Showing posts with label quiz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quiz. Show all posts

Monday 1 February 2021

Hard Times: Charles Dickens

 Introduction

Hard Timesnovel by Charles Dickens, published in serial form (as Hard Times: For These Times) in the periodical Household Words from April to August 1854 and in book form later the same year. The novel is a bitter indictment of industrialization, with its dehumanizing effects on workers and communities in mid-19th-century England.
Louisa and Tom Gradgrind have been harshly raised by their father, an educator, to know nothing but the most factual, pragmatic information. Their lives are devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination, and the two have little or no empathy for others. Louisa marries Josiah Bounderby, a vulgar banker and mill owner. She eventually leaves her husband and returns to her father’s house. Tom, unscrupulous and vacuous, robs his brother-in-law’s bank. Only after these and other crises does their father realize that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives. (Britannica

Check your understanding of the novel: Online Test






Additional Resources:





Musical Performance of Hard Times in Hindi:



Understanding Hard Times: An Analytic Note by F.R Leavis /The Great Tradition


Article: Why Hard Times is a bad novel? - J. B. Priestley

Video recording of Online Classes on Hard Times



Video recording of the session on the discussion on 'Research Articles on Hard Times':


Friday 8 July 2016

Mind Mapping - New Admission in PG Programme (English Literature)

Mind Mapping - New Admission in PG Programme 

(English Literature)

All students taking admission in M.A. English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University (Bhavnagar - Gujarat - India) shall appear in this online Mind Mapping Test.

Instructions for Semester 1 (Batch 2023-25) students:

1.     Join this Google Classroom (If Google Classroom app is not installed in your mobile phone, download it from Play store)

Scan or tap this QR Code to Open G Class


Or

https://classroom.google.com/c/NjE1Nzg4NTUyNjg3?cjc=er5dmx4



2.     The class code is er5dmx4

After joining the class, explore the assignments. You will find two assignments.

4.     Assignment 1: Online Test: You shall open the link of Online Test and appear in the test. There are 42 questions. You can take help of internet to reply the answers. On submission, you will get auto-generated reply in your mail with the score. Type this score in private comment in this assignment in G-Class. Type correct email id to receive auto-generated email. Click here to open the test page.

5.     Assignment 2: In the second task, you have to hand-write a few paragraphs on

a.     What is literature?

b.     The literary text I liked the most . . .

c.      Three reasons for my liking of this literary text . . .

6.     Make PDF of this hand-written answer and upload it in the Google Classroom as assignment submission.

7.     Your admission process will not get completed until you have not submitted both assignments in Google Classroom.


Friday 1 July 2016

Google Form for Auto Graded Quiz - without Flubaroo

Google Form for Auto Graded Quiz - without Flubaroo

Google Form has several interesting features. It is one of the best online tool to gather information and take survey. Many teachers are also using it for testing purpose. The features like 'Multiple Choice', 'Check Boxes' and 'Drop Down' can be used for online quiz / test also.
Multiple Choice, Check Boxes and Drop Down
But Google Form did not have feature to auto-grade these quizzes / tests. So, most of the teachers were using a script known as Flubaroo over the spread sheet of the answers to generate auto-grade and then email those grades to students. Though it was not very difficult, yet, students had to wait for the grades and correct/incorrect answers till teacher grades it and sends email.
Now, Google Form has added this very important and much awaited feature. In the 'Settings', an added option of 'Quizzes' resolves the problem. Now, as soon as student submits answers, he can view 'Scores' and correct / incorrect answer.

The option of 'Quizzes in Settings
The following sample quiz / test is prepared using this feature of Google Form. Appear in the quiz to have first hand experience of this feature of Google Form. Do not forget to see your 'Scores' after submitting the quiz.


Saturday 8 August 2015

Worksheet: Aristotle's Poetics (Short Video Lectures, Quiz and Questions)

Worksheet

Aristotle's Poetics

On this worksheet you will find Short Video Lectures, Quiz and Questions on Aristotle's Poetics
Plato and Aristotle
Download Ingram Bywater's translation of 'Poetics'

Download S H Butcher's translation of 'Poetics'

Download Study Material


Download Sophocles's Oedipus, the Rex

View these Short Video Lectures and respond to the questions given below. Give your responses as ‘Comment’ below this blog. Please attempt the quiz also. The link of the quiz is given below embedded videos.




Short Video Lecture - 1

Plato's Main Objections against Poets and Poetry:





Short Video Lecture - 2

Aristotle's reply to Plato's charges





Short Video Lecture - 3

Theory of Mimesis




Short Video Lecture - 4

Definition of Tragedy




Short Video Lecture - 5

Plot is the Soul




Short Video Lecture - 6

Tragic Hero




Quiz on Aristotle's Poetics











Questions to Respond: (Give your responses in Comment below this blog)

1.  How far do you agree with Plato’s objection to freedom of expression and artistic liberty enjoyed by creative writers? Name the texts (novels, plays, poems, movies, TV soaps etc which can be rightfully objected and banned with reference to Plato’s objections)
2.  With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which followed Aristotelian literary tradition (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia etc)
3.  With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which did NOT follow Aristotelian literary tradition. (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia etc.)
4.  Have you studied any tragedies during B.A. programme? Who was/were the tragic protagonist/s in those tragedies? What was their ‘hamartia’?
5. Did the ‘Plot’ of those tragedies follow necessary rules and regulations proposed by Aristotle? (Like chain of cause and effect, principle of probability and necessity, harmonious arrangement of incidents, complete, certain magnitude, unity of action etc)





Monday 12 January 2015

Presentation and Quiz on Aravind Adiga's 'The White Tiger'

Worksheet, Presentation, Tasks and Quiz on 'The White Tiger'

Narratology: The Study of Narrative Technique


Master-Slave Morality

Master-slave morality

Video: 

What is MASTER-SLAVE MORALITY? What does MASTER-SLAVE MORALITY mean?

Presentation:

Before you appear in the quiz or respond to the tasks, view this presentation. It may help you in answering several questions.



Literary Appreciation of 'The White Tiger' by dilipbarad on Scribd



Task:

Respond to these questions in the comment section below this post (preferably, post link of your blog/s):
  • How far do you agree with the India represented in the novel The White Tiger?
  • Do you believe that Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of 'rags to riches'?
  • "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique, deconstructive criticism aims to show that any text inevitably undermines its own claims to have a determinate meaning, and licences the reader to produce his own meanings out of it by an activity of semantic 'freeplay' (Derrida, 1978, in Lodge, 1988, p. 108). Is it possible to do deconstructive reading of The White Tiger? How?
  • With ref to screening of select scenes of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire in today's class:
    Write a blog on similarities between The White Tiger and Slumdog Millionaire. Include following points:
    1. Narrative structure - Wanted Poster # KBC show
    2. Indianness
    3. List of questions asked in the film. If you have to replace or add a few questions, which questions would you like to add. Remember, questions shall be in-tune with the screenplay of the film .
    4. On what grounds can u deconstruct the film with reference to post colonial tools / theories.
    5. Compare with Texture and Treatment of subject content in film and novel.

Quiz:

The Quiz will be loaded here under. It may take longer if you have slow internet connection.
If it does not load, click here to open quiz on new page


Tuesday 28 October 2014

Presentations on T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land'

Presentations, Quiz and Points to Ponder on T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land'



1) "Shantih" in The Waste Land. Author(s): K. Narayana Chandran. Source: American Literature, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 681-683. Published by: Duke University Press. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2927003
2) The Waste Land and the Upanishads : What Does the Thunder Say? Author(s): M. E GRENANDER and K. S. NARAYANA RAO. Source: Indian Literature, Vol. 14, No. 1 (MARCH 1971), pp. 85-98. Published by: Sahitya Akademi. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23330564
  1. 'The Waste Land' by T.S. Eliot
The literature is not only the mirror image of society. It can neither be limited to the metaphor of photographic representation, nor be limited to the lamp which brightens the corner of society or human nature. Sometimes, literature is the x-ray image of the society. The black and while skeleton of society. The ugly-but-real-at-its-core face of society is captured on transparent paper. The writer's eyes like an x-ray machine, penetrates deep and captures the nuances of social decay, moral decay and cultural decay. The rotten state of human life in the early quarter of the Twentieth century is meticulously captured by T.S. Eliot in 'The Waste Land - quite aptly known as 'The Modern Epic'. The root cause of this decay (social, moral and cultural) is spiritual degradation and sexual perversion. Is spiritual degradation the cause of sexual perversion or the effect of sexual perversion is due to spiritual degradation? It is not easy to answer this is simple cause-effect relationship. They both are interdependent. They have walked hand-in-hand, in past, they walk together in present and they will, if the lessons are not learnt from literature. People question the usefulness of 'Arts' in life. Can we find the answer art (verbal) like 'The Waste Land'.


An Introduction and Themati... by dilipbarad




2. Universal Human Laws in the Modern Epic 'The Waste Land'
Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Or are they just entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? The Waste Land not only makes extensive use of myths but also makes, a myth – the myth of the hollowness of Human Beings in Modern Times.The rituals of the modern men are mythified – which in turn attempts to legitimize it.Or rather it would be better to say: the rituals (sexual sins) are illegitimized in epic which is heavily drawn as modern day myth – the myth of decay, desolation and degeneration of human values, civilizations and cultures.As the poem operates in a dismantling way, rather than legitimizing, it illegitimizes the rituals of the Modern Times.

Universal Human Laws in T.S... by dilipbarad



3. Autobiographical Elements in T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land'
It is well said that “Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry” . . . and . . . “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality”.Consciously, the poet should make such attempts . . . But the Un/Subconscious is not under the control and commands of Conscious Mind. It finds it outlet in the expression. At the very moment when, quite  consciously, the poet has surrendered itself to the process of creation, it leaks out – it finds its moment of expression. T.S. Eliot, the high priest of the school of depersonalization is also not free from the ‘Un/Subconscious overflow of powerful self . . . Which can only be recollected in tranquility by the biographical critics’.

Autobiographical Elements i... by dilipbarad




4. Shantih:


Three kinds of children of Praja-pati, Lord of Children, lived as Brahman-students with Praja-pati their father: the gods, human beings, the demons.—Living with him as Brahman students, the gods spake, 'Teach us, Exalted One.'—Unto them he spake this one syllable Da. 'Have ye understood?'—'We have understood', thus they spake, 'it was damyata, control yourselves, that thou saidest unto us.'—'Yes', spake he, 'ye have understood.' Then spake to him human beings, 'Teach us, Exalted One.' —Unto them he spake that selfsame syllable Da. 'Have ye understood?'— 'We have understood', thus they spake, 'it was 
datta, give, that thou saidest unto us.'—'Yes', spake he, 'ye have
understood.' Then spake to him the demons, 'Teach us, Exalted One.' —Unto them he spake that selfsame syllable Da. 'Have ye 
understood?'—'We have understood', thus they spake, 'it was 
dayadhvam, be compassionate, that thou saidest unto us.'—'Yes*, spake he, 'ye have understood.' This it is which that voice of god repeats, the thunder, when it rolls 'Da Da Da,' that is damyata datta dayadhvam. Therefore these three must be learned, self-control, giving, compassion. ~ Charles Rockwell Lanman, former Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University and Eliot's teacher of Sanskrit and Buddhism

Ezra Pound and the drafts of The Waste Land



Points to ponder:

1) What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answer to the contemporary malaise?
T.S. Eliot and F. Nietzche
2) Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:
T.S. Eliot and S. Freud
What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' lead us to happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?

3) Write about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred?)

4) Is it possible to read 'The Waste Land' as a Pandemic Poem?


Key to draft your response:
1) Introductory paragraph > Write about the poem in 50 words > Write about the central theme of the poem.
2) Sub-heading for your response to point no.1 > then explain the point > thereafter express your views.
3) As above for other three points . . .

Video Recordings of Online Remote Teaching:

   

Reading 'The Waste Land' through Pandemic Lens - Part 1



Reading 'The Waste Land' through Pandemic Lens - Part 2


Thursday 24 July 2014

Quiz as an Effecting Teaching, Learning and Assessment Tool

As necessary as ongoing assessment is for both teachers and students, many teachers complain that constant testing stifles their creativity and destroys student interest, at a time when motivation is mandatory for the current crop of media-saturated students. So, how can teachers assess student learning and evaluate the quality of their own teaching, without losing the interest of their students?[1] (Romo).

It is not a question without an answer. The answer is plain, simple and straightforward. Use Quiz!

It helps to ensure that students understand what you are teaching and -- when they don’t -- to understand where your teaching has missed the mark. (Romo).
Moreover, it helps students to check their progress and assess their need to pay attention in classroom discussions.

Here are some interesting outcome of our experiment of ‘Using Quiz for Teaching’:

·        Students identified and rated following benefits of using Quiz in teaching:
o   It helps to do follow-up reading, everyday, after face-2-face classroom discussion
o   It helps in increased concentration in classroom interaction
o   It improves reading habits as they read with specific purpose to find specific information.
o   It cultivates the habit of taking running notes while the face-2-face classroom interaction is going on.



As students voted for Unit-End-Quiz, we have put it in practice rather than daily or weekly quizzes


It is observed that ‘this approach encourages collaborative learning and creates a sense of community among the students. It also gets students coming to class prepared, and I think it makes the quizzes a more positive and useful learning experience’[2]. (Deterding)

Here are the links to visit the quiz pages:


Works Cited:

Deterding, Audrey. A New Kind of “Space” for Quizzes. 26 Jan 2012. 24 July 2014 <http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/a-new-kind-of-space-for-quizzes/>.

Romo, Sandra. Using Quizzes to Measure Teaching Effectiveness: How Do You Measure Up? 8 Aug 2010. 24 July 2014 <http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev180.shtml>.
  

[1] See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev180.shtml#sthash.5QLlTkk4.dpuf[2] Reprinted from Deterding, A. (2010) A New Kind of “Space” for Quizzes. The Teaching Professor, 24 (9), 6. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/a-new-kind-of-space-for-quizzes/#sthash.2dahP19J.dpuf