Fourth Semester (2021-22)

UNIT-4

• 'As I Grew Older' by Langston Hughes

• "Grammar of Anarchy" by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar

• Vocabulary-Phrasal Verbs

• Grammar-Concord

'As I Grew Older' by Langston Hughes

Pre-reading Questions

1. Do you know what the word 'discrimination' means?

2. Have you ever felt discriminated against? Or Have you observed anyone discriminated for any reason?

3. If yes, what was the reason for it? If not watch the following videos and find out what is the situation of the black people in the video

https://youtu.be/8K2SocnUHro

https://youtu.be/6Au1XOztxX4

4. What could be the various grounds for discrimination?

5. Do you know what racism is? If not, read about racism here

6. In which country/countries do you think 'racial discrimination' exists/existed?

Pre-reading Activities

1. (Pair work)- Read these news and try to understand how society engages in racial discrimination

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/police-department-engaged-in-racial-discrimination-state-says/ar-AAWEIZt

Write your observations in a paragraph

About the Author

Langston Hughes was an African American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist . One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

About the Poem

The poem, “As I Grew Older” (1925) is about how a speaker had a dream. When he grew older, he realised that it was not easy to achieve his dream. It is a long process of overcoming the fears and all the injustices that happened to him. The speaker is an African American and life is not at all easy for him. However, he is quite confident and determined to fight against the injustices and chase his dream.

The poem is about one's dream in life, the hardships one has to endure, and the strong will one needs to have inorder to achieve goals and realise dreams. It is easy to dream and dreams do provide a source of inspiration. But a determined effort is needed to transform dream to reality. Using the wall as a symbol, Hughes alerts us to the obstacles and challenges that lie in the path of realising one's dreams. The journey is doubly difficult for the speaker of the poem because of the discrimination he faces as an African-American person.

Post-reading Questions

1. Bring out the central idea of the poem and explain how the poet conveys it.

2. Analyse the imagery of the poem and its relation to the theme.

3. What kind of statement do you think the poem is making about identity and its impact on one's life?

4. What is the poet's dream? Does he specify it anywhere int he poem? Do you think it matters whether he does or does not state what his dream is?

5. Similarly the poet uses the 'wall' in a figurative manner. What do you think the wall refers to in the context of the poet's racial identity?

6. Describe the changing tone and mood of the poem.

Post-reading Activities

(Group work and Discussion)1. - Problems of caste in India. Controversy over Rohit Vemula’s incident- how difficult is it for students from less privileged backgrounds to achieve their dream

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35349790

(Individual work)-2. What is your childhood dream? Do you still remember it? If Yes, write about it. If no, think about what do you want to be in life. What are the challenges you have in life. And how do you overcome those obstacles in life? Write down your thoughts.

"Grammar of Anarchy" by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Pre-reading Questions

1. We celebrate August 15 as Independence Day and January 26 as Republic Day. What is the significance of these dates and what if the difference between them?

2. India became an independent country on August 15, 1947. What was the status of India before independence?

3. What is a 'country' and what is a 'nation'? Do both words mean the same or is there any difference between them?

4. What does the phrase "unity in diversity" mean? Hw is it relevant to India? How is 'unity' different from 'uniformity'?

5. Do you know the origins of the slogan "Liberty, equality, Fraternity"? Today it is also the motto of two countries. Do you know which are these countries. Find out.

6. What is the meaning of the word 'anarchy'? What is its opposite ?

Pre-reading Activity

Discussion- · Dr. Ambedkar’s statue in every colony. Why?

(Pair Work) Listen to the film video on Dr. Ambedkar's speech and make notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIP3RWsQGyg

About the Speech

The speech outlines the diversity of India and details the challenges the country would face in implementing the Constitution. He emphasises the need to build a nation on the basis of social equality. Dr. Ambedkar has 3 advices

• To give up the grammar of anarchy

• to avoid hero worship

• to work towards a social and not just political democracy

His words continue to be relevant even today.

Grammar-Concord

Vocabulary- Phrasal Verbs

UNIT-5

• 'The Flower' by Alfred Tennyson

• "The Kitemaker" by Ruskin Bond

• Vocabulary-Commonly Confused Words

• Grammar-Determiners

'The Flower' by Alfred Tennyson

Pre-reading Questions

1. How do you generally respond when your friend gives a new idea?

2. How do people generally respond to new ideas?

3. Do we welcome change? Do we prefer the status quo?

4. Are we comfortable with the familiar or the unfamiliar?

5. Can you name a few things that were exclusive a few years ago but have become common now

6. Do you remember the reaction of the people when mobile phones, computers were introduced or when satellites television made an entry to India?

Post-reading Questions

1. Explain the central idea of the poem

2. Discuss the use of the opposites (light and night, seed and weed, cast and stole) in the poem

3. Explain why the story of the flower is called a 'fable' What qualities of a fable does the poem have?

4. The speaker of the poem says that the meaning of he poem is clear and uncomplicated. Do you agree? Justify your answer

5. Explain the unstated moral of the story of the flower

6. Discuss the poem as a commentary on human nature

The Kitemaker by Ruskin Bond

Pre-reading Questions

1. Did you fly kites when you were a child?

2. Do you still enjoy kite flying?

3. When do you fly kites?

4. Do you know how kites are made?

5. Different kites have different names. How many words associated with kites do you know?

6. Do you think kite flying was common in the past?

7. Is there any artform/craft that your grandparents were good at? Do you practise the same art form/craft?

8. Do you think traditional art forms are flourishing or are they facing threat? If they are flourishing where are they flourishing, how? If not, why? Find out reasons

Pre-reading Activities

Who used to make Kites in your neighboring places during Sankranthi Festival? Is there a change in the kite making, kite flying-trend from the past to the present? Discuss

https://www.telanganatourism.gov.in/blog/12-01-2020.html

About the author

Ruskin Bond is a renowned Indian author, especially popular for his Children's literature. He wrote his first novel, The Room on The Roof when he was 17 years.

https://youtu.be/TTnki-DkT6M

About the Story

'The Kitemaker' is a moving story abut an expert kitemaker, Mehmood and the world he belonged to. Watching the grandson, Ali, flying kites, Mehmood is recollecting a time when he was well known for his special kites...

Commonly Confused Words

Determiners

UNIT-6

• Report Writing: Business Reports, Media Reports

• Technical Vocabulary (Business, media)

• Grammar: Reported Speech

Reported Speech

Note: The Lessons in the Section are taken from the textbooks prescribed by Osmania University for First, Second and Third years, The English Turf edited by C. Muralikrishna and Y.L.Srinivas , English in Use and English in Action edited by T.Vijay Kumar, K. Durga Bhavani, Y.L. Srinivas.

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