Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories : Pre-Task

Pre-thinking Task for Poe's Stories

 

Horror, macabre, bloodshed, crime, death, perversity, insanity.....

All these links pop up on the screen of our mind when we think of Poe's stories.

Why is that so?

One of the reasons is:-

The writer creates an ambience of spine-chilling terror without the use of audio-visual tools and that too, almost 150 years ago when there was no emoji, no gif and no software!

How does he do so?

One of the answers is:-

Words, words, words (to use Hamletian phrase!)

His remarkably placed adjectives and efficacious phrases need a special attention when we study his stories.

What can be done to observe his usage of linguistic craftsmanship?

One of the techniques is:-

We can observe this phenomenon in a few gems of regional literature before doing the same to the aforementioned writer's works.

They are:-

• માનસંઘ - ડૉ. જયંત ખત્રી 

CLICK HERE to read the story.

• પાનકોર ડોશી - ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી 

The first one is attached herewith as a scanned copy. Read it.

The other is available on Jalso App (treasure of regional literature in form of audiovisual). TO LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO, PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE JALSO APP FROM PLAYSTORE.

INSTRUCTIONS:-

Download Jalso app from Playstore, open a folder named "VAACHIKAM: Dramatic Reading" and there you will find the story - or -

Click on the below given link:-

http://www.jalsomusic.com/share.aspx?sid=11077&title=Pankor%20Doshi%20-%20Jhaverchand%20Meghani

Hence, your PRE-THINKING TASK is:-

1. Read the first Gujarati story and listen to the audio recitation of the second story. Observe how the two wordsmiths work wonders through words! (Absolute obsession of alliteration)

2. List out various adjectives that contribute the most in creating the "pre-established design" or effect that the author intended to create.

3. Which are the phrases you find frightening? How are they placed in the text?

4. Can you find out any other lexical varieties such as figures of speech like simile, metaphor, personification etc? Briefly explain their significance in the story.

5. What is the impact of listening  to the stories on your mind? Which Rasas/emotions erupt in you during and after the reading/listening sessions?

Please feel free to make an apt use of emoticons, gif etc as and where applicable in your answers.

Prepare a blog for the given task and share your link in the comment section here. The deadline for this task is 16th of August 10 am.

You can refer to my blog of similar activity given to the previous batch (September 2018) and their responses:-

https://jaynmehta.blogspot.com/2018/09/passion-perversity-and-poe-introduction.html

Wish you all the very best!
Happy Learning!