Stress

In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be

given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a
phrase or sentence. Stress is typically signaled by such properties
as increased loudness and vowel length, full articulation of the
vowel, and changes in pitch. The terms stress and accent are
often used synonymously, but they are sometimes distinguished,
with certain specific kinds of prominence (such as pitch accent,
variously defined) being considered to fall under accent but not
under stress. In this case, stress specifically may be called stress
accent or dynamic accent.
The stress placed on syllables within words is called word
stress or lexical stress. Some languages have fixed stress,
meaning that the stress on virtually any multisyllable word falls
on a particular syllable, such as the first or the penultimate. Other
languages, like English, have variable stress, where the position of
stress in a word is not predictable in that way. Sometimes more
than one level of stress, such as primary stress and secondary
stress, may be identified. However, some languages are
considered to lack lexical stress entirely.
The stress placed on words within sentences is called
sentence stress or prosodic stress. This is one of the three
components of prosody, along with rhythm and intonation. It
includes phrasal stress (the default emphasis of certain words
within phrases or clauses), and contrastive stress (used to
highlight an item a word, or occasionally just part of a word
that is given particular focus).
for example:
I
I
I
I
I
I

didn't
didn't
didn't
didn't
didn't
didn't

take the test yesterday. (Somebody else did.)

take the test yesterday. (I did not take it.)
take the test yesterday. (I did something else with it.)
take the test yesterday. (I took a different one.)
take the test yesterday. (I took something else.)
take the test yesterday. (I took it some other day.)

In English, stress is most dramatically realized on focused or

accented words. For instance, consider the dialogue
"Is it brunch tomorrow?"
"No, it's dinner tomorrow."

Intonation
In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to
distinguish words; instead it is used for a range of functions such as indicating the
attitudes and emotions of the speaker, signalling the difference between statements
and questions, and between different types of questions, focusing attention on
important elements of the spoken message and also helping to regulate
conversational interaction. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation in some
languages does distinguish words, either lexically or grammatically. (The term tone
is used by some British writers in their descriptions of intonation, but this is to refer
to the pitch movement found on the nucleus or tonic syllable in an intonation unit
see Intonation in English: British Analyses of English Intonation, below).
Although intonation is primarily a matter of pitch variation, it is important to
be aware that functions attributed to intonation such as the expression of attitudes
and emotions, or highlighting aspects of grammatical structure, almost always
involve concomitant variation in other prosodic features. Crystal[1] for example says
that "...intonation is not a single system of contours and levels, but the product of
the interaction of features from different prosodic systems tone, pitch-range,
loudness, rhythmicality and tempo in particular."
Most transcription conventions have been devised for describing one
particular accent or language, and the specific conventions therefore need to be
explained in the context of what is being described. However, for general purposes
the International Phonetic Alphabet offers the two intonation marks shown in the
box at the head of this article. Global rising and falling intonation are marked with a
diagonal arrow rising left-to-right [] and falling left-to-right [], respectively. These
may be written as part of a syllable, or separated with a space when they have a
broader scope:
He found it on the street?
[ hi fand t | n stit ]
Here the rising pitch on street indicates that the question hinges on that word, on
where he found it, not whether he found it.
Yes, he found it on the street.
[js hi fand t | n stit ]
How did you ever escape?
[ha ddju | v | skep ]
Here, as is common with wh- questions, there is a rising intonation on the question
word, and a falling intonation at the end of the question.
In many descriptions of English, the following intonation patterns are distinguished:

Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice rises over time [];
Falling Intonation means that the pitch falls with time [];

Dipping or Fall-rise Intonation falls and then rises [];

Peaking or Rise-fall Intonation rises and then falls [].

WHAT IS AN EDUCATED FILIPINO?

by Francisco Benitez

What is an educated Filipino and what qualities should distinguish him

today?
The conception of education and of what an educated man is varies in
response to fundamental changes in the details and aims of society. In our
country and during this transition stage in our national life, what are the
qualities which an educated man should possess?
Great changes have taken place in the nature of our social life during the last
forty years. The contact with Americans and their civilization has modified
many of our own social customs, traditions, and practices, some for the
worse and many for the better. The means of communication have improved
and therefore better understanding exists among the different sections of
our country. Religious freedom has developed religious tolerance in our
people. The growth of public schools and the establishment of democratic
institutions have developed our national consciousness both in strength and
in solidarity.
With this growth in national consciousness and national spirit among
our people, we witness the corresponding rise of a new conception of
education - the training of the individual for the duties and privileges of
citizenship, not only for his own happiness and efficiency but also for national
service and welfare. In the old days, education was a matter of private
concern; now it is a public function, and the state not only has the duty but it
has the right as well to educate every member of the community - the old as
well as the young, women as well as men - not only for the good of the
individual but also for the self-preservation and protection of the State itself.
Our modern public school system has been established as a safeguard
against the shortcomings and dangers of a democratic government and
democratic institutions.
In the light of social changes, we come again to the question: What
qualities should distinguish the educated Filipino of today? I venture to
suggest that the educated Filipino should first be distinguished by the power
to do. The Oriental excels in reflective thinking; he is a philosopher. The
Occidental is the doer; he manages things, men and affairs. The Filipino of
today needs more of his power to translate reflection into action. I believe
that we are coming more and more to the conviction that no Filipino has the
right to be considered educated unless he is prepared and ready to take an
active and useful part in the work, life, and progress of our country as well as
in the progress of the world.
The power to do embraces the ability to produce enough to support
oneself and to contribute to the economic development of the Philippines.
Undoubtedly, a man may be, and often is, an efficient producer of economic
goods and at the same time he may not be educated. But should we
consider a man who is utterly unable to support himself and is an economic
burden to the society in which he lives as educated merely because he
possesses the superficial graces of culture? I hope that no one will
understand me as saying that, the only sign of economic efficiency is the

ability to produce material goods, for useful social participation may take the
form of any of any of the valuable services rendered to society trough such
institutions as the home, the school, the church and the government. The
mother, for example, who prepares wholesome meals, takes good care of her
children and trains them in morals and right conduct at home, renders
efficient service to the country as well as the statesman or the captain of
industry.
I would not make the power to do the final and only test of the educated
Filipino; but I believe that in our present situation, it is fundamental and
basic.
The educated Filipino, in the third place, must have ingrained in his
speech and conduct those elements that are everywhere recognized as
accompaniments of culture and morality; so that, possessing the capacity for
self - entertainment and study, he may not be at the mercy of the pleasure
of the senses only or a burden to himself when alone.
There are, then, at least three characteristics which I believe to be the
evidence of the educated Filipino - the power to do, to support himself and
contribute to the wealth of our people; acquaintance with the world's
progress, especially with that of his race, people, and the community,
together with love of our best ideals and traditions; and refined manners and
moral conduct as well as the power of growth.

The Hands of the Blacks

by Luis Bernardo Honwana
I dont remember now how we got on to the subject, but
one day, Teacher said that the palms of the Blacks hands
were much lighter than the rest of their bodies. This is
because only a few centuries ago, they walked around with
them like wild animals, so their palms werent exposed to the
sun, which made the rest of their bodies darker. I thought of
this when Father Christiano told us after catechism that we
were absolutely hopeless, and that even the pygmies were
better than us, and he went back to this thing about their
hands being lighter, and said it was like that because they
always went about with their hands folded together, praying
in secret. I thought this was so funny, this thing of the Blacks
hands being lighter, that you should just see me now. I do not
let go of anyone, whoever they are, until they tell me why
they think that the palms of the Blacks hands are lighter.
Doa Dores, for instance, told me that God made Blacks
hands lighter so they would not dirty the food they made for
their masters, or anything else they were ordered to do that
had to be kept clean.
Seor Antunes, the Coca-Cola man, who only comes to
the village now and again when all the Cokes in the cantinas
have been sold, said it was a lot of baloney. Of course, I do
not know if it was really such, but he assured me, it was. After

that I said, All right, it was baloney, and then he told me

what he knew about this thing of the Blacks hands. It was
like this: Long ago, many years ago, God the Father, Jesus
Christ, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, many other saints, all the
angels that were in Heaven, and some of the people who had
died and gone to Heaventhey all had a meeting and
decided to create the Blacks. Do you know how? They got
hold of some clay and pressed it into some second-hand
molds and baked the clay of creatures, which they took from
the heavenly kilns. Because they were in a hurry and there
was no room next to the fire, they hung them in the
chimneys. Smoke, smoke, smokeand there you have them,
black as coals. And now, do you want to know why their
hands stayed white? Well, didnt they have to hold on while
their clay baked?
When he told me this, Seor Antunes and the other men
who were around us were very pleased and they all burst out
laughing. That very same day, Seor Frias told me that
everything i had heard from them there had been just one big
pack of lies. Really and truly, what he knew about the Blacks
hands was rightthat God finished men and told them to
bathe in a lake in Heaven. After bathing, the people were nice
and white. The Blacks, well. They were made very early in the
morning and at this hour, the water in the lake was very cold,
so they only wet the palms of their hands and the soles of
their feet before dressing and coming to the world.

But I read in a book that happened to mention the

story, that the Blacks have hands lighter like this because
they spent their lives bent over, gathering the white
cotton of Virginia and I dont know where else. Of course,
Doa Estefania did not agree when i told her this.
According to her, it is only because their hands became
bleached with all that washing.
Well, I do not know what to think about all this but
the truth is that however calloused and cracked they may
be, Black hands are always lighter than the rest of him.
And thats that!

My mother is the only one who must be right about

this question of a Blacks hands being lighter than the
rest of his body. On the day that we were talking about it,
I was telling her what I already knew about the question,
and she could not stop laughing. When I was talking, she
did not tell me at once what she thought about all this
and she only talked when she was sure that I wouldnt get
tired of bothering her about it. And even then, she was
crying and clutching herself around the stomach like
someone who had laughed so much that it was quite
unbearable. What she said was more or less this:
God made Blacks because they had to be. They had
to be, my son. He thought they really had to be.
Afterwards, He regretted having made them because
other men laughed at them and took away their homes
and put them to serve as slaves and not much better. But
because He couldnt make them all white, for those who
were used to seeing them black would complain, He
made it so that the palms of their hands would be exactly
like the palms of the hands of other men. And do you
know why that was? Well, listen: it was to show that what
men do is only the work of men... that what men do is
done by hands that are the samehands of people. How,
if they had any sense, would know that before anything
else they are men. He must have been thinking of this
when He made the hands of those men who thank God
they are not black!
After telling me all this, my mother kissed my
hands. As I ran off to the yard to play ball, I thought that I
had never seen a person cry so much as my mother did
then.

The Soul of the Great Bell

by Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)

The water-clock marks the hour in the Tachung sz', in the Tower of the
Great Bell: now the mallet is lifted to smite the lips of the metal monster-the
vast lips inscribed with Buddhist texts from the sacred Fa-hwa-King, from the
chapters of the holy Ling-yen-King! Hear the great bell responding!-how
mighty her voice, though tongueless! KO-NGAI! All the little dragons on the
high-tilted eaves of the green roofs shiver to the tips of their gilded tails
under that deep wave of sound; all the porcelain gargoyles tremble on their
carven perches; all the hundred little bells of the pagodas quiver with desire
to speak. KO-NGAI-all the green-and-gold tiles of the temple are vibrating;
the wooden goldfish above them are writhing against the sky; the uplifted
finger of Fo shakes high over the heads of the worshippers through the blue
fog of incense! KO-NGAI!-What a thunder tone was that! All the lacquered
goblins on the palace cornices wriggle their fire-coloured tongues! And after
each huge shock, how wondrous the multiple echo and the great golden
moan, and, at last, the sudden sibilant sobbing in the ears when the
immense tone faints away in broken whispers of silver, as though a woman
should whisper, "Hiai!" Even so the great bell hath sounded every day for
well-nigh five hundred years-Ko-Ngai: first with stupendous clang, then with
immeasurable moan of gold, then with silver murmuring of "Hiai!" And there
is not a child in all the many-coloured ways of the old Chinese city who does
not know the story of the great bell, who cannot tell you why the great bell
says Ko-Ngai and Hiai!
Now this is the story of the great bell in the Tachung sz', as the same is
related in the Pe-Hiao-Tou-Choue, written by the learned Yu-Pao-Tchen, of the
City of Kwang-tchau-fu.
Nearly five hundred years ago the Celestially August, the Son of
Heaven, Yong-Lo, of the "Illustrious" or Ming dynasty, commanded the worthy
official Kouan-Yu that he should have a bell made of such size that the sound
thereof might be heard for one hundred li. And he further ordained that the
voice of the bell should be strengthened with brass, and deepened with gold,
and sweetened with silver; and that the face and the great lips of it should
be graven with blessed sayings from the sacred books, and that it should be
suspended in the centre of the imperial capital to sound through all the
many-coloured ways of the City of Pe-King.
Therefore the worthy mandarin Kouan-Yu assembled the master-moulders
and the renowned bellsmiths of the empire, and all men of great repute and
cunning in foundry work; and they measured the materials for the alloy, and
treated them skilfully, and prepared the moulds, the fires, the instruments,
and the monstrous melting-pot for fusing the metal. And they laboured
exceedingly, like giants neglecting only rest and sleep and the comforts of
life; toiling both night and day in obedience to Kouan-Yu, and striving in all
things to do the behest of the Son of Heaven.
But when the metal had been cast, and the earthen mould separated
from the glowing casting, it was discovered that, despite their great labour
and ceaseless care, the result was void of worth; for the metals had rebelled
one against the other-the gold had scorned alliance with the brass, the silver
would not mingle with the molten iron. Therefore the moulds had to be once
more prepared, and the fires rekindled, and the metal remelted, and all the
work tediously and toilsomely repeated. The Son of Heaven heard and was

angry, but spake nothing.

A second time the bell was cast, and the result was even worse. Still the
metals obstinately refused to blend one with the other; and there was no
uniformity in the bell, and the sides of it were cracked and fissured, and the
lips of it were slagged and split asunder; so that all the labour had to be
repeated even a third time, to the great dismay of Kouan-Yu. And when the
Son of Heaven heard these things, he was angrier than before; and sent his
messenger to Kouan-Yu with a letter, written upon lemon-coloured silk and
sealed with the seal of the dragon, containing these words:
"From the Mighty Young-Lo, the Sublime Tait-Sung, the Celestial and
August, whose reign is called 'Ming,' to Kouan-Yu the Fuh-yin: Twice thou
hast betrayed the trust we have deigned graciously to place in thee; if thou
fail a third time in fulfilling our command, thy head shall be severed from thy
neck.Tremble, and obey!
Now, Kouan-Yu had a daughter of dazzling loveliness whose name-KoNgai-was ever in the mouths of poets, and whose heart was even more
beautiful than her face. Ko-Ngai loved her father with such love that she had
refused a hundred worthy suitors rather than make his home desolate by her
absence; and when she had seen the awful yellow missive, sealed with the
Dragon-Seal, she fainted away with fear for her father's sake. And when her
senses and her strength returned to her, she could not rest or sleep for
thinking of her parent's danger, until she had secretly sold some of her
jewels, and with the money so obtained had hastened to an astrologer, and
paid him a great price to advise her by what means her father might be
saved from the peril impending over him. So the astrologer made
observations of the heavens, and marked the aspect of the Silver Stream
(which we call the Milky Way), and examined the signs of the Zodiac-the
Hwang-tao, or Yellow Road-and consulted the table of the Five Hin, or
Principles of the Universe, and the mystical books of the alchemists. And
after a long silence, he made answer to her, saying: "Gold and brass will
never meet in wedlock, silver and iron never will embrace, until the flesh of a
maiden be melted in the crucible; until the blood of a virgin be mixed with
the metals in their fusion." So Ko-Ngai returned home sorrowful at heart; but
she kept secret all that she had heard, and told no one what she had done.
At last came the awful day when the third and last effort to cast the
great bell was to be made; and Ko-Ngai, together with her waiting-woman,
accompanied her father to the foundry, and they took their places upon a
platform overlooking the toiling of the moulders and the lava of liquefied
metal. All the workmen wrought at their tasks in silence; there was no sound
heard but the muttering of the fires. And the muttering deepened into a roar
like the roar of typhoons approaching, and the blood-red lake of metal slowly
brightened like the vermilion of a sunrise, and the vermilion was transmuted
into a radiant glow of gold, and the gold whitened blindingly, like the silver
face of a full moon. Then the workers ceased to feed the raving flame, and
all fixed their eyes upon the eyes of Kouan-Yu; and Kouan-Yu prepared to give
the signal to cast.
But ere ever he lifted his finger, a cry caused him to turn his head and
all heard the voice of Ko-Ngai sounding sharply sweet as a bird's song above
the great thunder of the fires-"For thy sake, O my father!" And even as she
cried, she leaped into the white flood of metal; and the lava of the furnace
roared to receive her, and spattered monstrous flakes of flame to the roof,

and burst over the verge of the earthen crater, and cast up a whirling
fountain of many-coloured fires, and subsided quakingly, with lightnings and
with thunders and with mutterings.Then the father of Ko-Ngai, wild with his
grief, would have leaped in after her, but that strong men held him back and
kept firm grasp upon him until he had fainted away, and they could bear him
like one dead to his home. And the serving-woman of Ko-Ngai, dizzy and
speechless for pain, stood before the furnace, still holding in her hands a
shoe, a tiny, dainty shoe, with embroidery of pearls and flowers-the shoe of
her beautiful mistress that was. For she had sought to grasp Ko-Ngai by the
foot as she leaped, but had only been able to clutch the shoe, and the pretty
shoe came off in her hand; and she continued to stare at it like one gone
mad.
But in spite of all these things, the command of the Celestial and
August had to be obeyed, and the work of the moulders to be finished,
hopeless as the result might be. Yet the glow of the metal seemed purer and
whiter than before; and there was no sign of the beautiful body that had
been entombed therein. So the ponderous casting was made; and lo! when
the metal had become cool, it was found that the bell was beautiful to look
upon and perfect in form, and wonderful in colour above all other bells. Nor
was there any trace found of the body of Ko-Ngai; for it had been totally
absorbed by the precious alloy, and blended with the well-blended brass and
gold, with the intermingling of the silver and the iron. And when they
sounded the bell, its tones were found to be deeper and mellower and
mightier than the tones of any other bell, reaching even beyond the distance
of one hundred li, like a pealing of summer thunder; and yet also like some
vast voice uttering a name, a woman's name, the name of Ko-Ngai.And still,
between each mighty stroke there is a long low moaning heard; and ever the
moaning ends with a sound of sobbing and of complaining, as though a
weeping woman should murmur, "Hiai!" And still, when the people hear that
great golden moan they keep silence, but when the sharp, sweet shuddering
comes in the air, and the sobbing of "Hiai!" then, indeed, do all the Chinese
mothers in all the many-coloured ways of Pe-King whisper to their little ones:
"Listen! that is Ko-Ngai crying for her shoe! That is Ko-Ngai calling for her
shoe!"

The Aged Mother

by: Matsuo Basho
Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer
and his aged, widowed mother. They owned a bit of land which supplied
them with food, and their humble were peaceful andhappy.Shining was
governed by a despotic leader who though a warrior, had a great and
cowardly shrinking from anything suggestive of failing health and strength.
This caused him to send out a cruel proclamation. The entire province was
given strict orders to immediately put to death all aged people. Those were
barbarous days, and the custom of abandoning old people to die was not
common. The poor farmer loved his aged mother with tender reverence, and
the order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought a second time
about obeying the mandate of the governor, so with many deep hopeless
sighs, the youth prepared for what at that time was considered the kindest
mode of death. Just at sundown, when his days work was ended, he took a
quantity of unwhitened rice which is principal food for poor, cooked and dried

it, and tying it in a square cloth, swung and bundle around his neck along
with a gourd filled with cool, sweet water.
Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his back and stated on his
painful journey up the mountain. The road was long and steep; then arrowed
road was crossed and recrossed by many paths made by the hunters and
woodcutters. In some place, they mingled in a confused puzzled, but he gave
no heed. One path or another, it mattered not. On he went, climbing blindly
upward ever upward towards the high bare summit of what is known as
Obatsuyama, the mountain of the abandoning of aged. The eyes of the old
mother were not so dim but that they noted the reckless hastening from one
path to another, and her loving heart grew anxious. Her son did not know the
mountains many paths and his return might be one of danger, so she
stretched forth her hand and snapping the twigs from brushes as they
passed, she quietly dropped a handful every few steps of the way so that
they climbed, the narrow path behind them was dotted at frequently
intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At last the summit was reached. Weary and
heart sick, the youth gently released his burden and silently prepared a place
of comfort as his last duty to the loved one. Gathering fallen pine needle, he
made a soft cushion and tenderly lifting his old mother therein, he wrapped
her padded coat more closely about the stooping shoulders and with tearful
eyes and an aching heart said farewell.
The trembling mothers voice was full of unselfish love as she gave her
last injunction. Let notthine eyes be blinded, my son. A She said. The
mountain road is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path which
holds the piles of twigs. They will guide you to the familiar way fartherdown.
The sons surprised eyes looked back over the path, then at the poor old,
shriveled hands all scratched and soiled by their work of love. His heart
smote him and bowing to the grounds, he cried aloud: oh, Honorable
mother, thy kindness thrusts my heart! I will not leave thee. Together we will
follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!Once more he shouldered
his burden (how light it seemed no) and hastened down the path,through the
shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut in the valley. Beneath the
kitchen floor was a walled closet for food, which was covered and hidden
from view. There the son his mother,supplying her with everything needful
and continually watching and fearing. Time passed, and he was beginning to
feel safe when again the governor sent forth heralds bearing an
unreasonable order, seemingly as a boast of his power. His demand was that
his subject should present him with a rope of ashes.
The entire province trembled with dread. The order must be obeyed
yet who in all shining could make a rope of ashes?One night, in great
distress, the son whispered the news to his hidden mother. Wait! she said.
Iwill think. I will think On the second day she told him what to do. Make
rope twisted straw, she said. Then stretch it upon a row of flat stones and
burn it there on the windless night. He called the people together and did
as she said and when the blaze and died, behold upon the stones with every
twist and fiber showing perfectly. Lay a rope of whithead ashes. The governor
was pleased at the wit of the youth and praised greatly, but he demanded to
know where he had obtained his wisdom. Alas! Alas! cried the farmer, the
truth must be told! andwith deep bows he related his story. The governor
listened and then meditated in silence. Finally he lifted his head. Shining
needs more than strength of youth, he said gravely. Ah, that I should have
forgotten the well-know saying, with the crown of snow, there cometh a
wisdom! That very hour the cruel law was abolished, and custom drifted
into as far a past that only legends remain.

I am an African Child
by Eku McGred
I am an African child
Born with a skin the colour of chocolate
Bright, brilliant and articulate
Strong and bold; Im gifted
Talented enough to be the best
I am an African child
Often the target of pity
My future is not confined to charity
Give me the gift of a lifetime;
Give me a dream, a door of opportunity;
I will thrive
I am an African child
Do not hide my fault
show me my wrong
I am like any other;
Teach me to dream
And I will become
I am an African child
I am the son, daughter of the soil
Rich in texture and content
Full of potential for a better tomorrow
Teach me discipline, teach me character, teach me hard work
Teach me to think like the star within me
I am an African child
I can be extra-ordinary
call me William Kamkwamba the Inventor;
Give me a library with books
Give me a scrap yard and discarded electronics
Give me a broken bicycle;
Plus the freedom to be me
And I will build you a wind mill
I am an African child
We are the new generation
Not afraid to be us
Uniquely gifted, black and talented
Shining like the stars we are
We are the children of Africa
Making the best of us
Yes! I am an African Child

Adjective
An adjective is a "describing word", the main syntactic role of which is
to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object
signified.
Adjectives are one of the traditional English parts of speech, although
historically they were classed together with the nouns. Certain words that
were traditionally considered to be adjectives, including the, this, my, etc.,
are today usually classed separately, as determiners.
Adjective comes from Latin (nmen) adjectvum "additional (noun)", a
calque of Ancient Greek: () eptheton (noma) "additional
(noun)". In the grammatical tradition of Latin and Greek, because adjectives
were inflected for gender, number, and case like nouns (a process called
declension), they were considered a subtype of noun. The words that are
today typically called nouns were then called substantive nouns (nmen
substantvum). The terms noun substantive and noun adjective were
formerly used in English, until the word noun came to refer only to the
former type, and the second type came to be known simply as adjectives.

Types of use
A given occurrence of an adjective can generally be classified into one of
three kinds of use:
1. Attributive adjectives are part of the noun phrase headed by the noun
they modify; for example, happy is an attributive adjective in "happy people".
In some languages, attributive adjectives precede their nouns; in others, they
follow their nouns; and in yet others, it depends on the adjective, or on the
exact relationship of the adjective to the noun. In English, attributive
adjectives usually precede their nouns in simple phrases, but often follow
their nouns when the adjective is modified or qualified by a phrase acting as
an adverb. For example: "I saw three happy kids", and "I saw three kids
happy enough to jump up and down with glee." See also Postpositive
adjective.
2. Predicative adjectives are linked via a copula or other linking mechanism
to the noun or pronoun they modify; for example, happy is a predicate
adjective in "they are happy" and in "that made me happy." (See also:
Predicative expression, Subject complement.)
3. Nominal adjectives act almost as nouns. One way this can happen is if a noun
is elided and an attributive adjective is left behind. In the sentence, "I read
two books to them; he preferred the sad book, but she preferred the happy",
happy is a nominal adjective, short for "happy one" or "happy book". Another
way this can happen is in phrases like "out with the old, in with the new",
where "the old" means, "that which is old" or "all that is old", and similarly
with "the new". In such cases, the adjective functions either as a mass noun
(as in the preceding example) or as a plural count noun, as in "The meek
shall inherit the Earth", where "the meek" means "those who are meek" or
"all who are meek".

Examples of adjectives
1. They live in a beautiful house.
2. Lisa is wearing a sleeveless shirt today. This soup is not edible.
3. She wore a beautiful dress.
4. He writes meaningless letters.
5. This shop is much nicer.
6. She wore a beautiful dress.
7. Ben is an adorable baby.
8. Lindas hair is gorgeous.
9. This glass is breakable.
10.I met a homeless person in NY.

COMPOUND SENTENCES
Compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent
clauses (or complete sentences) connected to one another with a
coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions are easy to
remember if you think of the words "FAN BOYS":
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Examples of compound sentences include the following:
1. Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.
2. I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station, but they arrived at
the station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived.
3. Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, and they
left on the bus before I arrived.
4. Mary and Samantha left on the bus before I arrived, so I did not see
them at the bus station.
Coordinating conjunctions are useful for connecting sentences, but
compound sentences often are overused. While coordinating conjunctions
can indicate some type of relationship between the two independent clauses
in the sentence, they sometimes do not indicate much of a relationship. The
word "and," for example, only adds one independent clause to another,
without indicating how the two parts of a sentence are logically related. Too
many compound sentences that use "and" can weaken writing.
Clearer and more specific relationships can be established through the
use of complex sentences.

COMPLEX SENTENCES
A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or
more dependent clauses connected to it. A dependent clause is similar to
an independent clause, or complete sentence, but it lacks one of the
elements that would make it a complete sentence.
Examples of dependent clauses include the following:
because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon
while he waited at the train station
after they left on the bus

Dependent clauses such as those above cannot stand alone as a sentence,

but they can be added to an independent clause to form a complex
sentence.
Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Below are
some of the most common subordinating conjunctions:
after
as
although
because
before
even though
if
since
though
unless
until
when
whenever
whereas
wherever
while
Examples:
a. If you want to speak to me, then learn English.
b. Metal robots are cool and look tough.

Literature
Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the
term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "writing formed with letters", although
some definitions include spoken or sung texts. More restrictively, it is writing that
possesses literary merit, and language that foregrounds literariness, as opposed to
ordinary language. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or
non-fiction and whether it is poetry or prose; it can be further distinguished
according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are
often categorised according to historical periods or their adherence to certain
aesthetic features or expectations (genre).

Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of
language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, prosaic ostensible
meaning. Poetry has traditionally been distinguished from prose by its being set in
verse; prose is cast in sentences, poetry in lines; the syntax of prose is dictated by
meaning, whereas that of poetry is held across metre or the visual aspects of the
poem. Prior to the nineteenth century, poetry was commonly understood to be
something set in metrical lines; accordingly, in 1658 a definition of poetry is "any
kind of subject consisting of Rythm or Verses".Possibly as a result of Aristotle's
influence (his Poetics), "poetry" before the nineteenth century was usually less a
technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art.
As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within
and sustained by an oral tradition; hence it constitutes the earliest example of
literature.

Prose
Prose is a form of language that possesses ordinary syntax and natural
speech rather than rhythmic structure; in which regard, along with its measurement
in sentences rather than lines, it differs from poetry. On the historical development
of prose, Richard Graff notes that "[In the case of Ancient Greece] recent
scholarship has emphasized the fact that formal prose was a comparatively late
development, an "invention" properly associated with the classical period".
Novel: a long fictional prose narrative. It was the form's close relation to real
life that differentiated it from the chivalric romance; in most European

languages the equivalent term is roman, indicating the proximity of the

forms. In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the late
fifteenth century, with the meaning of "news"; it came to indicate something
new, without a distinction between fact or fiction. Although there are many
historical prototypes, so-called "novels before the novel", the modern novel
form emerges late in cultural historyroughly during the eighteenth century.
Initially subject to much criticism, the novel has acquired a dominant position
amongst literary forms, both popularly and critically.
Novella: in purely quantitative terms, the novella exists between the novel
and short story; the publisher Melville House classifies it as "Too short to be a
novel, too long to be a short story".There is no precise definition in terms of
word or page count. Literary prizes and publishing houses often have their
own arbitrary limits, which vary according to their particular intentions.
Summarising the variable definitions of the novella, William Giraldi concludes
"[it is a form] whose identity seems destined to be disputed into perpetuity".
It has been suggested that the size restriction of the form produces various
stylistic results, both some that are shared with the novel or short story, and
others unique to the form.
Short story: a dilemma in defining the "short story" as a literary form is how
to, or whether one should, distinguish it from any short narrative; hence it
also has a contested origin, variably suggested as the earliest short
narratives (e.g. the Bible), early short story writers (e.g. Edgar Allan Poe), or
the clearly modern short story writers (e.g. Anton Chekhov). Apart from its
distinct size, various theorists have suggested that the short story has a
characteristic subject matter or structure; these discussions often position
the form in some relation to the novel.

Japanese literature
Japanese literature, the body of written works produced by Japanese
authors in Japanese or, in its earliest beginnings, at a time when Japan had
no written language, in the Chinese classical language.
Both in quantity and quality, Japanese literature ranks as one of the
major literatures of the world, comparable in age, richness, and volume to
English literature, though its course of development has been quite
dissimilar. The surviving works comprise a literary tradition extending from
the 7th century ad to the present; during all this time there was never a
dark age devoid of literary production. Not only do poetry, the novel, and
the drama have long histories in Japan, but some literary genres not so
highly esteemed in other countriesincluding diaries, travel accounts, and
books of random thoughtsare also prominent. A considerable body of
writing by Japanese in the Chinese classical language, of much greater bulk
and importance than comparable Latin writings by Englishmen, testifies to
the Japanese literary indebtedness to China. Even the writings entirely in
Japanese present an extraordinary variety of styles, which cannot be
explained merely in terms of the natural evolution of the language. Some
styles were patently influenced by the importance of Chinese vocabulary and
syntax, but others developed in response to the internal requirements of the
various genres, whether the terseness of haiku (a poem in 17 syllables)
or the bombast of the dramatic recitation.

Ancient literature
Before the introduction of kanji from China, Japanese had no writing
system. At first, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical
formats, and the result was sentences that look like Chinese but were read
phonetically as Japanese. Chinese characters were further adapted, creating
what is known as man'ygana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing.
The earliest works were created in the Nara period. These include the Kojiki
(712), a historical record that also chronicles ancient Japanese mythology
and folk songs; the Nihon Shoki (720), a chronicle written in Chinese that is
significantly more detailed than the Kojiki; and the Man'ysh (759), a poetry
anthology. One of the stories they describe is the tale of Urashima Tar,
which has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time
travel.

Classical literature
Classical Japanese literature generally refers to literature produced
during the Heian period, referred to as the golden era of art and literature.
Genji Monogatari (early 11th century) by a woman named Murasaki Shikibu
is considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of Heian fiction and an early
example of a work of fiction in the form of a novel. Other important writings
of this period include the Kokin Wakash (905), a waka-poetry anthology,
and Makura no Sshi (990s), the latter written by Murasaki Shikibu's
contemporary and rival, Sei Shnagon, as an essay about the life, loves, and
pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's court. The iroha poem, now one of two
standard orderings for the Japanese syllabary, was also developed during the
early part of this period.
The 10th-century Japanese narrative, Taketori Monogatari, can be
considered an early example of proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the
story, Kaguya-hime, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for
safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter.
She is later taken back to her extraterrestrial family in an illustrated
depiction of a disc-shaped flying object similar to a flying saucer.[2] Another
notable piece of fictional Japanese literature was Konjaku Monogatarish, a
collection of over a thousand stories in 31 volumes. The volumes cover
various tales from India, China and Japan. In this time, the imperial court
particularly patronized the poets, most of whom were courtiers or ladies-inwaiting. Reflecting the aristocratic atmosphere, the poetry was elegant and
sophisticated and expressed emotions in a rhetorical style. Editing the
resulting anthologies of poetry soon became a national pastime.

CHINESE LITERATURE
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded
dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular fiction novels that arose during the
Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of
widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty (618907) and the
invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (9901051) during the Song Dynasty
(9601279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. In more modern
times, the author Lu Xun (18811936) is considered the founder of baihua literature
in China.

Pre-classical period
Formation of the earliest layer of Chinese literature was influenced by
oral traditions of different social and professional provenance: cult and lay
musical practices (Shijing),[1] divination (Yi jing), astronomy, exorcism. An
attempt at tracing the genealogy of Chinese literature to religious spells and
incantations (the six zhu , as presented in the "Da zhu" chapter of the
Rites of Zhou) was made by Liu Shipei.
There is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from the Hundred
Schools of Thought that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256
BC). The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of
Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of military science and
Chinese history. Note that, except for the books of poems and songs, most of
this literature is philosophical and didactic; there is little in the way of fiction.
However, these texts maintained their significance through both their ideas
and their prose style.
The Confucian works in particular have been of key importance to
Chinese culture and history, as a set of works known as the Four Books and
Five Classics were, in the 12th century AD, chosen as the basis for the
Imperial examination for any government post. These nine books therefore
became the center of the educational system. They have been grouped into
two categories: the Five Classics, allegedly commented and edited by
Confucius, and the Four Books. The Five Classics include:
1. The I Ching, or Book of Changes, a divination manual attributed to the
mythical emperor Fu Xi and based on eight trigrams. The I Ching is still used
by adherents of folk religion.
2. The Classic of Poetry, a collection of poems, folk songs, festival and
ceremonial songs, and hymns and eulogies.
3. The Classic of Rites or Record of Rites
4. The Classic of History, a collection of documents and speeches allegedly
written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It contains
the best examples of early Chinese prose.
5. The Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical record of Confucius' native state,
Lu, from 722 to 479 BC.

The Four Books include: the Analects of Confucius, a book of pithy

sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples; Mencius, a
collection of political dialogues; the Doctrine of the Mean, a book that
teaches the path to Confucian virtue; and the Great Learning, a book about
education, self-cultivation and the Dao.
Other important philosophical works include the Mohist Mozi, which
taught "inclusive love" as both an ethical and social principle, and Hanfeizi,
one of the central Legalist texts.
Important Daoist classics include the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and
the Classic of the Perfect Emptiness. Later authors combined Daoism with
Confucianism and Legalism, such as Liu An (2nd century BC), whose
Huainanzi (The Philosophers of Huai-nan) also added to the fields of
geography and topography. Among the classics of military science, The Art
of War by Sun Tzu (6th century BC) was perhaps the first to outline
guidelines for effective international diplomacy. It was also the first in a

tradition of Chinese military treatises, such as the Wujing Zongyao

(Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, 1044 AD) and the
Huolongjing (Fire Dragon Manual, 14th century AD).

Indian literature
Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian
subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic
of India has 22 officially recognized languages.
All dates about the ancient Indian literature are not only uncertain, but
are contested. European scholars from the 18th century onwards estimated
dates of various texts based on methods that Indian scholars consider
arbitrary. The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted.
Sanskrit literature begins with the oral literature of the Rig Veda a collection
of sacred hymns dating to the period 15001200 BCE. The Sanskrit epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata appeared towards the end of the first
millennium BCE. Classical Sanskrit literature developed rapidly during the
first few centuries of the first millennium BCE, as did the Tamil Sangam
literature, and the Pli Canon. In the medieval period, literature in Kannada
and Telugu appeared in the 9th and 11th centuries respectively. Later,
literature in Marathi, Bengali, various dialects of Hindi, Persian and Urdu
began to appear as well. Early in the 20th century, Bengali poet
Rabindranath Tagore became India's first Nobel laureate. In contemporary
Indian literature, there are two major literary awards; these are the Sahitya
Akademi Fellowship and the Jnanpith Award. Eight Jnanpith Awards each have
been awarded in Hindi and Kannada, followed by five in Bengali and
Malayalam, four in Oriya, three in Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Urdu, two
each in Assamese and Tamil, and one in Sanskrit.

Vedic literature
Examples of early works written in Vedic Sanskrit include the holy
Hindu texts, such as the core Vedas. Other examples include the Sulba
Sutras, which are some of the earliest texts on geometry..

Epic Sanskrit literature

Ved Vyasa's Mahabharata and Valmiki's Ramayana, written in Epic

Sanskrit, are regarded as the greatest Sanskrit epics.

Classical Sanskrit literature

The famous poet and playwright Klidsa wrote one epic:
Raghuvamsha (Dynasty of Raghu) ; it was written in Classical Sanskrit rather
than Epic Sanskrit. Other examples of works written in Classical Sanskrit
include the Pini's Ashtadhyayi which standardized the grammar and
phonetics of Classical Sanskrit. The Laws of Manu is an important text in
Hinduism. Klidsa is often considered to be the greatest playwright in
Sanskrit literature, and one of the greatest poets in Sanskrit literature, whose
Recognition of Shakuntala and Meghaduuta are the most famous Sanskrit
plays. He occupies the same position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare
occupies in English literature. Some other famous plays were Mricchakatika
by Shudraka, Svapna Vasavadattam by Bhasa, and Ratnavali by Sri Harsha.
Later poetic works include Geeta Govinda by Jayadeva. Some other famous
works are Chanakya's Arthashastra and Vatsyayana's Kamasutra.

Prakrit literature

The most notable Prakrit languages were the Jain Prakrit

(Ardhamagadhi), Pali, Maharashtri and Shauraseni. One of the earliest extant
Prakrit works is Hla's anthology of poems in Maharashtri, the Gh Sattasa,
dating to the 3rd to 5th century CE. Klidsa and Harsha also used
Maharashtri in some of their plays and poetry. In Jainism, many Svetambara
works were written in Maharashtri. Many of Avaghoa's plays were written
in Shauraseni as were a sizable number of Jain works and Rajasekhara's
Karpuramanjari. Canto 13 of the Bhaikvya is written in what is called "like
the vernacular" (bhsama), that is, it can be read in two languages
simultaneously: Prakrit and Sanskrit.

Pali literature

The Pali Canon is mostly of Indian origin. Later Pali literature however
was mostly produced outside of the mainland Indian subcontinent,
particularly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
Pali literature includes Buddhist philosophical works, poetry and some
grammatical works. Major works in Pali are Jataka tales, Dhammapada,
Atthakatha, and Mahavamsa. Some of the major Pali grammarians were
Kaccayana, Moggallana and Vararuci (who wrote Prakrit Prakash).

Assamese literature
The Charyapadas are often cited as the earliest example of Assamese
literature. The Charyapadas are Buddhist songs composed in the 8th to 12th
centuries. These writings bear similarities to Oriya and Bengali languages as
well. The phonological and morphological traits of these songs bear very
strong resemblance to Assamese some of which are extant.
After the Charyapadas, the period may again be split into (a) PreVaishnavite and (b) Vaishnavite sub-periods. The earliest known Assamese
writer is Hema Saraswati, who wrote a small poem "Prahlada Charita". In the
time of the King Indranarayana (13501365) of Kamatapur the two poets
Harihara Vipra and Kaviratna Saraswati composed Asvamedha Parva and
Jayadratha Vadha respectively. Another poet named Rudra Kandali translated
Drona Parva into Assamese. But the most well-known poet of the PreVaishnavite sub period is Madhav Kandali, who rendered Valmiki's Ramayana
into Assamese verse (Kotha Ramayana, 11th century) under the patronage of
Mahamanikya, a Kachari king of Jayantapura.

Bengali literature
The first evidence of Bengali literature is known as Charyapada or
Charyageeti, which were Buddhist hymns from the 8th century. Charyapada
is in the oldest known written form of Bengali. The famous Bengali linguist
Harprashad Shastri discovered the palm leaf Charyapada manuscript in the
Nepal Royal Court Library in 1907. The most internationally famous Bengali
writer is Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who received the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1913 for his work "Gitanjali". He wrote the national anthem
of India and Bangladesh namely, "Jana Gana Mana" and "Amar Sonar
Bangla", respectively. He was the first Asian who won the Nobel Prize.
Rabindranath has written enormous amount of Poems, Songs, Essays,
Novels, Plays and Short-stories. His songs remain popular and are still widely
sung in Bengal.

Chhattisgarhi Literature
Literature in Chhattisgarh reflects the regional consciousness and the
evolution of an identity distinct from others in Central India. The social
problems of the lower castes/untouchables were highlighted in the writings
of Khub Chand Baghel through his plays 'Jarnail Singh' and 'Unch Neech'.
Abhishek Agrawal is one of the youngest authors from Bhilai Chhatisgarh.

Hindi literature
Hindi literature started as religious and philosophical poetry in
medieval periods in dialects like Avadhi and Brij. The most famous figures
from this period are Kabir and Tulsidas. In modern times, the Khadi dialect
became more prominent and Sanskrit.

Gujarati literature
Gujarati literature's history may be traced to the 1000 AD. Since then
literature has flourished till date. Well known laureates of Gujarati literature
are Hemchandracharya, Narsinh Mehta, Mirabai, Akho, Premanand Bhatt,
Shamal Bhatt, Dayaram, Dalpatram, Narmad, Govardhanram Tripathi,
Gandhi, K. M. Munshi, Umashankar Joshi, Suresh Joshi, Pannalal Patel and
Rajendra Keshavlal Shah.

COORDINATING OR SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION

Conjunctions are joining words and their main function is to link
together two different parts of a sentence.
And / but / or (coordinating conjunctions)
And, but and or are the three main coordinating conjunctions. They join two
clauses which are grammatically independent of each other and would make
sense if they stood alone. Compare the following:
1. She's already had two holidays this year and now she wants another
one.
She's already had two holidays this year. Now she wants another one.
2. I had a terrible cold last week, but I still went to work.
I had a terrible cold last week. I still went to work.
3. You can sit at the front, or you can stand at the back. I don't mind.
You can sit at the front. You can stand at the back. I don't mind.
But note they way in which conjunctions help to add meaning to the
sentence. And indicates that we are listing items or ideas, or means
that we are discussing alternatives and but means that we are
contrasting facts or ideas.
Note also that in the second of the two coordinating clauses, the
subject words and modal auxiliaries can often be left out:

She's already had two holidays this year and now wants another one.

I had a terrible cold last week, but still went to work.

You can sit at the front or stand at the back. I don't mind.

This is not normally possible in subordinate clauses. Compare the following:

She was anxious and unhappy and didn't know where her husband
was.

She was anxious and unhappy because she didn't know where her
husband was.
(NOT: She was anxious and unhappy because didn't know where her
husband was.)

Subordinating Conjunctions
If / when / because / since / even though / etc (subordinating
conjunctions)Words like if, when, because, since, although,

etc, are
subordinating conjunctions which introduce subordinate clauses. Subordinate
clauses are dependent on the main clause in some way and do not normally
stand alone.
Note the way in which subordinating conjunctions also give meaning to the
sentence:
* if suggests a condition
* when / whenever indicate time
* while suggests time or contrast of surprising facts
* because points to reason
* since suggests reason or time
* as suggests reason or time
* although / though / even though all indicate a contrast of surprising
facts
Compare the following examples of use and note the way the same
conjunction (e.g. while, since, as) can be used for different purposes.
Subordinating clauses of this kind can normally go first or last in the
sentence, depending on what you want to emphasize:

If you feel thirsty or hungry, help yourself to anything at all in the

fridge or freezer.

Help yourself to anything at all in the fridge or freezer, if you feel

hungry or thirsty.

While they were away, I helped myself to an ice-cold beer and a

pizza from the freezer.
I helped myself to an ice-cold beer and a pizza from the freezer while
they were away.

Whenever I babysit at their house, I am always very well looked

after.
I am always very well looked after whenever I babysit at their
house.

When I babysat for the Robinsons last month, I was given nothing
to eat or drink.
I was given nothing to eat or drink when I babysat for the
Robinsons last month.

While I am fond of their children, I think the parents are very

mean.
(BUT NOT: I think the parents are very mean while I am fond of their
children)

Since I started working full-time, I don't have so much time now

for babysitting.
I don't have so much time now for babysitting since I started
working full-time.

Because / since / as I work six days a week, I can't even find time
to see my friends.
I can't even find time to see my friends as I work six days a week.

As I was leaving work the other day, I bumped into an old friend.
I bumped into an old friend as I was leaving work the other day.

Although I am happy with my life, I think I should try and get out
more.
I think I should try and get out more, even though I am happy with
my life.

Characteristics of
Indian Literature
There are three observable characteristics of Indian Literature.

1. Indian literature is based on piety, a deeply religious spirit.

The oldest know literature in India is the Vedas. According to Hindu

tradition, the Vedas are apaurueya not of human agency, are
supposed to have been directly revealed, and thus are called ruti
(what is heard). This contains hymns and prayers for gods.
Indians believe that a knowledge of gods and a strong belief in
Hinduism is necessary to save mankind.

2. Indian literary masterpieces are written in epic form,

corresponds to the great epochs in the history of India.

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the most important epics of
India; the latter is the longest epic in the world.

3. Medieval Indian literature the earliest works in many of the

languages were sectarian, designed to advance or to celebrate
some unorthodox regional belief.

Examples are theCaryapadas in Bengali, Tantric verses of the 12th

century, and the Lilacaritra (circa 1280), in Marathi

PARTS OF A NEWSPAPER
Headline
The words printed in large type across the top of a
newspaper article to catch the reader's attention.
Dateline

The words at the beginning of a news article that tell when

and where the story was written.
News article
In a newspaper, a story about an event that has just taken
place.
Feature article
In a newspaper, a detailed report on a person, an issue, or
an event.
Editor
One of the people who runs a newspaper.
Editorial
An article in which the people who run a newspaper give
their opinion on an important issue.
International:
The international section of a newspaper tells you about
news in different continents, such as Africa, the Americas, Europe,
and Asia.
Business:
The business section is for things that are happening
business-wise. For example, the business section might contain
media and advertising, world business, the economy of the
country that you live in, the stock markets, company researches,
mutual funds, and stock portfolios.
Technology:
The technology section contains things that are going in and
out of style in the technology world, things that are coming out,
and things that have been out, but they're coming back in style.
Science:
The science section in a newspaper contains things that are
happening in our medical world today. For example: a science
section in a newspaper might contain what's happening in outer
space, and it might contain things that are happening in and
around our environment.

Health:
The health section in a newspaper would usually contain the
things that are happening to a modern day person's health. For
example: they might have come out with a new medicine that

could clear the human race totally of allergies. In a health section,

there might be news containing things about fitness and nutrition,
new health care policies, and mental health and behavior.
Sports:
In a sports section, you may find out about last night's
baseball, basketball, and football game. That's the second thing
besides asking your buddies down at the pizza parlor. It may also
tell you about a player on a team that might have gotten injured
and cannot play. In a sports section, you can find out things about
basketball, professional basketball, golf, soccer, tennis,
professional football, and different sports that maybe you'd want
to look for.
Education:
The thing that a student favors the most: the education
section. In the education section you might be able to find out the
overall average for students in a particular school, and maybe
even a couple of awards that a student won for the school that
they attend, or doing something that would help their school do
better.
Weather:
In a weather section, you can find the weather, where ever
you may need to know.
Obituaries:
In an obituary, you can find out about people who passed on
recently, and people think that their death should be mentioned
to the community. When you would go to this section in a
newspaper, you can most likely find a picture about someone and
a short biography.
The cover page story:
In this section, you'd just find the story that has the cover
page has on it. It has more detail, and is usually found in the first
few pages in the newspaper.
Table of contents:
This is the most important part of a newspaper. This part of
the newspaper shows where to find all of these newspaper
sections. Without it, reading the newspaper would take hours to
read!

Ramayana
The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics,the other being the
Mahabharata. The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and
offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of
dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a
young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his
faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. "Be as Rama," young
Indians have been taught for 2,000 years; "Be as Sita."
The original Ramayana was a 24,000 couplet-long epic poem
attributed to the Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Oral versions of Rama's story
circulated for centuries, and the epic was probably first written down
sometime around the start of the Common Era. It has since been told, retold,
translated and transcreated throughout South and Southeast Asia, and the
Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, drama, puppet shows, songs
and movies all across Asia.
From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of
these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life. The epics
help to bind together the many peoples of India, transcending caste,
distance and language. Two all-Indian holidays celebrate events in the
Ramayana. Dussehra, a fourteen-day festival in October, commemorates the
siege of Lanka and Rama's victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.
Divali, the October-November festival of Lights, celebrates Rama and Sita's
return home to their kingdom of Ayodhya
Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when
his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her
son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the
king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she
demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to
keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted
the decree unquestioningly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his
stepmother. "Why, I would go even if you ordered it."
When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged
to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to
husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her
husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for
your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother
Lakshmana all went to the forest.
When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in
the forest. "The eldest must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back
and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his
father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall
place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule
only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet
of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously
return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's
selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have known that

you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give
up."
Later in the story, Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, (what is probably
present-day Sri Lanka) abducted Sita. Rama mustered the aid of a money
army, built a causeway across to Lanka, released Sita and brought her safely
back to Aydohya. In order to set a good example, however, Rama demanded
that Sita prove her purity before he could take her back as his wife. Rama,
Sita and Bharata are all examples of persons following their dharma.
This lesson focuses on how the Ramayana teaches Indians to perform
their dharma. Encourage students to pick out examples of characters in the
epic who were faithful to their dharma and those who violated their dharma.
Mahatma Gandhi dreamed that one day modern India would become a Ramrajya.

Main Characters of the Ramayana

Dasaratha -- King of Ayodhya (capital of Kosala), whose eldest son was
Rama. Dasaratha had three wives and four sons -- Rama, Bharata, and the
twins Lakshmana and Satrughna.
Rama -- Dasaratha's first-born son, and the upholder of Dharma (correct
conduct and duty). Rama, along with his wife Sita, have served as role
models for thousands of generations in India and elsewhere. Rama is
regarded by many Hindus as an incarnation of the god Vishnu.
Sita -- Rama's wife, the adopted daughter of King Janak. Sita was found in
the furrows of a sacred field, and was regarded by the people of Janak's
kingdom as a blessed child.
Bharata -- Rama's brother by Queen Kaikeyi. When Bharata learned of his
mother's scheme to banish Rama and place him on the throne, he put
Rama's sandals on the throne and ruled Ayodhya in his name.
Hanuman -- A leader of the monkey tribe allied with Rama against Ravana.
Hanuman has many magical powers because his father was the god of the
wind. Hanuman's devotion to Rama, and his supernatural feats in the battle
to recapture Sita, has made him one of the most popular characters in the
Ramayana.
Ravana -- The 10-headed king of Lanka who abducted Sita.
Kaushlaya -- Dasaratha's first wife, and the mother of Rama.
Lakshmana -- Rama's younger brother by Dasaratha's third wife, Sumitra.
When Rama and Sita were exiled to the forest, Lakshmana followed in order
to serve.

Ramayana: Story
Dasharatha, King of Aydohya, has three wives and four sons. Rama is
the eldest. His mother is Kaushalya. Bharata is the son of his second and
favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two are twins, Lakshman and

Shatrughna. Rama and Bharata are blue, perhaps indicating they were dark
skinned or originally south Indian deities.
A sage takes the boys out to train them in archery. Rama has hit an
apple hanging from a string.
In a neighboring city the ruler's daughter is named Sita. When it was
time for Sita to choose her bridegroom, at a ceremony called a swayamvara,
the princes were asked to string a giant bow. No one else can even lift the
bow, but as Rama bends it, he not only strings it but breaks it in two. Sita
indicates she has chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around
his neck. The disappointed suitors watch.
King Dasharatha, Rama's father, decides it is time to give his throne to
his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest to seek moksha. Everyone seems
pleased. This plan fulfills the rules of dharma because an eldest son should
rule and, if a son can take over one's responsibilities, one's last years may be
spent in a search for moksha. In addition, everyone loves Rama. However
Rama's step-mother, the king's second wife, is not pleased. She wants her
son, Bharata, to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years
before, she gets the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to
crown Bharata, even though the king, on bended knee, begs her not to
demand such things. Broken-hearted, the devastated king cannot face Rama
with the news and Kaikeyi must tell him.

Rama, always obedient, is as content to go into banishment in the

forest as to be crowned king. Sita convinces Rama that she belongs at his
side and his brother Lakshman also begs to accompany them. Rama, Sita
and Lakshman set out for the forest.
Bharata, whose mother's evil plot has won him the throne, is very
upset when he finds out what has happened. Not for a moment does he
consider breaking the rules of dharma and becoming king in Rama's place.
He goes to Rama's forest retreat and begs Rama to return and rule, but
Rama refuses. "We must obey father," Rama says. Bharata then takes
Rama's sandals saying, "I will put these on the throne, and every day I shall
place the fruits of my work at the feet on my Lord." Embracing Rama, he
takes the sandals and returns to Aydohya.
Years pass and Rama, Sita and Lakshman are very happy in the forest.
Rama and Lakshman destroy the rakshasas (evil creatures) who disturb the
sages in their meditations. One day a rakshasa princess tries to seduce
Rama, and Lakshmana wounds her and drives her away. She returns to her
brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon),
and tells her brother (who has a weakness for beautiful women) about lovely
Sita.
Ravana devises a plan to abduct Sita. He sends a magical golden deer
which Sita desires. Rama and Lakshman go off to hunt the deer, first drawing
a protective circle around Sita and warning her she will be safe as long as
she does not step outside the circle. As they go off, Ravana (who can change
his shape) appears as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita steps

outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabs her and carries her off the
his kingdom in Lanka.
Rama is broken-hearted when he returns to the empty hut and cannot
find Sita. A band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita.
Ravana has carried Sita to his palace in Lanka, but he cannot force her to be
his wife so he puts her in a grove and alternately sweet-talks her and
threatens her in an attempt to get her to agree to marry him. Sita will not
even look at him but thinks only of her beloved Rama. Hanuman, the general
of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind, and Hanuman flies to
Lanka and, finding Sita in the grove, comforts her and tells her Rama will
soon come and save her.
Ravana's men capture Hanuman, and Ravana orders them to wrap
Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman
hops from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka afire. He then flies back to
Rama to tell him where Sita is.
Rama, Lakshman and the monkey army build a causeway from the tip
of India to Lanka and cross over to Lanka. A might battle ensues. Rama kills
several of Ravana's brothers and then
Rama confronts ten-headed Ravana. (Ravana is known for his wisdom as well
as for his weakness for women which may explain why he is pictured as very
brainy.) Rama finally kills Ravana.
Rama frees Sita. After Sita proves here purity, they return to Ayodhya
and Rama becomes king. His rule, Ram-rajya, is an ideal time when everyone
does his or her dharma and "fathers never have to light the funeral pyres for
their sons."

Shakuntala
In Hinduism Shakuntala (Sanskrit: , akuntal) is
the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her
story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by Kalidasa in his
play Abhijnakuntala (The Sign of Shakuntala).
Rishi Kanva found her in forest as a baby surrounded by
Shakunta birds (Sanskrit: , akunta). Therefore he named her
Shakuntala (Sanskrit: ), meaning Shakunta-protected.

In the Adi Parva of Mahabharata, Kanva says:

She was surrounded in the solitude of the wilderness by akuntas,
therefore, hath she been named by me Shakuntala (Shakuntaprotected).
Birth and childhood
Birth of Shakuntal - Vishwamitra rejects the child, Painting
by Raja Ravi Varma. Shakuntal was born of the sage Vishwamitra
and the Apsara Menaka. Menak had come at the behest of the
King of the Heaven, Indra, to distract the sage Vishwmitra from
his deep meditations. She succeeded, and bore a child by him.
Vishwmitra, angered by the loss of the virtue gained through his
many hard years of strict ascetism, distanced himself from the
child and mother to return to his work. Realizing that she could
not leave the child with him, and having to return to the heavenly
realms, Menak left the newborn Shakuntal in the forest. It was
here that the new born child was found by Kanva Rishi surrounded
by Shakunta birds . He thus named her Shakuntal. Kanva Rishi
took the child to his ashram, on the banks of the Mlini River
which rises in the Shivlik hills of Himlayas and lies about 10 km
from the town of Kotdwra in the state of Uttarkhand, India. This
is corroborated by Klidsa in his play Abhijnakuntalam in
which he has described the ashram of the Kanva Rishi on the
banks of river Mlini.[citation needed]
King Dushyanta first encountered Shakuntala while travelling
through the forest with his army. He was pursuing a male deer
wounded by his weapon. Shakuntala and Dushyanta fell in love
with each other and got married as per Gandharva marriage
system. Dushyanta left for his kingdom, promising to come back
soon and take Shakuntala with him.
Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband
and was often distracted by her daydreams. One day, a powerful
rishi, Durvasa, came to the ashrama but, lost in her thoughts
about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly.
Incensed by this slight, the rishi cursed Shakuntala, saying that
the person she was dreaming of would forget about her
altogether. As he departed in a rage, one of Shakuntala's friends
quickly explained to him the reason for her friend's distraction.
The rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not warranted,
modified his curse saying that the person who had forgotten
Shakuntala would remember everything again if she showed him
a personal token that had been given to her.

Dushyant and Shakuntala

Time passed, and Shakuntala, wondering why Dushyanta did
not return for her, finally set out for the capital city with her father
and some of her companions. On the way, they had to cross a
river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of
the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring
slipped off her finger without her realizing it.
Arriving at Dushyanta's court, Shakuntala was hurt and
surprised when her husband did not recognize her, nor recollected
anything about her. She tried to remind him that she was his wife
but without the ring Dushyanta did not recognize her. Humiliated,
she returned to the forests and, collecting her son, settled in a
wild part of the forest by herself. Here she spent her days while
Bharata, her son, grew older. Surrounded only by wild animals,
Bharata grew to be a strong youth and made a sport of opening
the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth.

Crying of Shakuntala
Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in
the belly of a fish he had caught. Recognizing the royal seal, he
took the ring to the palace and, upon seeing his ring, Dushyanta's
memories of his lovely bride came rushing back to him. He
immediately set out to find her and, arriving at her father's
ashram, discovered that she was no longer there. He continued
deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising
scene in the forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a
lion and was busy counting its teeth. The king greeted the boy,
amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He
was surprised when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the
son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to Shakuntala, and thus
the family was reunited.
An alternate narrative is that after Dushyanta failed to
recognize Shakuntala, her mother Menaka took Shakuntala to
Heaven where she gave birth to Bharata. Dushyanta was required
to fight with the devas, from which he emerged victorious; his
reward was to be reunited with his wife and son. He had a vision
in which he saw a young boy counting the teeth of a lion. His
kavach (arm band/armour) had fallen off his arm. Dushyanta was
informed by the devas that only Bharata's mother or father could
tie it back on his arm. Dushyanta successfully tied it on his arm.
The confused Bharata took the king to his mother Shakuntala and
told her that this man claimed to be his father. Upon which
Shakuntala told Bharata that the king was indeed his father. Thus

the family was reunited in Heaven, and they returned to earth to

rule for many years before the birth of the Pandava.

Korean literature
Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans,
mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much
of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is
commonly divided into classical and modern periods, although this
distinction is sometimes unclear. Korea is home to the world's first metal and
copper type, world's earliest known printed document and the world's first
featural script.

History

The early Joseon period

Yongbi eocheonga (hangul: , hanja: ) literally
means "Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven". It was compiled during the
reign of Sejong the Great as an official recognition of the Joseon dynasty and
its ancestral heritage as the forerunners of Joseon, the Golden Age of Korea.
The Songs were composed through the efforts of a committee of Confucian
philologists and literati in the form of 125 cantos. This compilation was the
first piece of Korean text to depart from a long history reliant on Chinese
characters and be recorded in Hangul, the first and official alphabet of Korea.
There are several underlying themes in addition to the establishment of the
Joseon Dynasty which are of significant importance to understanding the
events that provoked the creation of these poems: linear events that took
place in China, the apotheosis of virtuous Kings proceeding the fall of the
Goryeo Dynasty, and Confucian political and philosophical ideologies of the
era in rejection to Buddhism. Each of the poems included in the work convey
deep-seated feelings of nationalism and a proud proclamation of cultural
independence from the Mongol empire.

The late Joseon period

Modern Korean literature developed against the background of the

Joseon Dynasty's fall. This first period of modern Korean literature is often
called "enlightenment". This period was to a large extent influenced by the
1894 Gabo Reforms which introduced Western-style schools and newspapers
emerged. Many newspapers published sijo, gasa, or even serial novels and
led to the emergence of professional writers. Sinchesi (hangul: ,
literally "new poetry") was established, and contributed to the formation of
modern free verse poetry which is called Jayusi (hangul: ). Sinchesi
abandoned the fixed metaphor found in classical Korean poetry, influenced
by the French vers libre.

Modern literature
Modern Korean literature gradually developed under the influence of
Western cultural contacts based on trade and economic development. [1] The
first printed work of fiction in Korean was John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (in
Korean: Cheonno-yeokjeong), translated by James Scarth Gale
(1893).

Korean Literature during Japanese rule

During the period of Japanese imperial rule (19101945), Japanese
literature has deep connections with the establishment of modern literature
in Korea due to some of the founders of modern literature in Korea having
come from Korean students who had studied in Japan during the Meiji period.
Their representatives are Choe Nam-seon and Yi Kwang-su. Many
expressions of the late Joseon period, with their focus on self-reliance and
independence, were no longer possible. Ernest Bethell's Taehan Maeil Shinbo
() provided for Korean writers a brief opportunity of artistic
expression free from censorship, from July 1904 till May 1909, but after
control of the paper was seized by the Government-General uncensored
Korean publishing became impossible.