Hello Readers !
I'm Latta Baraiya and I'm putting all my assignments of all semester here. So it will easy to find all assignments at one place.
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Hello readers !
In this blog I'm going to discuss the novel "Gun Island" by Amitav Ghosh. This thinking activity is assigned by our professor Dilip Barad sir.
Amitav Ghosh is a contemporary writer of the twentieth century. He is an Indian writer and the winner of the 54th Jnanpith award, India’s highest literary honor, best known for his work in English fiction.
Ghosh's ambitious novels use complex narrative strategies to probe the nature of national and personal identity, particularly of the people of India and Southeast Asia.
Gun Island is also a very complex novel to understand. You have to read all chapters thoroughly. Otherwise you miss the connection of the story and won't be able to know further. We see the use of three languages in the novel; Bangla, Italian and English. The novel has two parts, the first one is Gun Merchant and the second one is Venice. Let's see some questions about the novel.
1. How does Amitav Ghosh use the myth of Gun Merchant 'Bonduki Sadagar' and Manasa Devi to initiate discussion on the issue of Climate Change and Migration/Refugee crisis / Human Trafficking?
With the use of myth Ghosh wants to talk about the serious problem that we are facing today; climate change and migration. Ghosh uses the myth of Manasa Devi and wants to tell us that Gun Merchant changes the places because of climate change and during that journey he realises the problem of migration. The whole story is about the pilgrimage of Gun merchant as well as of Dinanath. Both characters and the events are connected with each other. It is a kind of similar story.
Climate change
In Gun Island we see many incidents that are talking about climate change. The floods in Sundarban and tides in Venice are the examples. We see that Nilima talked about the cyclone that came in Sundarban. Animals and various species are changing their places because of pollution and human disturbance. Fertiliser and other chemicals create a dead zone in water and because of that dolphins have to change their place and path often. The wildfire in Los Angeles; that we can connect today also. For example the wildfire in California, the effect of climate change :
When Deen and all the other characters are going to see the blue boat, they face many problems like, tornado, heavy wind, hailstorm and rain. This is the upheaval in the cycle of the season. We can connect it with today also. Ice is melting because of high temperature, and that becomes serious problem to pay attention.
Some other cutting of newspaper,
This is the effect of climate change.
Migration
Amitav Ghosh talking about the problem and the reality of humans. People are selfish who think about themselves, not about others. There are many reasons behind migration. It may be because of political issues, religious problems or it can be climate also.
If we see the reasons of migration in the novel, we find four main reasons:
Calamities :- Lubna Khala and her family members migrated because of the flood. Everything was destroyed in her village. So they have to migrate to other place. Many other people are also migrating because of drought, cyclone, flood etc.
Communal violence :- Bilal was a kind of person who helped his friend's family. He and Kabir are friends. Kabir's land was grabbed by his uncle.
Poverty :- Tipu and Rafi migrate because of poverty. Rafi hasn't enough money to pay the loan.
Socio-Economic Condition :- There is a character of Palash whose financial condition was good, he is not facing any violence nor calamities. But he has a kind of fantasy or dream to go Finland and for that he is migrating. But then he was not able to make his dream true.
There is the news in the newspaper about Indian migrants,
2. How does Amitav Ghosh make use of the 'etymology' of common words to sustain mystery and suspense in the narrative?
Sometimes we can't understand the meaning of any word, at that time we have to go to the origin of the word. We can see the use of such words that goes into the origin of those words. Let's see some examples.
Gun Island
When we read the title we thought there may be a reference to 'Gun' in the novel. But no, there is no direct reference to gun in the novel. There is 'Island within Island…'
There is one foundry where armaments, including bullets, were cast. And the word used for foundry in Venetian dialect is "getto". And the world "ghetto" is derived from "getto" and it is connected with Jews.
The other vocabulary for Venice is linked to three apparently unrelated things - hazelnuts, bullets and guns ! The shape of hazelnuts is similar to that of bullets which are, in turn, indispensable for guns ! Venice in Arabic language is "Banadiq" - the ancestor of the German and Swedish "Venedig". In Arabic "Banadiq" became "al-Bunduqeyya". So this gun is referred to as Venice, not gun ! So the ultimate meaning of the title is - a merchant who visited Venice and who found ghetto-foundry.
Bhut - Ghost
In part one of the novel in one of the chapter named Brooklyn, there is a conversation between Dinanath Datta and Tipu through email. Tipu asked Deen, ``What is the meaning of "Bhuta" ? Does it mean "ghost" or something else ? Deen explains that in Bangla bhoot/bhuta means according to Sanskrit root "bhu" means "to be" or "to manifest". So "bhuta" simply means "a being" or "an existing presence". This word "bhuta" also refers to the past, in the sense of "a past state of being". Like we use "bhuta-kala" or "times past". So this "bhuta" is not "ghost" but it is "memory". So it can be with you in the form of memory.
Possession
There is reference to the word possession in the novel. Possession is when someone is taken over by a demon. And the demon is nothing but it's just a metaphor for greed, an imaginary thing. So possession is not like someone's soul comes into our body and all things ! It's our greed that we have taken over that greed. It is a kind of awakening also, you are waking up to things that you had never imagined or sensed before. In other words we can say possession is consciousness of things.
Land of Palm Sugar Candy
The Bengali word for this is "taal-misrir-dish". Desh = country, taal= kind of palm tree that produces a sugar syrup, Bengali word for sugar candy is misri. Cinta said that the Arabic word "Misr" is used for Egypt. So this place is referred to as Egypt.
Land of Kerchieves
Cinta asked for the Bengali translation of this word. Deen told her it was called Rumaali-desh. In Bengali Rumaal is a handkerchief. Chinta said it is about Rumelia, and this Rumeli-Hisari is located in Turkey.
Island of Chains
The Bengali word for this is "shikol-dwip". And this is a reference to Sikelia and that is now Sicily. So the Island of Chains is used for Sicily.
This is how we can see the words and it's meanings. We can't easily understand the meaning of those words, which Ghosh used in the novel.
3. What are your views on the use of myth and history in the novel Gun Island to draw the attention of the reader towards contemporary issues like climate change and migration?
The main intention of author is to draw the attention of the readers towards contemporary issues like climate change and human trafficking. For that Ghosh used the myth of Manasa Devi. But the way he is telling the whole story, that process seems like it's real events that happened in the past. To establish the things you have to tell a story around it, so it stays in people's minds. That is why Ghosh used the myth of Manasa Devi and the way it was told it seems the story was not myth but history. But what is important is Ghosh wants to draw attention to these serious problems of climate change and migration.
4. Is there any connection between 'The Great Derangement' and 'Gun Island'?
Yes, this novel "Gun Island" is the answer to another novel "The Great Derangement" by Ghosh. Because this book asks the question, What is the role of literature in the context of climate change ? Why aren't authors talking about it in their works ? And how can they talk with the help of literature ? It argued that not enough contemporary novels were addressing climate change as a central issue of our time.
So Gun Island is a kind of example or explanation of those questions. With the help of literature we can understand serious problems like climate change and migration.
5. There are many Italian words in the novel. Have you tried to translate these words into English or Hindi with the help of google translate app ? If so, how is machine translation helping in proper translation of Italian words into English or Hindi ?
I have tried to translate these words into English or Hindi with the help of google translation. It becomes easy to translate Italian words into English or Hindi. Here is the spreadsheet of these words, click here.
Workshop on Research Writing
We had our third workshop this week. On 7th January 2022 was workshop on Research Writing. This workshop was in three sessions. The workshop helps us to understand research methodology.
1)Importance of Research by Prof. Majmudar Jagdeep
The first session is about the importance of research by professor Majmudar sir. sir gave very interesting information about research and the importance of research. Jagdeep Majmudar sir is a retired Prof. of the department of M.B.A. and he became the first coordinator of the Research Facilitation Centre of MKBU. This centre mainly focuses on Ph.D works. He talked about how to conduct a problem and the things around it. Sir said to take references (and it should be authentic) but the conclusion should be yours. It was a very helpful session. It helps us to understand how we can do research and how we will write our dissertation.
2)Avoid plagiarism: Qualitative Research in Digital Era by Prof. Dilip Barad
The second session was by Dr.Dilip Barad Sir on plagiarism. How to turn good research into qualitative research that sir taught us. Sir talked about five criteria,
1. Authority
2. Educational Value
3. Intent
4. Originality
5. Quality
Sir tell us about the importance of citation or reference in the research. If you don't cite the work it may be a big issue in your future. You may face problems because of it. So it is better to use the references in the research. Here you find sir's blog on plagiarism, click here.
3)Citation : Tools & Techniques by ms. Vaidehi Hariyani
There are many tools which help us to cite the work. In this session Vaidehi ma'am gave information about various tools in which we can cite the work easily. We also cite any references like, newspaper, email, books, articles etc. Now MLA citation is acceptable by all, so ma'am taught us to do citation in MLA Style. Citation is a necessary part of research. So it is good if we learn how to cite the sources.
In brief all sessions are helpful and give information about the research. Now the things of research and dissertation writing have become more clear.
“Human beings often claim to understand events when they manage to formulate a coherent story or narrative explaining what factors caused a specific incident to occur. Stories assist the human mind to remember and make decisions based on informative stories. Narrative writing also prompts periods of intense reflection that leads to more writing that is ruminative. Contemplative actions call for us to track the conscious mind at work rendering an accounting of our weaknesses and our strengths, folly and wisdom.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, (Dead Toad Scrolls)
That is why narrative technique is very important to understand the style of the author. How the author represents the event is important to see. Here we see the narrative technique of the novel "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" by Arundhati Roy.
Narrative technique of "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness"
The novel is very complex to read. Roy uses many references of true events in her novel. If you are not aware of real events you won't be able to understand the novel. It is also divided into five major worlds (places) where all the things happen, but the events are broken in between. The story of Anjum connects all the events of the novel. But to read the original novel is very hard. We can read the interpretations and understand the novel.
"The narrative starts at the unusual setting of a necropolis, to depict the long litany of necropolitics created by the corrupted pseudo-democratic setup of India,under the clutches of globalization, materialization, industrialization, westernization and the other long list of existing political scams. By the order of structure, the novel starts with the story of Anjum, a trans-woman, precisely a woman trapped in a man‟s body. The time gap is adjusted to tell the story of Anjum right from her birth to the events that led her to the first setting of the graveyard. Through this part of the narrative, Roy molds the one half of the dystopian sphere by etching the caste craze, media politics, gender politics, globalization, islamophobia etc. that rules the democratic India, which cracked the whole set up and demolished the “the ministry of utmost happiness”. The when Anjum and her party on the process of molding the utopia within the necropolis reaches Janata Mantar, the conjoining point of the novel, Anjum falls into a rabbit-hole, and the readers are tangentially taken into another dystopian half, to bring out some characters from that side into the fabrication of the utopia in the necropolis." (Ann Theres Joy)
The novel has an omniscient narrator, and it has multiple points of view. The narration is changing from first person to third person Narration. Novel begins with the Jannat; setting of the graveyard, then it moves to Shahjahanabad, Delhi then to Khwabagh or the House of Dreams to the Jannat Guest House. From there it goes to Jantar Mantar. And lastly it shifted to Kashmir. Covering all the events it ends with the exposure of the letters of Revathy. Here you can see board work on characters(complexity) of the novel by Sir,
Political Issues in the Novel
Arundhati Roy is an amazing writer of this present era who possesses defiant and reformative voice. In comparison to other women writers, Roy is less moving in her books. Her plays include the harsh reality of life. Arundhati Roy never showcases any kind of hesitation to articulate or write on any kind of wrongful issue. As a writer, Roy has never been agog to draw up fairy tale, romance, or fantasy rather than unravelling the suffering of mankind. All her books outline religious, war, political, nationalism, capitalism and the plight of people in this hour of crisis. Arundhati Roy always try to create a healthy environment for the disadvantaged people. Roy raises questions on the patricentric society, social stigmas and the authority of political power. Her works are the reflection of her outrage, discontentment and compassion. Roy states in an interview with Kathy Arlyn Sokol(Kyoto Journal).
The novel includes many political events such as land reform, 2002 Riots in reaction to Godhara train coach burning, Kashmir insurgency, reference of Una flogging of Dalit-chamars by Cow-Vigilantes also it illustrates the sufferings, pain and the rights of the LGBT community in contemporary India. The novel also deals with many social and political events occurring in India. We have seen these events in the class,
This frame is about the episode in the novel when Anjum and Zakir Mian travel to Ahmedabad, Gujarat during 2002 Riots in reaction to Godhara train coach burning in which 56 pilgrims died.
In the novel Saddam Hussein (Daya Chand) refers to Una flogging of Dalit-chamars by Cow-Vigilantes.
This frame has a reference to 'Revathy' / 'Comrade Maase'. She is mother of Udaya Jebeen (the second). She abandoned her baby at Jantar Mantar as she was born of rape by six police-men and she wanted to dedicate her life for Moist movement.
Gender Issue in the Novel
As Danish Suleman writes in the article, since ancient times the culture has been split into the weak and dominant, where vulnerable people are subjected to the dominance and flattery of society's authoritative class and hence become the perpetrators of paranoia. In society they have no name and life. Their identity is at stake, or they live with a decapitated uniqueness. They are the miserable species in this world who have no experience, thus are the perpetrators of deep lowliness and feel always terrified to be insulted. This study addresses transgender abuse and identity crisis at the root of the gender identity issue. Gender identity insinuates a person's identity due to the level of feminine or masculine characteristics in an adult that conforms to the traditional concept of society as a male or female. A person's gender identity is a psychological component of an individual's sexual orientation. In an article, “Let Us to Live: Social Exclusion of Hijra Community”, Hijra (Eunuch) or Transgender has been identified by Sibsankar Mal (2015) as “an umbrella term to signify individuals who defy rigid, binary gender constructions and who express or present a breaking and blurring of culturally prevalent stereotypically gender roles”.
We have two genders in our thoughts, minds, everywhere. And apart from that third gender community people didn't get a place in society. They have to fight for their rights. This problem is discussed by Roy in this novel.
Environmental Concern in the Novel
In the novel "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" various environmental issues are raised by Arundhati Roy. Issues ranging from Indian vulture crises, deforestation, dismal condition of migrants and quarry workers, predicament of captivated zoo animals, deficient health facilities, scum-laden rivers, mushrooming slums, mounting poverty, speedily increasing dumping grounds, unplanned urbanization, unrestricted consumer indulgence, enslavement of Adivasi (tribal) girls and genetic modification have been comprehensively studied.
She writes to inspire action and encourage her readers to participate in the process of nation-building and for creating a more sustainable planet (Syed Wahaj).
We see a dung beetle is portrayed as earth saver here. With the point of nature Roy includes insects, birds, animals and they are playing a pivotal role in their life which are connected with human life and their actions and activities affect them. The important aspect was about Vultures.
Researchers have expressed concern over use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in cattle since it was approved for veterinary use in Spain in 2013, as the drug is toxic to vultures who may consume it via dead cows. Now, modelling by Rhys Green, a conservation scientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues suggests that the drug could cause populations of that country’s Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) to decline by between 1–8% each year (Rachel Becker).
Vultures are friendly old birds. They are the cleaners of earth and they are now dying because of this diclofenac.
References
Becker, Rachel. Cattle drug threatens thousands of vultures. Nature (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2016.19839
Joy, Ann Theres. “Seaming a Shattered Story: Roy’s Narrative Patterns in the Ministry of Utmost Happiness.” Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science, vol. 6, no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 20–23.
Mal, Sibsankar. 2015. “Let Us to Live: Social Exclusion of Hijra Community”. Asian Journalof Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(4): 108-117.
Mohsin, Syed Wahaj. “Environmental Concerns in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: A Critical Study.” Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, vol. 8, no. 6, Dec. 2017.
Roy, Arundhati. 2011. “Like Sculpting Smoke: Arundhati Roy on Fame, Writing and India”Interview by Kathy Arlyn Sokol. Kyoto Journal, November 5, 2017. Retrieved from
https://kyotojournal.org/conversations/arundhati-roy-on-fame-writing-and-india/
Suleman, Danish, et al. “Political and Gender Issues in Arundhati Roy’s ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.’” Indonesian Journal of Cultural and Community Development, vol. 5, 2020, https://doi.org/10.21070/ijccd2020288.
Hello readers ! Myself Latta Baraiya and I'm a student of English Department, mkbu. This task is assigned by Vaidehi ma'am. This blog is about how we can make list of work that we have cited from different sources.
Whenever you incorporate outside sources into your own writing, you must provide both in-text citations (within the body of the paper) and full citations (in the works cited page). The in-text citations point your reader toward the full citations in the works cited page(Jennifer).
MLA style provides a flexible, modular format for recording key features of works cited or consulted in the preparation of your research paper. This chapter describes several sequences of elements that can be combined to form entries in lists of works. In building an entry, you should know which elements to look for in the source. Not all elements will be present in a given source. Moreover, since MLA style is flexible about the inclusion of some information and even about the ordering of the elements, you should understand how your choice relates to your research project(MLA handbook, 2009).
Although the list of works cited appears at the end of your paper, you need to draft the section in advance, so that you will know what information to give in parenthetical references as you write.
Placement of the List of Works Cited
The list of works cited appears at the end of the paper. Begin the list on a new page and number each page, continuing the page numbers of the text. For example, if the text of your research paper ends on page 10, the works-cited list begins on page 11.
The page number appears in the upper right-hand corner, half an inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
Author. “Title of the Source.” Title of the Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
See this,
Center the title, Works Cited, an inch from the top of the page. Double-space between the title and the first entry. Begin each entry flush with the left margin; if an entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent line or lines one-half inch from the left margin. This format is sometimes called hanging indention, and you can set your word processor to create it automatically for a group of paragraphs. Hanging indention makes alphabetical lists easier to use. Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries(MLA handbook, 2009).
Arrangement of Entries
Entries in a works-cited list are arranged in alphabetical order, which helps the reader to find the entry corresponding to a citation in the text. In general, alphabetize entries in the list of works cited by the author's last name, using the letter-by-letter system. In this system, the order of names is determined by the letters before the commas that separate last names and first names. Spaces and other punctuation marks are ignored. The letters following the commas are considered only when two or more last names are identical(MLA handbook, 2009). Like this,
Descartes, Rene
De Sica, Vittorio
MacDonald, George
McCullers, Carson
Morris, Robert
Morris, William
Morrison, Toni
Saint-Exuperv, Antoine de
St. Denis, Ruth
If two or more entries citing co authors begin with the same name, alphabetize by the last names of the second authors listed.
Scholes, Robert, and Robert Kellogg
Scholes, Robert, Carl H. Klaus, and Michael Silverman
Scholes, Robert, and Eric S. Rabkin
Other kinds of bibliographies may be arranged differently. An annotated list, a list of works consulted, or a list of selected readings for a historical study, for example, may be organized chronologically by publication date. Some bibliographies are divided into sections and the items alphabetized in each section. A list may be broken down into primary and secondary sources or into different research media or genres (books, articles, films). Alternatively, it may be arranged by subject matter, by period, or by area(MLA handbook, 2009).
Two or More Works by the Same Author
To cite two or more works by the same author, give the llame in the first entry only. Thereafter, in place of the name, type three hyphens, followed by a period and the title. The three hyphens stand for exactly the same name as in the preceding entry. If the person named edited, translated, or compiled the work, place a comma (not a period) after the three hyphens, and write the appropriate abbreviation (ed., trans., or comp.) before giving the title. Ifthe same person served as, say, the editor of two or more works listed consecutively, the abbreviation ed. must be repeated with each entry. This sort of label does not affect the order in which entries appear; works listed under the same name are alphabetized by title(MLA handbook, 2009). Like this,
Borroff, Marie. Language and the Poet: Verbal Artistry in Frost, Stevens, and Moore. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1979. Print.
---, trans. Pearl. New York: Norton, 1977. Print.
---. "Sound Symbolism as Drama in the Poetry of Robert Frost." PMLA
107.1 (1992): 131-44. JSTOR. Web. 13 May 2008.
---, ed. Wallace Stevens: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice, 1963. Print.
Two or More Works by the Same Authors
If you have two or more works by the same author, alphabetize your list by the author’s last name, and then the title of the book(Adrienne,2020). To cite two or more works by the same authors, give the names in the first entry only. Thereafter, in place of the names, type three hyphens, followed by a period and the title. The three hyphens stand for exactly the same names, in the same order, as in the preceding entry. Authors' names whose order in the source work is different from that of the previously listed names should be listed in the same order as in the work and alphabetized appropriately(MLA handbook, 2009).
Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar, eds. The Female Imagination and the Modernist Aesthetic. New York: Gordon, 1986. Print.
---. "Sexual linguistics: Gender, Language, Sexuality." New Literary History 16.3 (1985): 515-43. JSTOR. Web. 26 June 2007.
In this way you can cite if two or three works are by the same author.
Cross-References
To avoid unnecessary repetition in citing two or more works from the same collection, you may create a complete entry for the collection and cross-reference individual pieces to the entry. In a cross-reference, state the author and the title of the piece, the last name of the editor or editors of the collection, and the inclusive page or reference numbers. If the piece is a translation, add the name of the translator after the title, unless one person translated the entire collection (MLA handbook, 2009).See this,
Agee, James. "Knoxville: Summer of 191 5." Oates and Atwan 171-75.
Atwan, Robert. Foreword. Oates and Atwan x-xvi.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. "No Name Woman." Oates and Atwan 383-94.
Oates, Joyce Carol, and Robert Atwan, eds. The Best American Essays of the Century. Boston: Houghton, 2000. Print.
Rodriguez, Richard. "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood." Oates and Atwan 447-66.
References
Mathewson, Adrienne. “Arranging Numbers in Works Cited List.” Bibliography.com, 17 Sept. 2020, https://www.bibliography.com/mla/arranging-numbers-in-works-cited-list/.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, New York, 2009, https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/ISLL125/MLA+Handbook+for+Writers+of+Research+Papers.pdf.
Yirinec, Jennifer. “Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA).” Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA) | English Literature I, University of South Florida, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-britlit1/chapter/formatting-the-works-cited-page-mla/.
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