Shahzada Yaqoot                                                ENG-355

Theme of the Week:                                                             Multi-cultural Literature.

A detailed study comprising four good reads representing four Prominent writers was done. The four writers were Salman Rushdie, who was born in India but is considered a cosmopolitan poet. Jamaica Kincaid, who presently lives in the States but was born in Antigua in the Caribbean,. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o was from Kenya in the African Continent, and Derek Walcott was born in St. Lucia, also in the Carrabin. The four reads showed how geographical separation can diversify literature. Some of which succeed in leaving the boundaries of its origin and become a global appeal.

Every country of the world, irrespective of its geographical location, socioeconomic conditions, or developmental status, has a certain number of enlightened people within its society. These society members are intellectuals and visionaries who strive to improve their personal, communal, and national well-being by contributing their specialized skills or calls.  Any international observer may travel to the remotest, most impoverished, or the most undeveloped country of the world and is bound to find some people professionally engaged in various vocations.   They are all doing their best to change the political, social, economic, educational, and healthcare conditions by introducing new ideas or reforms. While the political leaders strive to make policy changes in governing the country’s affairs, and engineers plan and execute developmental projects, or the physicians and surgeons strive to improve the health conditions of the masses, the teachers relentlessly work to educate the young generation for the betterment of tomorrow. Moreover, out of the educated class comes another group of visionaries, the writers, poets, and playwrights, who inspire the masses through their thinking, writing, and presenting of poems, novels, short stories, and plays that relay a particular message that motivates people towards reformative actions.

Thus, the writers & poets play an essential role in the upward social mobility for the people of their country.  A country with a large population of educated professionals, civic-minded visionaries, and inspiring writers and poets improves its overall progress. Significantly, the writers and poets are instrumental in motivating the masses for their intellectual development. Thus, these poets and writers have been able to change the trajectories of nations,  setting their people on the paths of independence, prosperity, and cultural advancement. https://arts.cgu.edu/tufts-poetry-awards/defining-role-poetry-society-ongoing-conversation/

Classroom activity:  

Q-1 Identify two global early 20^th-century poets and compare their work with two contemporary poets to ascertain similarities or differences in their school of thought.

Global Literature and in various parts of the world.

Each continent of the world and the countries within the specific continents has produced outstanding writers and poets.  In our current studies, we evaluated writers from South and Central America, Africa, Western Europe, and Asia.  Their work was impressive and had a global appeal, even when presented in translated versions. In addition, two renowned poets emanated from the sub-continent India.  Alama Iqbal, a German-educated barrister, was a Muslim philosopher turned poet who reckoned the hopelessness of his people, particularly the Muslims who had lost their independence through the fall of Mogul kings before the English invasion.  https://alamaiqbal.com/

Iqbal wrote on myriad subjects but later focused on patriotism.  He was the one who came up with the concept of creating a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. A movement started from that idea, which finally led to the dividing of India to form Pakistan.  The following quotes depict his school of thought.   

“Though the terror of the sea gives to none security, in the secret of the shell. Self-preserving we may dwell.”

“If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion.”

Classroom Activity:

Q1.  Research Iqbal’s poetry, find any four successive stanzas of his poem, and expound on the philosophical meaning inherent in his works

Q2.  Research the 19^th-century European poet William Ernest Hensley and read his short poem “Invictus”. Then, explain the following four verses by writing a 250 words analysis.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

Poetry of Rabindranath Tagor

Born in Calcutta, he was initially home-schooled.  At age seventeen, he went to England for further studies.  After completion, he returned to India, started writing and publishing poetry. He also taught a school designed to teach the best Western and Eastern values.  As an itinerant lecturer, he became a voice for millions of Indians who wanted independence from the British.  People read his poetry in Europe and America, thus blurring the cultural boundaries between the East and the West.  Since he wrote on the tranquil lifestyles of India, his works were appreciated in the western world for providing serenity for the stressed-out readers.https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1913/tagore/biographical/

Rabindarnath Tagor poem “Last Curtain”    

I know that the day will come, when my sight of this earth shall be lost,
and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the last curtain over my eyes.
Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as before,
and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.
When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat, rare is its meanest of lives.
Things that I longed for in vain and things that I got
—let them pass. Let me but truly possess
the things that I ever spurned and overlooked.

(Rabindarnath Tagor)

5 Best Poems of Rabindranath Tagore

Classroom Activity.

Q1.  Research the South African political leader and writer Nelson Mandela and compare his message with the Indian Muslim poet Alama Iqbal. Since the poetry of the two writers was politically motivated and directed at the masses to stir up their emotions, do you think the philosophy of Alama Iqbal inspired Nelson Mandela?

Q2. What similarities do you see between Salman Rushdie and Rabindranath Tagore?  Which author used a direct and authentic approach in blurring the boundaries surrounding Asia and Europe as the continents?

Q3.  Write 750 words essay to discuss the eight blogs that are read so far.  Name one blog that was the strongest and most impactful.  Also, name the one that you think was the weakest and give specific reasons for your assessment.