Mahesh Dattani: SEVEN STEPS AROUND THE FIRE

With Introduction, TEXT, Paraphrase, Summary, Word-Meanings, Explanations, Objective-questions and other critical discussions.

by NIDHI AGRAWAL

pp.: 262

Price: Rs. 180.00

ISBN 978-81-7977-504-2


Also available at amazon.in

Mahesh Dattani entered the theatrical world of English Literature in the last quarter of 20th century. He has explored the vitality of human life through his plays and embellished the tradition of Indian English Drama with his creative innovations. He has touched the unprivileged segments of Indian society in his plays. He presents on stage the realistic world of homosexuals, HIV Positive, eunuch fight for identity, child sexual abuse, gender discrimination, interpersonal relationship and other touching areas of Indian life. His artistic perception and innovative vision assist him to alter the conventional concepts of Indian English Theatre and to forecast the post modernist issues. Dattani is a versatile genius who can write, act, dance and direct. He is the first proud Indian English playwright to win Sahitya Akademi Award for his work Final Solutions and Other Plays.

His play Seven Steps around the Fire has been selected to become a part of the B. A. III syllabus of U.P. State Universities. This play dramatizes the fight of eunuch community to search their identity in the hypocrite world. The present book along with the TEXT also includes the critical study of various techniques and devices that Dattani has applied in this play. To make the play more intelligible to students; word meanings of the difficult words and paraphrase of the text in Hindi and English is given. The main topics of the play are discussed in easy and comfortable way to assist the students in appreciating the play as well as to prepare them for the examination. The explanations of some important quotes are provided to make those speeches understandable to the students. The objective type question-answering will enhance the aesthetic value of the play as well as prepare the students to remember all the major incidents of the play. Hindi of some bold words is not given in Hindi paraphrase of the text.  

List of Contents

Biography of Mahesh Dattani

Dramatic techniques in the plays of Mahesh Dattani

Definition of Drama                                                                   

History of Indian English Drama                                                   

An overview of Mahesh Dattani’s other plays                                  

A Short Summary of Seven Steps around the Fire in English             

A Short Summary of Seven Steps around the Fire in Hindi               

Seven Steps Around The Fire Text, Paraphrase and Word Meanings

Charcterization in the play                                                           

Plot of the play                                                                          

Themes interwoven in the play                                                     

The Technique of Voice-over                                                        

Aptness of Paralinguistic and Non-linguistic Devices                        

Murder mystery                                                                          

Relationship of Hijra and Common Mass                                       

Short Discussions                                                                       

Explanations                                                                              

Objective Questions

SAUL BELLOW: Herzog

a critical study

by: Sunita B. Nimavat

isbn  978-81-7977-485-4

pp. : 100

price : rs. 50.00

List of Contents

Saul Bellow : Life & Works

Saul Bellow’s Major Novels

Major Themes in Saul Bellow’s  Novels

The Theme of City in Literature  and  Saul Bellow’s Treatment of  Theme of City in his works

Some Key Facts About Herzog

Herzog: Critical Analysis of the Novel

Major Themes in Herzog

Motifs and Symbols in Herzog

Characters in Herzog—Brief  Introduction

Moses Herzog—A Humanist  Protagonist

Objective Questions

Bibliography

Linguistics Made Easy

 by: B.K. Pattanayak

isbn 978-81-7977-497-7

pp. : 160

price : rs. 90.00

Linguistics, an ancient discipline but a developing one, has been assigned a vital place in the curriculum at Honours and P.G. level in the universities of India and abroad. Though a very interesting and edifying this scientific discipline is, its teaching on the part of a teacher and its understanding from the side of a student is quite challenging. This book, “Linguistics Made Easy”, is intended to infuse the basic concepts of linguistics and its manifold aspects which the Indian students generally consider tough to understand, apprehend and comprehend. Attempts have been made to present the vast linguistic concepts in a simple and easy-to-understand way so that an average student can comprehend; even a beginner with a little or no prior knowledge of the discipline can understand and appreciate the magic world of linguistics. The material in this book is organised in the form of points, each of which explains the basic concepts and the essential understanding of the subject. Primarily meant for Honours and Post-Graduate students of Indian universities, this book will serve as a readers’ guide/hand book to Linguistics.

B.K. Pattanayak passed B.A. with Honours and Distinction from Utkal University, Orissa in 1990 and obtained his M.A. in English  (First Class) from Ravenshaw Autonomous College, Orissa in 1992. He has been serving as Lecturer in English in Rural Institute of Higher Studies, Bhograi, Orissa since 1993 and has had a distinguished career as a devoted teacher of English Language and Literature. Mr. Pattanayak has taken teaching English as a passion and challange, rather than a profession.

List of contents

Aspects of Language

Linguistics—Its Nature and Scope

Major Linguistic Concepts

Morphology

Traditional Grammar and its Drawbacks

Pioneers of Modern Linguistics

Structural Syntax

Sociolinguistics

Semantics

Select Bibliography

Index

A Readers' Guide to EXPLORATIONS

A simplified study of select chapters for students of BA alternative English of Dibrugarh University

ISBN 978-81-7977-496-0
Price: Rs. 40.00









by
R.K. Jha




List of Contents

THE SECRET OF WORK:

Swami Vivekananda

ON ORIGINAL THINKING:
Sri Aurobindo

Film Making:
Satyajit Ray

Playground:
J.M. Coetzee

BEGINNINGS:
SIR V.S. Naipaul

BOOKS:
Amitav Ghosh

For a Peaceful Future

Peace has been the driving force in the waters of the literary explorations of Stephen Gill. For a Peaceful Future is a collection of long and brief quotes from his prefaces, interviews, articles and other works, where he explicates the multiple aspects of peace.

ISBN 978-81-7977-486-1

Price : Rs. 100.00

pp.: 144

Peace is the compass that has guided the explorations of Stephen Gill in the waters of his literary expressions. For a Peaceful Future is a collection of quotes from Stephen Gill’s writings which explore his gospel about peace. He says repeatedly that where there is no peace there is no health and where there is no health there is no prosperity and meaning in living. He believes that the Nirvana of peace is the child of non-violent actions.

    Stephen Gill makes impassioned pleas in his interviews, prefaces, poems, articles, fiction and other works to refrain from armed conflicts because they pose serious threats to the civilization of today.  He is an ardent supporter of the United Nations, and is convinced that peace is multidimensional and therefore it needs multidimensional approaches to religion, politics, education, family, minorities, the press, the United Nations, war, terrorism, and other areas of life.

         

Stephen Gill, an expressive voice of Canada, India and Pakistan, believes in peaceful means to achieve peace. Global peace and social concerns are the main areas of his interest. He has authored more than twenty books, including novels, literary criticism, and collections of poems. His poetry and prose have appeared in more than five   hundred publications, mostly in Canada, the United States of America and India.  Once in a while, he writes poetry in Urdu, Hindi and Panjabi languages.  He has written and published book reviews and research papers.  Some of his Urdu/Hindi poems have been sung with music by prominent singers of Pakistan and India.                    

Stephen Gill has received recognitions, and has been the subject of numerous literary essays, books and doctoral dissertations. He is honorary editor/ advisor to several publications, and has appeared in prestigious national and international reference books. Indira Kala Sangit University (IKSU) officially established the Centre for Stephen Gill Studies on April 21, 2012 in an impressive gathering of intellectuals, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr. Mandvi Singh.  She called it a historical move of the university to establish this centre for scholars to pursue their higher studies on Stephen Gill. 

          Stephen Gill was born in Sialkot, Pakistan, where he passed his early childhood and grew in India. After teaching in Ethiopia for three years, he migrated to England before settling in Canada.

List of Contents

Coexistence (tolerance)
Education
Hunger
International exchanges & dialogue
Love
Minorities and Human Rights
Nuclear and Peace
Parliament of Nations (World Government)
Peace
Politicians
Press, The
Religion
Terrorism
United Nations, The
Violence and War
Writing (Poetry & Haiku)

Great Western Thinkers

 by: R K Jha

ISBN 978-81-7977-491-5
Price: Rs. 56.00

The book Great Western Thinkers has enumerated the contribution of Plato, Machiavelli, Descartes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx and Freud. These scholars belong to different ages and born in the various countries of western hemisphere. They differ in their thoughts radically but they are necessary for the enrichment and enhancement of human civilization. The ideal state of Plato cannot be compared with the state of Machiavelli. The notion of Marx is entirely opposite to Freud’s psycho analysis. But these Philosophers and thinkers have significant role to play in shaping the major trends in the field of learning and literature.

The language of this book is easy to comprehend for the beginners. The students will feel comfortable in understanding the contribution of these Philosophers in various fields.

       

         Forty Three years old Dr. Rabi Kumar Jha (1970) belongs to Maithili Brahmin family. He holds the degree of PhD from Banaras Hindu University (December 2000). Known for his literary acumen he had his education in Patna, Bhubaneswar and Varanasi. He has been serving in Sivasagar (Assam) since 1st November 1994. He has strong attachment with Durgapur (West Bengal) as his wife has been serving in Lafarge India. He believes in cultural synthesis and reformation in  literary criticism. At present he has been serving as Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of English (S.M.D. College, Charing, Sivasagar).

List of Contents:

PLATO: Republic

THE CONCEPT OF PHILOSOPHER KING

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI: The Prince

CONCERNING MIXED PRINCIPALITIES (CHAPTER 3)

THAT WHICH CONCERNS OF THE ART OF THE WAR (CHAPTER 14)

CONCERNING THINGS FOR WHICH MEN, AND ESPECIALLY PRINCESS, ARE RAISED oR BLAMED (CHAPTER 15)

CONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY, AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE lOVED THAN FEARED (CHAPTER 17)

Concerning the way in which Princes should keep faith (Chapter 18) 

That one should avoid being despised and hated (Chapter 19)               

RENE DESCARTES: Discourse on Method

MORALITY AND METHOD

THE ORIGIN OF GOOD SENSE

LAW AND ITS EXECUTION (CHAPTER II)

CODE OF MORALS (CHAPTER III)

CONCLUSION (CHAPTER IV)

JOHN LOCKE: The Nature of Language

COMMUNICATION : RULES AND DISCIPLINES  (CHAPTER II)

IMPERFECTION OF WORDS AND LANGUAGE  (CHAPTER IX)

J. J. ROUSSEAU: The Social Contract

CITIZEN

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

J.W.F. HEGEL: The Philosophical History

Original History

Reflective History

Philosophical History

MARX AND ENGLES: The Communist Manifesto

SIGMUND FREUD: Leonardo da Vinci

THE IMPRESSIONS OF CHILDHOOD (Chapter 3)

PAINTING Of MONALISA (Chapter 4)

THE INFLUENCE OF LEONARDO’s FATHER (Chapter 5)

T.S. Eliot: HAMLET AND HIS PROBLEMS

An Analysis

by: S. Sulochana Rengachari

ISBN 978-81-7977-483-0

pp.: 36+4

Price: Rs. 30.00

The criticism of Thomas Stearns Eliot is essentially workshop criticism because it is a byproduct, a secondary result, of his creative work. He is considered the literary dictator of the twentieth century and a modern critic. “Hamlet and His Problems” was published in 1920, in his collection of essays on poetry and criticism, The sacred Wood. He was a strong influence on the School of New Criticism started by a group of American scholars during the earlier decades of the twentieth century. New Criticism stresses the dire need for textual analysis in criticism It is reminiscent of the adage “Trust the tale and not the teller”. Eliot observes in his seminal essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent”, that “honest criticism and sensitive appreciation” should be directed towards the text written by the writer and not the writer himself. He has followed the tenets of New Criticism in his essay “Hamlet and His Problems”. He dropped this composition from his collection of essays published after twentytwo years, in America. He explained that when he read the essay again he felt rather embarrassed because he opined that he had been inexperienced when he wrote it. However, the essay is quite significant as a piece of New Criticism.

List of Contents:

LIFE AND WORKS OF T. S. ELIOT
A SHORT SUMMARY OF “HAMLET AND HIS PROBLEMS”
PARAPHRASE AND MEANINGS
HAMLET AS AN ARTISTIC FAILURE
VIEWS OF STOLL AND J. M. ROBERTSON ON SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET
ANALYZE T. S. ELIOT’S CRITICAL CONCEPT OF “OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE”
CORIOLANUS AS SHAKESPEARE’S GREATEST TRAGEDY
“HAMLET AND HIS PROBLEMS” AS DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
WHY IS ELIOT’S ESSAY CONSIDERED IMPUDENT?
“HAMLET AND HIS PROBLEMS” AS NEW CRITICISM
QUESTIONS