LIFE AND LITERATURE

                                                             THE RIVALS                                                                                    -SHERIDAN  Summary       “The Rivals” is a Comedy of Manners by Irish-born dramatist and statesman Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The five-act play first premiered in 1775, marking Sheridan’s work as a standout piece of eighteenth-century theatre. The comedy was not always so well-received, however. After its initial premiere, it was roundly criticized and dismissed as subpar craft. Needing funds and intent on his writing, Sheridan learned from his mistakes with the initial premiere.       He cut the work by an hour, strengthened the characters and premiered a practically new comedy, which was well-received, and which is the version now performed and read. Comedies such as “The Rivals” are a product of their time, often infused with the prevailing thought of the day. As such, one would expect Sheridan’s play to be filled with the moraliz

                                                                 RIP VAN WINKLE                                                                         -WASINGTON IRVING        Rip Van Winkle" is a short story written by the American author Washington Irving and published in 1819. The story was originally published as part of a collection called "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent". The story was written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England. The story was one of the biggest successes of the collection and has since been adapted into plays, operettas, concerts, poems, comic books, cartoons, TV shows, claymation, web series and films.      The story tells the tale of a kindly but lazy man named Rip Van Winkle, who lives in a small village at the foot of the Kaatskill mountain in New York. Rip is constantly henpecked by his nagging wife and takes to hunting with his dog all day in the mountains in order to avoid her.      One day, Rip realizes that

    Characteristics of Language Introduction Language is essentially a human phenomenon. It is one form of communication but it is the most frequently used and mostly highly developed form of Human communication. Language distinguishes Human and Animal. Human language has certain characteristics. Characteristics of Language  Means of communication  Arbitrary  Systems of system  Primary vocal  Social Behaviour  Symbol System  Productivity  Interchange ability Means of communication: Language is an important tool for communication. One can communicate one felling idea and belief to the other by means of a language other means of communication like gestures, nods, smiles, mathematics symbol, maps, etc. Arbitrary: Language is arbitrary there is no inherent relationship between the words of a language and the meaning or idea conveyed by them. Example:  There is no reason for why four leg animals are called Dog in English and Nai in Tamil. The meaning of these words is based on rando