Devika Panikar
δάσκαλος (dáskalos) means the teacher in Greek. Devika Panikar has been teaching English Language and Literature since 2006. She is an Assistant Professor with the Directorate of Collegiate Education under the Government of Kerala. She teaches at the Government Colleges under this directorate and is now posted at the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. This website is a collection of lecture notes she prepared by referencing various sources for her students’ perusal. It has been compiled here for the sake of future generations.
A Consumer’s Report
A Consumer's Report by Peter Porter is a satirical critique of consumerism and commodification in modern society. It reflects on excessive materialism, loss of human connection, and the impact of cons...
Barriers to Listening
Listening effectively is crucial in all aspects of life, fostering communication, understanding, and connection. However, numerous barriers can impede our ability to hear and absorb what others are sa...
Prayer Before Birth
Prayer Before Birth is a poem by the Anglo-Irish poet Louis MacNeice, written during World War II. The speaker, an unborn child, prays for future guidance and protection from the horrors of the modern...
The Process of Listening
Listening is a complex brain function involving several steps or stages that allow an individual to give attention to, interpret, and respond to spoken language and other auditory stimuli. Hearing...
The Pie and the Tart
Hugh Chesterman is a British author who wrote several children's books in the 1920s and 1930s. He and his friend Basil Blackwell edited a children's magazine, The Merry Go Round, published in Oxford. ...
Complement Clause
A complement clause is a subordinate clause (a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence) that complements or completes the meaning of a verb, adjective, or noun in the main clause. Complement clau...
General’s ‘Powerful’ Tank
General, Your Tank is a Powerful Vehicle is a poem by Bertolt Brecht, found in his Svendborg Poems collection, written while he was in Danish exile from Nazi Germany. The poem is also known as General...
The Brink of Silence
Esther E Galbraith's one-act play The Brink of Silence is based on the theme of an expedition to Antarctica. The process of looking for information and resources is called exploration or expedition. N...
Irony
Irony is a literary and rhetorical device where there is a contrast between expectations and reality. It's when the intended meaning of words is different from the actual meaning or a situation turns ...
Listening vs. Hearing
Listening is a valuable skill and assumes official importance in one's personal, academic and professional setting. With the increased use of computers, mobile phones and the internet, the importance ...