Linguistics_vs_Literature

 Prof. Abdelhamid Fouda 

=============================

#Linguistics_vs_Literature

 

The key difference between linguistics and literature is that linguistics refers to the systematic study of a language whereas literature can be defined as the study of written works within a language. This clearly highlights that the main difference between these two fields of study are grounded on structure and content though both have the commonality of language as a basis for their works. This article will attempt to define these two terms, linguistics and literature, while providing an understanding of the differences that exist within the two fields.

#What_is_Linguistics?

The human languages which enable us to communicate with one another have very systematic structures. Linguistics is a field that studies these structural aspects of a language. Hence, it can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of a language. It encompasses the study of language in relation to its nature, organization, origin, contextual impact, cognitive and dialectical formation. Linguists are concerned with the nature of languages, their systematic component, the commonalities and differences that exist among human languages and the cognitive processes that come into play.

The field of linguistics is made up of a number of parts that create the totality of linguistics. They are phonetics (the study of the physical nature of speech sounds), phonology (the study of the cognitive nature of speech sounds), morphology (the study of word formation), syntax (the study of sentence formation), semantics (the study of meaning) and pragmatics (the study of the usage of language). Other than these there are other disciplines that are connected to linguistics such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, dialectology, ethno-linguistics, etc.

#What_is_literature?

Literature includes written works that belong to many genres ranging from poetry and dramas to novels. Literature is a work of art. It is a creation of a world that allows the reader to not only dive into an alien world, but also allows the reader to reflect on various issues. It is not merely a recital of the ordinary speech but contains artistic value. There are different forms of literature mainly prose and poetry. Prose includes dramas, novels and short stories whereas poetry refers to a more melodious and rhythmic work of art. Unlike in linguistics, literature is devoid of rigidity in the structure and its relationships. It is not limited to a certain sphere and has a vast canvas. If we look at the English literature, the literary works are divided into different eras also known as literary periods in English literature for the purpose of studying, such as the renaissance, the romantic period, the Victorian period so on and so forth. For each period there are contemporary writers, poets and playwrights that were prominent figures of the time in terms of their literary work. For example, in the Victorian period Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Bronte sisters, Robert Browning and Thomas Hardy were prominent figures who gained popularity either among the societies at the time or else later in for the significance of their contribution to literature.

Branches of Linguistics

 Prof. Abdelhamid Fouda 

===========================

💠°°Introduction to Linguistics▫

 💠°°Branches of Linguistics▫

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Language is concerned with human life, behaviour, society, and so forth. Hence, we have had a number of sub-fields of linguistics called branches of linguistics. Let us have fundamental ideas of the major branches of linguistics as stated below.

 🚩#Microlinguistics:

Microlinguistics is a sector of linguistics that interests itself with the study of language systems in the abstract, without concern to the meaning or notional quantity of linguistic expressions. Microlinguistics covers the basic elements of a language. This is also referred to as theoretical linguistics. Theoretical linguistics coats the study of the structural aspects of language under the broad level of grammar. Grammar is divided into few patterns. Another name, levels of linguistics.

•Phonetics---Sounds

•Phonology---Phonemes

•Morphology---Word formation 

•Syntax----------Sentence structure

•Semantics----Textual meaning.

•Pragmatics---Contextual meaning

🚩#Macrolinguistics:

Macrolinguistics concerned with the way languages are cultivated, stocked in the brain, and used for various functions; interdependence of language and culture; physiological and psychological mechanisms affected in language behaviour. Actually, macro linguistics is not only a field concerned with language but also disciplines such as psychology, sociology, neurology, computational, and applied are also diverted with language. Below branches of macro linguistics.

•Psycholinguistics--mind.

•Sociolinguistics----society

•Anthropological---Human history

•Computantial------Computer

•Applied linguistics -----Education

•Neurolinguistics--------Brain

•Cognitive---------Cognition

•Discourse--How a sentence is spoken and written.

•Stylistics etc

Subject_Introduction_to_Linguistics

 Prof. Abdelhamid Fouda 

===========================

A. What are the major levels of linguistics? 

Ans:- The major levels of linguistics are Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Pragmatics, Semantics, Graphology and Lexicology. 

B. What is Syntax? 

Ans:- Syntax refers to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure. 

C. What are the branches of Phonetics? 

Ans:- There are three branches of Phonetics. Those are:-- Articulatory Phonetics, Acoustic Phonetics and Auditory Phonetics. 

D. What is zero morph or zero suffix or allomorph? 

Ans:- It indicates plural sense of the same singular form. 

E. What is voicing? 

Ans:- Voicing is the sound and sound uttered through the mouth of living creatures, especially of human beings in speaking, shouting, singing etc. 

F. What is elision? 

Ans:- Elision is the complete disappearance of one or more sounds in a word or phrase. 

G. What is Psycholinguistics? 

Ans:- Psycholinguistics is the study of relationship between language and psychology. 

H. What is phoneme? 

Ans:- Phoneme is the smallest phonological unit. 

I. What is LAD? 

Ans:- Chomsky proposed that all humans have a language acquisition devic (LAD), The LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all. It stands for Language Acquisition Device. 

J. What is IPA? 

Ans:- IPA refers to International Phonetic Alphabet. 

K. How many vowel sounds are there in English Alphabet? 

Ans:- There are 20 vowel sounds in English Alphabet. Of them 12 is pure vowels or monophthongs and 8 is diphthongs. 

L. What is Acronym? 

Ans:- Acronym is a kind of abbreviation. It is a word format by taking letters from a phrase that is too long to use comfortably. The new form is pronounced as a word not just letters. 

A. What is Phonetics? 

Ans:- Phonetics is the study of speech sounds connected with the production, transmission and perception of speech sound. 

B. What is Assimilation? 

Ans:- Assimilation is the phonological process which refers to the change of pronunciation. 

C. What is face-thrrating act? 

Ans:- A face-threating act is one that would make someone possibly lose face or damage it in someway. 

D. What are alveolar consonants? 

Ans:- To articulate the alveolar consonants the blade or tip and blade of the tongue articulates with the upper alveolar ridge. English alveolar consonants are /t, d, n, s, z, l/. 

E. What is dialect? 

Ans:- Dialect is the form of a language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and punctuation. 

F. What is SLA? 

Ans:- SLA means Second Language Acquisition which is a process by which people learn a second language. 

G. What is mean by 'duality'? 

Ans:- Duality means that language is organized on two levels: physical level; at which we can produce individual sounds e.g. n, i, b and meaning level; when we produce sounds in combination e.g. nib, bin. 

H. What is 'register'? 

Ans:- A register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. 

I. What is a 'minimal pair'? 

Ans:- Minimal Pair is a pair of two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound and which also differ in meaning. 

J. Name the passive articulators. 

Ans:- The passive articulators are upper lip, upper jaw, teeth ridge, hard and soft palate and uvula. 

K. What is presupposition? 

Ans:- Presupposition is the assumption the speaker makes about what the hearer is going to accept without challenge. 

L. How manh monophthongs are there in English? 

Ans:- There are 12 monophthongs in English Alphabet. 

A. What is diphthong? 

Ans:- Diphthong is a vowel sound consisting of two monophthong. 

B. What is the smallest phonological unit? 

Ans:- Phoneme is the smallest phonological unit. 

C. What is parole? 

Ans:- Parole means speech. 

D. What is IC? 

Ans:- IC is the abbreviation from of Immediate Constituent. 

E. What is tonic strees? 

Ans:- Tonic strees is extra strong strees on words to show special focus. 

F. What is 'phone'? 

Ans:- Phone means 'sound' or 'voice'. 

G. What is Bound Stem? 

Ans:- A bound stem is a stem which can not occur as a separate word apart from any other morpheme. 

H. What is Syntax? 

Ans:- Syntax refers to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure. 

I. What is scheme? 

Ans:- Scheme is a stored body of knowledge. 

J. What is Isogloss? 

Ans:- Isoglass is a line on a dialect map marking the boundary between linguistic features. 

K. What is tone? 

Ans:- Tone is use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning. 

L. Who is Saussure? 

Ans:- Ferdinand de Saussure is the originator of the 20th century reappearance of structuralism. 

A. What is Idiolect? 

Ans:- Idiolect is the language of an individual as opposed to that of a group. 

B. What is LAD? 

Ans:- Chomsky proposed that all humans have a language acquisition devic (LAD), The LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all. It stands for Language Acquisition Device. 

C. What is Recursion? 

Ans:- Recursion is the re-occurrence of the same element with derived meaning. It is a generative process producing sentences. 

D. What is zero morph or zero suffix or allomorph? 

Ans:- It indicates plural sense of the same singular form. 

E. What is sociolect? 

Ans:- Language may very depending on the speaker's social class. This is sociolect. 

F. What is allophone? 

Ans:- Allophone is the positional variant of the same phoneme. 

G. What is stress? 

Ans:- Stress is the degree emphasis on a sound or syllable in speech. 

H. What is bilabial sound? 

Ans:- To produce the bilabial sounds the two lips are combined together. English bilabial sounds are /p, b, m, w/. 

I. What is SLA? 

Ans:- SLA means Second Language Acquisition which is a process by which people learn a second language. 

J. What is a 'minimal pair'? 

Ans:- Minimal Pair is a pair of two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound and which also differ in meaning. 

K. What is Phonetics? 

Ans:- Phonetics is the study of speech sounds connected with the production, transmission and perception of speech sound. 

L. What is competence? 

Ans:- Competence is the actual knowledge of the language. 

★★★Year:-- #2016 

A. What are the major levels of linguistics? 

Ans:- The major levels of linguistics are Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Pragmatics, Semantics, Graphology and Lexicology. 

B. What is parole? 

Ans:- Parole means speech. 

C. What is voicing? 

Ans:- Voicing is the sound and sound uttered through the mouth of living creatures, especially of human beings in speaking, shouting, singing etc. 

D. What is Assimilation? 

Ans:- Assimilation is the phonological process which refers to the change of pronunciation. 

E. What is IC? 

Ans:- IC is the abbreviation from of Immediate Constituent. 

F. What is schema? 

Ans:- Schema is a stored body of knowledge. 

G. What is Psycholinguistics? 

Ans:- Psycholinguistics is the study of relationship between language and psychology. 

H. Name the passive articulators. 

Ans:- The passive articulators are upper lip, upper jaw, teeth ridge, hard and soft palate and uvula. 

I. What is diphthong? 

Ans:- Diphthong is a vowel sound consisting of two monophthong. 

J. What is Syntax? 

Ans:- Syntax refers to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure.  

K. What is IPA? 

Ans:- IPA refers to International Phonetic Alphabet. 

L. What is Acronym? 

Ans:- Acronym is a kind of abbreviation. It is a word format by taking letters from a phrase that is too long to use comfortably. The new form is pronounced as a word not just letters. 

A. What is Linguistics? 

Ans:- Linguistics is the scientific study of language. 

B. Who is Saussure? 

Ans:- Ferdinand de Saussure is the originator of the 20th century reappearance of structuralism. 

C. What is langue? 

Ans:- 'Langue' is a France word that means language. 

D. What is monophthong? 

Ans:- A monophthong is a pure vowel articulated without any obstacle in vocal tract. 

E. What is pitch? 

Ans:- Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of a tone. 

F. What is Bound Morpheme? 

Ans:- A bound morpheme can not stand alone as an independent word, but must be attached to another morpheme/word. 

G. What is LAD? 

Ans:- Chomsky proposed that all humans have a language acquisition devic (LAD), The LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all. It stands for Language Acquisition Device. 

H. What is Sociolinguistics? 

Ans:- Sociolinguistics is the study of the use of language in society. 

I. What is IPA? 

Ans:- IPA refers to International Phonetic Alphabet. 

J. What is 'register'? 

Ans:- A register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. 

K. What is Accommodation Theory of SLA? 

Ans:- The theory which attempt to explain how relations impact SLA is Accommodation Theory. Accommodation Theory explains perceive distance berween groups. 

L. What is intonation? 

Ans:- Intonation is a pattern of changing pitch, intensity and speed during an utterance to convey linguistic information.  

A. What is IPA? 

Ans:- IPA refers to International Phonetic Alphabet. 

B. What is diphthong? 

Ans:- Diphthong is a vowel sound consisting of two monophthong. 

C. What is schema? 

Ans:- Schema is a stored body of knowledge.  

D. What is IC? 

Ans:- IC is the abbreviation from of Immediate Constituent. 

E. What is parole? 

Ans:- Parole means speech. 

F. What is Idiolect? 

Ans:- Idiolect is the language of an individual as opposed to that of a group. 

G. What is a 'minimal pair'? 

Ans:- Minimal Pair is a pair of two words in a language which differ from each other by only one distinctive sound and which also differ in meaning. 

H. Who is Noam Chomsky? 

Ans:- Noam Chomsky is the proponent of Mentalist Theory. 

I. What is Phonetics? 

Ans:- Phonetics is the study of speech sounds connected with the production, transmission and perception of speech sound. 

J. What is Psycholinguistics? 

Ans:- Psycholinguistics is the study of relationship between language and psychology. 

K. What is a dialect? 

Ans:- A dialect is the form of a language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and punctuation. 

L. What is syntax? 

Ans:- Syntax refers to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure. 

A. What is stress? 

Ans:- What is stress? 

Ans:- Stress is the degree emphasis on a sound or syllable in speech. 

B. What is phonology? 

Ans:- Phonology means the study of the sound system of one or more languages. Phonology is the organisation of sound into patterns and involves the classification of sounds and a description of the interrelationship of the elements on a systematic level. 

C. Define pidgin. 

Ans:- Pidgin is a combination of more than two languages which arise from the need to communicate between communities. 

D. What is LAD? 

Ans:- Chomsky proposed that all humans have a language acquisition devic (LAD), The LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all. It stands for Language Acquisition Device. 

E. What does 'morpheme' mean? 

Ans:- In linguistics, morpheme is the smallest component of word, or other linguistic unit, that has semantic meaning. 

F. What is semantics? 

Ans:- Semantics is the level of linguistics that focuses on the study of meaning. It studies meaning of words, phrases, clauses, sentences and the likeliness of language. 

G. What is coherence? 

Ans:- Coherence is an invisible tie presents in sentences or paragraphs to create a meaningful whole. 

H. What is SLA? 

Ans:- SLA stands for Second Language Acquisition which is a process by which people learn a second language. 

I. What is bilingualism? 

Ans:- Complete mastery of two languages is designed as bilingualism. 

J. What is elision? 

Ans:- Ellison refers to the disappearance of a sound. In other words elision is the omission of a sound between two words. 

K. What is sociolect? 

Ans:- Language may very depending on the speaker's social class. This is sociolect. 

L. What is pragmatics? 

Ans:- Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics concerned with the use of language in social contexts and the ways in which people produce and comprehend meanings through languages.

Mulk_Raj_Anand

  Prof. Abdelhamid Fouda 

===========================

#Untouchable

#Mulk_Raj_Anand

Untouchable is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand published in 1935. The novel established Anand as one of India's leading English authors. The book was inspired by his aunt's experience when she had a meal with a Muslim woman and was treated as an outcast by her family.  The novel’s protagonist is "Bhaka", who is an untouchable, outcast boy. The novel is historical in the sense that it touches upon the caste system, which gave rise to the practice of “Untouchability” that was much prevalent in the Indian society.

#Characters

#Bakha - son of Lakha

#Lakha - Jemadar of the sweepers,

                  Bakha’s father

#Rakha - Bakha’s younger brother

#Sohini -  Bakha’s younger sister

 #Chota - son of a leather-worker, one of             bakha's best friends                                                          

#Ram_Charan -  washer’s son and Bakha’s     other best friend

#Gulabo -A washer woman, Ram Charan’s mother.

#Havildar_Charat_Singh - One of Bakha’s        heroes, a famous hockey player

#Ali - muslim boy

#Ramanand - moneylender

#Waziro - weaver’s wife 

#Pundit_Kali_Nath - priest

#Lachman - A Hindu water-carrier

#Colonel_Hutchinson - The chief of the     local Salvation Army

#Mary_Hutchinson - Colonel’s irreligious wife

#Hakim_Bhagawan_Das - A local doctor

#Miraben_Slade  - daughter of a British admiral

#Iqbal_Nath_Sarshar - A young poet

#R_N_Bashir -An Indian lawyer

#summery

Set in the fictional Indian town of Bulashah, Untouchable is a day in the life of a young Indian sweeper named Bakha. The son of Lakha, head of all of Bulashah's sweepers, Bakha is intelligent but naïve, humble yet vain. Over the course of Bakha's day various major and minor tragedies occur, causing him to mature and turn his gaze inward. By the end of the novel Mulk Raj Anand, the author, has made a compelling case for the end of untouchability on the grounds that it is an inhumane, unjust system of oppression. He uses Bakha and the people populating the young man's world to craft his argument.

Bakha's day starts with his father yelling at him to get out of bed and clean the latrines. The relationship between the father and son is strained, in part due to Bakha's obsession with the British, in part because of Lakha's laziness. Bakha ignores his father but eventually gets up to answer the demands of a high-caste man that wants to use the bathroom. This man is Charat Singh, a famous hockey player. At first, Singh also yells at Bakha for neglecting his cleaning duties. The man has a changeable personality, however. It isn’t long before he instructs Bakha to come see him later in the day so he can gift the young sweeper with a prized hockey stick. An overjoyed Bakha agrees.

High on his good fortune he quickly finishes his morning shift and hurries home, dying of thirst. Unfortunately, there is no water in the house. His sister Sohini offers to go fill the water bucket. At the well, Sohini must wait behind several other outcasts also queued up. Also waiting for water is Gulabo, mother of one of Bakha's friends and a jealous woman. She hates Sohini and is just barely stopped from striking the young woman. A priest from the town temple named Pundit Kali Nath comes along and helps Sohini get water. He instructs her to come clean the temple later in the day. Sohini agrees and hurries home with the water.

Back at home Lakha fakes an illness and instructs Bakha to clean the town square and the temple courtyard in his stead. Bakha is wise to the wily ways of his father but cannot protest. He takes up his cleaning supplies and goes into town. His sweeping duties usually keep him too busy to go into town, and so he takes advantage of the situation by buying cigarettes and candies.

As Bakha eats his candies, a high-caste man brushes up against him. The touched man did not see Bakha because the sweeper forgot to give the untouchable's call. The man is furious. His yelling attracts a large crowd that joins in on Bakha's public shaming. A travelling Muslim vendor in a horse and buggy comes along and disperses the crowd. Before the touched man leaves he slaps Bakha across the face for his impudence and scurries away. A shocked Bakha cries in the streets before gathering his things and hurrying off to the temple. This time, he does not forget the untouchable's call.

At the temple, a service is in full swing. It intrigues Bakha, who eventually musters up the courage to climb up the stairs to the temple door and peer inside. He's only standing there for a few moments before a loud commotion comes from behind him. It's Sohini and Pundit Kali Nath, who is accusing Sohini of polluting him. As a crowd gathers around, Bakha pulls his sister away. Crying, she tells him that the priest sexually assaulted her. A furious Bakha tries to go back to confront the priest, but an embarrassed and ashamed Sohini forces him to leave. Bakha sends his sister home, saying he will take over her duties in town for the rest of the day.

Distraught over the day's events, Bakha wanders listlessly before going to a set of homes to beg for his family's daily bread. No one is home, so he curls up in front of a house and falls asleep. A sadhu also begging for food comes and wakes him. The owner of the house Bakha slept in front of comes out with food for the sadhu. Seeing Bakha, she screams at him and at first refuses to give him food. She finally agrees to give him some bread in exchange for him sweeping the area in front of her house. As Bakha sweeps, the woman tells her young son to relieve himself in the gutter where Bakha is cleaning so he can sweep that up too. A disgusted Bakha throws down the broom and leaves for his house in the outcasts' colony.

Back at home, it's only Lakha and Sohini. Rakha, Bakha's younger brother, is still out collecting food. Bakha tells his father that a high-caste man slapped him in the streets. Sensing his son's anger, Lakha tells him a story about the kindness of a high-caste doctor that once saved Bakha's life. Bakha is deeply moved by the story but remains upset. Soon after story time, Rakha comes back with food. A ravenous Bakha starts to eat but then is disgusted by the idea of eating the leavings of the high-caste people. He jumps up and says he's going to the wedding of his friend Ram Charan's sister.

At Ram Charan's house, Bakha sees his other friend, Chota. The two boys wait for Ram Charan to see them through the thicket of wedding revellers. Ram Charan eventually sees his friends and runs off with them despite his mother's protestations. Alone, Chota and Ram Charan sense something is wrong with their friend. They coax Bakha to tell them what's wrong. Bakha breaks down and tells them about the slap and Sohini's assault. Ram Charan is quiet and embarrassed by Bakha's tale, but Chota is indignant. He asks Bakha if he wants to get revenge. Bakha does but realizes revenge would be a dangerous and futile endeavour. A melancholic atmosphere falls over the group. Chota attempts to cheer Bakha up by reminding him of the hockey game they will play later in the day. This reminds Bakha that he must go and get his gift from Charat Singh.

Bakha goes to Charat Singh's house in the barracks, but cannot tell if the man is home. Reluctant to disturb him or the other inhabitants, Bakha settles under a tree to wait. Before long, Singh comes outside. He invites Bakha to drink tea with him and allows the untouchable to handle his personal items. Singh's disregard for Bakha's supposed polluting presence thrills Bakha's heart. Thus he is overjoyed when Singh gives him a brand-new hockey stick.

Ecstatic about this upswing to his terrible day, Bakha goes into the hockey game on fire. He scores the first goal. The goalie of the opposite team is angry over Bakha's success and hits him. This starts an all-out brawl between the two teams that ends when a player's younger brother gets hurt. Bakha picks up the young boy and rushes him home, only to have the boy's mother accuse him of killing her son. Good mood completely destroyed, Bakha trudges home, where his father screams at him for being gone all afternoon. He banishes Bakha from home, saying his son must never return.

Bakha runs away and takes shelter under a tree far from home. The chief of the local Salvation Army, a British man named Colonel Hutchinson, comes up to him. He sees Bakha's distress and convinces the sweeper to follow him to the church. Flattered by the white man's attention, Bakha agrees, but the Colonel's constant hymn singing quickly bores him. Before the two can enter the church the Colonel's wife comes to find him. Disgusted at the sight of her husband with another “Blackie,” she begins to scream and shout. Bakha feels her anger acutely and runs off again.

This time Bakha runs towards town and ends up at the train station. He overhears some people discussing the appearance of Mahatma Gandhi in Bulashah. He joins the tide of people rushing to hear the Mahatma speak. Just as Bakha settles in to listen, Gandhi arrives and begins his speech. He talks about the plight of the untouchable and how it is his life's mission to see them emancipated. He ends his speech by beseeching those present to spread his message of ending untouchability. After the Mahatma departs a pair of educated Indian men have a lively discussion about the content of the speech. One man, a lawyer named Bashir, soundly critiques most of Gandhi's opinions and ideas. The other, a poet named Sarshar, defends the Mahatma passionately and convincingly. Much of what they say goes above Bakha's head, so elevated are their vocabulary and ideas. However, he does understand when Sarshar mentions the imminent arrival of the flushing toilet in India, a machine that eradicates the need for humans to handle refuse. This machine could mean the end of untouchability. With this piece of hope Bakha hurries home to share news of the Mahatma's speech with his father.

Visual Symbols and the Blind

 Prof Abdelhamid Fouda 

==========================≈=======

You should spend no more than 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Visual Symbols and the Blind

Part 1

From a number of recent studies, it has become clear that blind people can appreciate the use of outlines and perspectives to describe the arrangement of objects and other surfaces in space. IELTS reading sample 2But pictures are more than literal representations. This fact was drawn to my attention dramatically when a blind woman in one of my investigations decided on her own initiative to draw a wheel as it was spinning. To show this motion, she traced a curve inside the circle (Fig. 1). I was taken aback, lines of motion, such as the one she used, are a very recent invention in the history of illustration. Indeed, as art scholar David Kunzle notes, Wilhelm Busch, a trend-setting nineteenth-century cartoonist, used virtually no motion lines in his popular figure until about 1877.

When I asked several other blind study subjects to draw a spinning wheel, one particularly clever rendition appeared repeatedly: several subjects showed the wheel's spokes as curves lines. When asked about these curves, they all described them as metaphorical ways of suggesting motion. Majority rule would argue that this device somehow indicated motion very well. But was it a better indicator than, say, broken or wavy lines or any other kind of line, for that matter? The answer was not clear. So I decided to test whether various lines of motion were apt ways of showing movement or if they were merely idiosyncratic marks. Moreover, I wanted to discover whether there were differences in how the blind and the sighted interpreted lines of motion.

 

To search out these answers, I created raised-line drawings of five different wheels, depicting spokes with lines that curved, bent, waved, dashed and extended beyond the perimeters of the wheel. I then asked eighteen blind volunteers to feel the wheels and assign one of the following motions to each wheel: wobbling, spinning fast, spinning steadily, jerking or braking. My control group consisted of eighteen sighted undergraduates from the University of Toronto.

All but one of the blind subjects assigned distinctive motions to each wheel. Most guessed that the curved spokes indicated that the wheel was spinning steadily; the wavy spokes, they thought; suggested that the wheel was wobbling, and the bent spokes were taken as a sign that the wheel was jerking. Subjects assumed that spokes extending beyond the wheel's perimeter signified that the wheel had its brakes on and that dashed spokes indicated the wheel was spinning quickly.  

 

In addition, the favoured description for the sighted was favoured description for the blind in every instance. What is more, the consensus among the sighted was barely higher than that among the blind. Because motion devices are unfamiliar to the blind, the task I gave them involved some problem solving. Evidently, however, the blind not only figured out the meaning for each of the motion, but as a group they generally came up with the same meaning at least as frequently as did sighted subjects.

Part 2   

We have found that the blind understand other kinds of visual metaphors as well. One blind woman drew a picture of a child inside a heart-choosing that symbol, she said, to show that love surrounded the child. With Chang Hong Liu, a doctoral student from china, I have begun exploring how well blind people understand the symbolism behind shapes such as hearts that do not directly represent their meaning.

We gave a list of twenty pairs of words to sighted subjects and asked them to pick from each pair the term that best related to a circle and the term that best related to assure. For example, we asked: what goes with soft? A circle or a square? Which shape goes with hard?

 

 Words associated                  Agreement among

with circle/square                  subjects(%)

 

SOFT-HARD                                         100

MOTHER-FATHER                                94

HAPPY-SAD                                          94

GOOD-EVIL                                           89

LOVE-HATE                                           89

ALIVE-DEAD                                          87

BRIGHT-DARK                                       87

LIGHT-HEAVY                                        85

WARM-COLD                                        81

SUMMER-WINTER                               81

WEAK-STRONG                                   79

FAST-SLOW                                          79

CAT-DOG                                               74

SPRING-FALL                                       74

QUIET-LOUD                                         62

WALKING-STANDING                          62

ODD-EVEN                                            57

FAR-NEAR                                             53

PLANT-ANIMAL                                   53

DEEP-SHALLOW                                 51

Fig. 2- Subjects were asked which word in each pair fits with a circle and which with a square. These percentages show the level of consensus among sighted subjects.

All our subjects deemed the circle soft and the square hard. A full 94% ascribed happy to the circle, instead of sad. But other pairs revealed less agreement: 79% matched fast to slow and weak to strong, respectively. And only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square. (see Fig. 2) When we tested four totally blind volunteers using the same list, we found that their choices closely resembled those made by the sighted subjects. One man, who had been blind since birth, scored extremely well. He made only one match differing from the consensus, assigning 'far' to square and 'near' to circle. In fact, only a small majority of sighted subjects, 53%, had paired far and near to the opposite partners. Thus we concluded that the blind interprets abstract shapes as sighted people do.       

 

Questions :

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 27 –29 on your answer sheet.

27 In the first paragraph, the writer makes the point that blind people

              A.  may be interested in studying art.

              B.  can draw outlines of different objects and surfaces.

              C.  can recognise conventions such as perspective.

              D. can draw accurately.

28 The writer was surprised because the blind woman

             A.  drew a circle on her own initiative.

             B.  did not understand what a wheel looked like.

             C.  included a symbol representing movement.

             D.  was the first person to use lines of motion.

29 From the experiment described in Part 1, the writer found that the blind subjects

            A.  had good understanding of symbols representing movement.

            B.  could control the movement of wheels very accurately.

            C.  worked together well as a group in solving problems.

            D.  got better results than the sighted undergraduates.

Questions 30 –32

Look at the following diagrams (Questions 30 –32), and the list of types of movement below. Match each diagram to the type of movement A–E generally assigned to it in the experiment. Choose the correct letter A–E and write them in boxes 30–32 on your answer sheet.

Academic Reading Sample 2 Wheel Spinning

     A    steady spinning

     B    jerky movement

     C    rapid spinning

     D    wobbling movement

     E    use of brakes

 

Questions 33 –39

Complete the summary below using words from the box. Write your answers in boxes 33 –39 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any word more than once.

 In the experiment described in Part 2, a set of word 33.......…… was used to investigate whether blind and sighted people perceived the symbolism in abstract 34.....…...… in the same way. Subjects were asked which word fitted best with a circle and which with a square. From the 35...…...… volunteers, everyone thought a circle fitted ‘soft ’while a square fitted ‘hard’. However, only 51% of the 36.......…… volunteers assigned a circle to 37.....…… . When the test was later repeated with 38...…...… volunteers, it was found that they made 39...…...… choices.

associations         blind         deep         hard         hundred        identical        pairs

shapes                  sighted    similar        shallow        soft            words

Question 40

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. Write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following statements best summarises the writer ’s general conclusion?

        A  The blind represent some aspects of reality differently from sighted people.

        B  The blind comprehend visual metaphors in similar ways to sighted people.

        C  The blind may create unusual and effective symbols to represent reality.

        D  The blind may be successful artists if given the right training.

Main Concepts of “Tradition and Individual Talent”

 Prof. Abdelhamid Fouda 

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Introduction:

As a critic T. S. Eliot was very practical. He called himself “a classicist in literature”. According to Eliot, a critic must obey the objective standards to analyze any work. He thought criticism as a science. Eliot’s criticism became revolutionary at that time. 2oth century got ‘metaphysical revival’ because of Eliot. He first recognized or accepted the uniqueness of ‘metaphysical poets’ of 17th century. Eliot came with new ideas in criticism’s world in19th century. Eliot believed that when the old and new will become readjusted, it will be the end of criticism. He says:

“From time to time it is desirable, that some critic shall appear to review the past of our literature and set the poets and the poems in a new order.”

Eliot demands, from any critic, ability for judgment and powerful liberty of mind to identify and to interpret. Eliot planned numerous critical concepts that gained wide currency and had a broad influence on criticism. ‘Objective co-relative’, ‘Dissociation of sensibility’, ‘Unification of sensibility’, ‘Theory of Depersonalization’ are few of Eliot’s theories, which becomes ‘cliché’ now. He emphasizes on ‘a highly developed sense of fact’. He gave new direction and new tools of criticism. George Watson writes about Eliot: 

“Eliot made English criticism look different, but not in a simple sense. He offered it a new range of rhetorical possibilities, confirmed it in its increasing contempt for historical process, and yet reshaped its notion of period by a handful of brilliant institutions.” 

·       Main Concepts of the Essay:

      The essay “Tradition and Individual Talent” was first published in “The Egoist”. “The Egoist” was a literary magazine, which is considered today as “England’s Most Important Modernist Periodical”. This essay was later published in “The Sacred Wood”, which is Eliot’s first book of criticism.

     

 This essay is divided into three parts:

1.     The concept of tradition

2.     The theory of impersonal poetry

3.     The conclusion with a gist that “the poet’s sense of tradition and the impersonality of poetry are complimentary things.”

Now I am explaining the main concepts of the essay.

1.     The Concept of Tradition:

In first pat Eliot speaks about tradition, He says: “Seldom, perhaps, does the word (tradition) appear except in a phrase of censure”. It means in English writings they don’t see the word ‘tradition’ in positive way.

He says about Englishmen’s attitude towards French Literature. Englishmen have a habit to feel proud on themselves. That is the proud for their creativity and more for their ‘less’ criticality. In French there is a mass of critical writing. Eliot compares English with French that they (French) have habit of critical method and English have habit of ‘conclusion’. He says:

“…we only conclude (we are such unconscious people) that the French are more critical than we; and sometimes even plume ourselves a little with the fact, as if the French were less spontaneous”. 

 

          Eliot seems quite in favor of such ‘criticality’. He thinks “criticism is as inevitable as breathing”. Then he talks about tradition. The Englishmen, while analyzing the poet, admire those aspects which are different from the poet’s predecessors. Means, they want to get ‘newness’ and ‘uniqueness’ from every poet to praise them. They always find isolation of the poet from his (mainly) immediate predecessors. Then Eliot says, if we put aside such prejudice; we can come to know that the poet’s individuality, which we are finding, is very much connected with his ancestors. According to Eliot the most individual part of any work is the part in which the dead poets are mirrored vigorously. And such resemblance is mostly seen in the period of maturity of the poet, not in the period of his adolescence. So, by this he asserts that tradition and individuality go together.

          Then Eliot talks about tradition and ‘historical sense’. He says that if the form of tradition remained only in blind adherence of dead people or ancestors, then it would be lost or such tradition should be destroyed. But, he says that tradition is not in following pre generation only. This word carries much wider meaning. According to Eliot, in every traditions also there is a bit of novelty. He says:

“Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labor. It involves in the first place, the historical sense.”

            This historical sense is inevitable for any poet. And with this historical sense they should have perception about its presence as well as about its ‘pastness of past’. This historical sense forces a man to write not only with his own generation, but with the whole age of the English literature. Historical sense makes a poet to feel that the whole of the literature from Homer and the whole of the literature of his own generation has a simultaneous existence. It harmonizes two different things ‘timelessness’ and ‘temporality’ in poet’s work. This makes a poet traditional. Eliot says:

“No poet, no artist of any art has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation o the dead poets and artists. You can’t value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison among the dead.”

          By this statement Eliot wants to prove that nothing can be individual in totality. Every poet or artist, consciously or unconsciously, keeps some bits of past. Eliot says about ‘conformity between the old and the new’. When a new work is created then the whole time is created with it. It makes vast changes in the universe of literature. Anything happens with that new work that is simultaneously happening with its preceded works. Means when a new work of art comes it is automatically connected with its past. So, Eliot says that nothing and nobody can be valued alone. There is some ideal order between the existing monuments. The whole order of existing monument is readjusted with the addition of new work. So, by this Eliot breaks that belief that ‘past is unchangeable’. He says that past and present has a strong connection with each other. That is the conformity between the old and the new. Eliot says:

“…the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past. And the poet who is aware of this will be aware of great difficulties and responsibilities”. 

  

          When a poet is being judged, in that process two things (past and present) are being measured by each other. Eliot says about “a more intelligible exposition of the relation of the poet to the past”. A poet cannot use the past as a shapeless mass, or he cannot fit himself in one or two private admirations, and also he cannot fit himself in one preferred period. The port must know that ‘art never improves, but the substance of the art is changing’. Eliot puts one anonymous quote here:

“The dead writers are remote from us because we know so much more than they did.”

He talks about necessary of knowledge for poets. He rejects that belief that a poet requires a huge amount of learning. He believes that “much learning deadens or perverts poetic sensibility.” He is not in favor of confining the knowledge for examination, library or publicity. Knowledge is a matter of absorption. What he wants to be insisted is that a poet first must develop the awareness of the past. With this discussion Eliot softly comes on the point of ‘depersonalization’. At the end of the first part he starts making structure for second part. So, at the end he says:

“The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.”

2.    The Theory of Impersonal Poetry:

In this second part Eliot tries to define the process of ‘depersonalization’ and its relation with the sense of tradition. The main aspect of this theory is the relation of poetry with the poet. Eliot says:

“Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.”

Eliot says that in most of the criticisms, we find the name & the creativity of poet, but when we seek for enjoyment of poetry we seldom get it. In this part Eliot says that the difference between mature and immature poets can be found out by liberty of special and very varied feelings that can enter into new combinations.

Eliot gives illustration from science-chemistry. In the process of being sulfurous acid; there are two gases needed: oxygen and sulfur dioxide. And also they must have the presence of filament ‘platinum’. He compares this platinum with the poet. In this whole process filament of platinum plays vital and inevitable role. But yet that role is indirect. In the process platinum remains quite unaffected by any gases. It remains inert, neutral and unchanged. Similarly the result (sulfurous acid) that comes out from the process has no any trace of platinum. Eliot insists that the mind of the poet should be like that shred of platinum. It should give its total contribution in creating poetry, then also it should remain unaffected and separate when poetry has come out.

According to Eliot the poet’s mind is like a tare or utensil in which numerous feelings, phrases & images can be stored or seized. When a poet wants them he utilizes them and unites them. It doesn’t mean that the poem created by the poet shows his personality or nature.

Eliot explains very basic thing of his point that, what is expressed by the poet is merely a medium, not a personality. He says:

“…the poet has not a ‘personality’ to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality…”

In this medium, the impressions and experiences come together in unusual and unexpected ways. And other thing is some impressions and experiences seem valuable for a person, yet they may not be important for poetry. Same way some trivial experiences & impressions can become so important for poetry. Then Eliot says about context that without context nothing can be understood. He says:

“This balance of constructed emotion is in the dramatic situation to which the speech is pertinent, but that situation alone is inadequate to it.”

          He gives example from “The Revenger’s Tragedy” (by Thomas Middleton). He puts some line from that without context to explain this point. Then he says that emotion in poetry remains very complex thing, and poet’s own personal emotion may be simple or flat. So every time poet’s own emotion cannot be taken place in poem. And if the poet is always looking for new emotion in poem, then it will be perverse. A poet has not to find new emotions but he has to use ordinary emotions. He has to deal with every known/unknown emotion. Eliot here twists ‘emotion recollected in tranquility’. He says it ‘an inexact formula’. To write poetry is a great deal. When a poet becomes personal while writing poetry, he will be considered as a ‘bad poet’. Because he becomes unconscious, where he should be conscious and he becomes conscious where he must be unconscious. When a poet escapes from his personality, then & then the great poem comes out. A poet must not show his emotion in poetry. Eliot says:

“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.”

3.   The Conclusion:

At the end, in this third part Eliot says that this essay stops at the starting of mysticism. And it can be applied by the responsible person, who really interested in poetry. It is very hard thing to take interest in poetry and to keep a poet aside. We usually read poem with the name and fame of the poet. We cannot separate them from each other. Eliot says:

“There are many people who appreciate the expression of sincere emotion in verse, and there is smaller number of people who can appreciate technical excellence. But very few know when there is expression of significant emotion, emotion which has its life in the poem and not in the history of the poet.”

          By this statement, he says that to admire a poem with the poet’s skill and his name is easiest thing. The harder is to know technical skill or art of the POEM. But the hardest thing is to find the significant emotions from the poem, which separates the poet from the poem. The reader must know that after giving birth of the work of art, the connection between that art and artist is ended. And a poet must know that to reach at the level of impersonality, he first has to scarifies himself  and has to surrender himself totally to that work.

Dyslexia

 Prof Abdelhamid Fouda 

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Dyslexia and language teaching MOOC

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