English Notes Latest Questions

  1. Poetry is an art form at protests. Protests can be of any kind. Whenever any injustice happens, people speak out against it. Here, Kamala Das is reflecting upon her life as a woman. She is introducing her life with a series of injustices done to her which is also to every woman. This poem protests aRead more

    Poetry is an art form at protests. Protests can be of any kind. Whenever any injustice happens, people speak out against it. Here, Kamala Das is reflecting upon her life as a woman. She is introducing her life with a series of injustices done to her which is also to every woman.

    This poem protests against the lack of political space for women, the choice of language of which every Indian is criticised. The poem protests against the oppression of men against women. The poem severely protests against the burden of identities given to a woman by a society which is not true to her.

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  1. It is the assertion of one’s identity. The poem depicts the identity which the society gives to a person specially a woman. Here, Kamala Das discards everything which is given to her. She expresses the contradictions of a human life. Experiencing everything which the life has to offer, the speaker hRead more

    It is the assertion of one’s identity. The poem depicts the identity which the society gives to a person specially a woman. Here, Kamala Das discards everything which is given to her. She expresses the contradictions of a human life.

    Experiencing everything which the life has to offer, the speaker here finally declares that she doesn’t care what others perceive of her or want of her. She knows her contradictions as a sign of human. She identifies herself with everyone and yet says that she is who she is. She calls herself what she is.

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  1. Symbolism is the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning. Crows and Lions – It symbolises the different aspects of using a language. One may simply use it to chat or to roar for causes. Hungry haste of rivers- It symbolises the desire of a woman. Ocean’s tireless waiting – It symbolises tRead more

    Symbolism is the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning.

    1. Crows and Lions – It symbolises the different aspects of using a language. One may simply use it to chat or to roar for causes.
    2. Hungry haste of rivers– It symbolises the desire of a woman.
    3. Ocean’s tireless waiting – It symbolises the endlessness of a woman’s longing for love.

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  1. The major themes in the poetry of Kamala Das comes from her life which she lived as boldly as possible. She is a confessional poet which means her themes come from her private history. Love of a woman – Most of her poems show her disappointment which is common to all women regarding love. Her poetryRead more

    The major themes in the poetry of Kamala Das comes from her life which she lived as boldly as possible. She is a confessional poet which means her themes come from her private history.

    1. Love of a woman – Most of her poems show her disappointment which is common to all women regarding love. Her poetry expresses her longing as a woman which remains unfulfilled.
    2. Marriage – The poetry of Kamala Das deals with the subtle nuances and the major aspects of marriage. In a patriarchal society, women are the ones who suffer more in a marriage if it is one without love and respect. Her poems show the ranges of feelings one goes through in marriage.
    3. Womanliness – It is a major theme of Kamala Das as she celebrates her womanliness through poetry vividly. She depicts a crucial self-knowledge of a woman in all shades. Spirituality – Her poetry also deals with the spiritual concerns of an individual. Towards the end of her life, she converted to Islam which shows her constant search in spiritual domain. In her poems, Radha and Krishna also feature many times to symbolise her own aspirations.
    4. Social Issues – As a poet from Kerala, she was intensely aware of the social issues and the political mobilisation which resulted from them. She is quite sentimental about it. Many of her poems show her observations of poor and downtrodden and the ones who come from margin.

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  1. It is autobiographical. It is based on Kamala Das’s own life. The title itself says that she is introducing herself. Read summary of this poem

    It is autobiographical. It is based on Kamala Das’s own life. The title itself says that she is introducing herself.

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  1. The theme of the poem is one’s search for identity. First the thematic concerns begin from the speaker searching for political space and defining postcolonial crisis in India regarding language. Then the poem’s theme proceeds into the despair one faces as a woman since childhood, the role which sheRead more

    The theme of the poem is one’s search for identity. First the thematic concerns begin from the speaker searching for political space and defining postcolonial crisis in India regarding language.

    Then the poem’s theme proceeds into the despair one faces as a woman since childhood, the role which she is dictated by the society to play. The longing and loss of love is also a theme in the poem. It ends with the assertion of individual identity.

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  1. Following are the main themes: Death – The main fear which stirs this poem is that of death and seeing the same in the poet’s mother. Parents- The love and attachment which we have with our parents is also the major thematic concern of the poem. Life- In between the thoughts of death, the poet is atRead more

    Following are the main themes:

    1. Death – The main fear which stirs this poem is that of death and seeing the same in the poet’s mother.
    2. Parents– The love and attachment which we have with our parents is also the major thematic concern of the poem.
    3. Life– In between the thoughts of death, the poet is attending the beauty of life too. The poem shows us the interweaving of these two aspects.

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  1. The poet’s fear is the closing in of death towards her mother. Since childhood, she has imagined the thought of losing her and finally she is seeing it in reality. Read summary of this poem

    The poet’s fear is the closing in of death towards her mother. Since childhood, she has imagined the thought of losing her and finally she is seeing it in reality.

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    The poet describes her ageing mother as someone who has no control over her body anymore. In the care, she is described as someone lying open mouthed with an ashen face. She again describes her at the airport as someone who is pale like a winter moon and getting sicker slowly. Read summary of this pRead more

    The poet describes her ageing mother as someone who has no control over her body anymore. In the care, she is described as someone lying open mouthed with an ashen face. She again describes her at the airport as someone who is pale like a winter moon and getting sicker slowly.
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  1. The irony of human relationship is that we form it even with the knowledge that it will end anyway, either by itself or the inevitable death. The poet is deeply melancholic about her mother but she tried to divert her attention towards the beauty of the world but to no avail. The irony is that we coRead more

    The irony of human relationship is that we form it even with the knowledge that it will end anyway, either by itself or the inevitable death. The poet is deeply melancholic about her mother but she tried to divert her attention towards the beauty of the world but to no avail. The irony is that we come closer only to depart and we act like we do not know about it.

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