"Second Language Acquisition"

Introduction:

The term second language acquisition deals with the events through which one can acquire one or more other languages. L1 means first language, the learner’s mother tongue. L2 means second language which a learner wants to learn. But the SLA researchers interested in both product and take this as naturalistic contexts where the learners acquire language with different activities and interact through language. SLA is very important methodology through which teacher gives knowledge about the language.

Let’s converse in detail that how SLA is playing an exceptional role to acquire the language.

First it is very much necessary to know that,

What is SLA?

           SLA emerged from comparative studies of language. These type of studies were including in the belief that a leaner’s first language has very much important to acquire his second language, it is known as a ‘Contrastive analysis’ (C A) hypothesis. There is a clash between L1 and L2 rules.

         Example:   Spanish L1 learners would tend. When learning English to place the adjective after the noun as it is done in Spanish rather than before it.

Such an error can be explained as ‘Negative Transfer’ of the L1 rule to the L2. When the rules are similar for both language ‘Positive transfer’ would occur and language learning would be facilitated. Thus English language remains difficult to learn as L1 in most of countries in Asia. Contrastive Analysis.

Morpheme Order:

During the early 1970 a series of experimental investigations into learner language were came out which is known as the ‘ Morpheme Order’ Their aim principles is that L2 learners acquire grammar to focus on target language. Delay and Burt (1973-1974) the main architects of the morpheme order that like L1, children acquiring a L2 appeared to follow an order. In addition the children who are coming from rural background they are trying to translating English sentence into their mother tongue than with the help of this methodology they can easily understand L2.

The Morpheme order studies indicated a predetermined order of acquisition for certain grammatical morphemes.  Subsequent research also showed that this order could not be changed by instruction. on the other hand, the researchers were unable to explain why certain items were acquired before others. During the 1980s however a number of researches studying the acquisition of German and English proposed an interested explanation for the disparity between instruction and acquisition based on speech – processing constraints. (Pienemann 1989)

SLA through process oriented research:

SLA can facilitate by exploring the kinds of classroom tasks and activities. In the first of a series of investigations into learner- learner interaction, Long (1981) found that two way tasks (in which all students in a group discussion had unique information to contribute) stimulated significantly more modified interaction than one way tasks ( In which one member of the group possessed all the relevant information)

The term ‘Modified interaction’ pacts with the idea that comprehensible input was necessary for SLA that acquisition would occur when learners understood messages in the target language.

Even though grammar is an essential part of language, first a teacher has to ready himself that what is the proficiencies need to acquires second language. If a learner makes grammatically mistakes or any pronunciation mistakes let them do but a teacher should more and more tried that they will speak in English. So this is very important methodology to teach language to learners.

Complexity of SLA and its trends and directions:

SLA research can be solved by a single word ‘Complexity’. The input and output parts of human mind are important to SLA and this way the acquisition is an organic rather than linear process.

Some are the characteristics of SLA to understand language. In recent study, Martyn (1996) investigated the influence of certain task on the negotiation of meaning in small group work, looking at the following variables. 

The results seem to indicate that while task variables appear to have an effect on the amount of negotiation for meaning there appears to be an interaction between task variables personality factors and interactional dynamic. This ongoing research underlines the complexity of learning environment and the difficulty of isolating psychological and linguistic factors from social and impersonal ones.

So, conclude with this idea that SLA methodology becomes successful only when the learners should focus on L2 as their target language. The final part of the chapter also suggest that future work will attempt to capture the complexity of the acquisition process by incorporating a wide range of linguistic , social, interpersonal and psycholinguistic variables into the design of the research process.

Bilingualism:

Introduction:

Bilingualism compacts with the phenomenon of competence and communication in two languages. The teacher’s interaction in two languages, by this way a learner can acquire or awake about language. So it is called Bilingualism. A bilingual society is that in which two languages are used for communication. In Bilingual society, it is possible to communicate into different languages but real meaning of these methods is to target on language which we (learners) are studying.

Monolingual or communicative norms:

Bilingual person who is very much influential in two or more than other language the way of monolingual or communication becomes effectual. By giving different examples to the learners into their mother tongue, without any difficulty they can acquire knowledge about language.

Ø  Example:

A Bilingual whose mother tongue is Gujarati and he is studying in Gujarat, then he gives example in Gujarati rather than giving example in English language. So, result is that a learner gets him properly.

Limitation of Bilingualism:

As we know that there are many importance of Bilingualism but it has limitation also. A Bilingual person communicates in dominant place only but outside from this place he may have needed to learn another language.

Ø  Example:

A bilingual who studying in Gujarati language only in Gujarat but when he goes outside from Gujarat, suppose Maharashtra then Gujarati examples will not  work.

So Bilingualism involves communicative norms domains and components.

Ø Background and types of Bilingualism:

B

A

C

K

G

R

O

U

N

D

                                      

                                         Monolingual speaker- hearer competence

                                         Greeter vigor

                                         Contact linguistic

                                         The ultimate local of contact

                                            Psycholinguistic studies of Bilingualism

                            

Types Of Bilingualism

 

         Simultaneous                                                                                                             Successive

Ø  Simultaneous:  The acquisition of two languages at the same time.

Ø  Successive:       The acquisition of one language after another.

Bilingualism is now connected with studies in contact linguistics (Apple and Muysken 1987). The Bilingual is now recognized as the ultimate locus of contact (Romantic 1996 concurring with Weinreich 1968) and accepted as one of the agents of language change arising from contact satiations.

Bilingualism current and future trends and directions:

The study of Bilingualism was initially motivated by an educational need and so had a strong pedagogical orientation in the early work, research in the last decades has brought together the theoretical approaches from several disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach to bilingualism has proved healthy and is likely to continue to be adopted.

Today in the technological world this skill becomes very useful. For example, the recent emphasis on cross cultural linguistics or cultural discourse analysis makes it easier for bilingual communication patterns to be described and understood.

Task based language learning

-Dave Wills and Jane Wills

Introduction:

To give knowledge about language a teacher should have various skills and methodologies with the help of these a teacher can teach efficiently. The language can be described as form based. There is an assumption that language can be teach into input and intake way directly to the learners.  But it is not possible in SLA we see that directly focus on L2 is not done or not any perfect result found. To understand and acquire language there be form of ‘Task based’. Since the work of Corder (1967), Selinker (1972) and other theorists, it has been clear that we cannot predict how input will affect the learner’s language development.

In contrast to form based approaches Task based learning (TBL) involves that language should not e teaching in specification of a sequence of different items, but it should be teach in communication tasks. A learner can only acquire knowledge about language when he will start to communicate in language. J.Willis (1996) defines a task as an activity where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose so, communication becomes important to learn any language.

Let’s thrash out in detail that how task based becomes to learn language.

What is Task based learning language and how it becomes important?

TBL grows out with the general form of communicative language teaching (CLT). Hymes (1971; 1972-1979) form of communicative competence encored a more critical look at language and awareness about language into the classroom.

‘Task’ means a work that should be completed into given time. Any article, any book, ant activity may be given by teacher or someone else is a form of Task, we can say it is a process of ‘TBL’

Ø  Example:

In English Department of any other collage , tasks are given to the students which are related with today’s current issues or general knowledge or any other information, but the main purpose is that the student have enrich  their supremacy in  language with different forms of tasks.

So above given example task based learning becomes very important and the communicative skill of the learners will also boost. Otherwise the atmosphere of the class room will be boring as the teachers don’t make the students active. By giving different activities and tasks and with the help of the technology a teacher makes the students alive about the language.

Various activities are helpful like, showing video of how to talk in English. Listening an audio clip and by giving roll modeling activities to teach English subject is not become obstruction.

How to teach other language or foreign language in the classroom:

Today in the technological age everything is possible with the help of technology. Internet, Video clips, Audio clips, online talks etc.  With the help of this it may be possible to teach other language in the class room. Various activities also can be in the class room.

Ø  Example:

Roll modeling, telephone talks by two students, spelling games, online chat etc.

The main object of a teacher is that increased more and more students into the activities. The learner’s previous experience of the task type and the topic or content matter and other implementation variables, such as a time limit group size and participant roles.

Most of the teachers are also using courser book as a basis for their teaching. There is danger that label ‘Task based’ will now be exploited in the same way. TBL like CLT rests on broad principle rather than precise recommendations or prescriptions.

Prabhu (1987) identified three broad task types’ information gap, reasoning gap and problem solving. Stern (1992) offers a similarly useful typology. Learners can be asked to:

Give and follow instruction

Gather and exchange information

Solve problems

Give informal talks in the class room

Take part in role play and drama activities

  

Other skin tones are also important in TBL:

The relationship between task and interaction: What roles do speakers adopt? How does task instruction affect these roles?

Allocating roles within tasks: How does it affect the interaction if one student is given the role of

Acceptability of TBL : How comfortable do learners feel with a particular approach to TBL?

Differences over time : Students have been encored to record themselves on task or to keep records of written tasks

Imposing extra constraints on task performance : What difference does it makes if a time limit is imposed?

Conclusion:

‘TBL’ turn out to be very much important in today life with the help of different gadgets and resources. So the result is that communication in English or other language becomes easy now. It seems that learning and acquiring language is natural process but with the help of TBL, language can be teaching more proficient way. TBL represents an attempt to harness natural processes and to provide language focus activities based on consciousness rising which will support these process. So apart from this we can say that there is no direct relationship between language instruction and language learning.

                           

“Salman Rushdie as a Essayist”

Introduction about Author:

Ahmed Salman Rushdie an Anglo- Indian writer is one of the renowned personalities in twentieth century. He was born on 1947 in Bombay. The genres in his writing are magic realism, satire and post-colonialism. He has been compared with authors such as Peter Carey, Emma Tennant and Angela Carter.

In 1964 his family was responding to the growing hostilities between India and Pakistan. These religious and political conflict deeply affected on Rushdie. In 1981 his ‘Midnight’s children’ was published and got Nobel Prize for fiction. His latest novel is ‘Luca and the Fire of life’ published in November 2011.

His style is often classified as magical realism mixed with historical fiction and dominant theme and his work we normally can see the story of many connection disruptions and migrations between the Eastern and Western world. His third novel ‘Shame’ (1983) that represents a political allegory of Pakistan politics.

Apart from all his writings, a collection of his essays

Ø  ‘ Imaginary Homeland’

Ø  ‘ Commonwealth literature does not exist’

Ø  ‘The New Empire within Britain’

Ø  Attenborough’s Gandhi’ etc.

Rushdie is very much connected with his childhood days as in ‘Imaginary Homeland’ he talks about his memory. He saw a hanging picture on the wall. He also remembers the famous sentence of L.P. Hartley’s novel ‘The go between’ and the sentence is

“The past is a foreign country”

He also talks about Saleem. His mistakes were of memory. He gives his experience that before he started to write ‘Midnight’s Children’, here called his past memory, past Bombay. Then he remembers the Bombay of the 1950s and 1960s. He also remembers Bombay-Kashmir and Delhi-Aligarh. He recalls Bombay’s dialogues, ads for Binaca and for Kolynos.He remembers the board,

‘Drive likes Hell and you will get there.’

He also remembers Saleem’s theme song ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’.He says that the writer who is out of country and even out-of language may experience this loss in intensified form. He also remembers Saleem’s  theme song

‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’.

In   ‘Attenborough’s Gandhi’ essay Rushdie talks about Attenborough’s movie ‘Gandhi’. He says that deification is an Indian disease. In India, Gandhi is higher than anyone but he has question which he asked to people many a time. He asks;

“Why American academy wish to help him by offering in a temple eight

Glittering statuettes to a film?”

And in commonwealth literature he natters about that if any literature which comes out from commonwealth countries known as ‘commonwealth literature’ but any literature that comes out from England that is known as ‘English Literature’ as England is a part of commonwealth countries. Then why there is differences in literature that’s why he very much against this.

Aside from all his works, let’s thrash out in detail regarding his two essays ‘The new Empire within Britain’ and 'Commonwealth literature does not exist’

What is commonwealth literature?

Commonwealth is allied   with those which were ruled by British.  Those countries which were ruled by British known as Commonwealth Countries and the literature get nearer out from these are known as Commonwealth Literature. They gave ‘Commonwealth’ which is known as post-colonial literature. These are just some of the terms being used to describe the writing of ‘Member’ of the former British Empire. Rushdie is hugely against of this because according to him it is master- slave relationship.

In the 17^th century the definition ‘Commonwealth’ expanded from its original sense of ‘Public welfare’ or ‘Commonweal’ to mean.

“A state in which the supreme power is vested in the people a republic or democratic state”

The Commonwealth of Nations also known as the commonwealth of British Commonwealth. The commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization of 54 nations which were formally part of British Empire.

Commonwealth games also organized by British and the nations which are coming into the existence of British are becoming a part of ‘Commonwealth Games’

Commonwealth Literature doesn’t exist:

Once upon a time when British ruled over these countries, they structured such as ‘commonwealth Games’ and also gave money to organized these Games. it was the time when British Ruled over,  but now a day’s all the countries becomes free from British  rule and they are organizing such games as their own power only .Then  why even today the name is given as ‘ Commonwealth Games’?

The general, commonwealth literature is a vague term defines English literature works written in the British colonies or place which had the status of dominions. Also known as new English Literature.

Rushdie immeasurably against ‘Commonwealth Literature’ because he perceived that any literature that comes out from commonwealth countries, known as ‘commonwealth Literature’ but when any literature comes out from British side than it is known as ‘ English Literature’ why?  Rushdie asked.

Commonwealth literatures are in it narrow and misleading. Other criticizes the term as anachronism. That’s why Rushdie said that 

“commonwealth Literature does not exist”

“A body of writing created in the English language by persons who are themselves white Britons or Irish or citizens of United states of America”

Rushdie complained that term is patronizing and marginalizes a number of writers that their writings become inferior and British writing becomes superior, the relationship of master slave.

In this essay Rushdie describes the category of ‘ CommonweathLiterature’ as  a ‘Ghetto’ which the eclifice rests is that literature is an expression of nationality and that culture springs from tradition. Hesays that “ what we are facing is that the bogy of Authenticity” ( which is the respectable child of old fashioned exotocism  It demands that sources , forms, style, laguage and smybol all derive from a supposedly homogeneous and unbroken tradition. While western culture are seen as dynamic progressive and developed it is demanded of exoticized cultures to be original, pure, simple and perferably riligious .

 He added that this term is a strange , unhelpful and even a little disasterful. British magazine was published during this time there were many great writer like Naipaul Shiva, Buchi Emecheta thet spaek much about this term as Rushdi said. So commonwealth was becoming unpopular for Rushdie. 

 

The New Empire within Britain:

In this essay he natters  about Racism. He added that racism is not a side-issue in contempory Britain. Britain is undergoing a crtical pahse not simply economic period and thus crisis is not simply economic or political. E.P. Thompson has described as the last colony of the British empire. British authoritoes don’t believe of exporting govrement rather they have choosen to import a nea Empire a new community of grouo of people whom they daelt with ‘ The fluttered folk and wild’ the ‘new caught’ sullen peoples , half-devil and half-child who made for Rudyard Kipling the White man’s burdon.

The Britain claminating half of the world for more than four centuries freed the colonies unwillingly and left behind the English language, cricket rules, law and constitution and education system as a gift. Now question is that on whome they had to rule? The solutation was there to create a new empire. The pink age to rule over their colonizers. The Macmillan government advertised the Britain as ‘ The land of Gold’ of new hope and optimism Rushdie said

 “ It sometimes seems that British authorities no langer capable to exporting government have choose 

instead to import a new empire, a new community of subject peoples to whome they think and with whome they can dael in very much the same ways”

When new empire was begun, there was a problem of black skin, niegro people. Theie women were abused their chidren were beaten by new empire’s peoples. The hasrhness of new Empire people was found at that time. The government was not abl to take any steps forward against the racial discrimination a serious of crime. Besauce they believed that racism does not exist here and it gave rise to such kind of incidents.

Rushdie futher more criticised that a judge had no problem with the offensive word for black people ‘Nigger’ because it was his nickname in his school days. Lord Deming also wrote in his book that the black were not allowed or not capable to becoming  judge.

 The Britons negelected these facts and counter argued that you have voting right, now inter racila marriage is permited. There is no kiling of black happens to pure the society, the law hasn’t declared the dominance of the white over the black. But Rushdie says that it is very torpid that how the racism was the crucial problem during that time.

Rushdie also writes that one of the more curious aspects of British immigration, law is that many Rhodesians, south Africans and other white non Britons have automatic right to entry and residence here, by virtue of having one British born grandparent, whereas many British citizens are denied these rights because they happen to black.

There were extraodinary advirtisemanet which are full of hope and optimism which made Britain out to be a land of plently. There was a hope of peoples mind that travelling new contyr is one kind of invention of ' New Empire'

Rushdie takes a dig at English language by showing that how some terms which we dont find other language. For instance,  Wog ( a very offensive person who does not have white skin, Frog (can offensive word for a French person)  Yid, ( a very offensive word for Jewish person) Spic (a very offensive word for a person who is speaking Spanish ) dago ( a very ofensive word a person from Italy) Coon ( a very offensive word for a black person) nigger Argies (an ofensive word a person from Argentina).

Rushdie calls It patronizing terminology and the only solution  according to him is cleaning the racist mindset. He also gave example of Hitler that there were made attempts to purify the German thought and language from the fifth of Nazism.

Rudyard Kipling who believes the colonized people are the “ white man’s burden”. Rushdie also gives examples of media production that how its paly a fundamental  role into the racism. He said:

“ I know an airline advertising , manager who refused to permit the use in his T V ads of a genuine air stewardess employed by his own airline, because she was black. She was good enough to serve his customers, their drinks , but not good enough to be shown doing so on television”

Rushdie acrimoniously fated  the most insidious stereotype a problem of black people. He said that in new Britain empire there was problem all sorts of society like the race problem, the immigration problem. If you are libral you say that black people have problems , if you aren’t  you say they are the problem . but the new colony have been create problem and thatwas white people.

So. Conclude with these acidic annotations that Rushdie is very much alongside to racism. The main problem was skin color, BLACK   Vs WHITE. Lot’s of struggle and painfull familiarity can be seen if you have black skin. You have to scrifice yourselves under white man rules. When Mahatma Gandhi came to England and asked what he thought of English Civilization. He replied

“ I think it would be a good Idea”

" Myths In The Waste Land"

                           

Introduction:

T.S.Eliot was born in 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri. His first work was “The love song of J.Alfred Prufrock” in 1915.he wrote the poem “The Waste Land” while recovering from the exhaustion. From 1911 to 1914 he returned back to Harvard where he expanded his knowledge by reading Indian philosophy and studying Sanskrit. In 1919, Eliot published poems which contained “ Gerontion”.In 1922 his another poetic work comes out in shape of “The Waste Land” a complex examination of 19th century. He founded what would become an influential literary journal called ‘Criterion’ (1922-1939).His major works are “Ash Wednesday” (1930), “Four Quartets”(1943),”Use of Criticism”(1933), “After strange Gods”(1934) and received Nobel Prize in literature in 1948.

These works were immediately spread like a virus in all literary corners and it is frequently considered as the most influential work in 20th century.

T.S.Eliot ‘The Waste Land’ is an important achievement in the history of English poetry and one of the most talked poems of the 20^th century by Thomas Stern Eliot. This poem is very long one including four hundred forty lines which is divided into five parts. They are given below:

It was written during the autumn of 1921, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the poet was just recovering after a serious breakdown in health, caused by domestic worries and over-work. Personal health-crisis, the mental derangement of his wife, who untimely died in a mental hospital by shattering the influence of World War 1. On account of this gloomy image of World War 1 the poet presented that the poem expresses the ‘disillusionment of a generation’. The gloom and despair of the poet are mirrored in the poem.  

What is a Myth?

“A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events”

An exaggerated or idealized conception of a person or thing: ‘The book is a scholarly study of the Churchill myth’

A fictitious or imaginary person or thing: ‘nobody had ever heard of Simon’s mysterious friend – Anna said he was a myth ‘

“The waste Land” The mythical background:     

On the eve of the composition of “The waste land” T.S.Eliot has been reading about two famous writers and their works like Jessie Weston’s book ‘Ritual to Romance’ and James Frazer’s ‘The Golden Bug’. Eliot himself has acknowledged that he was deeply influenced by these works or anthropology and primitive myths and legends which from the mythical background to this poem are derived from these books. Miss Weston’s book supplied him with the legend of the Grail and the Fisher king and from the Golden Bough he derived his knowledge of a number of vegetation and fertility myths and rituals, especially those connected with Attis, Adonis and Osiris. These myths are very much important to understand of the poem as they are the “objective co-relative” for the poet’s emotions.

There are five myths as shown in above. Let’s discuss in detail about these.

The Grail Legend:

The Holy Grail (cup or dish) legend is associated with the king of Arthur and his knights of the round table. The Grail was the cup or plate used by Christ for his last supper, in that cup the blood of the saviour was gathered when he was crucified. The Myth about this vessel was that it acquired medicinal and miraculous properties so the result is that it became an object for purity or one kind of devotion and worship. The lance used to pierce the sides of Christ and kept with it. But a time the original Grail was mysteriously disappeared and many of the bold Knights staked their lives and they searching for this vessel. It was generally believed that the grail was sometimes could be found in the sky as the floating saucer but it could only see by those, Knights who were virginal beauty. Tennyson treated his theme as the theme final of his ‘idylls of the king’ making Sir Galahad the immaculate Knight of King Arthur round Table. So conclude that the Grail was originally connected with the fertility myth, as it witnessed by its sexual symbols (cup and the lance symbolising the male and female organs respectively) but later on it suffered a sea- change through its association with Christ.

The Fisher King: His Desolate Land:

In the Waste Land T.S.Eliot depicts some myths and with the help of myth  he conveys his ideas through myths and therefore The Fisher King is a myth which can be observed in this epic like poem. It is said that in the course of their hazardous quest Parsifal the Quester and his fellow adventures happened to arrive in a country ruled over by a prince named the Fisher King. It was one of the regions where Grail worship had been anciently vogue, and a temple Known as Chapel Perilous, still stood there, broken and dilapidated, as a mournful memorial of what once was, but later had ceased to be. It was said that the lost Grail was hidden in this chapel. At that time the king himself had become a physical wreck, maimed and impotent, as a result. It was whispered, of a sin committed by his soldiery in outraging the chastity of a group of nuns attached to the Grail chapel. The impotency of the Fisher King was reflected sympathetically in the land of which he was the head and ruler. It had become dry and barren, the haunt and home of want and famine. The King, however, was waiting with hope, despite his illness, that one day the Knight of the pure soul would visit his star-crossed kingdom, march to the Chapel Perilous, answer questions and solve riddles. This would be followed by a ritual washing of his, King Fisher’s riddles. This would be purge it and renew its health and energy. It was also hoped that this rebirth of the king would be followed by the life-giving rains to the parched land and the thirsty kingdom, which would once more enjoy its earlier fertility.

This myth also symbolically connected with contemporary decay and spiritual sterility. The sick King symbolises the sick humanity and this sickness results. The sick humanity and this sickness result as in the case of the Fisher King from its sexual sins. Sex which is the source of life has been denied its proper function. It has been degraded to mere ‘Animal copulation’ and this sexual perversion has lead to spiritual death. Spiritual health can be regained only through penance, suffering and self discipline.

Tiresias and his significance:

According to Eliot, Tiresias comes out as the central figure through this poem, what Tiresias sees is the substance of the whole poem. The importance of Tiresias is complex and varied but it is connected with history with the story of King Oedipus, Thebes the classical legend of a waste land. Let’s see the story of King Oedipus in the context of Tiresias and see how it is connected with waste and as a myth.

King Oedipus and his 

Waste land:

Tiresias serves, in the first place to complicate the mythical frame of the poem and in the second place to universalize. Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries with his mother and thus call down upon his supposedly innocent head the curse of the gods in form of virulent plague, epidemic an destructive which neither king nor commoners fails to regard as a punishment for some dark and hidden crime. Tiresias, the blind prophet is summoned and when compelled by the king tells the shocking truth that he, the king himself, is the plague spot.  Such is the conspiracy of circumstances that the king is slowly but irresistibly, driven to the realization of this horrible truth. Nothing remains for the king but the duty of expiation, self mutilation, self-exile, self-abasement and a prolonged penance which eventually result in spiritual calm and inner illumination.

Tiresias is represented as a bi-sexual in The Waste Land as he was blind but he has the gift of prophecy and immortality. Many stories are same like Tiresias story. According to one story this wise Theban soothsayer in his youth once saw the goddess Athena naked in a pond and goddess struck him blind but his mother was a friend of hers so she bestowed upon him. According to another story, Tiresias saw two snakes copulating them with his stick and the snakes in wrath transformed him into women. Later on, he was questioned by love and juno as to whether Man is more passionate or woman. He declared that woman is more passionate. At this Juno was angry and stuck him blind but Zesus or Love compensated him by conferring upon the twin gifts of prophecy and immortality.

Importance of Myth In waste Land:

Tiresias is both past and present and also connected with waste Land with including both Oedipus and King Fisher myths. He has seen all and for-suffered all. He is bi-sexual with a fuller experience of life than any normal man or woman and his physical blindness is more than compensated for by his prophetic vision. Many symbols are also found there is one symbol that Tiresias is the fittest symbol of human consciousness.

Tiresias thus is a complex and many sided persona or symbol, and he provides whatever unity the poem may be discovered to have. But because of his presence throughout the poem would have become a phantasmagoria, a nightmare, a medley of scenes and meaningless snatch of talk, almost overwhelming in its confused impression.

“Tiresias although a mere spectator and not indeed a character, is yet the most important personage in the poem uniting all the rest. Just as the one-eyed merchant, seller of currants melts into the Phoenician sailor and the letter is not wholly distinct from Ferdinand, Prince of Naples, so all the women are one woman and the two sexes meet in Tiresias.

The Vegetation and Fertility Myths:

Form the study of ‘Golden Bough ‘and ‘From ritual to Romance’ all these made Eliot to think that these all are nature myths which is followed by a common pattern- Death-Rebirth-Death. This recurrent pattern is going continuously. Thus winter is symbolically connected with death and spring connected with rebirth. There is loss of land’s fertility in winter, but rain symbolically shows that is reborn. This process was re-enacted in a number of vegetation rituals and ceremonies. Thus in Egypt the effigy of the vegetation god, Osiris, was stuck with corn grains and was buried in the earth. this symbolised the death of vegetation god very soon the grains sprouted, symbolising the re-birth of the God. This is found in the opening line of death stood for spiritual death, as a result of sin and sexual perversion, and spiritual regeneration, the result of suffering and penance. This recurrent pattern has been taken over in the Christian myth, in the birth of Christ, his affered and his resurrection. Today is not with hope but fear and apprehension. There are some phrases suggested the same things, like “dead land”, “dull roots”, “dried tubers and “forgetful snow, these four phrases suggest the barrenness of earth and vacuity of life. The symbols of season have direct connection with birth-death-rebirth. The spring symbolizes birth, the winter death, the rain spiritual fertility and draught spiritual dryness. The water symbolizes in two ways, it show destruction and purification too. The same can be said of the fire. The rock, without grass is a symbol of desolation.

To add one more in the list of symbols, tarot card may seem to us that it has no connection with ancient myth or modern generation’s scepticism and desolation. It is the age-old system of fortune telling and used appropriately in Egypt to know the rise and fall of the river Nile, the source of life and fertility. Now the tarot card is reduced to dull and prohibited forecasting. Madam Sosostris, the clairvoyant herself suffers from cold and living under the constant fear of police. She says to other lady,

“One must be so careful these days”

 Adonis and Atis, like Osiris were also corn gods connected with vegetation ceremonies, both in Egypt and in other countries. In some ritual as in the above given information that the corn-god was totally buried, while in the others rituals his image was totally disappeared in the waters of some rivers. So from this perspective we can say that the coming up of the effigy signified the re-birth of vegetation god. The ceremony marked the commencement of his sowing of the crop and was celebrated with singing dancing and merry making. The Death by Water section of ‘The waste Land’ conjures up the image of ceremony.

The Biblical waste land:

We very well go through the two Starting waste lands

(1)    The waste land of King Fisher

      (2)  The waste of King Oedipus of Thebes

But apart from these two lands Eliot also mentioned a third land and it was the Biblical waste land or evil land of Emmaus, mentioned in Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel parts of the Old Testament. The prophet Ezekiel warns his followers to remember God and given up idolatry. Their sins have laid the country waste land and regeneration will come only when they return to God. ‘The dead tree’ ‘The handful of dust’ the dry grass’ ‘the cricket’ The rack’ etc. All are derived from Biblical imagery of decay and desolation in the parts mentioned above.

The Myths as ‘Objective Co-relative’:

   These three waste lands with the mythical background to the contemporary waste land describe the chaos and the anarchy which is found in the contemporary Europe. In this way Eliot very well described linked up the past with the present, and universalised the topical. He has depicted the image of sterility of modern age is nothing peculiar to it. Sin, especially sexual perversion has always resulted in spiritual decay and desolation. Spiritual regeneration will result; life giving rain will come only when humanity is prepared to pay the price in form of suffering and penance.

By the use of pagan and medieval myths as ‘objective correlatives’ the poet has succeeded in depersonalising his emotions and thus has imparted to ‘the waste Land’ the impersonality of great art.

Conclusion:

The waste Land is an important achievement of 20^th century. In this poem Eliot described the mythical background of including various myths as like the Grail Legend (cup or dish) , The Fisher King desolate Land, Tiresias connected with King Oedipus of Thebes,  vegetation myth connected with chain of human being, and a third Biblical myth. Throughout these myths Eliot tried to give the real image of contemporary Europe and its chaos and anarchy and shows the link up of past with the present. He also spread glance on the chain of human beings that Death-rebirth-death.