Major English (Bachelors in Arts) | Tribhuvan University

 Antigone by Sophocles is a classic Greek tragedy that has survived the test of time as it rings the heartstrings of the audience, even in the modern times, thousands of years after its inception. It entails the story of a heroine, Antigone against the tyrannical monarch of Thebes. The main characters of the play are as follows: Antigone - Protagonist, daughter of Oedipus Creon - King of Thebes, Oedipus's brother Ismene - Antigone's sister Haemon - Creon's son, Antigone's betrothed Euridice - Creon's wife, Haemon's mother  Polineices and Eteocles - Antigone's brothers The play begins with the Greek state of Thebes, fresh out of a conflict. After the gruesome death of Oedipus, his sons made a pact to rule in turns. However when Eteocles betrays Polyneices, the latter attacks Thebes with the aid of Argos. The altercation results in their deaths at each other's hands and their uncle Creon taking the throne. To establish his suthority, Creon decrees that Ete...

 Reverend H.T. Johnson was a clergyman in America and "The Black Man's Burden" was written by him as a direct reply to Kipling's "The White Man's Burden". Johnson uses same form, similar rhyme scheme and meter to Kipling's poem to explicitly state that this is his counter to Kipling's highly divisive poem. The poem starts with the phrase "Pile on the Black Man's burden" that acts as a refrain which starts every stanza. Johnson sarcastically asserts to add up  to the black person's burden which is overbearing as it is. This creates a verbal irony as what he means is to leave the black man alone who already has a lot to deal with as it is. He points out specifically to the US as it need not look anywhere else but its "own door" and address the issue at home first. There is no reason to bother other countries like Cuba or Hawaii when the problem in your own country is burning.  He describes the armies of imperial forces a...

 "The White Man's Burden" is a poem written by a highly acclaimed poet Rudyard Kipling. However, the content and the message of the poem is controversial and highly divisive, especially when looked upon through modern perspective. The poem calls for the people of white race to take upon the burden of spreading civilization throughout the world. This is constantly enforced by the use of refrain "Take up the White Man's burden" in the beginning of every stanza. The speaker calls upon the "white men" to fulfill their natural calling by toiling for people that are nothing like them; to "civilize" them. Kipling firmly believes that this is the part of the greatest sacrifice the white race must make for the betterment of all humankind. The work that needs to be done will not be easy, hence he asks for the best men to assume this mammoth task. He stresses the sacrifice element by calling upon the mothers to send their sons into exile where they ...

I stand here ironing by Tillie Olsen is a short story that first appeared in Pacific Spectator. The story is written in first person format from the point of view of a mother of a troubled child addressed to the child’s teacher. The narrator is recounting her firstborn’s daughter’s troubled and precarious childhood. Hence the story takes a retrospective tone where she is reminiscing about her past and all the challenges faced by single mother in the middle of the twentieth century. The story begins with the narrator ironing some clothes. While doing this task, she is clearly troubled by a summon from the teacher of her firstborn child Emily to discuss about her current situation. It is hinted that Emily possessed high artistic potential but there lingers perhaps a dark side to her that is kept hidden. Hence she goes journeying into her past to the time Emily was born and all the hardships of that time. Emily was raised by the narrator as a single mother when she was herself merely nin...

"Is Arranged Marriage any Worst than Craigslist" is an article written by Anita Jain published in New York Times magazine. The author of this piece presents an Indian girl's scenario surrounding her marriage. She gives a first person account of the situations she has faced, the men she met and the idiosyncratic behavior of her loved ones regarding the issue. Since, the narration is given in first person perspective, it is safe to assume that the narrator is the author Jain herself. Jain masterfully presents the differences as well as similarities between two cultures - India against the Western culture exemplified by American society. By doing this she showcases numerous circumstances with humor which sets the tone of this story to be lighthearted. The story abruptly starts with a random instance when the narrator's father similarly cc'd an email to her regarding a match he had found for her. She was taken aback by this spontaneous and incongruous nature of her fa...

 "The Dead" is the last and arguably the most important of the short stories in the collection of Dubliners by James Joyce. Born in Dublin himself, Joyce was an Irish poet and novelist, revered as one of the most influential modernist writers. Joyce's "The Dead" is one of the short stories in the aptly named "Dubliners" which is the collection of tales about the people of Dublin from various walks of life. It focuses on the people rather than the place, the people who are the inhabitants of the city. "The Dead" on a superficial level is a simple story that can be encountered in normal life of the people. The majority of the story takes place at a Christmas party in the household of Julia and Kate Morkans. They are older women who seem to belong to upper class society but curiously who give piano lessons and consequently many of the guests are their pupils. They live with their niece Mary Jane and housekeeper Lily. The protagonist, Gabriel Con...

"The Book of the Dead" by Edwidge Danticat is an introspective tale of grief, repentance and the actions of the past as well as the question of possibility to finally move on and forgive. 'Ka', the protagonist is of Haitian heritage who resides in the United States. Her family moved to the USA as refuges during the violent revolution in Haiti. Although living a secure life, Ka notices certain behavior in her family that she finds strange. When the truth about her father's past life in Haiti is revealed, everything starts making sense, throwing her into a mental turmoil. The story begins with Ka and father on a road trip to Florida to the house of Gabrielle Fontanue, a celebrity TV star who too has her heritage in Haiti. Ka is delivering a sculpture she molded after her father to Gabrielle's which was made possible by a mutual friend. She takes her father along as he is a great admirer of Gabrielle. The story takes an awry turn when her father disappears with t...

 Matthew Prior's "An Epitaph" is an elegy dedicated to a dead couple by the name of Jack and Joan. The poem makes clear that they are deceased as they lie in a marble stone i.e. a grave as if relaxing. Prior makes  a biblical allusion as it is mentioned that they lived for "threescore and one" meaning sixty one years. They lie dead as they had lived, with no regard to the ins and outs of the world. Prior uses an hyperbole "empires rose or fell" to direct attention tot heir apathy. Hence, they remained constantly as days went by, doing absolutely nothing but walking, sleeping and eating; leading a completely passive life. They would not bother having any more children after the four they had were already dead. They were perfectly suited for one another as nether of them had any relatives nor bothered about anyone. They seemed prudent at first as they found perfect balance between morality and finances. They were in full self control as none overstepped ...

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet who wrote "A Prayer for my Daughter" two days after the birth of his daughter. Naturally it follows that this poem reflects the qualms of a father regarding the upbringing of his daughter, his aspirations for her and his dilemmas in what to avoid and qualities to instill in his daughter. Butler starts the poem with a description of storm that is brewing outside while his infant daughter sleeps cozily in her cradle half visible. There is nothing stopping the storm except a forest called Gregory's Wood and a solitary hill. In this state, the poet's mind is troubled and he is walking about, praying all this while. In the second stanza, the speaker reveals that the reason for his restlessness is his newborn. Here, he goes into expanding details about the storm as it screams upon the tower. As if in a daydream, he excitedly imagines his daughter's future in a frenzied state lacking calmness. He hopes for his daughter to grow beaut...

 "Coy Mistress" written by Annie Finch serves as a direct response to Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" which was composed almost two centuries later. It is easy to notice that the time this poem was written in an era more liberal compared to Marvell's piece. In the very first word "Sir", Finch directly addresses Marvell and clarifies that the 'Mistress' is not some bird of prey as Marvell asserted in his poem. She does not crudely seize the day by faltering into promiscuity. Similar to Marvell, Finch too personifies time by capitalizing it and addressing it as 'he'. However, in contrast to Marvell, Finch opines to adopt time as a friend. She says that time will improve and fine tune their youthful quality, say perhaps like a fine aged wine. She poses a question, a rhetorical question perhaps, stating that it is pertinent to understand and comprehend the nature of life before contemplating and expressing love. She says that lif...

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" is filled to the brim with sexual tension, love, desire, fantasy and persuasion. The speaker uses evocative language to reveal his innermost desires of mating with his beloved. He uses the poetic medium as a tool of persuasion to appeal to his beloved to have coitus with him. The poem commences with the speaker's desire of an ideal situation where time is unlimited. He divulges into detailed explanation of how he would treat his lover in this ideal world. He states that if he had unlimited time, the show of modesty would not bother him. He would take his time to savor every moment in praising his lover's lovely traits. He fantasizes his lover picking rubies in the Ganges river of India while he could write songs by the Humber river in England. He could propose to her unceasingly and she could refuse him to the very end and it wouldn't bother him in the least. He would be willing to devote multiple epochs admiring the come...

 "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden is an elegy and tribute written by a son to his loving and caring father remembering his many sacrifices made in taking care of him. The poem begins with an unknown speaker and his reminiscing of his  father especially the time spent together on Sundays during winter. The speaker states that his father woke up early even on Sundays, which is a holiday during winter. He put on his clothes in the cold and lit the fire. The speaker describes his father's hand as cracked and aching due to the laborious work he needed to undertake throughout the week. For all his devotion tot he family, he was never thanked or even acknowledged by anyone. The second stanza describes how the speaker woke up during the uncomfortable winter days. His father would call him when the room warmed up and he would slowly rise and dre3ss still unsettled by the cold. He specifically remembers how he'd speak indifferently to his father who was the reason for al...

"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke presents the bewildering relationship of a boy to his father. The poet does not provide much in terms of context such as setting and time which leaves the poem open to interpretation in a quite contrasting way. On a superficial level, Roethke presents the relationship and action unfolding between the father and son as something playful, almost whimsical. The use of the term "waltzing" metaphorically denotes that the father and son are toying with each other with greatest pleasure. 'Waltz' is a kind of romantic ballroom dance performed  by couples. Hence, to compare such evocative dance to the actions of father and son may point out the deep emotions they hold towards each other. The poet says that their little dance continued until the pans in the kitchen shelf slid and fell which further encapsulates the passion of the moment. This in turn makes the mother frown signalling that she does not approve of this behavior,...