The Journey Additional English Notes First Year PDF

Preview

Summary

These notes are based on the lectures conducted. All notes are taken down based on what is said by the teachers....

Description

JOURNEY By Temsula Ao Temsula Ao is a poet, short story writer, and ethnographer. She is a retired Professor of English at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). Temsula Ao was born in October 1945 at Jorhat, Assam. She matriculated from Ridgeway Girls' High School, Golaghat, Assam. The story ‘The Journey’ revolves around the central character, a young girl named Tinula. Set in Assam, the story talks about the hardships the young girl faces in her journey to her home and back to her boarding school. The themes in the story are Human Suffering, Existential Dilemma, Human Life and Psychology, The loss of innocence and transition to maturity, Stark Development and underdevelopment in the North-East, The bond between siblings. 

Character Sketch of Tinula,

-

A 13-year-old girl studying in a boarding school in Assam.

-

Naïve about the true face of human nature: She has not witnessed much cruelty in her life and hence she assumes the best of People

-

Highly sensitive and yet capable of surviving hardships: Although she broke down a few times during the journey, she got back up and completed it. She has also survived the death of her parents.

-

Irrational at times: Attempts to walk in shoes that are too big for her while they are traversing through harsh terrains.

-

Nature sensitive: Always aware of birds singing, piglets squealing, and the geography of her home village in the Naga Hills.

The story ‘ The Journey’ revolves around the central character, a young girl named Tinula. Set in Assam, the story talks about the hardships the young girl faces in her journey to her home and back to her boarding school. The journey which Tinula has to embark on in-order to reach back to her boarding school from her village in the Naga hills is a tedious, risky oneday journey mostly on foot. She sets out with her brother in the morning along with a group of people. They carry along with provisions with them to cook food and eat during the journey. Tinula talks about how they have to cross many rivers and even walk through forests during the course of the journey. Being the youngest along the lot she faces a lot of difficulties while crossing streams and rivers. The water level came up to her eyebrows and her brother and another man had to carry her to the other bank. While crossing through the forest, Tinula starts crying but her brother Temjenba talks to her and soothes her. During the course of the story, Tinula is seen struggling with various aspects of the journey. Such as she is seen struggling to cross the paths with her shoes which are too large for her feet, fear of running into animals while crossing through forests, and so on. Moreover, the major factor of keeping up with the elders and the group is also tiring for a young girl such as Tinula. After crossing through rivers and forests, Tinula and her brother are seen boarding a train. The train was a crowded one and she barely manages to sit on one of the wooden planks and travel. They get down finally after a very uncomfortable train ride at a station called Farkating at almost midnight. With no means to go to the hostel, they start worrying but their luck favors

them and a man offers them a ride in his car. Although they had to squeeze in with all the others both Tinula and her brother were dropped off at her boarding school gates. On reaching the boarding school they go and meet the Superintendent Lady, afterward we see that Tinula is delivered with the news from her friend Winnie that Hubert, the boy whom Tinula had developed an affection for had found a new girlfriend. She develops a new sort of disappointment in the way the news was delivered from Winnie whom she considered as a good friend. On hearing this news a strange emotion takes over her, she remembers this day as the one which caused a thirteen-year-old to have a retake on her life and embrace a new kind of journey....