Web Quest Worksheet

This task as part of our classroom activity with Web  Quest Worksheet on Harry Potter series-

Feminist reading in Harry Potter-

In whole of the Harry Potter movies we can see that not only the male characters are given equal place but also the female characters are given place. The female protagonist Hermione Granger from the initial stage of friendship with Harry and Ron is more sensible then them. She always used to have a supportive plan for her friends if their plans backfire. She from the very beginning could catch most of the magical spells very well then her friends. She prefers to read and can go to any extent when it comes to protect her friends. Whereas, Fleur is portrayed as a girl whose good looks accomplished all of her capabilities. Ginny acts like carefree not bothering what society would think of her.

Confronting reality by reading fantasy-

Harry was very small when his parents died and from then he was left all alone. When Harry learns the true reason of his parent’s death, it changed whole of his thinking process. Harry always thinks that had his parents been alive how happy they all would have been.

Lord Voldemort is evil, powerful, terrifying but above all, he is scared of death. Later in the series, Voldemort even tells Dumbledore that-there's nothing worse, you are quite wrong. Dumbledore replies-indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness. It's what makes him desire the Philosopher's Stone, otherwise known as the key component of the Elixir of Life, which allows the drinker to live forever. J.K.Rowling says this is no way to live and says- We must treat death as not something to be cheated, but as a natural part of life. 

Children’s Literature and Harry Potter-

Here, we can see how the Harry Potter series changes the perspectives of children. In Frye’s model are humans superior to other humans for instance, in terms of bravery, wisdom or patriotism. Superior to other young people, high mimetic characters serve as models not only for the other characters in the story but for the readers also. In children’s Literature such characters are used for educational purposes. Adult readers may find Harry quite satisfactory as a model for children as Harry is humble, well-mannered and respectful towards his seniors, a perfect English gentleman.

Click here to view the Rubric Evaluation-

Web Quest Worksheet-

Sr. no	Topic	Web Resources	Arguments	Illustrations
1.	Feminist reading of Hermione and other female characters in Harry Potter. How do the character-portrayal of Hermione and other female characters support feminist discourse?	http://www.womensweb.in/2016/07/feminism-in-harry-potter-books-or-lack-of-it/ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Atkxy3fXP2IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Feminism+in+harry+potter&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTgNSFwrLZAhUJfLwKHXTtAYUQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=Feminism%20in%20harry%20potter&f=false	In the given web resources we can see that the portrayal of female characters along with Hermione is somewhat unimaginable because they proceed hand in hand with the male characters. Equal importance is given to them like the males. We can also see that how Hermione manages both Harry and Ron in difficult situations.	In movie we can also see how Hermione has solutions for most of the problems when they first went to Hogwart school to learn magic, whereas Harry and Ron were roaming carefree. She read books and thought more rationally and was always busy gathering knowledge. Bellatrix Lestrange was determined and is full of passion and fire. Lily Evans Potter mother of Harry sacrificed her life to save her child.
2.	Confronting reality by reading fantasy: How does reading Harry Potter make us confront the reality of our everyday existence?	https://www.pottermore.com/features/what-harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-teaches-us-about-death https://books.google.co.in/books?id=E_STAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Feminism+in+harry+potter&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQ5rqIrbLZAhUGPY8KHZpsCL0Q6AEITzAI#v=onepage&q&f=false	In the given web resources we can see that how death plays the vital role to make Harry strong. Where on the other hand, it makes Voldemort greedy for immortality as he is afraid of death.	In Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone book we can see how the death of Harry’s parents shaped his life, how he didn’t ever let go their sacrifice in vain. And in whole of the series we can see that how he always tried to keep their parents head high even if they were not with him. This way he shows how death is not the end always.
3.	Children’s Literature and Harry Potter: How far does J K Rowling transcends the canonical confines of children’s literature and claims the heights of ‘real’ literature?	https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yfOTAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA225&dq=harry+potter+and+children%27s+literature&ots=7QEa10lFOX&sig=lWIbkA6BE-TnATo_xdpBwEbepzk#v=onepage&q=harry%20potter%20and%20children's%20literature&f=false	In this given web resources we can see how Harry Potter has changed the perspective of children Literature where not only fairy tales exists but reality of life is also shown in it. And not only children can read these but these can be read by any people from any age group.	In Harry Potter series we can see how when a person dies hw can’t be brought back by magic. Here we can see how the change in age also affects the characters, which we all face in our everyday life.

The Da Vinci Code

 "The Da Vinci Code" novel -

4. What harm has been done to humanity by the biblical narration or that of Milton’s in The Paradise Lose? What sort of damage does narrative like ‘The Vinci Code’ do to humanity?

-> According to bible, women are inferior and they are considered as the root of problem. They are responsible for their sufferings. The role of men and women is also decided in Bible like Eve is always in Kitchen and Adam does the intellectual talks. Milton has given argumentative nature to Eve. Eve is silent, but she is able to convince Adam to eat apple in Paradise lost. In Christianity Bible doesn’t allow people to ask questions because their knowledge about religion is very limited. In this text many people became enemy and killed one another in the name of religion. According to Leigh Teabing some problems are solved if religion is removed from human life.  Robert Langdon keeps the secret of the Holy Grail and the Sarcophagus, he kneels down before it and it can be called the damaging of humanity, it’s like a pilgrimage of Robert.

8. When we do traditional reading of the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology, Harvard University emerges as protagonist and Sir Leigh Teabing, a British Historian as antagonist. Who will claim the position of protagonist if we do atheist reading of the novel?

-> From the view of an atheist, Leigh Teabing would be the protagonist. He wanted to reveal the truth so that people would be free from sorrow. Robert becomes a secret keeper as he says, “let them keep the faith and not let know the truth”. Teabing said- you can liberate the people if you reveal the truth. Money is a cover up and Teabing wanted to reveal truth. By kneeling down before Sarcophagus, would be the destruction for humanity. It is like a pilgrimage of Robert. Robert is the blind disciple when he tells the incident of his falling in the well and at that time he thought that Jesus is there with him to save him. Through these points from the view of an atheist, Leigh Teabing can be called as the protagonist of this movie.

5. What difference do you see in the portrayal of 'Ophelia' (Kate Winslet) in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, 'Elizabeth' (Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or 'Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore) in Roland Joffé's The Scarlet Letter' or David Yates's 'Harmione Granger' (Emma Watson) in last four Harry Potter films - and 'Sophie Neuve' (Audrey Tautau) in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code? How would justify your answer?

-> Women are always portrayed as a double marginalized one. Whether it is about the reality or it is about the film, the position of women is same. First if we talk about Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, she is slight different than the Hamlet of Shakespeare. Kenneth Branagh takes more freedom in portraying woman. At the end Ophelia goes in madness. Elizabeth is also killed in the movie. Hester Prynne is out casted from the society. And all these three women are portrayed from the view point of male or through the eyes of male. But obvious, that the body of women are more objectified. Sophie’s physical appearance is more controlled in film. No doubt that the movie’s theme “Feminine Sacredness” has played a vital role in portraying the female character like Sophie. But what camera played is also important thing.

7. Have you come across any similar book/movie, which tries to deconstruct accepted notions about Hindu religion or culture and by dismantling it, attempts to reconstruct another possible interpretation of truth?

-> In Indian literature such is the trilogy by Amish Tripathi. In that ‘Meluha’ series we can see such deconstruction and reconstruction of myth with new interpretation. Writers like Jay Vasavada and his book ‘JSK’and Kajal Oza Vidhya’s portrayal of women and comparing women with history is tried to deconstruct accepted notions about Hindu religion or culture and by dismantling it, attempts to reconstruct another possible interpretation of truth.

3. You have studied ‘Genesis’ (The Bible), ‘The Paradise Lost’ (John Milton) and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (Dan Brown). Which of the narrative/s seem/s to be truthful? Whose narrative is convincing to the contemporary young mind?

-> In Milton’s Paradise Lost all destructions happens to humanity like, Eve’s fall happens and that’s why in every circumstances everyone blame women or dislike them. Argumentative discourse is shown by Milton but all thinks that women are not meant to claim and if they claim their all opinions are wrong and leads to disasters of mortality. In ‘The Vinci Code’ one damage is shown for human kind is that at the end when Robert Langdon also becomes blind follower of Christianity when he talks about accident happened to him and he falls down into well, that time he says that Jesus is there with him to save him and at the end of the movie when finally he found that “Holy Grail”. Instead of revealing the secret about Holy Grail means the Sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene, he becomes secret keeper that time.

"The White Tiger"

 I do agree with the statement that India is represented in this novel ‘White Tiger’. Here writer uses Balram Halwai as the symbol of ‘White Tiger.’ He is a servant, philosopher, entrepreneur and murderer. Here we can see that how Adiga has given image Balram’s journey from rags to the mountain peak. This shows that how mindset of people is constructed and whatever they do, they think it to be right. They want to become successful in a short period of time and for they find the easiest way possible. We all know India is full of corrupted and blind followers of religion, so many politicians, rigid and stubborn mindsets of people, business, democracy, crime, poverty, richness, India of light and darkness etc. I like the narrative style of Adiga because it shows the real image of India rather than sugar-coated things. Moreover literature not only shows the x-ray image of body but it provides the remedy also. Literature is fracturing the things which are already rotten in a way.

2) I believe that Balram’s story is an example of ‘rags to riches’.  For example in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” same story like the White Tiger is depicted. In the movie the central figure Jamal is a poor man and at last he becomes rich. So in the same way in the White Tiger we can say that Jamal and Balram Halwai as men of ‘rags to riches’. Balram begins life in a poor village but murders his boss and steals a large sum of money to become a self-made entrepreneur.

3) As we can see that in the theory of deconstruction, language bears within itself. And that is the thing we can also see in the novel that Balram Halwai calls himself as a half-baked man and the whole story also. So how can we rely on the half baked man? So from this point view we can deconstruct the novel.

4) Yes, it is possible to read the novel “The White Tiger” in the context of globalisation. It is so because in today’s world the riches are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer day by day. In this novel we can see in the darker India that Balram speaks about how still the ‘master-slave’ relationship is still prevailing. Whereas, in the bright side of India the poor are trying to dominate the riches, how this is possible is a point to ponder upon. 

Thinking Activity on ELT based videos

Thinking Activity on ELT based videos- 

1> Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigm- In this video Robinson talks about the changes education needs to undergo. He speaks that not much has changed in the education system of today’s world as compared with the old days. Robison says that it’s not right to medicate students to bring them to schools. He says that education shouldn’t be enforced on anyone rather it should be flexible so that it can attract more students. Robinson says that education needs to me more individualized. Robinson says that destroy the myth that there is a difference between academic and non- academic subjects, between abstract and the theoretical. He says that learning becomes great when it is done in groups because one can get to know many things in groups which they can’t find in books. He also says that we need to change the thinking of those who are related with the education system.

2> Sugata Mitra’ build a school in the cloud- In this video Mitra says that he wants build a learning lab in India where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. According to him, with the rise of the internet memorization is not so important now-a-days. For jobs of future students has to learn how to think critically. Mitra wants students to make new discoveries and spread it across the whole world.

3> Sugata Mitra’s future learning- In this video he talks about the future of learning that with advancement in technologies students must also get acquainted with the new learning process. He says that the old and traditional method of learning process must be removed. The teachers should also expose the students to different and easy ways of learning process.

4> Salman Khan let’s use video to reinvent education- In this video Khan talks about the use of videos in making studies easier and interesting. Videos can help break down difficult concepts while still capturing the imagination.  Khan gas transferred the heavy textbooks into interesting videos which attracts many students towards it. It lends itself to self-paced, customized learning. There’s no need to feel embarrassed if you don’t understand a concept, just rewind and replay until you do.

5> Mark Prensky Digital natives, digital immigrants- In this video Prensky calls this new generation of high technology usage as "Digital Natives", and says that today’s generation are the native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet. And Prensky also say that all the people who are born before this era is called as “Digital Immigrants”.  This gap between the two generations is remarkable in the use of technology. As natives are well-acquainted with the use of technology, whereas the immigrants have to learn the use of technology and adapt themselves to the modern use of technologies.

6> David Crystal the effect of new technologies on English- In this video David Crystal says that technology has the ability to change and create new language and develop the way in which we speak.  Crystal mentions how we speak differently when we text rather than speak, as the shortage of characters we are given.

7> David Crystal the biggest challenge for English language teachers in the times of internet- In this video Crystal says that in today’s world the English ascents or dialects which students and teachers use is much different because teachers are more of traditional and old in their languages than students. Language change makes you ready for everything. Translating and interpreting and language teaching are the toughest jobs according to Crystal because human behaviour is much more complex than language teaching.  Teaching profession is much hard than any other professions.

8> David Crystal texting is good for English language- In this video Crystal says that the more one texts the more one’s literacy level goes up.

Thinking Activity on One Night @ The Call Center

The meaning of self-help book we can say is that easiness or easy to read and what the message is conveyed easily through it. The self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. However we can see in this novel the characters of Radhika and Priyanka their idea about the “vasudhaivkutumbkam”, also mother happiness is own happiness. Self-help book often focuses on popular psychology such as romantic relationships or aspect of the mind and human behaviour which believes in self-help feel can be controlled with effort. The self-help book typically advertises them as being able to increase self-awareness and performance including satisfaction with one’s life.

Globalization has affected the characters in the novel at various levels. Novel is based on the theme of globalization. Military uncle is connected with his son and grandson, Vroom and Shyam designs webs. The title itself has the theme of globalization.

Anti-American Sentiments- 
America is quite represented with negative aspect in the novel. Anti-American Sentiments is also thematically distressed in the novel. With Vroom as the character it is clearly visible that national pride is interwoven with this. Vroom has different sight to look at America. This text is much spoken about patriotism and rejected the Western culture which is imposed forcefully.

 Cyber Punk is a science fiction genre in which the future world is portrayed as one in which society is largely controlled by computers. One night @ The Call Center is categorized as a cyber punk novel because it displays the lifestyle and problems of those smart and young generation who are working in such a direction with technology and internet that it becomes their life.

Thinking Activity on Can technology replace teachers?

Can technology replace teachers?

In today’s world one of the most controversial questions going on is- Can technology replace teachers? There are many arguments supporting it and there are also many arguments opposing it.

It is true for the advancement in technology paper work is lessening day by day and machines are over-taking it. Machines can perform a task within a fraction of seconds which we the humans are unable to do. In today’s education system technologies are also getting involved in a vivid way. Earlier Arts classes always used to be comprised of- a teacher, students, books and a blackboard; no one ever thought of the involvement of technologies in the classes. Now-a-days technologies has replaced the traditional system of Arts classes, books and teachers has got transferred to- laptops, projectors and blackboards has got transferred to smart boards. While teaching in Literature classes if students are shown examples from different movies and advertisements it becomes more effective than only just teaching the topic verbally. Students can be taken for excursion to different historical places but students can’t be taken to the places where Shakespeare thought of writing a play. But through technology students can be helped in experiencing the taste of Shakespearean plays.

A student studying in a particular school or college can also join one or more online courses of his or her interest and can complete it with their routine studies. It is due to technology a student can study himself wherever he is without any such assistance of a teacher. Wherever he gets stuck up, he can watch videos regarding it which would make things clear. In today’s world students find more convenient to study with the help of technology rather than teachers.

As technology plays it role in the education system, it doesn’t mean that a good teacher got replaced by it in a whole. There’s no doubt that technologies has all the informations but it can’t specify which information is reliable and which is not, which a teacher can. Technology can only simplify the learning process but it can’t replace the role of a teacher. A teacher gives lessons for life and encourages students to achieve their goals where technology fails and without a teacher a computer or any such technology is just a machine. Technology can only be beneficial for a student when it is used by a good teacher. 

Review on the movies- Midnight's Children and The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

This task is a part of our academic activity and based on thinking activity-
                           Midnight’s Children 

Midnight’s Children one of the most much-admired novel by Salman Rushdie. He is Diasporic writer. Who is an Indian-born British essayist and fiction writer. He says about this topic ‘Midnight’s Children’- Indian pessimism. He gives ideas of historical fact and magic realism in novel.
 Midnight’s Children movie is luminously directed by Deepa Mehta, this movie is also based on this novel. The movie is a controversial one, that has tragedy, romance and comedy also.


The movie has a dramatic and mysterious touch that gets you an entire picture of Indian’s journey through all its trials. The movie is highlighting the two lives of two individuals born at the stroke  of midnight when India achieved its Independence. This movie takes through all the ages beginning from the grandparents to  the children. Born , poor become rich, rich  become poor. Changing of the children plays  vital role in changing plot of the movie. Saleem becomes Shiva and Shiva becomes Saleem, and then movie turns around their lives. Son of rich becomes poor and poor boy suddenly becomes rich. Which is fine example of class conflict in India  at that time.

Here in the case of Saleem and  Shiva  I observed there is a crisis of  superiority , why it happened ? Because one is Muslim by birth and the other one is Hindu. As we know that it is the time of Independence, and there where so many geographical problems taking place. Yes, it was the time of  partition .
In movie the Characters of Parvati, Shiva and Saleem  presents magic realism. Magic Realism also plays vital role in making the movie believable. If this technique won’t be used then perhaps we won’t believe in the story. Through magic realism all children brought together in the movie, and it gives novelty to the movie and makes it more interesting.

Movie is also political allegory, presenting dark side of partition, then the war with Pakistan and Emergency. So it looks like Rushdie as an outsider criticizing India. The scene of India in the movie is of slum, poverty which looks defaming India and looks towards India like western people does.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist 

The Reluctant Fundamentalist  is a novel by Pakistan born writer Mohsin Hamid. The movie is also based on this novel. 
The Reluctant Fundamentalist movie is brightly directed by Meera Nair Dir. The whole movie is talk about relations between East and west. The story of the movie is narrated in flashback technique by Changez  Khan. The story of the movie is of young Pakistani man chasing behind corporate success. In this movie we can see that what reality has to do between film and Reluctant Fundamentalist in this film main theme.

In this movie we can see the American political affairs and news about 9/11 in America land the terrorist attacks to world trade centre. That scene is all that fundamentalism and film focus on Changez is also Pakistani everything. This attack 9/11 makes him question all his value and he becomes a logical example of anti-capitalist morals and principal.

After the attack of terrorist in America we can see how problem coming to Changez Khan’s life in New York. Here we can see the term of Orientalism by Edward Said. Orienatalism is a style of thought based an ontological and epistemological, distinction made between Orient- the Eastern part of Asia and it is opposite to Occident. And movie also talks about the how Western countries see the East countries, in movie character of Changez Khan is about what is real fact about the East countries. Also we can say that all Muslims are not terrorist, but whenever we capture any terrorist it’s Muslim. So our mind’s is concept that all Muslims are terrorist. After reading the term Orientalism the concept of mind changes that all Muslims are not terrorist but they all are first human being. 

He goes back to his roots in Lahore , but he is now a different person, taking to a different world. Now he becomes third person mixture of the Pakistani poet’s son and the New York businessman. Now as a professor , he spends some time in the tea shop with his many faithful students.  He works as professor but American agents doubt them as terrorist. At the end of the movie, Americans realizes that Changez is innocent.
So film challenges American theory of doubting Muslim people. It gives voice to this people.