Unit-1 (Detailed Text Book) a Drawer Full of Happiness

Unit-1 (Detailed Text book) A Drawer full of Happiness

A couple of weeks ago, when my sister was home with our darling niece, she got an inane urge to break open this one drawer from our old dressing table. One that had remained locked for close to 25 years. Yes, that old. Soon her enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I joined in to see what treasure might unfold on opening a drawer-cum-chest that held within itself such a long passage of time.

A little badgering by loving daughters pushed our father to unfasten the lock with a hammer. Our happiness knew no bounds as our eyes almost immediately exhibited the feeling. Wooden hair pins, metal bindi stamps with tiny containers of colored bindi powder, small wooden kumkum cases, an array of cosmetics including eye-shadow kit, blush, mascara and liquid foundation, and a collection of lipsticks from the most loved decade were before us.

I marvelled at the uniqueness of the products and the ways in which women used everyday products differently back in the 1990s. Mascara was a kit in itself that came packaged with a mini- toothbrush for application. The brush was required to be stroked on the soft black cake after moistening it. That these products were still in usable condition was bewildering. Liquid foundation maintained its consistency as much as the gorgeous berry and burgundy lipsticks retained their creaminess.

While the marketing student within me was amused at actually having the privilege to see prototypes dating back to 1995 of leading cosmetics brands that flourish as successfully even today, the child inside brimmed with stupefaction as I touched those bottles, tubes and boxes.

As little girls all of us wanted to sneakily use our mother’s make-up to feel older and glamourous. The joy of locating something we only saw on actors on TV for the purpose of only holding it, was huge. How deliberately inaccessible were cosmetics made by moms back then as opposed to the times now when I see little girls with their lips smeared in lip-gloss or eyes lined in kohl.

Amidst the flood of memories that came rushing by, I felt how “rummaging” for things in the hope of not being discovered has always been a special part of childhood. It was more befitting in the context of the 1990s where things unintentionally happened in a balanced way. Despite loving my childhood, I

1 always thought, isn’t nostalgia and unbridled love for childhood days akin to a knee-jerk reaction? So why are the 1990s perennially present in our hearts and minds and in the spotlight? In tandem, I also wondered, perhaps considering the age-structure of our economy having the potential to give the elevated ‘demographic dividend’, a sizeable population has its childhood tucked away in late 1980s or the charming 1990s. Hence, the big deal about this last decade of 20th century.

Enchanting experience

However, the realisation of having everything in equal measure then made it unknowingly enchanting for all of us. While technology in the form of computers, cars and mobile phones assumed an exalted status, those of us who possessed it enjoyed it as much as we revelled in other simple delights like reading Champak and Tinkle or getting ready for school while listening to ‘School Chale Hum’ on the radio each morning. Our outdoor play-time was meticulously rationed by mommies so that we could complete our homework on time. We waited for Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana with grandparents as much as laughed with parents on watching ‘Small Wonder’, and there were limited but iconic TV shows from all genres that ran on cable TV. It was as if we had a little bit of the best from everything, and after lapping all of it up it always left us waiting and wanting for more.

It was probably the last decade when one witnessed the existence of a hobby such as philately or learnt the idea of cinema halls being a focal point of urban spaces, or would know that Eclairs was a toffee of the highest order. From this perspective the 1990s should be lauded aside from being loved, for its fine balancing act. The decade cherry-picked the finest to offer to us millennials. Or so I would like to believe.

And just like that, I learnt how before the decade of the 2000s, women in a typical Indian household used metal stamps of intricate designs, dipped in the chosen coloured powder to emboss a bindi between their eyebrows. It is because of this reason that the opening of that drawer was much like a revelation to me. My sister, though, still remembered a few things she had last seen in the drawer.

The custom-made dressing table was first brought to our childhood home in Delhi sometime in 1989, and it continues to be present around us here in Ahmedabad. That day and the one that unfolded two weeks back: it was almost as if all other

2 compartments of the dressing table had moved pace with time, serving as a pedestal for myriad things with progressing years, but that one drawer was still anchored in the wonderful decade it was made in, as if holding it with all its might.

Close to 25 years have passed and time has stood there intact. Out of curiosity I had often toyed with keys lying around home to see if I could attempt to unlock it with an unmatched key but to no avail.

The stash brought open articles belonging to the time that had once been. They make for collectibles to me, souvenirs of 1990s fashion, devoid of the run-of-the- mill quality of today that is here to stay. Jolted back to the present, I realised, so this was 1990s! It hugs you as soon as you encounter a mere semblance of the decade in any form. And a thousand memories invariably ensue.

Unit-1 (Non-Detailed Text book)

DELIVERANCE

--- Munshi Prem Chand

1. Introduction

This story, Deliverance (Sadgati in Hindi) deals with caste relationships within an agrarian community. As mentioned in the notes at the end of the story, Sadgati roughly means salvation in Death. In other words a worthy death. We see the working of caste laws in this story which results in the death of Dukhi, the tanner. The preceding essay 'Caste Laws' by Jyotirao Phule also dealt with caste laws. But you must have noticed that both the texts are very different from each other. The obvious explanation is that while the first text is an essay, Deliverance is a short story. The style and structure of the essay is different from that of a story. 'Caste Laws' by Phule analyses the emergence of the caste system from within a certain historical context and lays bare the inhuman treatment suffered by the Sudra's under the system. On the other hand Premchand's story "Deliverance" presents you the working of this system in the story of Dukhi. While the essay is analytical, the story is literary and imaginary. Premchand presents you with a piece of life, an experience, to convey the terrible sufferings of the lower castes under the caste system. We shall discuss this issue a little later.

Premchand, as you know, wrote a very large number of stories and not all of them deal with the caste system. But most of his stories have a rural setting. Premchand suffered great hardship throughout his life. His own experiences in life certainly shaped him as a writer. He saw the exploitation of the poor under the Zamindari system. He not only experienced poverty but saw great poverty all around him. He experienced the corrosive effect of debt himself. All his life he worked hard to pay off his debts. He saw the suffering of the people under British Colonialism. Consequently his writing focused on zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism and communalism. Often critics moaned the fact that there is much misery and death in Premchand's writing. However, it is not surprising that Premchand chose to write about death and misery. A writer, as connected to the soil as Premchand, could not but write about these issues.

Premchand was very clear about the role of the writer in society. The purpose of literature, for Premchand, was not just to delight, but more important to raise awareness about the various social issues at hand and bring in change. Infact when he chaired the first convention of the Indian Progressive Writers association in 1936, he pointed out that the use of the term 'Progressive' was unnecessary. He said that writers were progressive by nature otherwise they wouldn't be writers in the first place. He went on to elaborate on the social role of the writer and literature in his address. Literature must become the agent of social change. He followed in his personal life and writings what he preached in public. He resigned from his post under the United Province Government and played his part in the anti-colonial struggle. He was a writer and not a politician. Hence he made his contribution through his writings. His first collection of short stories "Soze-watan" was considered inflammatory and banned and all the copies were confiscated and burned. He was a committed writer and his commitment shows in his writings when he writes about not just colonialism but oppression and suffering in all its hues. 'Sadgati' is one such story which captures the poignant death of Dukhi under an oppressive caste system.

Theme

This story has four sections. We shall discuss each of these sections separately and at the end sum up our discussion.

2.(i) In the first section we are introduced to Dukhi and his wife Jhuriya. Both of them are making preparations to welcome the Brahman. Dukhi is a tanner who in the traditional Hindu social order are untouchables. Their job is to work with hides

4 and remove dead animals. They belong to the lowest strata of the society. Ironically he is named Dukhi(sorrowful) to ward off evil. We see feverish activity in the Dukhi household . Dukhi is sweeping the floor clean and his wife is plastering cow dung on the floor. Cow dung is believed to clean and purify.

Interestingly, the discussion between Dukhi and his wife is centered around making their house fit for the visit of a holy man, the Brahman. We get a glimpse into the social norms prevalent in the village. The caste hierarchies are such that no one would give them even a pot of water if they asked for it. So instead of a cot they decide on making a mat of Mohwa leaves for the Brahman to sit on when he visits. They must also offer the Brahman food as offering but they cannot offer it in their own utensil because it is considered impure. So they decide to offer food on a leaf once again. Jhuri is advised to buy the offering from the village merchant but not to touch anything because the touch of the untouchable is impure. She is advised to take the help of the gond girl who is a tribal girl. The tribes do not belong to the Hindu fold and consequently escape the rigid caste laws. Dukhi makes a list of offering to be made which seems quite impressive considering the status of Dukhi. Finally he leaves for the Pandit's house to invite him with a big bundle of grass as a present.

This section not only introduces us to the main characters and the setting, it also in a very subtle way lays bare the tension and hypocrisy present in a rigid, caste based society. While Dukhi is considered an untouchable, whose touch pollutes whatever he touches, his offering and gifts are accepted by the Brahman. Dukhi lives on the margins of this society. He has no rights only obligations and duties. At the same time Dukhi seems to be a willing partner in the perpetuation of this system. He seems willing because he is kept ignorant and he is made to believe that indeed the Brahman is a holy man.

In the earlier essay, 'Caste Laws' Jyotirao Phule has pointed out the very same problem. Brahmin's with their cunning not only cornered all the privileges but also made the other castes believe that they were inferior to the Brahmans. The Brahman's were supposed to have come out of the mouth of Lord Vishnu whereas the Sudra's came out of his feet. Hence the Sudra was created to serve the Brahman. The Sudra was not allowed to study the scriptures hence he had to believe what was told to him by the Brahman. The Brahmans, thus, through a combination of myth making and denial of education, kept the Sudra oppressed. This situation prevails even in the twentieth century India (Sadgati was written in 1931). But Premchand has allowed us a glimpse of the holiness of the

Brahman through the eyes of Dukhi. This Brahman seems to be very religious. "You know what a stickler he is about religion and doing things according to the rule". But he seems to have a terrible temper too. "He flies off the handle very fast". And when he does get angry he spares no one including his wife and son. He beat up his son so badly that it resulted in a broken hand for his son. Some holiness indeed.!

2(ii) The second section brings us to the house of Pandit Ghasiram. After a short account of Pandit Ghasiram's devotion to God and rituals we witness the meeting between Pandit Ghasiram and Dukhi. Pandit Ghasiram on his return from the temple finds Dukhi at his door. Dukhi immediately prostrates himself on the ground. Dukhi on being asked states his purpose for the visit. Dukhi wants the Pandit to visit his house and pick on an auspicious date for his daughter's betrothal.

Pandit Ghasiram sensing an opportunity to get some work done for free immediately sets him off on errands. He orders Dukhi to plaster the floor of his sitting room with cow dung, and then split the wood and to take out the hay and put it in the barn. Dukhi, conditioned to obey orders of the Brahmans, immediately sets out to work.

Unfortunately, Dukhi had nothing since morning and he was terribly hungry. The Brahman was not offering him any food. He decides to smoke a pipe instead. But his own house was a mile away. But Brahmans unlike the low castes and untouchables did not smoke tobacco. Dukhi remembers the lone Gond who stayed in the village. He visits the Gond who offers him both a pipe and the tobacco. But Dukhi needs to light his pipe. He returns to the Pandit’s house and asks for a light. The Pandit asks his wife to give Dukhi a light. This upsets the Panditayan and she reminds Pandit Ghasiram about the caste laws. The Pandit on the other hand reminds her of the free labour that Dukhi is rendering and goads her to relent. Finally the Panditayan relents and throws a piece of coal at Dukhi. Dukhi smokes his pipe and gets back to work. He works hard at splitting the wood but lacks the experience to do it. The Panditayan feels a little pity for Dukhi because in the act of throwing a piece of coal at Dukhi, she almost synged him. She wonders if they could give Dukhi something to eat. After some deliberation they decide that feeding Dukhi was not worth the effort. So Dukhi keeps working without a morsel in his stomach.

This section focuses on the hardhearted nature of the Brahmin couple, the servile mentality of Dukhi and the exploitative nature of caste system. The Brahmin’s

6 holiness is almost entirely constituted in the meaningless rituals that he follows religiously. Ironically the first part of the ceremony of worship consists of preparing Bhang (an intoxicant) and the reward for the rituals is a steady stream of clients at his doorstep everyday. The Brahman is in the business of religion and it seems quite lucrative too. The Brahman's meaningless self-decoration and other rituals have very little to do with God or people. But the Brahman sees it as an investment that generates a fair amount of business.

Dukhi, on the other hand, hardly understands anything about these rituals. But his servile mind perceives holiness in, what appears unremarkable to us, the Pandits glorious figure. Phule, in the earlier essay, talked about mental slavery. We see that mental slavery acted out here through the actions of Dukhi. His mental subjugation is complete, so much so that the sight of the Pandit fills him with reverence. The sandalwood markings on the rotund figure of the Pandit appears godly to Dukhi and he is more than willing to do the Pandit’s bidding.

What we see next is a fine example of the cunning, the greed and the hardhearted nature of the Pandit and his wife. When Dukhi pleads with the Pandit to grace his house and pick an auspicious date for his daughter's wedding, the Pandit immediately seizes the opportunity to exploit Dukhi's labour. Not only does he exploit Dukhi's labour he even fails to relate to Dukhi as a human being. Tired and hungry, Dukhi keeps working but the Pandit does not have the decency to offer him any refreshment. More over his attitude towards Dukhi is inhuman. Dukhi hears the conversation between the Pandit and his wife where the wife's chides the Pandit for allowing a tanner inside the house. But instead of hurt or anger we see him in agreement with the Panditayan's arguments. He has no respect for himself. He reasons that the Brahmans are clean and holy and consequently all unclean and impure people including himself must worship and respect the Brahmans. The extent of Dukhi's mental slavery becomes very clear in this scene. Though abused and humiliated, he refuses to blame anyone except himself and accepts it as his due.

2(iii) Dukhi sets about the job of splitting the wood after smoking the pipe. In the meanwhile the Gond visits him and tells him of the futility of his efforts. The Gond is sympathetic to Dukhi and enquires if Dukhi has had anything to eat. He also helps in chopping the wood for some time before he gives up. He advises Dukhi to give up the work for which he is not being paid and then he takes his leave. Dukhi, for a moment, considers quitting the work. But he is unable to summon the courage to do it. He starts shifting the hay from the store to the fodder

7 bin. Tired, hungry and exhausted he falls asleep. In the meanwhile the Pandit after a nice nap comes out and finds Dukhi asleep. Instead of being thankful for the service rendered by Dukhi, he starts belittling him and his caste. He also threatens Dukhi with unpleasant consequences if the work is not completed. Dukhi is shaken. After all if the Pandit refuses to pick an auspicious day then the marriage would be a disaster. A mix of awe, respect and fear gets hold of Dukhi and he gets into a state of delirium. He works the axe so hard that after sometime his tired and exhausted body gives up. He is dead.

The death of Dukhi complicates the story a little. Dukhi dies in a Brahman village,save the Gond. Removing the body of the tanner becomes a problem. The Gond's subversive activity complicates the issue further. The Gond tells the tanners in their village that if they touched the body of Dukhi they would get into trouble with the police. Consequently the tanners do not pick up Dukhi's body. Moreover Dukhi wife, daughter and a dozen tanner women go to Pandit Ghasiram’s home to mourn. The scene ends in a stalemate. This section, apart from reinforcing the hard heartedness and cunning of the Pandit and the mental servility of Dukhi, introduces a new theme. The possibility of upsetting the caste hierarchies is presented by the Gond. The Gond is an outsider in the sense that he does not belong to the Hindu fold. Though he also lives on the margins of this society he is not mentally enslaved as the tanner. He is able to see things in their perspective and is able to see through the exploitation and meanness of the so called holy Pandit. Chikhuri, contrasts the holy Pandit with the colonial administration and finds the latter better. For, as he says, even if the government forced you to work they at least paid for your labour.

The prodding's of Chikhuri forces Dukhi to contemplate quitting Pandit's work. The Gond had made him aware that Pandit Ghasiram and the caste system was more exploitative than the colonial administration. But Dukhi lacks the courage to rebel against it. Further, Pandit Ghasiram's threat about not finding an auspicious date for the wedding of the daughter forces Dukhi to abandon all thoughts of rebellion. On the other hand Dukhi's pitiable condition evokes no pity in the Pandit’s heart. Dukhi, with 'stomach pasted to his backbone', kept axing the wood which was as hard as steel.

Even Dukhi's death does not move the Brahman. It is only an irritant for him. The Gond tries to fan a revolt by asking the tanners to refrain from touching the body. Dukhi's corpse lies infront of Pandit Ghasiram's house in a state which is worse than a dead animal. The utter insensitivity of the Brahmins is revealed when we

8 see them more worried about the pollution rather than trying to give the man a decent burial. This seems even more appalling when we consider the fact that Dukhi died while serving Pandit Ghasiram. The attitude of the Brahman's is made amply clear by the remark of one old woman who says "why don't you have this body thrown away?" Throw away the body of Dukhi as one throws away the carcass of a dead animal.

2(iv) Dukhi's corpse lies in front of the Brahman's house as no one would touch it. The tanner women keep up their weeping and lamentations late into the night. The corpse begins to stink. But for Pandit Ghasiram and his wife this is only an irritant. After an uneasy night Pandit Ghasiram decides to take matter into his own hands. He manages to get a noose tied around the dead man's feet and drags the corpse to the fields outside the village. After he gets back he takes a bath and performs the purification rites. The abandoned body of Dukhi in the fields becomes food for the scavengers (jackals, kites, dogs and crows). The story ends with an extremely ironic comment, 'This was the reward of a whole life of devotion, service and faith'.

There is poignancy to this short concluding section which makes us acutely aware of the inhumanity of the caste system. Dukhi, literally, dies a dog's death. There is a jarring contrast between the weeping and the insensitive, callous attitude of Pandit Ghasiram and his wife. It is difficult to miss the profound irony of the ending. What Dukhi could not achieve in life he manages to do that in his death. Pandit Ghasiram, who considers the touch of Dukhi polluting, is forced to drag the dead body of Dukhi himself. This subversion was possible, of course, due to the effort of Chikhuri, the Gond. But the price was a dog's death for Dukhi, left in the field to be devoured by scavengers.

Summing Up

You must have noticed by now that though Jotirao Phule and Premchand are writing about similar things (caste laws) they are very different from each other. While Jotirao's essay analyses the caste flaws in terms of origins and practices, Premchand presents an experience through imagination. While Jotirao's essay appeals to our reason, Premchand story tugs at our emotions.

In Deliverance the narrative point of view is that of an observer, who also comments. We also get an insight into the minds of the tanner, Pandit Ghasiram and Chikhuri the Gond. Premchand thus, allows the reader access to look at the

9 situation from the point of view of various characters. Though the controlling voice is that of the narrator-observer, it helps the reader to understand the actions of the various characters involved.

Premchand, in this story, provides a critique of the caste system. He does this by using irony, satire and by setting up contrasting pictures through out the story. For instance Dukhi's description of Pandit Ghasiram provides a jarring contrast to the description of Pandit Ghasiram by the narrator. Thus we see him as a short, bold roly-poly fellow with a shining skull. Coupled with the ridiculous rituals he observes so religiously, this description makes him look more like a buffoon that a godly man. By juxtaposing Dukhi's account of Pandit Ghasiram with that of a disinterested observer, Premchand keeps the reader from sharing Dukhi's point of view.

Premchand constantly uses authorial comments and objective description to influence the readers mind. For instance, Premchand brings out the meanness of the Pandit couple by describing the conversation between them about giving Dukhi a light and later some food. The dialogues between the two reveal the meanness of their characters. When it is suggested that the tanner be given some food the Pandit considers it 'entirely outside the behaviour expected of him'. He goes on to say' You can never fill up these low-caste people with good bread'. The Panditayan responds with, 'Let's forget the whole thing...I'm not going to kill myself cooking in weather like this'. Thus ends the proposal for feeding a hungry man who has been working for free at their house since morning.

Comments like 'why don't you have his body thrown away?' 'They are all polluted' alerts the readers to the attitude of the Brahmins towards the lower castes. Premchand uses a very subtle form of satire to expose the follies of the Brahmin. He does this by contrasting the simple nature of Dukhi against the greed and cunning of the Pandit and his wife. Thus the Brahmins treat the tanners as less than humans they have no qualms in accepting gifts and offering from them. The Pandit and his wife are extremely rigid about caste laws but allow a tanner inside their house to get their work done for free which otherwise would have cost them four annas.

Premchand, despite his sympathies for the poor and oppressed, was never considered revolutionary enough for the Dalit cause. This assessment stems from the fact that though Premchand presents the possibility of subverting the caste system he never moves beyond that possibility. For instance the possibility of

10 disturbing the caste system is prescribed in the story but it remains only a possibility. The Gond and Dukhi share a sympathetic relationship. Chikhuri being a tribal remains outside the influence of the Brahmins but nevertheless shares the same marginal space with Dukhi. Both of them often end up being exploited by the higher castes. But Chikhuri is bold and is willing to stand up against exploitation. Unlike Dukhi who is enslaved in his mind and body, he does not consider the Brahman any higher than others. Thus he is able to see the meanness in Pandit Ghasiram. He is the one who presents the possibility of upsetting the hierarchy by a) inciting Dukhi to quit working for the Pandit free b) and then prevents the tanners in helping Pandit Ghasiram out of his difficulties (of removing the corpse of Dukhi). Chikhuri manages to upset the system for a while. In an extremely ironic reversal Pandit Ghasiram is forced to dispose off the body of Dukhi, whom he would have never touched in his life. And what comes as an even greater irony is the fact that Ghasiram disposes the corpse of Dukhi in the fields to be eaten by scavengers, after Dukhi had served him with devotion and faith. Instead of rewarding Dukhi for his services, Pandit Ghasiram has ensured that Dukhi is vilified in death as he was in life. Pandit Ghasiram performs the necessary purification rites and, perhaps resumes his normal life.

Skimming

Do you ever feel like you spend way too much time reading? Do you have trouble determining which parts of a text are the most important? Do you wish you could collect information from books in a quicker and more efficient way? If so, consider skimming the next time you sit down to read a text. text

What is skimming?

Skimming is a strategic, selective reading method in which you focus on the main ideas of a text. When skimming, deliberately skip text that provides details, stories, data, or other elaboration. Instead of closely reading every word, focus on the introduction, chapter summaries, first and last sentences of paragraphs, bold words, and text features. Skimming is extracting the essence of the author’s main messages rather than the finer points.

Why skim?

You need the “big picture” or main points when you’re reading. Even if you’re going to do a more detailed reading of the text, skimming as a form of previewing can help you better comprehend what you read. Knowing when and how to skim will help you become a more efficient, strategic reader. You’ll become better at determining what parts of the text are most important. There may also be times when your professor wants you to understand the big picture, not all of the little details. In these cases, skimming helps you understand the overall points of the text and its relevance to your course without bogging you down.

Make the most of your time. Sometimes you don’t have time to do everything. With skimming, you’ll be able to cover vast amounts of material more quickly and save time for everything else that you have on your plate. Maybe you don’t have time to finish your reading before class, but skimming will help you get the main points and attend class much more prepared to maximize in-class learning.

You need to review a text you have read before. Skimming is also an efficient way to refresh your memory of large amounts of material before an exam. Skimming a text that you have already read helps you recall content and structure.

Skimming is not…

Skimming can present problems if not done intentionally. Skimming is not simply flipping through a text quickly or paying half attention to it. When skimming, be deliberate and intentional with what you choose to read, and make sure that you are focused. Skimming is not a lazy way out or a half-hearted attempt at reading. Make sure that you use it carefully and strategically and are able to walk away with the main ideas of the text.

Skimming methods

Beginnings & endings: Read first and last sentences of paragraphs, first and last paragraphs of major sections, and introductions and summaries of chapters.

Wheat vs. chaff: Read only the amount of text necessary to determine if a section presents a main idea or support for a main idea.

Visual & verbal cues: Watch for signal words and phrases that indicate an author’s direction (e.g., however, although, moreover, in addition to). Things to focus on while skimming:

Introduction and conclusion

Chapter/section summaries

First and last sentences

Titles, subtitles, and headings

Bold words

Charts, graphs, or pictures

End of chapter review questions

When to skim

There are certain texts that lend themselves to skimming better than others. It is typically less beneficial to skim novels, poetry, and short stories or texts that do not have text features. Non-fiction texts, like textbooks, journal articles, and essays are typically full of information and text features and are more suited for skimming.

Skimming can also be a good tool for conducting research and writing papers. Typically, when researching or writing, you will not need to read every word of every text closely, but will benefit more from skimming while evaluating your sources or identifying information important to your work.

Finally, know your context. There may be some texts that you are better off reading closely and thoroughly. Some professors specifically tell you that they include small details from the textbook on exams. You may have some classes that are just difficult to understand, and you may find that reading closely helps you comprehend concepts better. Before skimming, spend some time thinking about your classes, professors, and needs to determine if you have any texts you may need to read more closely.

Active reading strategies

When skimming, it’s important to continue to use active reading strategies. This keeps your brain active, engaged, and focused, and helps you understand and retain information better and longer. Here are a few effective active reading strategies to pair with skimming:

Set a purpose for reading. Instead of approaching the text as something you just have to get through, identify a purpose for this reading. What do you want to get out of it? Why are you reading it? Keep this purpose in mind as you read.

Preview. Look through the text before started to read and focus on headings, illustrations, captions, highlighted items, end of chapter summaries, etc. These features give you an idea of the main concepts of the text and what you should focus on while skimming.

Make a prediction. Right after previewing, make a prediction about what you think the chapter or section is going to be about.

Activate prior knowledge. Make a list of what you already know about the topic and what you want to know about it. Identify and write down any questions you have.

Annotate. Instead of copying down copious notes from the book, jot down brief notes and thoughts (in your own words) in the margins of the text.

Summarize the main ideas. After a section or page, stop and write a 1-3 sentence summary in your own words. This keeps your brain engaged and ensures you are comprehending what you read.

Generate questions. Ask and write down questions that you have as you read the text and/or questions that you would ask a class if you were the instructor. Try using different levels of questions.

Unit-2 (Detailed Text book)

Nehru’s Letter to his Daughter Indira on her Birthday

It was the summer of 1928, when Jawaharlal Nehru began writing letters to his young daughter, Indira, who was in Mussoorie at that time. In the first letter, ‘Book of Nature’, he talks about how life began in the universe. In the following letters, he speaks to his daughter on a wide range of topics, including languages, trade, history, geography, science, epics and evolution.

When Indira was about to turn 13 in 1930, Nehru started sending her more detailed letters. These letters contained his understanding of the world which he wanted to further impart to his daughter. Even while he was in prison, he wanted to make sure that his child is not devoid of her father's teachings. Over the next four years, Nehru continuously wrote to his daughter from prison and his words are still inspiring.

In 1973, Indira Gandhi wrote, “These letters aroused a feeling of concern for people and interest in the world around. They taught one to treat nature as a book. I spent absorbing hours studying stones and plants, the lives of insects and at night, the stars.”

Today, on the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, whose birthday is also celebrated as the Children's Day, here's a letter he wrote to his daughter from the Naini Central Prison near Allahabad that gives us a peak into the man that Nehru was.

My dear Indira,

On your birthday you have been in the habit of receiving presents and good wishes. Good wishes you will still have in full measure, but what present can I send you from Naini Prison? Mu presents cannot be very material or solid. They can be of the mind and spirit. Things that even the high walls of prison cannot stop.

You know sweetheart, how I dislike sermonizing and doling out good advice. I have always thought that the best way to find out what is right and what is not right, what should be done and what should not be done, is not by giving a sermon, but by talking and discussing, and out of discussion sometimes a little bit of truth comes out. I have liked my talks with you and we have discussed many things, but the world is wide and beyond our world lie other wonderful and mysterious

15 worlds. None of us need ever be bored or imagine that we have learned everything worth learning and become very wise.

But what am I to do then? A letter can hardly take the place of a talk; at best it is a one-sided affair. Imagine that I have made a suggestion to you for you to think over, as if we really were having a talk.

In history we read of great periods in the life of nations, of great men and women. Do you remember how fascinated you were when you first read the story of Jeanne d’Arc, and how your ambition was to be something like her? Ordinary men and women are not usually heroic. They think of their bread and butter, of their children, of their household worries and the like. But a time comes when a whole people become interested in a great cause. Then history helps even simple, ordinary men and women to become heroes. Great leaders have something in them which inspires a whole people and makes them do great deeds. In India a great leader, full of love for all who suffer and eager to help them, has inspired our people to great actions and noble sacrifice. He has helped to make starving, the poor and the oppressed free and happy.

Bapuji is in prison, but the magic of this message has stolen the hearts of India’s millions. Men and women, and even little children, come out of their little shells and become India’s soldiers of freedom. In India today we are making history, and you and I are fortunate to see this happening before our eyes and to take some part ourselves in the great drama.

What part shall we play in it?

If we are to be India’s soldiers we have to respect India’s honour, and that honour is a sacred trust. It is no easy matter to decide what is right and what is not. One little test I shall ask you to apply whenever you are in doubt. Never do anything in secret or anything that you would wish to hide. For the desire to hide anything means that you are afraid, and fear is a bad thing and unworthy of you. Be brave, and all the rest follows.

You know that in our great Freedom Movement, under Bapuji’s leadership, there is no room for secrecy or hiding. We have nothing to hide. We are not afraid of what we do or what we say. We work in the sun and in the light. Even so in our private lives let us make friends with the sun and work in the light and do nothing secretly and if you do so, my dear you will grow up a child of the light, unafraid and serene and unruffled, whatever may happen.

I have written a very long letter to you. And yet there is so much I would like to tell you. How can a letter contain it? Good-bye, little one, and may you grow up into a brave soldier in India’s service.

With all my love and good wishes. Your loving father, Jawaharlal Nehru

Unit-2 (Non-Detailed Text book)

BOSOM FRIEND ------HIRA BANSODE

Bosom Friend is a poem authored by Hira Bansode, a woman Dalit poet. The poem is a critique of the caste system in Indian society, the pretensions and hypocrisies of the higher caste towards the lower caste. In the poem, Bansode tells the conflict between her expectation and reality.

One day, the poet’s close friend from a higher caste community comes to her home, a lower caste family to have dinner for the first time. When her friend comes to her lower caste family, the poet thinks that her friend has left behind the caste prejudices, the rigid high and low caste distinctions. She thinks so because in their society women do not usually ignore the caste disparities. The poet thinks that her friend has ripped out all those caste distinctions bridging the gulf of those caste prejudices that divide between people, between communities and between relationships. She thinks that her friend comes with a mind as large as the sky to her small house leaving behind the age old divide between higher and lower castes. She is very excited and happy. She praises her friend and regards and call her ‘bosom friend.’

Having contented that her friend is free from caste prejudices, the poet serves her food like the naive devotion of Shabari of the Ramayana. However, the poet’s friend makes a change on her face when she looks at the plate served by the poet. The poet’s friend, with a display of shock, tells the poet her dislike to the way the poet serves her chutney-koshimbir. She tells the poet that the way the poet serves food is not proper and she (the poet) has not still learned how to serve it. Her friend then tells the poet that the low castes will never rise above their old and outdated manners and customs.

Her friend’s words make the poet embarrassed. She remains silent. Then towards the end of the meal, her friend expresses surprise when she learns that there is no buttermilk or yoghurt with the last course of the rise which is normal among higher castes.

At this time, the poet has lost all her courage. Her strength fell away like a falling star. She has lost all her pride in front of her friend whom she dearly calls ‘bosom friend.’ She feels sad and numb. It triggered her like the ripples created in a pool of stagnant water when a stone is thrown in it. She remembers all her childhood memories yet she cannot tell all of these to her friend except to remember and keep as memories to herself.

In her childhood, the poet did not have even milk for tea which is much less compared to yoghurt or buttermilk. Her mother cooked on sawdust which she brought from the lumberyard, wiping away the smoke from her eyes. Every once in a while they might get garlic chutney on coarse bread. Otherwise they just ate bread crumbled in water. They did not know what a sweet like shrikhand was. The poet recollects that she never smelled the fragrance of ghee and never tasted halva, basundi.

The poet then realizes that her friend has not discarded the old tradition of caste inequalities and disparities. Its roots went deep in her friend’s mind and a change in her belief cannot be brought so easily. Lifelong prejudices and beliefs do not disappear overnight.

The poet serves her friend yoghurt with the last course of rice. She expresses regret that she could not serve the food in a manner that her friend sees as proper.

The poet always thought that she was equal to her friend. Since she was well- educated, she expected that her friend would have no caste prejudice. She was of the belief that her friend came to her home for dinner without any consideration of caste. She thought that her friend was broad-minded and a true friend. But everything happened in contrast to her expectation. While in conversation, her friend addressed the poet as ‘you folk’. All these indicated that her friend still carries the attitude of looking down on the low castes though she pretended to treat them as equals. Now the poet is asking herself whether her friend is a true friend, a bosom friend; whether the society treats the low caste equally.

Bosom Friend is a poetical protest and a tale of conflict between the poet’s expectation and reality. The poet wonders whether her friend sees her equally as she expected. In a deeper sense, the poem tells about the deep-rooted caste prejudices and disparities in her society. In the poet’s own words, “my hand which had just touched the sky was knocked down.

Unit-3 (Detailed Text book)

STEPHEN HAWKING – POSITIVITY ‘BENCHMARK’

He was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. As a young child, he wanted to study mathematics, but once he began college, he studied Natural Sciences. During his first year in Cambridge at the age of 21, Hawking began to have symptoms of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Doctors gave him two-and- a-half years to live.

Throughout his life, Hawking has taught, researched, and provided the world with beautiful messages. He once said that his expectations were reduced to zero when he was given the ALS diagnosis. Since then, every aspect of his life had been a bonus until his death in early 2018.

One of the most brilliant minds did not allow these life challenges to stop him. He continued studying. Hawking has twelve honorary degrees. He has dedicated his life to finding answers about the universe, the Big Bang, creation and scientific theories. He cannot speak or move. While bound to a wheelchair, however, he has found ways to inspire the world, encouraging us to find the mysticism in the stars. Hawking says:

Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. If you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away.

During a lecture in January at the Royal Institute in London, Hawking compared black holes to depression, making it clear that neither the black holes or depression are impossible to escape:

“The message of this lecture is that black holes ain’t as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole both on the outside and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up; there’s a way out.”

Stephen Hawking On Disability

When asked about his disabilities, he says: “The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.

He continues with an inspiring message about disabilities:

“If you are disabled, it is probably not your fault, but it is no good blaming the world or expecting it to take pity on you. One has to have a positive attitude and must make the best of the situation that one finds oneself in; if one is physically disabled, one cannot afford to be psychologically disabled as well. In my opinion, one should concentrate on activities in which one’s physical disability will not present a serious handicap. I am afraid that Olympic Games for the disabled do not appeal to me, but it is easy for me to say that because I never liked athletics anyway. On the other hand, science is a very good area for disabled people because it goes on mainly in the mind …

My disabilities have not been a significant handicap in my field, which is theoretical physics. Indeed, they have helped me in a way by shielding me from lecturing and administrative work that I would otherwise have been involved in. I have managed, however, only because of the large amount of help I have received from my wife, children, colleagues and students. I find that people in general are very ready to help, but you should encourage them to feel that their efforts to aid you are worthwhile by doing as well as you possibly can.”

Hawking and a Sense of Wonder

Stephen Hawking does not only encourage the scientific minds to pay attention, but inspires the rest of us to take notice that there is connection between the stars and each one of us. His disabilities have not stopped his curious mind and sense of wonder.

His daughter, Lucy, shared with the crowd at the lecture, “He has a very enviable wish to keep going and the ability to summon all his reserves, all his energy, all his mental focus and press them all into that goal of keeping going. But not just to keep going for the purposes of survival, but to transcend this by producing extraordinary work writing books, giving lectures, inspiring other people with neurodegenerative and other disabilities.”

Unit-3 (Non-Detailed Text book)

“Shakespeare’s Sister” ------Virginia Woolf

“Shakespeare’s Sister” to me was a story about how woman are treated and what types of opportunities they have compared to men. Virginia Woolf describes a story about Shakespeare and what if he had a sister. What kind of life would she have? What kind of education would she be given? Would she be a playwright like her brother with the same kind of talent? During the time of Shakespeare, his sister would live in a different kind of world compared to her male brother. Men were allowed to wife-beat. Women had arranged marriages from the time they were born. If they refused to be married to their picked husband, their father would beat them. Women were made to feel like their thoughts were stupid and that their ideas were not valued. If Shakespeare had a sister, she would be declined from many things. She would not be allowed to go to school and learn the things that he learned. She would not be allowed to act and learn the stage. Becuase she is a woman, she is not allowed in theater. She also would not be allowed to read, learn, or write. She would be expected to do housework, follow the rules of her family, and do the activities expected of “proper” woman. His sister would have no chance of learning the many things that Shakespeare learned. Therefore, if Shakespeare sister lived to grow up as he did, she would not be able to experience the same things because of her gender and would suffer. Woolf described her story of Shakespeare’s sister and wrote that she would run away from her betrothed to be an actress and live a life that would be looked down apon by everyone. She would not live up to the greatness of her brother. Virginia Woolf made me think about how many things woman of the 20th century were not allowed to do and pursue. Their entire life was planned by someone else. They had no choices or life or their own. Woolf encourages the readers of today to go out and accomplish

21 things for the woman before us who were not granted the simple freedoms that we have today. We must follow our passions and act on ideas and feelings that we had because we are allowed to and have the right to. Simple daily activities are there for us to do if we chose. However, woman years ago were forced to follow the same daily plans every day and do them without disagreement. Today woman are allowed to have different opinions and ideas and act on our impulses. We must appreciate that and not forget it. It is interesting to me to think that Virginia wrote about all of these topics so honestly even in the time period she lived in. I am sure that her ideas and writings could have been seen as “wrong” or “not normal”. She went against the rules of a common woman and spoke what she thought was the truth. Today, we read her work not understanding the restrictions that every woman had in their life. Thanks to her we have a chance to be reminded to appreciate the freedoms we have in life and appreciate her courage to write about these things.

Unit-4 (Detailed Text book)

Like a Tree, Unbowed --- Wangari Maathai

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 8 - The Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai has been clubbed in the head by riot police officers. She has been denounced as a subversive. Her efforts to advocate for women's rights in a country where men run the show have long been considered quixotic at best.

But Dr. Maathai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her decades of advocacy work, has stood firm through all of that. Some people, in fact, have likened her to a tree, perhaps one of the ficus trees or elms she has planted throughout Kenya -- solid and unbowed.

It is trees that Dr. Maathai has used to build her women's movement. Through her efforts, women across Africa have planted tens of millions of trees and done their part to stop the deforestation that has stripped much of the continent bare.

Dr. Maathai's Green Belt Movement has also nurtured as many women as it has acacias or cedars.

Her movement, begun in 1977, started with just a handful of seedlings in her backyard. It grew to include hundreds of tree nurseries throughout Africa, where seedlings are doled out to women, who plant them on both public and private lands. For every tree that takes root, the woman who planted it earns a small sum. For many women, tree planting is now a good deed that also helps make ends meet.

Many women wondered decades ago why Dr. Maathai was so devoted to saving trees. It is Africa's women, after all, who trek out in the morning with small axes in hand in search of firewood to cook the family meal. Some women wondered whether Dr. Maathai had turned on her fellow women in favor of the tree.

The answer, of course, was no. Her movement has always been as much about women as about trees.

"We try to make women see they can do something worthwhile," she said in an interview with The New York Times in 1989. "And we're trying to empower people, to let them identify their mistakes, to show they can build, or destroy, the environment.

When Kenya's ruling party sought to put up a 60-story skyscraper in a downtown park, Dr. Maathai stood up for the people who use the little green space Nairobi has to offer. She denounced the proposal and drew the wrath of the government, who labeled her movement subversive.

The ruling elite eventually backed off, and Kenya remained a little more green.

"She always taught us that right was right, even if you're alone," said Wanjira Maathai, one of her three children. "She told us so often that nothing was impossible. She has fire on the inside and she tried to give us some of that, too."

Dr. Maathai's work has gone beyond trees. She has played a role in fighting for the cancellation of African governments' foreign debts and campaigned against land grabbing, in which members of Africa's elite claim public land as their own. Fighting corruption has also been one of her causes.

Born in Nyeri, Kenya, on April 1, 1940, Wangari Muta Maathai became the first woman in east Africa to earn a doctorate degree, in 1971. She studied first at Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kan., as part of a program during the Kennedy administration to prepare Kenyans for independence. Then she earned a

23 master of science degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Nairobi.

She was divorced from her husband, who was a member of Parliament, in the early 1980's after he publicly accused her of adultery with another lawmaker. When her husband won his divorce case, Dr. Maathai accused the judge of being incompetent. She was jailed for a night.

The case would come up again a decade later during debate over the skyscraper. Members of Parliament, referring to the divorce, denounced her as a woman who was out to get men.

In 1992, Kenya's president unleashed the riot police on Dr. Maathai and other women who were holding a hunger strike at a city park to pressure the government to release political prisoners. Dr. Maathai, who dared to join an opposition party at a time when the government would not tolerate dissent, was knocked unconscious by the police.

In 2002, she became a member of Parliament, representing a district that sits at the base of Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak. She was in that peaceful setting, surrounded by trees, when a phone call came on Friday alerting her to her Nobel Peace Prize.

"I am very happy to receive this news at the foot of Mount Kenya," she said in a telephone interview, describing the mountain, so tall and solid, as her inspiration over the years. he has played a similarly inspirational role for many women, a role that will only increase now that she has been named the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize.

"All of Africa's women won today," said Beatrice Elachi of the National Council of Women of Kenya, a group Dr. Maathai was chairwoman of from 1981 to 1987. "The culture pulls us down so often. We are told to give way to men. But now, thanks to Wangari, every woman will know she can make it."

Unit-4 (Non-Detailed Text book)

Telephone Conversation ------Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka is a renowned African novelist and poet. Soyinka was the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. “Telephone Conversation” is a simple and amusing poem. As the title suggests, it is a conversation over ‘phone between an African and a white lady who is the owner of the apartment in London. The narrator is looking for a rented apartment in London. In this poem, the poet is able to portray the hypocrisy and cold inhumanity of the white lady who rejects the African only because he is ‘black’. Thus the poem is a strong satire on racial prejudice.

The speaker of the poem is an African. He is well educated, cultured and willing to pay the rent demanded by the landlady. At first the white English land lady is very happy that a tenant has come to stay in her apartment. The location of the building is not good. But the African is not worried about it. For him, the rent is reasonable and the landlady promises that she is living in another place. Therefore the Nigerian is also very glad to get such an apartment in London City. But he has a big problem. His skin is black. So he is afraid whether the white lady likes him or not. The flora and fauna in Nature have different colours. The colour of the skin is not a problem for animals, birds and other objects in the world. The sky is blue, the rose is red, the oak is black, the crow is black, orange is yellow, there are black dogs and cows and here the colours are blessing and beautiful. Nature is blessed with all the colours given by God. But man hates man if his skin is not white. So the African confesses to the white lady that he is an African. It is a rude shock to the white lady as if “African” is a criminal. There is a prolong silence. This silence hurts the African. He is insulted. Humanity is insulted. After some time she asks politely ‘how dark he is’? She enquires whether he is light black.

She does not say that she does not want an African. Instead she asks again whether he is dark or very light. She uses two terms such as plain or milk chocolate to describe his dark skin. He tells her that he is “West African sepia in his passport”. Again there is a long silence. Her words were compared to stinking or polluted air because her words are poisonous.

Now the African knows that he will not get the apartment, because the landlady does not want a black man as her tenant. So the African tells her that the colour of his face is dark brown (brunette), but unfortunately certain parts of his body are very dark. The palm and sole of his feet are semi dark. But the bottom is raven black because of friction by sitting and requests her to see it by herself personally. At that moment the white lady knows that she is insulted by the African and she angrily puts the ‘receiver on the thunderclap. Thus the poem proves that it is the

25 white people who believe in the colour prejudice are always insulted. The colour prejudice boomerangs upon the white people themselves!

Unit-5 (Detailed Text book)

Steve Jobs' Stanford speech: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Steve Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University in 2005 is one of his most quoted speeches. It has been described as 'life-changing' and 'career transforming'. Here's an edited excerpt:

Iam honoured to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories

The First Story is About Connecting the Dots

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This

26 approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My Second Story is About love and loss I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2-billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired.

How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart,

27 you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on

My Third Story is About Death About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog — created by a fellow named Stewart Brand — which was one of the bibles of my generation. Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

Unit-5 (Non-Detailed Text book)

Still I Rise ------Maya Angelou

The poem is directed towards those oppressors in society who would tie the speaker to her past and to a history that has been misrepresented and cannot be relied upon. Her ancestors were depicted unfairly and dishonestly in history, and she will rise above the cruelty and suffering they experienced. The speaker is both angry and confident throughout the poem. Initially, she is baffled by the way in which her oppressors—ostensibly, white people and specifically, white males—do not want her to succeed or become more than the sum of her history. She notes that her joy seems to make them miserable, and she questions why that is. At the same time, she taunts these oppressors, acknowledging the impact of her behaviors and

28 personality and delighting in the fact that she bewilders them with her power and confidence. The poem as a whole is a declaration of strength and of determination. The speaker proclaims boldly that whatever her oppressors do to try to hamper her progress or take away her rights, it will not matter. Nobody will ever take her power away, and she will always rise above the racism, pain, and sexism to be the powerful woman she knows she is. She will break the negative cycle of the past.

She also speaks on behalf of other black people without actually stating that this is what she is doing. By making references to her ancestors and naming slavery explicitly near the poem's conclusion, she is addressing the collective experiences of her people and stating that they as a race are more powerful than their oppressors. Whatever the oppressors do, they cannot stop her people from moving forward in their lives.

The poet ends her declaration by affirming that no matter what happens, she will continue to rise above history, hate, and bigotry just like her ancestors dreamed would be possible. She will fulfill their dreams and hopes for freedom and happiness.