Module 1 - ENGLISH-LITERATURE AND/AS IDENTITY NOTES PDF

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ENGLISH-LITERATURE AND/AS IDENTITY NOTES...

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Module 1 Unit 1 Note: The answers are given in such a way that it has an introduction for writing the general essay and paragraphs that are answers for the 100 words questions in the text. All the paragraphs when combined can be used as the answers for general essay questions. Postcard From Kashmir

Postcard from Kashmir is a simple but deep poem that describes the sorrow of getting away from homeland. Agha Ali Khan, a native of Kashmir who migrated to United States receives a postcard from India which has a picture of Kashmir. This brings a lot of memories associated with his land. a. The poet receives a postcard of six inches which has a colourful picture of Kashmir. It has the image of the mighty Himalayas reduced to four inches. It also has the Jhelum lake with its bright blue waters. The poet is living faraway and it is only through such pictures that he can come close to his land. He expresses the love for his country and at the same time fears that Kashmir might change a lot when he gets back. His memory about his land is compared to a black and white film that is vague and undeveloped. (The same answer can be written for answers of b and c) The beauty of Kashmir is expressed in the poem. At the same time there is a feeling of nostalgia for the beautiful land. The poet also worries about the current political tensions in Kashmir and also the issue of partition that has divided the land. But all these things are suggested indirectly by the image of the postcard. Unit 2 Mother Tongue Mother Tongue is an essay written by Chinese- American novelist Amy Tan. In the essay she describes about the broken English which she used at home to communicate with her mother. She also tells how this limited English restricted her mother’s life and also her life as a student. a. Being a Chinese immigrant Amy Tan’s mother did not speak good English. Though she could read and understand English fairly good, her speaking

skill was poor. Her English was broken and always limited the quality of what she had to say. As a result, people did not take her seriously. People at stores, banks and restaurants did not give her good service. b. At one instance, a stockbroker had to send Amy’s mother a check due for her shares, but it was delayed. So she made Amy Tan to make a call to him immediately asking for the check. While she told things in her broken English, Amy conveyed it in correct English over the phone. Next week when they visited the stockbroker, he was surprised at the broken English said by her mother while what he heard through phone was perfect English. c. While Amy Tan’s mother was not treated well by people for her broken English, as a student she also suffered a great. The broken English spoken in her home made her to perform poorly in English classes. She came out with average marks in English while her marks for subjects like Maths was very good. This was the case with other Chinese students as well and they chose to study Maths and Science. d. English as a language is used for different purposes. To evoke an emotion, an image, a complex idea or a simple truth. In each case one uses a different variety of English. Amy Tan belonged to a family of immigrants from China and as a result, the English spoken by her mother at home was not perfect. This influenced Amy Tan as she negotiated with the different kinds of languages that she had to use at home and outside.

Unit 3 At the Lahore Karhai At the Lahore Karhai is a poem that is rich with the taste of Indian food used as a metaphor by the poet to relive her life in India. The poet with a group of friends is visiting a Punjabi restaurant in Wembley, England to have a taste of Indian food. a. And b.The prevailing mood of the poem is a sense of nostalgia for the native land and a longing for Indian food. The poem is set in an Indian restaurant and the group has reached there on a Sunday like a pilgrimage, which shows respect for their country, India. The restaurant has a typical

Indian ambience and is set like a roadside Punjabi Dhaba which plays Hindi songs and attracts truck drivers who want real home-made food. c.The poet has reached there with a group of friends named Kartar, Rohini, Robert, Ayesha and Sangam. One of them is an English man who is too young and is born after the period of colonialism. So he is not aware of the British Raj. They are all interested in the Indian food and Indian bread. So they have come together to share the bread. Their love for Indian food has brought them together. The restaurant brings them the memories of their home and these memories are the summer clothes that they ha ve kept safely away in the winter. d. While the poet is at the Indian Restaurant in England and is trying out different dishes each dish brings to her mind the person who used to make it at her home in India. The tarka dal reminds her of Aunt Hameeda, the karahi ghosht reminds her of Khala Ameena and gajjar halwa of Appa Rasheeda. The warm naan is the poet herself. e. Enjoying Indian food from a restaurant in England is a holy experience for poet as she misses her country and its food very much. For her food is a metaphor that reminds her of her country. So when with a group of friends, she visits the restaurant and enjoys the Punjabi dishes it is like a journey back home. It is a way of remembering her land and her people.

Chitra Banerjeee’s poem is an instance of migrant experience when they gather together to watch Indian movies at a Movie Hall in New Jersey. The people share mutual love in a country and a culture that is foreign to them. a. And b.The Indians watch a movie that is typically Indian in its sensibility. Unlike the skinny heroines of Hollywood, the Indian heroine is plump and is thus called a sex-goddess. Here in India the heroines are even worshipped as goddesses. The thick English is a status marker for the upper class Indian heroine. The mispronounced English is embarrassing for the American Indians. The typical Indian cinema has a lot of songs in it and usually has a love triangle where one of the hero either dies or

sacrifices his love. All these themes have been mentioned by the poet. c.The poet uses collective pronouns like we, our and us. For instance while watching the movie, she says, we laugh and clap, we weep, etc. It stands for the emigrant Indians like the poet who share the experiences of love for their homeland and insecurity in a foreign land. It also shows their collective identity and common culture that is part of the Indians in America. d. After the movie the Indians have a brief reunion at the foyer of the movie hall. Here they get to see one another and discuss about their children’s marriages, about opening new shops, about retiring to India and things like that. So this place becomes a place where they can share their fears and their aspirations in a country that is alien to them....