THE BROWNING VERSION- Note-Making and Summarization.

 

NOTE MAKING & SUMMARIZING

THE BROWNING VERSION

1.  THE TITLE

a.   A Greek Tragedy writn by Aeschylus named Agamemnon.

b.   Theme: a wife murd^g her husband.

c.    Transld  into English by Robert Browning

d.   Taplow gifts the play ‘The Browning Version’ to Mr. Crocker Harris.

 

2.  Mr. Crocker Harris

a.    A Sr. Tr. , served for 16 yrs, hard-task master.

b.   Teaches classics, a good acadmcn.

c.    Strict, disciplinarian, law abiding

d.   Can’t be persuaded by flattery

e.   Dead sense of humour, dried up like a nut

f.      Not a socially good mixtr, reserved, lives indifferently.

 

3.  Mr. Frank

a.   A young, Jr.Tr. of science.

b.   Friendly to students, receptive.

c.    Doesn’t love his subject, feels inferior.

d.   Envies Crocker Harris for his control over students.

e.   Immature, instigates Taplow to speak bad about Crocker Harris.

 

4.  Taplow:

a.   A 16 yr.old student studg in lower fifth grade.

b.   Obedient, having good reputn in class

c.    Attendg Mr.Crocker Harris doing Extra work but not willingly.

d.   Doesn’t like undue strictness of Mr Crocker Harris.

e.   Makes fun of Crocker Harris by enacting his style of joke-telling.

f.      Yet respects Crocker Harris’ principles  & devotion towards profession.

 

5.  Millie Crocker Harris

a.   Wife of Mr. Crocker H.

b.   A thin, in late 30s, fashion-maniac

c.    Doesn’t like Mr.Crocker H. that much.

d.   Tricks to send Taplow out by giving him prescription to bring medicines.

e.   Shows soft corner for Mr. Frank.

 

6.  Story-line

a.   A Student-Teacher Relation

b.   A teacher-teacher Relation

c.    Teacher’s devotion for his profession

d.   Students’ observation of teachers.

e.   Students liking or disliking for  teachers on various fronts.

 

ABBREVIATIONS:

1.   Writn - written

2.   murd^g- murdering

3.   Transld- translated

4.   Sr. Tr.- senior teacher

5.   Yr- years

6.   Acadmcn- academician

7.   Mixtr- mixture

8.   Jr.Tr.- junior teacher

9.   Studg- studying

10.                     Reputn- reputation

11.                     Attend-attending

12.                     &-and

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY

THE BROWNING VERSION

It’s a story of a student’s observation on teachers. Taplow,  a student of lower fifth grade, had been called up by a strict , work-master Mr Crocker Harris to do extra work on the last day of the term. Taplow didn’t like it. Frank, another young teacher, instigates Taplow to blasphemy Mr. Crocker Harris and wants him to talk out bad things about him. Millie, wife of Mr Crocker Harris also helps Mr Frank in sending Taplow out. Taplow wants to gift a play named ‘The Browning Version’ to Mr.Crocker Harris who has been transferred out after serving the present school for over 16 years.

                                                                                  -Arun Thakare

The Ailing Planet; Role of Green Movement- Note Making & summary

 

NOTE-MAKING

EARTH- THE AILING PLANET

1.   THE GREEN MOVEMENT

a.   Founded in 1972 in New Zealand.

b.   World’s First Nationwide Green party.

c.    Gripped imgnatⁿ of entire human race.

2.  A HOLISTIC & ECOLOGICAL VIEW

a.   Shift from mechanistic view to the holistic

b.   A revltnry perctn

c.    1^st instance of thinking EARTH as a living orgnsm

d.   Earth has own metabolic & vital process of preservation.

3.  ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS OF MANKIND TOWARDS PLANET EARTH

a.   Be good stewards & responsible trustees

b.   Legacy to future generations

4.  SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

a.   Poplrs in 1987

b.   W.C. E. D. propogates devpmt without compromising future generations.

c.    Shifting from dominance to partnership

5.   HUMAN SHARES EARTH WITH OTHER SPECIES

a.   Scientists catg 1.4 m. species living on earth

b.   Biologists reckon 3 to 1 h.m. species still languish

c.    Unnamed and not found out still.

6.  EARTH’S PRINCIPAL BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM

a.   Fisheries

b.   Forests

c.    Grasslands

d.   Croplands

7.  EARTH’S 4 BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM – A BASIS OF GLOBAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM- FACT FINDING

a.   Brandt Comm. World advancing towards deserts, impoverished landscapes, ailing envn. - LK Jha

b.   The Global Economic Prospect- 4 systems supply food, raw material  -Lester R Brown

c.    Tropical forests acts like ‘the powerhouses of evolution’- Dr. Myres

d.   Its reaching to unsustainable level

e.   Fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands become barren lands & wastelands, croplands deteriorate.

f.      Due to over-fishing by protein-conscious & protein-hungry world.

g.    Poor countries forests decimated for procuring firewood for cooking.

h.   ‘What goes under the pot now costs more than what goes inside it’

8.  SOME REMEDIAL MEASUREMENTS

a.   World Bank estimates a five fold increase in the rate of forest planting to cope up expected fuel demand by year 2000

b.   Article 48 of I.C. provides ‘ the state shall endeavor to protect & improve envnmt to safeguard forests & wild life’

c.    Population Under Control

d.   Education to masses- ‘fertility falls as income rise, education spreads & health improves’

 

9.  THOUGHTFUL INSIGHTS

a.   More children don’t mean more workers, mere people without work.

b.   Survival of not just people but of the planet.

c.    Role of Industry- Mr Edgar S. Woolard declared himself to be the Company’s Chief Environmental Office (C.E.O.)

d.   ‘No generation has freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy with full repairing lease’ – Margaret Thatcher

e.   ‘We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children’- Mr. Lester Brown.

 

Summary

EARTH- THE AILING PLANET

Green Movement founded in 1972 in New Zealand casts light on the urgency of sustenance of Earth. The planet is in the most decimated condition as compared to its past. The change can be brought in by shifting of perspective to HOLISTIC & ECOLOGICAL one. Actually, we are sharing the planet with about 1.4 million other species and hence our responsibility is more. We should look after the four fundamental principles of it namely, FISHERIES, FORESTS, GRASSLANDS & CROPLANDS. All our economic development relies on it. Our aim should be development with environmental enrichment. We should not hurt the natural flora & fauna. After all, we have borrowed this beautiful earth from our children. We should leave behind a beautiful place to live in & on.

                                                                                 -Arun Thakare

The Landscape of the Soul Note-Making & Summarizing

 

NOTE MAKING & SUMMARIZING

LANDSCAPE OF THE SOUL

 

1.Chin. Art- eight century

§  Wu Daozi’s Landscape paint^g.

§  Painter enters into a cave & it’s entrance closes after him.

§  Another, painter wouldn’t draw the eye of a dragon

§  fearing it would fly out of the paint^g

§  Deeply reveals spirit in the art.

§  Confucious, Zhuangzi phil.

§  They show you the way to enter into realizaⁿ  on one’s own.

2. West. Art- Delicate Realism

I.Flanders- painter wants you to borrow his eyes & look in partclr in his way

§  Antwerp mast. Blacksmith

o  Quinten Metsys’ love for the painter’s daughter

o  Denied propsl due to under graded profesn

o   Antwerp painted fly with an illusionistic likeness

o   Beloved’s father swats it away

o  Reproduction of exact view- figurative paint^g

 

3. Diff. betw. Chin. art and West.

§  Chin.art spiritual- a journey to heaven

§  Shows the way within- meditation thro pranayam

§  West. Art material/ illusionistic realism

§   Painter’s view is at dominance.

 

4. Chin Phil. Daoist View.

o  Conceptual  Shanshui- YIN_YANG theory

o  a.Yang- mountain- vertical- Masculine reprsntⁿ

§  stable, warm & dry in Sun

o  b.Yin-river water- horizontal-Feminine reprsntⁿ

§  Rest^g on Earth, fluid, moist & cool

o  c. Middle void- space in betⁿ  meditation/pranayama- way to find communion with the heaven

5. Outsider Art- Raw Art

§  promoted by French Painter Jean Dubuffet

§  mooted concept -art brut 1940

§  wild- non-refined-untrained visionary

§  consdd as Outsider-Art

§  of those have ‘no right’ to be artist

§  Stimulating contrast to Mainstream Offerings

6. Nek Chand- an ‘ Untutored Genius Creating Paradise’

§   Contrbtn to Outsider Art

§  Rock Garden in Chandigarh with the waste bangle pcs

§  Tagged ‘Women by the Waterfall’

§  UNESCO Honor

§  Exhi. in France, Italy, Belg.Switz.

§  Featured by Raw Vision a U.K. Bases magzⁿ on its cover page of spring 2005.

 

 

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

Chin=Chinese

Phil= philosophy

West.=western

Mast.=master

Diff.=difference

Betw.=between

Pran.= pranayama

Exhi.=exhibiton

Belg.= Belgium

Switz=Switzerland

Pcs= pieces

&= and

Partclr= particular

Propsl= proposal

reprsntⁿ⁼  representation

profesn= profession

 

SUMMARY:

LANDSCAPE OF THE SOUL

Chinese art, an eighth century, Daoist theory,  which requires the active participation of the viewer. It is a method to unite with god through like Pranayam, Breath in-retain-breath out, supporting the Shansui philosophy, Yand and Yin- Mountain-water, Vertical-Horizontal representing the Masculine and the feminine energy of the universe.  There is third element which acts like catalyst agent helping unifying them called as middle void. Whereas,  the European art of painting (15^th Century Antwerp Theory) demands the viewer to borrow the eyes of the artist to see the landscape exactly as he sees. It has been made out, delicately illusionistic, figurative painting. The French painter Dubuffet mooted the concept of ‘art brut’, an outsider art, which is held as ‘raw art’ is a platform for those who have ‘no right’ as they do not fall in the line of the mainstream offerings. Neck Chand, an 80 year old artist from Chandigarh sculpted ‘A Rock Garden made of broken pieces of bangles’ at Chandigarh which is held by ‘Spring magazine’ by featuring his art on the cover page of their 2005 issue.

 

                       

 

                                                                               Arun Thakare