Edgar Allan Poe – Annabel Lee Research Paper

LOCATION
* India is the most populous nation (after China) and seventh largest in area. * Located in South Asia on the Indian subcontinent.
* About 3000 km ( 1865 mi) wide and has, 7000 km (4350 mi ) along the Bay of Bangal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. * India’s land frontier of about 5700 km ( 3540 mi) is shared with Pakistan on the west; with China, Nepal, and Bhutan on the north; and with Bangladesh, and Burma on the east. India’s seventh neighbor is the island nation of Sri Lanka, located off the southern tip of peninsula. Northeast India is virtually is the isolated from the rest of the nation by the county of Bangladesh. Also part of India are the Laccative islands off the western coast and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, located in the eastern portion of the Bay of Bangal.

CULTURE
* Indian culture is a great antiquity. The earliest Indian civilization grew up in the Indus Valley from 4000 to 2500 B.C. Beginning about 1500 B.C , Aryan invaders entered India from the northeast and intermingled with local Dravidian population. * India can be divided into three main topographic regions: Himalayan Mountain systems on the north, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers in central India; and Peninsular India of the South. * The Himalayas from parts of India’s boarders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tibet in the west and with Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet in the east. The region is topographically complex and divided into prominent elongated valleys and mountain ranges. * The Northern Plains are part are vast lowland extending across the subcontinent from Pakistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. * And in the rest of India by the Ganges and its many tributaries.

LANGUAGES
More than 200 languages are spoken in India, and linguistic diversity provides an important key to understanding Indian Civilization. Four major languages groups are represented. The most important of these are Indio-Arab branch of Indio-European group ( the major linguistic family of Europe) and Dravidian language group. Hindi, the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, is the language of 30 percent of the popular and the official language of India.

RELIGION
India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Today, is the secular state, and its constitution guarantees religion tolerance to all group. Hinduism’s adherents constitute about 83% of the population. Another 11% are followers of Islam, and Jains and Buddhist less than 1%. Aside from the Sikh concentration in the Punjab and the Parsis ( who practice Zoroastrianism) in the Bombay area, there is no marked regional distribution of religious groups.

The Indian caste system, an important facet of Hinduism, is a major social system that groups people according to birth. Although caste should not be confused with class, lower caste groups do perform much of the manual labor and fill most unskilled jobs in the economy. Harijans, formerly known as Untouchables, have traditionally occupied the lowest rung of the social ladder. The Indian legislature provided employment of Harijans and tribal people, but caste consciousness remains important.

EDUCATION
* Indians literacy rate was more than doubled between 1950 and 1988. * Literacy is higher among men than among women.
* Much higher in urban areas than in rural.
* Education is the responsibility of both the central and state government. * Education system is free and open to all children through university level. * Provides for eight years of primary education, two years of lower secondary education, and two years of upper secondary education. * Education is compulsory for children aged 6 – 14

* India’s universities are generally large, with clusters of affiliated colleges.

GOVERNMENT
* The Constitution adopted in 1950 provides for a federal system with a parliamentary form of government. * Sovereignty is shared between the central government and the states, but the national government is given far greater powers. * Parliament consists of two houses, the RAIYA SABHA (Council of States) and the LOK SABHA (House of the people). * The Indian national congress, the party most identified with the Indian nationalist movement has remained in control of the central government for all but 3 years since independence. * Two major party splits in 1969 and 1978, both led by Indira Gandhi and many victories by various state and local parties in regional elections. * The Congress party has maintained almost unbroken power on the national level. * In addition, one family provided India’s prime ministers for all but 5 years between 1947 and 1989. * P.V. NARASIMHA RAO, who had succeeded Raiiv Gandhi as party leader, became prime minister in June 1991.

HISTORY
* Aug. 1947 – constitutional government, become a secular state. * Jan. 20, 1948 -Gandhi was assassinated by a militant Hind who believed Him to be too kind to Muslims. * 194 – 1964 – prime ministerhip.

* 1962 – new government finally absorbed the last vestiges of empire. * 1962 – territorial disputes with China escalated into brief border war. * 1966 – ending a second war with Pakistan over Kashmir was signed. * 1974 – India exploded its 1st nuclear weapon.

* 1975- Sikkim became a state of India
* June 1975 – Gandhi persuaded president FAKHRUDDIN ALI AHMED to involve a state of emergency that gave her near dictatorial powers. * March 1977 – new election
* Jan 1980 – new elections returned Gandhi to power
* 1982 – Zail Singh was elected president, the first Sikh to serve in that office. * October 31, 1984 – the assassination of Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards. * Dec. 1984 – general election by landslide

* 1987 – Ramaswami Venkataraman was elected president of India’s 40th anniversary of independence. * 1987- 1990 – intervene militarily to foil a Coup in Maldives in 1988 * Nov. 1989 – elections, Congress 1 lost its parliamentary majority * Nov. 7, 1990- internal power struggles led to Singh’s resignation. * May- June 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated

* June 21 – P.V. NARASIMHA RAO, became prime minister
* 1992 – SHANKAR DAYAL SHARMA was elected president of India. * Dec. 1992- worst communal violence since independence.
* 20th century – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, leader of the Indian nationalists movement and known in his later life as Mahatma (“great soul”) was one of the greatest leaders. * Gandhi also fought to improve the status of the lowest classes of society, the Casteless Untouchables, whom he called harijans (“children of GOD”)

LITERATURE
* Sanskrit literature has its origins in an oral tradition that produced the vedic holy tet, sometime after 1500 BC * Homilies and hymns gave rise to many commentaries, the most famous of which are the Upanishads. * Oral history legend and moral tales

* Two great books of Hindu tradition: THE MAHABRATA and THE RAMAYANA. * Other major Sanskrit literarure are the PURANAS and the PANCHATANTRA.

400B.C. – Sanskrit grammar
2nd century AD – several dialects known collectively as praktrits were being used in literature.

Middle ages Sanskrit
* Was used only in religions contets by the priestshood
* Major figure of this period was the poet AMIR KHUSROU, who included Hindi verses among his Persian writings. * Best known work of this tradition is perhaps an anthology of love lyrics, KURUNTOKAI * Many version of Sanskrit sacred tets.

Later part of the middles ages
* The courts of the Mogul emperors produced Perso – Arabic writing * The major artistics form was the ghazal, a stylized frm of lyrical folk song and notable eponents to form include MUHAMMAS QULI QUTB SHAH, VALI and several others.

MODERN LITERATURE
* Civil service training schools and printing presses early in 19th century * Vernacular languages and culture was taught to British Colonial officials. * New western literature and philosophical writing produced a culture renaissance. * 1835 – THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY- inspired a reaction in favor of Indian literary works and vernacular among Indians. * MACAULAY established English language schooling for Indians * English became a major tool for political polemic and social reform, as well as for literary writing. * JAYASHANKAK PRASAD – introduced blank verse and the sonnet to Indian poetry. * MADHUSUDAN DUIT- wrote the 1st play modeled on western drama. * SIR RABINDRANATH TAGORE – introduced the short story to vernacular writing * BANKIN CHANDRA CHATTERJEE and HARI NARAYAN APTE – novel pioneered * LAKSMINATH BEZBARUA and HAMMAN IQBAL – major poets.

20th century
* Writing has kept alive the sentimental romanticism of the 19th century * Social realism of earlier works developed first under the influence of nationalist leaders such as MAHATMA GANDHI and later under MARIST ideology. * Renaissance to the figureheads of the Indian renaissance led to experimentation with Surrealism, symbolism and the style of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot * Contemporary writing seems to demonstrate a general trend toward introspection, interests in psychology and experimentation with new forms of writing within a general existentialists framework.

GENERAL VIEW OF LITERATURE
* Written in Sanskrit, the oldest extent Aryan language.
* Small portion of the literature was written in Prakrit, a vernacular form of Sanskrit.

HISTORY OF LITERATURE in 2 periods
1. VEDIC period – 15000BC – 200BC
* Principally of religious and lyric poetry.
2. SANSKRIT PERIOD – 200BC- middleages)
* Down to the present day
* Many types of literature achieved distinction – epic, lyric and didactic poetry; drama; fairy tales; fables; romances and philosophy.

RELIGIOUS WORKS

Poetry

Vedas – also known as Book of Knowledge is the oldest sacred literature of India.

* Rig-Veda – an anthology of 1,028 hymns to various gods. The prevailing religion of this book is Hindu pantheism. Pantheism’s chief object of worship is Brahma. The most notable poem in the collection is “Creation Hymn”.

* Sama-Veda – also known as Book of Chants and it consists of liturgies.

* Yajur-Veda – also known as Prayer Book and also contains liturgies and repetitions of Rig-Veda.

* Atharva-Veda – also known as Book of Spells and it contains hymns, spells, incantations, notions of demonology and witchcraft.

Prose

* Brahmans – contains commentaries on the Vedic hymns and religious rites.

* Upanishads – a collection of 108 discourses on the Brahman religion. It also gives information concerning the concepts of maya—the illusory world, and nirvana—absorption into the universal soul.

* Sutras – an unintelligible treatises concerning ritual.

SECULAR WORKS

Epic

* Mahabharata – the longest poem in the world. The poem is about the battle between good and evil. It also contains glosses, descriptions, legends, treatises on religion, law and philosophy, and military matters. And it has two notable interpolations: a. Bhagavad-Gita – also known as Divine Song or the Lord’s song. It is a long, didactic poem wherein Krishna discuss philosophy and the good life with Arjuna. b. Nala and Damayanti – a love story concerning patience and fidelity.

* Ramayana – a poem with 96,000 lines in seven books. The poem is about Rama and his wife Sita, Rama’s exile, Sita’s faithfulness and Rama’s eventual destruction of Ravana.

Drama

* The first real drama arose out of ceremonies connected with the worship of Vishnu-Krishna.

* Toy Clay Cart – said to be written by King Sundra, it has three acts where a courtesan saves the life of a merchant.

* Sakuntala – also known as the Fatal Ring and said to be written by Kalidasa. The play is about King Dushyanta and his wife Queen Sakuntala.

Tale

* Jakatas – a legend about the 550 births of Buddha.

* Panchatantra – also known as Five Books. It is a series of tales as a manual instruction for king’s sons. The five books are:
a. Separation of Friends
b. Acquisition of Friends
c. War of the Crows and Owls
d. Loss of What Has Been Acquired
e. Inconsiderate Action

* Hitopdesa – also known as Book of Good Counsels. It is a series of 43 tales where the 25 are from the Panchatantra.

* Sukasaptali – also known as Seventy Stories of a Parrot, and it is a work series of fairy tales.

Lyricist

* Kalidasa – considered as the Hindu Shakespeare of the Shakespeare of India.

* Javadeva – author of Gitagovinda, a semi-dramatic lyric concerning the love-making of Krishna.