Reading Critically

We will discuss here about how to read a text critically, whether you are a casual reader or are attempting to prepare for a board examination. We will be considering the case of “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol. If you fail to get hold of a copy of the text , you may get one easily on internet, grab it and go through with me, to understand the method of reading as I attempt to show you in here. We begin with:

1. The first reading.

The first reading of a text should be spontaneous, unhampered by any other consideration except for your love of reading, the enjoyment of unraveling the plot and the characters. During this first reading, stop to think, time to time. There will be authorial comments that will strike you, characters will unfold in a way, allowing you to be partial to some and biased against others, just as happens in life. This surrogate living, in the fictive world, is the enjoyment that should be unalloyed- even though this may be a text you need to prepare for examination.

2. After the first reading.

After this first reading – you already have questions in mind that need to be addressed. To begin with, if we are reading ‘The Overcoat’ what are the things that may have puzzled you or been difficult to totally comprehend?

Firstly, the author, Nikolai Gogol, the form and the circumstances of the story.

Unless you are Russian or Ukrainian, I am assuming, you are reading this great story as an English translation. In translation, there is always a manner of loss and addition, depending upon how poorly or how well the translation was done. Even so, some nuances of the language are retained, sometimes literally translated, that are difficult for readers from a different culture to comprehend. For example, as a young reader, sleeping over a samovar (which I equated to a kettle or even a stove and kettle) was something that quite puzzled me, Russian tales were replete with this scenario. With regular reading of text from a different culture, you grow into them, and begin to understand the thoughts and actions, even the cultural ambiguities. Then again, the eastern culture is more or less similar, while the western culture is a notch different. Being an Indian or Chinese, makes it easier to understand the Russian world of mythical creatures, superstitions, magic – which a student from the UK may find tad difficult to comprehend or accept.

When reading any text, we need to know the period and the circumstances under which the text came to be written. To understand ‘The Overcoat’, it is not only important that we know about its author Nikolai Gogol, but also about his time frame which was the early nineteenth century in Russia. History bears a lot on serious works of fiction. Hence after the first reading of “The Overcoat” I suggest we read some well written biography of the author, some critical comments made by other important authors and critics about the work and the man.

I was reading “The Overcoat” from a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, published by Raduga Publishers. The Foreword is by Prof. S.Mashinsky. A very well written foreword, that sums up not only Gogol’s biography, but also discusses the salient points of his literary works.  So, after the first reading of the text, I propose you read the ‘Introduction’ or ‘Foreword’ given with the book. This gives you much material and insight into the author’s mind and the thought process behind writing of the book you are reading.

Nowadays, lots of good reference material are easily available on internet for the discerning pupil. Skim through some of them- to find out relevant information about the author, his society, the work you are reading, the issues you think may be the subject matter being highlighted by the author in his works etc. When reading “The Overcoat” I came upon this interesting site, and the topic of the Russian Society, which seemed very relevant to the text I was reading.

http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-society/

Reading for the casual reader and the examinee, who has the goal to answer questions concerning that text at the end of the reading of it, have not much difference in approach to reading of the text, up to this point.  Hereafter the casual reader may or may not concern himself/herself with the questions of the theme, analysis, language and such other aspects of the text; but the examinee will need to continue critically to study the text, to prepare himself to understand complexities of the textual form and content. This is the detailed second reading.

As a casual reader of “The Overcoat” I found this small note, obviously targeted at students of literature on the merit of Gogol’s short stories, rather interesting.

https://www.enotes.com/topics/nikolai-gogol/critical-essays

3. Before the second reading.

Before the second reading, in case you are an examinee preparing for an upcoming examination, Masters Degree or other, you may want to quickly browse through the last five years question papers to see what are the insights that the examiner expects from the student on this text. Quickly note down some of the essay questions and some of the short questions or annotations that have been asked. If you once study these questions, and proceed with your second reading of the text, these questions tend to stay with you, and when the relevant passages or as the reading proceeds the answers begin to crystallize in your mind. Otherwise bear in mind, you want to understand the genre, the themes involved, the characters and what ultimately the author tries to put across. Understanding these in the course of reading, leads to a successful and critical second reading of the text.

4. After the second reading.

After the second reading I suggest attempting to answer some of the questions that you had noted before your second reading.

You may choose other questions too, from past assignments  or examinations, or simply Universities and courses other than your own. That way you get a wider berth to test out your understanding of the text up to this level. This is really the phase where the casual reader and the examinee must part ways. Here on will be the journey of the examinee, who will have to understand the requirements of his/her course and what sort of questions and answers are expected, before his/her preparation for the final exam.

I am now ready to go deeper into studying for MEG (for now the novel) in my next post.

Which Blocks to take up in Second Year and Why

The topic of my post today may seem funny…and quite unnecessary. You’ll probably ask me why this question should be at all discussed. My reason is this- this question regularly appears in all the FB MEG Groups, every year, just before registration time.

In the Second year of our Masters study in English, from IGNOU, we have to make a choice of 4 papers, just as we did in the first year, with the difference that unlike the first year these 4 are not compulsory except for MEG-05; the other three are optional, to be chosen from a list of several offered papers. We can study Australian, Canadian, Indian or American English Literary works, or New Literature, which is a combination of works selected from different post-colonial countries and sub-continents.

Quite a few times I have suggested to students who want to be very thorough in their study, to take up American Literature (MEG-06) and American Novel (MEG-07) as two of these 3 optional papers. Two subject papers, more or less related, each kind of supplementary to the reading of the other- this I feel is a great way to study. American English anyway, in today’s date, demands quite a lot of attention, not next to but on parallel grounds as British English. Similarly, being Indian, if you want to know closely the Indian English Literary works- that too seems very legitimate demand.  Indian English Literature (MEG-07) and English Studies in India (MEG-10) can be taken up, two related paper that make your task a bit easier.

However, I must also point out that none of the papers that are offered in second year are less in importance, so if a student refuses to give up the privilege to study Australian (MEG-09), Canadian (MEG-12) and New Literature/American Literature all at the same time- I don’t see why he/she should not.  In this case I propose, you take up New Literature as one paper, and combine it with Australian/Canadian/American/Indian- any two of these four.

My young friends sometimes ask me, whether the choice of any paper to study should not be based on the availability of study materials. My answer to this is, that the IGNOU Block study material are self-sufficient – follow them up with some library work, the reference books mentioned in each block can be helpful, and also online material. That is adequate- and there is no need to select your papers based on the study help that you can find in the market.

A new reference book to understanding Austen

To enjoy and understand any novel, poem or drama- or for that matter any artistic and creative work – one must be able to read into the style and creative skills of its creator; and to that purpose one has to study and investigate the life and circumstances of the author, poet or dramatist, as may be.

Since in our last post we had discussed Jane Austen, I take this opportunity to suggest a new reference book I came across only recently at the library- a short but well written introduction to the artist, the person Austen. It is true that there are innumerable books and essays on Austen, she being such a favorite of readers- and one whose readership has increased with time, rather than otherwise. This book, in a lovely enticing manner- that closely resembles the rambling style of Austen herself – accounts of her life- as a child, a teenager of intellectual possibilities and later as an author..

For students, who may not have leisurely time to go into extensive reading on Austen, this book, a pocket book can be a ready solution.

The details are herein for reference:

Title: Jane Austen- Pocket Giants

Author– Caroline Sanderson

The History Press, First Published in 2014.

Masters Degree in English from Vidyasagar University

Another State University that offers distance education, is the Vidyasagar University from Medinipore in West Bengal.

The Masters Degree Program in English is worth a venture. It is neither too extensive nor lacking in dimension, but has ample scope for serious engagement of the sincere student, who has to balance academics with job or other career-related engagements.

I am enclosing the syllabus for students’ reference.

Click to access ShowPdf.aspx

General Bachelor’s Degree in English, Calcutta University

As per new regulation of Calcutta University (and other Universities too, in West Bengal), the Honours and General students must both study for 3 years to complete and qualify as graduates of Arts.

For General students the syllabus is pretty simple and stream-lined- poetry collection for the Part I exam; it is a single paper of 100 marks and other than relevant understanding of poetry – figures of speech and poetics are also discussed.

In Part II the student studies novels and essays.

In Part III there are two papers- paper 3 and paper 4- the first being drama and the second Indian writing in English, including short stories and poetry.

This is a pretty easy to complete syllabus, though it equips the student with a good overall knowledge of English literature- assuring his easy transition to higher studies in future. With a planned and dedicated few hours of study everyday, a student may successfully complete his graduation and come off with flying colours!

Once more I’m enclosing the link to the syllabus for the interested candidate:

Click to access English.pdf

Calcutta University- Prestigious and Heritage

Established in 1857, this is South Asia’s first University- that was British styled, multidisciplinary and secular in its outlook. To this day a State University, this University has long qualified to be considered a Central University, and is a heritage institution –  excelling at several levels of academic performance, such as boasting of the maximum number of scholars to have earned the full National Scholarship for research in sciences.

It also had star collection of Indian leaders, bureaucrats, political leaders and scholars as its Alumni and Staff – renowned all over the world. Novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was among the first graduates of the college in 1858, and in 1882 the very first female graduates were from this university- Kadambini Ganguly (who was later, one of the two first female medical graduates and practitioners of India) and Chandramukhi Basu (also to be the first Masters graduate in 1884 and the first South Asian woman principal to an undergraduates college). a a

Currently it has several campuses in and around the city of Kolkata and extended Kolkata.

The cornerstone of the academics of Calcutta University is the Undergraduate Program- which is a three year program, in which the student selects his majoring subject. The Undergraduate course can be a Honors course or a Regular course, also called the Pass Course- while the majoring subject is there for both options, the syllabus is different, with some extensive study in the former program.

I’m enclosing the link to the syllabus for English Major (honors and regular) for the interested students. We will discuss certain aspects of this syllabus in our next post.

Click to access English.pdf

Open University vs. Regular Classes

In India, we are more accustomed to thinking of education as a full-time engagement till the age of 23-24, only occasionally punctuated with some part-time job- tutoring younger kids, helping in family business or being a shop-floor assistant, at the most. Our conventional choices of education are also almost always Central or State Universities– that demand regular attendance of 4-6 hours every working day, regular class tests to be taken over and above the semester examinations and a close coordination with the teachers, at all times.

While such an academic program is a huge opportunity for the student, it also necessarily means that to pursue education a student be enjoying  certain amount of social security and financial adequacy. It also signifies that bereft of the same, education may be a thing of dreams only and not for all.

Over the last twenty five years or so, this scenario is changing -literacy, which was in our 5 year plans, continued to seep into the layers of a striated society and reach the less fortunate. With literacy and with the global media revolution, awareness -of the need to invest in education- hit the labouring, poorer section of our society. They began their arduous trip to higher education. That, forced the relatively well-off kids too, to wake up to a newer possibility and need, to be self-sufficient, to parcel off education as not an exclusive engagement but conduit with earning livelihood.

With the setting up of more and more Open Universities and Distance Learning, as the crowd began to enjoy the removing of barrier in education, the conventional Universities also have to sit up and take notice of this academic hullabaloo.

Just now we find that many of our State Universities have reared up to the task of streamlining their examination patterns, the study modes and the curriculum – so that the students do not feel challenged in comparison to those studying in the Open format.

We will be discussing the Calcutta University Syllabus for Bachelors (Honours and General) Degree Program in our next post.

 

P.S. This was an interesting portal discussing Distance Learning and Open Universities:

http://www.distancelearningportal.com/articles/236/what-are-open-universities.html