Thinking Activity : Documentation: Preparing the list of work cited.

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to write book review on 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' by Arundhati Roy. Along with five types of citations.

What is citation?

According to Oxford dictionary,

Citation is a quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work.

In another words, citation is a mention of a praiseworthy act in an official report, especially that of a member of the armed forces in wartime.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, Citation is a specific reference in a military dispatch to meritorious performance of duty.

Citation is something that one can talking any information or referring related source while doing research work and mentioned that sources that are referred by his/her in research paper that is called citation.

Tap to read more definitions.

Types of Citation 

There are four main types of citation.

1) MLA - It’s widely used across various humanities disciplines. Full form of MLA is Modern Language Association. This type of citation is useful in literature and humanity fields. It has two editions MLA 8th and MLA 9th edition.

2) APA - This Style is defined by the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It was designed for use in psychology, but today it’s widely used across various disciplines, especially in the social sciences.

3) AAA - The American Anthropological Association (AAA) recommends citing your sources using Chicago author-date style. AAA style doesn’t have its own separate rules. This style is used in the field of anthropology.

4) Chicago - Chicago author-date style is one of the two citation styles presented in the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition). It’s used mainly in the sciences and social sciences.

Click to read more information about Various types of citations.

Book Review

'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' by Arundhati Roy.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is the second novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy, published in 6 June 2017. The novel was originally written in English.it is a Fiction. The novel was published by Hamish Hamilton (UK & India) and Alfred A. Knopf (US). The novel set in India and covers wide range of India and some part of Canada also.it contains 449 pages.

The novel weaves together the stories of people navigating some of the darkest and most violent episodes of modern Indian history, from land reform that dispossessed poor farmers to the Bhopal disaster, 2002 Godhra train burning and Kashmir insurgency.Roy's characters run the gamut of Indian society and include an intersex woman (hijra), a rebellious architect, and her landlord who is a supervisor in the intelligence service.(Wikipedia)

The story begins with A strange older woman living in Grave Yard named Jannat. There is one another man named Imam Ziauddin who is old blind man became frequent companion of Anjum. Who came to know that the woman’s name is Anjum. She is a Hijra, a transwoman, who left Khwabgah many years ago. Then there is a story of Anjum's birth. Who born as a intersex, but her mother, Jahanara, gendered the child a boy and named him Aftab.

In a childhood Aftab was very good singer that causes the neighborhood kids to tease him about being too feminine. His father Mulaqat gave him suggestion to undergo a gender-change surgery, also tell him stories about his great warrior ancestors to inspire him towards masculinity. One day he noticed one Hijra girl walking beautifully and he followed her which lead him to Khwabgah, after that he keep visiting the place until he get 15 years old and then permanently moved there to live. In Khwabgah Aftab becomes Anjum permanently. She also gone through the gender transition surgery and becomes Female finally. She also became very famous among NGOs, human rights groups and journalists because of her beauty and aggressive feminity. All the way she becomes a successful Hijra.

One day Anjum finds one abandoned baby girl outside the mosque and took her with her. She treat the baby like her child and became her mother. She naming the baby Zainab. She mostly telling her realistic stories of her life. When Zainab reached at the age when she is ready to go to school suddenly she goes through a bout of ill health. So anjum decided to take her for pilgrimage with Zakir Mian to a holy Muslim site in Gujarat. In pilgrimage, Anjum and Zakir Mian face worst massacre, in which Zakir Mian was killed, but Anjum spared because they believe that to killing Hijra is bad luck. Anjum after returning from Gujarat stated behaving strangely. She started wearing clothes of boys and trying to dress Zainab as a little boy to protect her from suffering violence. When Ustad Kulsoom Bi Opposed this division, Anjum left Khwabgah, moved to Graveyard behind government hospital and started living there. She leaving Zainab in Saeeda’s care.

Slowly Anjum built a house in graveyard, where after some time Saddam Hussain, an unemployed Dalit young man on a mission to murder the police officer who caused the death of his father came and started living there. Who once witnessed his father's murder. Saddam Hussain also suggested Anjum that she should start charg to guests and for funeral services, And Anjum started calling her home Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services.

After that we find there is a a character of Biplab, a bureaucrat in the Indian government discovers that a tenant of his, Tilottama, has gone missing. He secretly loves Tilottama throughout his life. He met Tilottama in play performance as a student of university. But unfortunately Tilottama was dating Musa, a Kashmiri architect. There is one another character Naga who is journalist, who also is in love with Tilottama.Biplab is involved in the Kashmir conflict as a bureaucrat whose work serves primarily to cover up the atrocities committed by the Indian Army in the region. But soon he find himself a puppet of the government, who reveals only as much as the government want him to reveal. Naga is a journalist, and although he doesn’t see himself as corrupt in any way. One day Biplab received a message of Tilottama that army has captured her so Biplab sent Naga to save her, and naga save her from jail and soon Naga and Tilottama marry. But soon they divorced and Tilottama ask Biplab that if she rent one of his apartment. Here Biplav thought may now it's his chance for Tilottama. Before Biplab come to Tilottama's apartment, there is a wide public protest at Jantar Mantar. It was started as an anti corruption protest by Gandhian. And later turned into hunger strike against corruption in India. There are many other causes and groups also joined the protest to get media coverage. Anjum and Hussain move to Jantar Mantar to see what is happening there. There is group called the Mothers of the Disappeared finds a baby abandoned on the pavement in front of the protest. Anjum decided to take baby with her but other protester Mr.Aggarwal. Anjum got fight with him as Mr. Aggarwal wanted to handover baby to police officer but Anjum was against it and wanted to take baby with her. In between the conflict baby disappeared and no one knows who taken the baby so Anjum and Hussain leave Jantar Mantar to find baby.

Later on readers comes to know that the baby was taken by Tilottama. The baby was named as Miss Jebeen the Second by Tilottama. The name is given after Musa's daughter who was murdered in massacre by the Indian government in Kashmir. Also her mother Arifa died in same massacre. Tilottama was also involved in Kashmir massacre after meeting Musa. After Musa and Tilottama returned from the houseboat, the boat was raid by military police.Gulrez, a friend of musa killed by the military police.the military was led by Major Amrik Singh. Tilottama and Musa vows to take revenge of deaths. But Amrik Singh fled to California with his wife and childrens.

After taking baby from Jantar Mantar, The police are after her so Tilottama wants safe place to live, her friend Dr. Azad Bhartiya suggested her to Jannat Guest house and gave number of Sadam Hussain. Tilottama move to Jannat Guest House and started living there. She begins to work as a teacher for the poor, local children, and greatly enjoys her work. At another hand Sadam Hussain and Zainab falls in love and married. Many outcasts people came and start living in Jannat guest house. All the people at Jannat guest house are very happy. Jabeen the second raised surround peace, love and safety. The story ends here.

Watch this video for more information on 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'.

Citations

Video

“Arundhati Roy: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness .” Performance by Roy Arundhati , YouTube, Chicago Humanities Festival , 19 July 2017, https://youtu.be/JTXC0HYLPrs. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023.

Websites

Caulfield, Jack. “Citation Styles Guide: Examples for All Major Styles.” Scribbr, Jack Caulfield, 7 Nov. 2022, https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/citation-styles/.

“Citation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citation. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023.

Book - The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy.

Roy, Arundhati. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. India, Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2018.

Image

"Verve Magazine" , 3 June 2017, www.vervemagazine.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Arundhati-Roy.jpg.

Thinking Activity : The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about the book 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' by Arundhati Roy.

About Arundhati Roy

Full name of Arundhati Roy is Suzanna Arundhati Roy. She was born on 24 November 1961. She is an Indian author,essayist and Political activist. She is best known for her novel The God of Small Things (1997)which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also involved in human rights and environmental causes. She also received many awards like National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1988),Booker Prize (1997),Sydney Peace Prize (2004),Orwell Award (2004), Norman Mailer Prize (2011) etc.

Arundhati Roy also worked in television and movies. She wrote the screenplays for In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) and Electric Moon (1992),film Bandit Queen by Shekhar Kapur. Roy won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1988 for In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones. She also wrote novels, her best known novels are, The God of Small Things,began writing in 1992, completing it in 1996. This is her first novel. Secondly she wrote 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' in 2007.'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' was nominated as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in January 2018. Click to read more.Watch this video to know more about her.

About 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is the second novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy, published in 6 June 2017. The novel was originally written in English.it is a Fiction. The novel was published by Hamish Hamilton (UK & India) and Alfred A. Knopf (US). The novel set in India and covers wide range of India and some part of Canada also.it contains 449 pages.

The novel weaves together the stories of people navigating some of the darkest and most violent episodes of modern Indian history, from land reform that dispossessed poor farmers to the Bhopal disaster, 2002 Godhra train burning and Kashmir insurgency.Roy's characters run the gamut of Indian society and include an intersex woman (hijra), a rebellious architect, and her landlord who is a supervisor in the intelligence service. (Wikipedia) here is the video of Arundhati Roy giving speech on 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness'.

1] The Reader’s Digest Book of English Grammar and Comprehension for Very Young Children by S. Tilottama. (Question - Answer)

First story (The Old Man and His Son)

Why did the villagers cry more for the shambling wreck?

~ The villagers cry more for the shambling wreck because Ahmed Ganai was killed.

Why did the wreck shamble?

~  Wreck Shamble because his boy was killed.

Who is the hero of the story?

~ Bull is the hero of the story.

Who did the boy expect to be killed by?

(A) The Army

2] Three Points mentioned in the photo of board - work.

1) List of Characters

1. Anjum/Aftab - Protagonist,born intersex, Muslim hijra.

2.Mulaqat Ali - father of Aftab, Husband of Jahanara Begum,hakim.

3. Zainab - three-year-old girl, daughter of Anjum.

4.Saddam Hussain (Dayachand) - Guests at the Jannat Guest House.

5. Dr. Azad Bharatiya - One of the protestor near Jantar Mantar.

6. S. Tilottama - student at the Architecture School.

7. Mariyam Ipe - Mother of S. Tilottama, Syrian Christian.

8. Nagaraj Hariharan - top-notch journalist, Husband of Tilottama.

9. Biplab Dasgupta - secret lover of Tilottama.

10.Musa Yeswi (Commander Gulrez) - Tilottama's Classmate.

11. Begum Arifa Yeswi - Wife of Musa Yeswi.

12.Major Amrik Singh - Military Officer.

13.Jalib Qadri - Lawyer and human rights activist.

14.Comrade Revathy - Maoist from East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, raped by six policeman.

15.Jahanara Begum - Mother of Aftab.

16.Ahlam Baji - midwife who delivers Aftab.

17.Ustad Hameed Khan - Musician who taught Aftab Hindustani classical music.

18.Imam Ziauddin - The blind imam.

19.Kulsoom Bi - Ustad of Khwabgah

20. Heera, Baby, Nimmo, Mary, Gudiya, saeeda etc are Hijra community at Khwabgah.

21.Zakir Mian - He travels with Anjum.

22.Begum Zeenat Kauser - Anjum's aunty.

23.Roshan Lal - Headwaiter of Rosebud Rest-O-Bar

24. Majnu - The man who know English client of Anjuman.

25. Sangita Madam - Running Security office where Hussain work after leaving hospital.

26. Mr. Agrawal - Symbolic representation of Arvind Kejriwal.

27. Tubby old Gandhian - symbolic representation of Anna Hazare.

28. Gujarat ka Lalla - symbolic representation of Narendra Modi.

29. Chitra - Wife of Biplav.

30. Jebeen the second - baby that Tilottama brought from Jantarmantar.

31. Jebeen the first - daughter of Arifa Yeswi and Musa Yeswi.

31. Lavleen Singh - Wife of Captain Amrit singh.

32. ACP Pinky Sodhi

33. Balbir Sodhi

34. Khadija Aijaz

35. Jalil Quadri - activist, killed badly.

2) Plot and Narrative Style

The story begins with A strange older woman living in Grave Yard named Jannat. There is one another man named Imam Ziauddin who is old blind man became frequent companion of Anjum. Who came to know that the woman’s name is Anjum. She is a Hijra, a transwoman, who left Khwabgah many years ago. Then there is a story of Anjum's birth. Who born as a intersex, but her mother, Jahanara, gendered the child a boy and named him Aftab.

In a childhood Aftab was very good singer that causes the neighborhood kids to tease him about being too feminine. His father Mulaqat gave him suggestion to undergo a gender-change surgery, also tell him stories about his great warrior ancestors to inspire him towards masculinity. One day he noticed one Hijra girl walking beautifully and he followed her which lead him to Khwabgah, after that he keep visiting the place until he get 15 years old and then permanently moved there to live. In Khwabgah Aftab becomes Anjum permanently. She also gone through the gender transition surgery and becomes Female finally. She also became very famous among NGOs, human rights groups and journalists because of her beauty and aggressive feminity. All the way she becomes a successful Hijra.

One day Anjum finds one abandoned baby girl outside the mosque and took her with her. She treat the baby like her child and became her mother. She naming the baby Zainab. She mostly telling her realistic stories of her life. When Zainab reached at the age when she is ready to go to school suddenly she goes through a bout of ill health. So anjum decided to take her for pilgrimage with Zakir Mian to a holy Muslim site in Gujarat. In pilgrimage, Anjum and Zakir Mian face worst massacre, in which Zakir Mian was killed, but Anjum spared because they believe that to killing Hijra is bad luck. Anjum after returning from Gujarat stated behaving strangely. She started wearing clothes of boys and trying to dress Zainab as a little boy to protect her from suffering violence. When Ustad Kulsoom Bi Opposed this division, Anjum left Khwabgah, moved to Graveyard behind government hospital and started living there. She leaving Zainab in Saeeda’s care.

Slowly Anjum built a house in graveyard, where after some time Saddam Hussain, an unemployed Dalit young man on a mission to murder the police officer who caused the death of his father came and started living there. Who once witnessed his father's murder. Saddam Hussain also suggested Anjum that she should start charg to guests and for funeral services, And Anjum started calling her home Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services.

After that we find there is a a character of Biplab, a bureaucrat in the Indian government discovers that a tenant of his, Tilottama, has gone missing. He secretly loves Tilottama throughout his life. He met Tilottama in play performance as a student of university. But unfortunately Tilottama was dating Musa, a Kashmiri architect. There is one another character Naga who is journalist, who also is in love with Tilottama.Biplab is involved in the Kashmir conflict as a bureaucrat whose work serves primarily to cover up the atrocities committed by the Indian Army in the region. But soon he find himself a puppet of the government, who reveals only as much as the government want him to reveal. Naga is a journalist, and although he doesn’t see himself as corrupt in any way. One day Biplab received a message of Tilottama that army has captured her so Biplab sent Naga to save her, and naga save her from jail and soon Naga and Tilottama marry. But soon they divorced and Tilottama ask Biplab that if she rent one of his apartment. Here Biplav thought may now it's his chance for Tilottama. Before Biplab come to Tilottama's apartment, there is a wide public protest at Jantar  Mantar. It was started as an anti corruption protest by Gandhian. And later turned into hunger strike against corruption in India. There are many other causes and groups also joined the protest to get media coverage. Anjum and Hussain move to Jantar Mantar to see what is happening there. There is group called the Mothers of the Disappeared finds a baby abandoned on the pavement in front of the protest. Anjum decided to take baby with her but other protester Mr.Aggarwal. Anjum got fight with him as Mr. Aggarwal wanted to handover baby to police officer but Anjum was against it and wanted to take baby with her. In between the conflict baby disappeared and no one knows who taken the baby so Anjum and Hussain leave Jantar Mantar to find baby.

Later on readers comes to know that the baby was taken by Tilottama. The baby was named as Miss Jebeen the Second by Tilottama. The name is given after Musa's daughter who was murdered in massacre by the Indian government in Kashmir. Also her mother Arifa died in same massacre. Tilottama was also involved in Kashmir massacre after meeting Musa.  After Musa and Tilottama returned from the houseboat, the boat was raid by military police.Gulrez, a friend of musa killed by the military police.the military was led by Major Amrik Singh. Tilottama and Musa vows to take revenge of deaths. But Amrik Singh fled to California with his wife and childrens.

After taking baby from Jantar Mantar, The police are after her so Tilottama wants safe place to live, her friend Dr. Azad Bhartiya suggested her to Jannat Guest house and gave number of Sadam Hussain. Tilottama move to Jannat Guest House and started living there. She begins to work as a teacher for the poor, local children, and greatly enjoys her work. At another hand Sadam Hussain and Zainab falls in love and married. Many outcasts people came and start living in Jannat guest house. All the people at Jannat guest house are very happy. Jabeen the second raised surround peace, love and safety. The story ends here.

3) Fact and Fiction

1) Godhra Riots - Anjum and Zakir Mian visit to Gujarat, after completing their pilgrimage.

2) Una Case (Leaching of Dalit) - Case of Sadam Hussain (Dayachand) whose father killed in Hariyana for taking skin of dead animals.

3) Mr. Agrawal - Arvind Kejriwal

4)Tubby old Gandhian - Anna Hazare.

5)Gujarat ka Lalla - Narendra Modi.

6) Obsession of adopting names - Dr. Azad Bhartiy

7) Jantar Mantar Protest - Anjum and Sadam Hussain visited Jantar Mantar.

8) Sadam Hussain hanged by America - Dayachand adopted a name Sadam Hussain after seeing the news of hanging.

3] Write about any one theme or character of the novel with the help of Chat OpenAI GPT. Ask to Chat GPT and put screenshot as well as copy-paste the answer generated by this response generator.

What is the role of Anjum in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy?

Anjum is one of the main characters in Arundhati Roy's novel "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." Anjum is a hijra, a term used in South Asia to refer to individuals who identify as a third gender. She is a central figure in the novel and her story is woven throughout the book, as the reader follows her journey from a young boy named Aftab to a hijra named Anjum. She becomes the proprietor of a guesthouse called "Jannat Guest House" where she creates a community of outcasts and misfits, including widows, orphans and other marginalized people. She is a powerful symbol of acceptance and resilience and her story serves as a commentary on the treatment of marginalized people in India.

I hope this blog will be helpful to you. Thank you.

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundhati_Roy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_of_Utmost_Happiness

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-ministry-of utmosthappiness/summary

https://images.app.goo.gl/ZjgpHi5pw8kf56KR7

Thinking Activity : Mechanics of Writing.

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about The Mechanics of Writing, And three videos related to it.

What is Mechanics of Writing?

In composition, writing mechanics are the conventions governing the technical aspects of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations. Getting your main points together can be a challenge, and one solution is to put together a draft of main ideas before writing. Some writing textbooks also include issues related to usage and organization under the broad heading of mechanics. Mechanics of Writing includes spelling, punctuation, Italics, Names of person, Numbers, Title of work in the research paper, Quotations, Capitalization and Personal Names in Languages Other than English.

Read more about it

Video - 1

The video is about Academic Writing by Kalyan Chattopadhyay. The writing is of two types 1) Academic Writing, 2) Non - Academic Writing.  Which is also known as Formal vocab and informal vocab.

Academic writing is a formal style of writing that generally use for educational purposes. And in universities and scholarly publications. One has to analyze Journal, article and books and has to write research paper, Desertations and assignments in academic style. Mainly academic writing is structured well like the writing is divided into paragraphs and paragraphs are divided according topics and subtopics and at last concluding paragraph.

Academic writing includes various linguistic markers. It must be error free and with zero spelling error. Academic writing also includes The mechanics of writing like punctuation, spelling, Italics, Numbers, Quotations, Name of person etc. Academic writing is a little beat critical writing, while doing writing for academic purposes one has to make critical arguments, comparisons, analysis etc.

Language choice is also very important in academic writing. While doing academic writing, one has to choose appropriate formal language. And has to avoid informal language, and contraction, slang, and conversational phrases clichés.

The video begins with explanation of Formal and Informal vocab and examples. It also includes point of perspective. It means when one can do research work they are able and responsible to give a new argument.

Video - 2

In this video Prof. Atanu Bhattacharya explained Academic writing well. The outline of the talk is like this.

1) What not to do.

2) What can be done.

3) Web tools.

4) Case study.

Further Prof. Atanu Bhattacharya discussed that there are several kind of scales that will help to understand academic writing. Writing research papers, desertations, thesis etc are one kind of scale, another is publication scale for example research scholars has to publish their articles and journals etc. Here we also get example of Alan David Sokal and other scholars.

Publication scales : not so harmless. When one can upload their research works and desertation, thesis etc online, there are lots of people who come to watch. So this kind of scale is not so harmless. For this prof.Alan David Sokal gave one example of 'The emperor of all Melodies' by Siddhartha Mukherjee. In this paper Siddhartha Mukherjee gave one example of a report of breast cancer from Africa. The doctor found it can be curable and he published paper and he find that thousands of people got cure because of it. And laster people came to know that the data showed by the person was all fake. The meaning here is sometimes academic writing causes serious consequences.

A fake take away -

In this we find that academic writing has material effects. Some kinds of data, charts and rates can be material for academic writing.

Avoid a Jargon -

When one is publishing his/her research paper. It should be tke care that all the people who are reading our research paper is not familiar with the subject. So we has to form our research paper in a way that is simple and easy to understand for all. Another points are Research and publication ethics, and carefully choose the topic that was discussed in the video.

Few tips for academic writing is given in the video. Tips like,

1) Introduction last - because at the end you are aware that what your research is and how it ends, so you can write better introduction at last.

2) Creat an Index literature review -  Indexes are not need to do in MLA or Chicago style but it simply a names of books which helps to understand what there is in the books exactly.

3) Be sure of the triangulated methods - it means while doing research work one has to analyze work with various perspective and various point of views for example historical views, from the point of view of biography or fiction etc.

There are three more suggestion given that are,

1) Do not repeat the same arguments.

2) Use available digital tools

3) Follow the literature

Many helpful digital tools are also suggested in video. Like websites to publish our journals. like,

1) Zotero

2) Grammarly - it helps to improve writing and to refin writing.

3) Mendeley

4) Microsoft Word

5)OWL (Online Writing Lab)

6) Reverso

7) Excelsior Online writing lab

Avoid plagiarism

Click to read my blog on plagiarism.

As per Oxford Dictionary, Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. If one is taking ideas or words from somewhere it must needed to cite that source.  There are several types given in video of plagiarism are,

1- Verbatim of rephrasing without acknowledgement.

2- Inappropriate collaboration.

3- Other assistance without acknowledgement.

4- Cheating (copying others’ work).

5- Duplication (submitting same work for different courses/ programs/ degrees).

6- Research fabrication and falsification.

7- Using computer networks for false attribution.

Video - 3

The third video is also by Prof. Atanu Bhattacharya. In this video he discussed about 'The Mechanics of Writing'.

The first point in it discussed is formulating propositions. Formulation of propositions follows this particular linguistic form -

Key term + verb (be)/ is defined as/ Can be defined/ may be defined as/ is often defined as + [in] which/ that/ where/ when + Defining features.

The second part is Gener : classification. The classification technique here used is Swale's CARS Model.

Definition

 |

Purpose

 |

Justification

 |

literature Review

 |

Method

  |

Argument

  |

Conclusion

Organization of Idea

For organization of idea many softwares available now. There are two examples given in the video that are,

1) MindMup

2) Mindly

Paraphrasing

1- Avoid repeating yourself.

2- Avoid quoting someone eles exactly.

3- Change your vocabulary and do not repeat.

4- Develop your own voice in your writing.

Introduction

1) The Rational -

This includes several points like why we are doing such research? What is the point of doing this? How interested we are in research? What is your position in that research?

2) The thesis statement/ the topic sentence -

It is all about research topic that research is about what.and how it is supported by other evidence. It structures the entire thesis.

3) Contextualizing Material -

It is linked with 'The thesis statement'. It is all about other works happened in this area of your research paper.

4)A statement to gain the reader's interest -

One need his/her own sentence to write so that they can provide audience something that is of his own and not taken from anywhere. Researcher has to mentioned the work that has been done by others and then his/her own arguments in favor or opposed.

5) A basic Definition -

Researcher need to define his/her topic. And has to give basic introduction about the topic so it will be easy to guess what the content about.

At last Noun Phrases and nominalizations,Stance, Hedging Language, Passivization,General structures of an Argument are also discussed in the video by prof.Atanu Bhattacharya.

I hope this blog will be helpful to you. Thank you.

Images - 4

Videos - 3

References

https://images.app.goo.gl/RwPk6JHV7khx4Pdo9

https://carleton.ca/keirarmstrong/learning-resources/essay-guidelines/mechanics-of-writing/

https://images.app.goo.gl/9xmCwFy24tUo2zfZ7

Thinking Activity : Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written as a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about part one of the novel 'Petals of Blood' by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Also going to discuss about characters of the novel.

About Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan author and academic. Mainly he writes in Gikuyu and formerly wrote in English. His original name is James Thiong’o Ngugi. He was born in January 5, 1938.Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o considered East Africa's leading novelist.His popular Weep Not, Child (1964) was the first major novel in English by an East African. He received his bachelor's degree from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in 1963. He served as a lecturer in English at University College, Nairobi, Kenya, and as a visiting professor of English at Northwestern University.

His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright, is translated into 100 languages from around the world. He also received numbers of awards like,1) 1963: The East Africa Novel Prize, 2) 1964: Unesco First Prize for his novel, Weep Not Child, 3) 1973: The Lotus Prize for Literature, 4) 1992 (6 April): The Paul Robeson award, 5) 1992 (October): honoured by New York University by being appointed to the Erich Maria Remarque Professorship in Languages, 6) 1993: The Zola Neale Hurston-Paul Robeson Award, for artistic and scholarly achievement, awarded by the National Council for Black Studies, in Accra, Ghana, 7)1994 (October): The Gwendolyn Brooks Center Contributors Award,8) 1996: The Fonlon-Nichols Prize, New York,9)2001: Nonino International Prize for Literature, 10) 2008: (October, 24) Grinzane for Africa Award etc.

He wrote numbers of works including novels like, 1)Weep Not, Child (1964), 2)The River Between (1965), 3) A Grain of Wheat (1967, 1992), and 4) Petals of Blood (1977) etc. His Plays includes 1) The Black Hermit (1963), 2) "The Wound in the Heart", 3) The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (1976) etc. He also wrote Short stories,Memoirs,Children's books and other nonfictions. Let me here discuss about his famous novel, 'Petals of Blood'. Watch the video given below to learn more about Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.

About 'Petals of Blood'

Original text

Petals of Blood is a novel written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and first published in 1977.The novel begen in 1963. Flashback technique are used by author in this novel. Petals of Blood was Ngugi's first novel written whilst not in full-time education, instead written over a five-year period. The novel Set in Kenya just after independence, the story follows four characters – Munira, Abdulla, Wanja, and Karega – whose lives are intertwined due to the Mau Mau rebellion. In order to escape city life, each retreats to the small, pastoral village of Ilmorog. As the novel progresses, the characters deal with the repercussions of the Mau Mau rebellion as well as with a new, rapidly westernizing Kenya.

Ngugi was inspired to write the novel as a way of synthesizing the notion of a postcolonial nation, and a willingness to portray the agents of social change present in Kenya's change from its colonial past. Petals of Blood was the last of Ngugi's novels to be written first in English. The novel largely deals with the scepticism of change after Kenya's independence from colonial rule, questioning to what extent free Kenya merely emulates, and subsequently perpetuates, the oppression found during its time as a colony. Other themes include the challenges of capitalism, politics, and the effects of westernization. Education, schools, and the Mau Mau rebellion are also used to unite the characters, who share a common history with one another. (Wikipedia)

Major themes of the novel are,

1. corruption,

2. Capitalism,

3. Land,

4. Education

Major characters

1)Munira - School teacher. 

2)Wanja - Barmaid, Prostitute.

3) Abdulla - Shopkeeper.

4) Karega - School Teacher.

5) Nyakinyua - Grandmother of Wanja.

6) Kimeria - Businessman.

7) Chui - School boy.

8)Nderi wa Riera -MP, Politician.

9) Mzigo - Education Officer

10) Joseph - Son of Abdulla

11) Inspector Godfrey - An officer in charge of the murder investigation.

12) Mwathi wa Mugo - Ilmorog's local diviner.

13)Mukami - Munira's sister.

14) Ezekieli - Munira's father.

15)Mariamu - Mother of Karega

16) Cambridge Fraudsham - A strict, Christian headmaster.

There are many other characters in the novel. Click here to read about all the characters of the novel.

Watch video about 'Petals of Blood'.

Question - Answer

Write a note on the first chapter of the novel (Interrogation of all characters)

The entire novel is divided into four parts and all the parts are divided into chapters. First chapter includes six chapters. Let take a look chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1

The novel Begin with the description of main characters like Munira, Karega, Wanja and Abdulla. The novel is in the flashback technique. There are three murder of Kenyans. Two businessman Kimeria and Mzigo and an educator Chui. And the person who accused for murder is Munira. Munira is in police station and police inquiry is happening about murders when the novel begin.

Abdulla is also blamed and he is locked in the police station. Wanja is injured and is in the hospital. While Karega is asleep when police bring him to the police station. People often think that he is arrested because of his divisions about strike, he taken at last night but police declared that it is about murder case.  At last in the first chapter we find the headlines reads that Mzigo, Chui, and Kimeria, African directors of the Theng’eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd., were burnt to death last night, and murder is suspected. Chapter one ends here.

Chapter - 2

The story goes into flashbck technique. Twelve year ago. Munira came to Ilmorog to teach, but everyone was surprised that why he came here to teach when all eles are leaving the place one by one. Here the story introduced us a character of One mother, Wambui, who questioned him that why he has came here to teach when All the young men and women usually leave the village. Abdulla and his donkey is also new to the village. In between everyone eles surprise Abdulla opened a shop. His little son Joseph is also with him. Abdulla has stump leg. Later we find that The old men reported their findings on Munira to Nyakinyua, a respected old woman,concluding he was all right. It is hard for Munira to adjust himself in this village but at last he is satisfied that he is no more working in Limuru under the shadow of his father’s success.

Later Munira visited Mzigo. Who is the Education Officer there and ask for help to develop school and in between Munira's surprise he agreed. Munira spent almost his entire life in Limuru. His brother and Father both are successful in their field. Munira taught at several places before he came to Ilmorog. Here, in the novel we find reference of Munira's sister Mukami who recently committee suicide. Munira's father Ezekieli, was tall and austere and holy. A wealthy landowner. There is a women working in their farm named Mariamu who later fired by Munira's father because he came to know that the women has some connection with the Mau Mau rebellion but in reality she was unaware about it and just know that her son may have been a guerilla. Because of the guilt for what happened with that women Munira left the place and States himself in Ilmorog. For that he wrote that,

“like his first conscious act of breaking with this sense of non-being”

Ater visiting Mzigo, Munira settled back into teaching. People also started accepting him and helping him, bring things which he need in teaching. The character who help him the most is Mwathi wa Mugo, Munira now spending his most of the time at Abdulla's shop and forget about his past guilt and fear. Mostly they discuss about Colonialism and about a person Nderi wa Riera-aa who is local MP. Abdulla and Munira both are happy now.The rains came and everyone was busy. In very short time of six months Ilmorog became Munira’s “personal possession: he was a feudal; head of a big house or a big mbari lord surveying his estate”

One day a child said he saw a flower with petals of blood, and Munira told him blood was not a color. The children began asking him questions about God and laws and nature and he was uncomfortable, as he tried to avoid such thoughts. He decided he will not take them outside again.

One day Munira met a girl who is very friendly to him but Munira doubted thet might Mzigo sent her to spy on him. But later he visit to Abdulla's shop and found that women there whose name is Wanja, and she is the granddaughter of Nyakinyua.  Though Munira and wanja are unknown to each other they started wandering around. Munira told Abdulla and Wanja about Siriana. And The most impressive student was Chui. Chui was smart, intelligent, stylish and star of everything. Who is Also headmaster of the school, the white Rev. There is one more character in the novel that is Hallowes Ironmonger who like Chui.The Ironmongers left the school eventually, and a Cambridge Fraudsham came to the school. Who is strict Christian headmaster. So students now compulsory has to salute British flag every morning and sang songs to God. But Chui led strike against it and Munira joined. When Munira done with sharing his experience, Abdulla told Joseph to serve more beer. Wanja suggested that she will work here and let Joseph study as he is just seven year old.

Wanja started working in shope of Abdulla and became one of them but Wanja is still mystery for all. One day she disappeared and returned after some days with her things. Munira is also started being attracted towards Wanja. Village people also started facing problem of failure of the crops and the harvest. One day Munira go to Wanja's home and found Abdulla there. Wanja began to share his past story with both of men. She said that she was in love with a boy name Ritho, who wanted to become engineer. But when Wanja's parents came to know about it they beat her because the boy was not Christian and poorer than them.

One man came to town who later became very good friend with Wanja's father and eventually he became intimate with Wanja, Wanja got pregnant out of it. Her parents was so angry and upset with it.She also had to leave school. When she goes to the man and told him about her pregnancy, he said she could be a second wife. But she don't want this so she go to her cousin and her cousin suggest her to be barmaid because she was not educated. She conclud with the statement that, That's the reason why she always wanted childrens to be educated. Munira and Abdulla listed her carefully.

Chapter 3

The story get back into present from flashback. Munira is telling this story of wanja to police officer but police officer is frustrated and thinking that the story has nothing to do with present. Munira was imprisoned and when very next day he came out of the cell he turned into totally different man with expressionless face. There is a Inspector Godfrey, who is inquiring today with Munira and he wanted to know about the general mental state and movements of Abdulla, Wanja, and Karega on the night of the murder, and even the weeks before.

Munira began to tell about Karega that how he meet him and his some past shadowing connection with Karega.Munira had been coming home from the headquarters in Ruwa-ini and encountered Karega who help him to carry iteams in and Munira unwillingly offered him tea. While talking Karega remind Mariamu from his father’s land. And said that he was from Limuru. While talking about poor peasants, Munira's mind flickered to Wanja and his child. Karega later told about his brother and death of his brother that he himself came to know from Mukami, but Munira is confused that how Mukami and Karega are connected.Karega asked question after question of Munira about his time at Siriana—about Fraudsham, about Chui. Munira felt like the past was being resurrected but he felt that Karega saw him as a fraud. Further in the story we find reference of Ndinguri who is brother of Karega. Further we also find Munira’s stomach tightened when she mentioned Dedan Kimathi, for he had not taken part in that period of war and felt guilty. Later Munira and Wanja take a walk.

During walk Munira asked Wanja that what happened to her child but Wanja told him nothing and they returned back silently. When they returned to Abdulla's shop they saw that Karega had gone. The story again jumping to present. Munira speaking to Inspector Godfrey.

Chapter 4

In the beginning of the fourth chapter the narrator discussing about Kenya's history. As per narrator the history of Kenya does not begin with imperialism and colonialism but it's a long and wondrous past. The story moves further. Abdulla is now more cheerful because Joseph doing good at school and his business also going well.People said it was because of Wanja. Wanja was part of the village now. She enjoyed gossiping with the women who asked her about city men. That year there were poor harvest and no rain. Wanja's behavior suddenly began to change. She one day burst out of Munira that she hated Ilmorog and dirty village area and in very next moment she started laughing. She also blame Abdulla for not paying her enough. Suddenly after it she stood and began to dance faster and faster, with an expression of pain and ecstasy on her face.

Now Munira started looking towards Wanja lustfully. Abdulla offer her partnership in his business but Wanja denied. Next day Nyakinyua came to them and informed that Wanja left but may be she will return as she left her some of the things here.

Chapter - 5

A year passed after Wanja left. Problem of less rain is still there. Munira is trying to shift his focus into teaching and try to suppress his memories and love for Wanja. In many ways Ilmorog changed and the things are not same there. Abdulla was also changed. he cursing Joseph more often. Village people are worried about rain. And the center of focus is Abdulla's donkey who is eating too much grace. When one older men concerned about it with Abdulla, Abdulla got angry. Also Joseph is afraid that he would not be able to go to school and he missed Wanja. Eventually school opened and Munira decided to go to Mzigo to ask for more teachers but before he go, two special things happened. One is a tax officer came in a Land Rover with gun-carrying men. And all the men of village were vanished. Then more men came and said they were from Nderi wa Riera. Then with this things in mind Munira goest to Mzigo who told him that he himself will be the new headmaster of the school and he would like to help Munira. Mzigo gave Munira envelope, The envelope suggests that KCO inviting Munira and his staff for tea at Gatundu. Munira is happy decided to go to home Limuru as soon as possible so that he can gave this good news to his wife.

When he reached to Limuru, he saw that the land is more fertile here than Ilmorog. Now the sory moves on and Munira started thinking about his father who was at that time known as Waweru. His father and grandfather driven from land and the land encroached by the “red stranger”, Munira's father was so memorized by the power of that strangers accepted Christianity, he joined the Christian church and became Ezekieli. Later in life he became very rich, landlord and wealthy Churchman. After returning from Gatandu, Munira's wife Julia was disappointed. Munira started seeing his father in more positive light and decided to talk him. When Munira talk to his father his father told that he is disappointed with his brother (Munira's brother) and want him to look after the land he holds. Munira also asked him about his sister Mukami, But all he received in answer is she kept a bad company. Munira and his father also discussed about Mau Mau and KOC, but both are disagreed with each others views. When munira came back he found Wanja there.

After living Ilmorog, Wanja met Somali whom she liked, and she suggested going back to her place, which she never did. When They both got there, Wanja found someone is trying to trap them both and she was terrified and returned back to Ilmorog. Now Wanja, Munira and Karega set together and drink whole day, they also shared a common pain and hope.

Chapter 6

After returning to Ilmorog. Wanja was telling herself this would be a new beginning; she would break with her past. Karega was unsure what to expect but felt grateful that Munira had told him he could be a teacher at the school. When they returned to village, Abdulla  and Joseph were there with Nyakinyua. They are discussing about donkey, elders wanted to kill the donkey so that it could not drive the plague.

April came but still there were no rain. The  elders went to Mwathi wa Mugo, who said the donkey and a goat must be sacrificed. Due to lack of rain, karega suggested that they could go to their MP Nderi wa Riera and tell him they were members of the KCO and needed help. Wanja and Munira also joined this plan. They convinced villagers. This seemed like a war, a new kind of war. The journey began.

Part one ended.

Click to read deeply about other parts and part one.

Watch some interesting video by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o on various subjects.

Videos - 6

Images - 1

References

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ngugi-wa-Thiongo

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petals_of_Blood#:~:text=Petals%20of%20Blood%20is%20a,to%20the%20Mau%20Mau%20rebellion.

https://www.gradesaver.com/petals-of-blood/study guide/character-list

https://www.gradesaver.com/petals-of-blood/study-guide/summary-part-i-chapters-4-6