First Certificate in English

Online Class
Can you
identify
them ?
 WHAT IS LITERATURE
• Literature can be considered as form of human
expression. But not everything expressed in words—even
when organized and written down—is counted as
literature. Those writings that are primarily informative—
technical, scholarly, journalistic—would be excluded from
the rank of literature by most, though not all, critics.
Certain forms of writing, however, are universally
regarded as belonging to literature as an art.
 FORMS OF LITERATURE
• Poetry
• Fiction
• Non fiction
• Prose
• Drama
 WHY IS LITERATURE SO IMPORTANT?

1.Reading great literature exercises the imagination. We enjoy stories; it is a pleasure to

meet characters and to live in their world, to experience their joys and sorrows. In a
practical sense, an active imagination helps us perceive truth, make value judgments,
and deal with the complexities of life in creative ways.

2.Reading literature transports us out of our current context and into other ages and places.
Interacting with characters across space and time diminishes our ignorance. Mark Twain once
remarked, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, narrow mindedness , and bigotry. Broad, wholesome,
charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the
earth all of one’s lifetime.”
 3.Reading literature fosters contemplation and reflection, and improves our facility with language and
vocabulary. Interacting with these texts requires deliberate, conscious thinking in order to understand and
retain longer units of thought. The average number of words per sentence in the sixteenth century was 65-70
words, but, not surprisingly, that number has steadily declined through the modern era to about 15 words
today.
4.Reading literature enables us to see the world through the eyes of others. It trains the mind to be flexible, to
comprehend other points of view—to set aside one’s personal perspectives to see life through the eyes of
someone who is of another age, class, or race. Reading literature nurtures and develops the power of
sympathetic insight.

5.Great works of literature have played a fundamental role in shaping society. For example, The Epic of
Gilgamesh initiated the archetypal narrative of the hero embarking on an epic quest, which became a popular
and influential blueprint for literature the world over. Some other landmark texts include Homer’s Odyssey,
Dante’s Divine Comedy, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which is credited as the first novel
in the Western world, creating a genre that has since become the dominant form of literature in the modern era

6.Finally, reading literature helps us to know ourselves—in short, to understand man. For the subject of literature is
man. In its pages, we learn about our creative and moral faculties, our conscience, and most importantly, our soul. We
see man at the height of his glory and the depth of his folly—with every heartrending thought, action, emotion, and
belief in between. In other words, literature holds a mirror up to human nature, revealing its inner depths and
complexities, its array of virtues and vices; and moreover, it holds a mirror up to a cultural age, illuminating its shape
and ethos.
STORY ACTIVITY
 “That a man is a king only due to the
circumstances of birth should be
considered just as terrible as when a man
is untouchable only due to the accident
of his birth.”

SHRI GAURISHANKAR GOWARDHANRAM JOSHI

A SNEEK PEEK INTO HIS LITERARY LIFE

• Pioneer of short stories. Novels , dramas , stories and books for old people
and children.
• Wrote 492 short stories.
• Poetic style , romanticism and powerful depiction of human emotions .
 THE LETTER
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
LET’S WATCH A VIDEO

https://youtu.be/AopmRAbIVkY?si=zexJ-yKRdTSnDr5X
Let’s read
Coachman Ali was an ardent hunter. He was merciless in his hunts and would not consider leaving a hunt empty-
handed. It is even believed that Coachman Ali was obsessed and possessed by the urge to hunt at any cost. In the
bargain, he neglected his only daughter Miriam who ultimately married a soldier and started living in the regiment
of Punjab in India in the 1920’s. She, in her turn, stopped all contact with her father for years. It was only then that
Coachman Ali realized the pain that this separation entailed upon his being and continued for five years to
pilgrimage to the post office in the hope of one day receiving a letter from Miriam. He is ridiculed every time he
goes there by the post office’s heartless clerks, postmen, and peons, but Coachman Ali continues with complete
hope based on immense faith to make his daily pilgrimages to the post office at 4:00 am sharp every morning. One
day he takes ill, and on his last day, he makes the final pilgrimage to the post office. He is frail, ill, and in a terrible
state. He is ridiculed by the Postmaster in charge for asking for the name of Miriam to be registered. He coaxes a
peon there finally to promise him that if Miriam’s letter ever arrived at the post office, then the peon was to deliver
it to Ali’s grave, for that day was told to be his last on this earth. The Postmaster who ridiculed him thinks nothing of
the affair until the day his own daughter was ill and convalescing in another town away from him. As the anxious
Postmaster waited for her letter, a surprise awaited him. After around five years and three months, Miriam’s letter
arrived at last in Coachman Ali’s name. The Postmaster that night, as he waits for Ali to come to take the long-
awaited letter, hallucinates and sees a vision of Coachman Ali in divine splendor. The peon later confirms, however,
that Ali is dead, and so finally, they both, the Postmaster and the peon, deliver the letter of Miriam to her father’s
grave. With renewed respect and love for Coachman Ali, the Postmaster then continues to wait for his daughter’s
news.
 THEMES

• Human beings are

transformed into better
beings by suffering .

• Impact of illiteracy on the

society.

• Cyclical chain of separation

SIGNIFICANCE OF TITLE OF THE STORY

The story is about more than a

letter.
Elements of guilt consciousness
 MORAL OF THE STORY

• Believe in Karma theory.

• Life is a reflection of our

own deeds .
• Need for love, sympathy and
fellow feeling for those who
are in pain .

• Respect for elderly people

 Let’s speak
1. Can you tell us something about Gowrishankar Gowardhanram ?
2.How influential do you think literature is on young people’s
behaviour?
3.How important is it for young people to have good role models?
4.Do you think that having good values is important in life?
5.Why do you think books continue to be popular in this technological
age?
6.What is the best book you have ever read?
7.How important are relationships to you ?
 HOME TASK

Read any story written by Gaurishankar Joshi.

Share your reading experience in the next workshop.