his team) portrays racial segregation not
only as part of practice of individuals but also rooted in Government policy and
established institution. Therefore, the movie presents more than one discourses
where educationalist have a pivotal role in taking the society forward by
evolving tools and techniques that shall be shed off from the society to create a
healthy environment and space every voice equally especially the oppressed
black people. We as audience need to understand that the term ‘argument’ refers
to reasoned attempt to convince the audience to accept a particular view point
about a debatable topic.
56
Racism means making the race of other people a factor in attitude or action that
compels a belief in the superiority of one’s own race. The key concept here is to
convince the audience and make them believe your positions so that your logics
and evidences become acceptable and therefore fallacious reasoning should be
avoided for jumping to conclusion out of excessive generalization. The movie
advocates that one can support proposition through four categories:
1) Through evaluating scientifically
2) Through modus operandi of the system
3) Though observation
4) Through statistics
Professor Melvin Tolson believes that these helps in expressing the opinions
based on authority moreover what is not debatable shall become the part of
closing strategies. These debating skills helped the team of Professor Melvin
Tolson to stand against the Harvard’s team. However, we as audience feel
cheated at the places where our expectations go beyond professionalism and
competitive spirit.
Apart from the major themes of racism, love and betrayal, the movie has stored
lot of suspense and we can detect it through the silence and pauses that throws a
strong variable in evaluating whatever maximum could have horrified black
people. Moreover, the debate proves to be the voice in the form of struggle of
independence and the rigorous exercises that the debaters went through
symbolizes, determination and the zeal to be able to deliver. This movie is
mainly about social segregation and discrimination in society. 
The film also shows how certain strangers react differently to Andrew Becket’s
illness. There are several scenes that reflect this situation, such as the one of a
woman in the Hospital waiting room, the scene of the library users and librarian
and, obviously, the health staff who attend to Andrew. All of these people, with
the exception of the health personnel, react in the same way, with an expression
of fear and panic on their faces, reflecting their fear of the disease. They do all

57
they can to get away from him or isolate from others, “as though he were
infected with the plague”
The film focuses on two of the risk groups, homosexuals and the receptors of
blood transfusions.
1) The first of these groups is represented by the protagonist Andrew, who
infected with the AIDS.
2) The other group, receivers of blood transfusions, is seen when one of the
witnesses in the trial, an employee of a law firm in another city, was also
infected with HIV and had developed AIDS. This witness contracted the
disease after delivery when she and lost a lot of blood and needed
transfusions, resulting in her becoming infected.
The way that Andrew Beckett contracts the AIDS is through sexual contact
when he had relations with a stranger in a porn-movie theatre. During the trial,
he declares that when he was infected he did not know how the disease was
contracted or that it was fatal.
The only available and totally efficient weapons against HIV/AIDS are
prevention and health education and this movie has certainly contributed to
clarifying doubts and extending some of this knowledge to the population at
large. Its success and diffusion have served to inform the population and
improve their social perception about AIDS and those who are ill with it.

58
Question: “Professor Melvin Tolson in the movie Great Debaters and Andrew
Beckett in Philadelphia could finally deal with the issues of discrimination on
their own terms.” Discuss. (2017)
Answer: Andrew Beckett
Philadelphia is a movie that enables the audience to visualize an alternative
perspective of discrimination against HIV positive homosexual man.
Throughout the movie, one can get an understanding of how a HIV positive
homosexual is treated in society and the portrayal of him.
Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm
in Philadelphia. He hides his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient
from the other members of the firm. A partner in the firm notices a lesion on
Beckett's forehead.

Beckett stays at home from work for several days to try to find a way to hide his
lesions. While at home, he finishes the paperwork for a case he has been
assigned and then brings it to his office, leaving instructions for his assistants to
file the paperwork the following day, which marks the end of the statute of
limitations for the case. Later that morning, he receives a call asking for the
paperwork, as the paper copy cannot be found and there are no copies on the
computer's hard drive. The paperwork is finally discovered in an alternate
location and is filed with the court at the last possible moment. The following
day, Beckett is dismissed by the firm's partners.

Beckett believes that someone deliberately hid his paperwork to give the firm an
excuse to fire him, and that the dismissal is actually as a result of his diagnosis
with AIDS. He asks several attorneys to take his case, including African-
American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller. The homophobic Miller appears to
be worried that he could contract Beckett's illness. After declining to take the
case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted

59
the disease. The doctor explains that the routes of HIV infection do not include
casual contact.

Unable to find a lawyer willing to represent him, Beckett is compelled to act as

his own attorney. While researching a case at a law library, Miller sees Beckett
at a nearby table. After a library employee stares down Miller, presumably
because Miller is eating in the library although he is not supposed to, a librarian
approaches Beckett and announces that he has found a book on AIDS
discrimination for him. As others in the library begin to first stare uneasily, the
librarian suggests Beckett to go to a private room. Feeling discouraged by the
other people's behaviour and seeing the parallels in how he himself has faced
discrimination due to his race, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material
he has gathered, and takes the case.

As the case goes before the court, the partners of the firm take the stand, each
claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide
his condition. The defense repeatedly suggests that Beckett brought AIDS upon
himself by having gay sex, and is therefore not a victim. In the course of
testimony, it is revealed that the partner who had noticed Beckett's lesion,
Walter Kenton, had previously worked with a woman who had contracted AIDS
after a blood transfusion and so should have recognized the lesion as relating to
AIDS. According to that partner, the woman was an innocent victim, unlike
Beckett, and further testified that he did not recognize Beckett's lesions. To
prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton
his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions are indeed visible
and recognizable as such.

Beckett eventually collapses during the trial. After Beckett is hospitalized,

another partner, Bob Seidman, who noticed Beckett's lesions confesses that he

60
suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and never gave him the
opportunity to explain himself, which he regretted very much.

During his hospitalization, the jury votes in Beckett's favor, awarding him back
pay, damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages, totalling over $5
million. Miller visits the visibly failing Beckett in the hospital after the verdict
and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After Beckett's family
leaves the room, he tells his partner Miguel that he is ready to die. At the Miller
home, Joe and his wife are awakened by a phone call from Miguel, who tells
them that Beckett has died. A memorial is held at Beckett's home following the
funeral, where many mourners, including Miller, view home movies of Beckett
as a happy child.

Professor Melvin Tolson

The backdrop of the movie can be found in 1930 of Texas. It was the era when
racism was acute and blacks were considered as outcasts, making them the race
of others. This was the factor that could be observed in attitude and actions of
the people and even in the framing of government policies that finally
established them as a segregated clan.

Professor Melvin Tolson was a person who could evaluate how private practice
of individuals, businessmen and even institutions can play a bigger role to
liberate the black people from any kind of oppression of the whites.

Tolson organized the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU), a broad-based

protest movement made up of black and white sharecroppers who had been
driven off their land and forced into day labour.

There are some powerful scenes in the film that deal with the discrimination and
oppressive conditions of racism because of the Jim Crow system that was
prevalent in the South well in 20th century.

61
The very first scene of the discrimination can be seen when the Farmer family
was going for a drive and Farmer Sr. accidentally ran over a pig that belongs to
white farmers. The owners of the pig humiliated him in front of his family and
demanded twenty-five dollars from him, which was more than the pig’s worth.
He agrees to give his entire monthly pay of $25.

In another scene, as the team is driving to participate in Howard University

debate, they come across a lynching of a black man. A group of white males are
burning a black man whom they have tied up from a tree. Traumatized, Tolson
tries to reverse his car without being noticed. However, the mob realizes that
the car is occupied by African-Americans and begins to attack the car. The
team narrowly escapes in the car and eventually arrive at a house for the night.

The Great Debaters (Melvin Tolson & his team) portrays racial segregation not
only as part of practice of individuals but also rooted in Government policy and
established institution. Therefore, the movie presents more than one discourses
where educationalist have a pivotal role in taking the society forward by
evolving tools and techniques that shall be shed off from the society to create a
healthy environment and space every voice equally especially the oppressed
black people. We as audience need to understand that the term ‘argument’ refers
to reasoned attempt to convince the audience to accept a particular view point
about a debatable topic.
Racism means making the race of other people a factor in attitude or action that
compels a belief in the superiority of one’s own race. The key concept here is to
convince the audience and make them believe your positions so that your logics
and evidences become acceptable and therefore fallacious reasoning should be
avoided for jumping to conclusion out of excessive generalization. The movie
advocates that one can support proposition through four categories:
1) Through evaluating scientifically
2) Through modus operandi of the system

62
 3) Though observation
4) Through statistics
Professor Melvin Tolson believes that these helps in expressing the opinions
based on authority moreover what is not debatable shall become the part of
closing strategies. These debating skills helped the team of Professor Melvin
Tolson to stand against the Harvard’s team. However, we as audience feel
cheated at the places where our expectations go beyond professionalism and
competitive spirit.
Apart from the major themes of racism, love and betrayal, the movie has stored
lot of suspense and we can detect it through the silence and pauses that throws a
strong variable in evaluating whatever maximum could have horrified black
people. Moreover, the debate proves to be the voice in the form of struggle of
independence and the rigorous exercises that the debaters went through
symbolizes, determination and the zeal to be able to deliver.

Tolson believes that the conditions of racism and inequality would be overcome
through education, the power of ideas and social organization. Eventually,
Professor Melvin Tolson in the movie Great Debaters could finally able to deal
with the issues of discrimination on his own terms.

63