Overview First Year of English Literature under National University

First year is the beginning of 4 years long, 120 credit BA (honours) course of English Literature. From this 120 credit, only 24 credits are studied in First Year. There are 6 courses included in this year: each of 100 marks and worth 4 credits (total 600 marks and 24 credits). Among these 6 courses, 4 are directly related to English literature or English Language; they are Introduction to Poetry, Introduction to Prose, English Reading Skill, and English Writing Skill. These courses are familiarly known as ‘Main’ course. And the other 2, Political theory and Sociology/Social work are called ‘Allied’ course. Both the main courses and the allied courses carry equal credit (4 credits). And GPA acquired ‘Allied subjects’ worth same as ‘main subjects’ in result calculation. Here is a detailed description of courses included in first year.

Courses/Subjects

Students study 6 courses of total 600 marks (24 credits) in the first year of their academic study of English Literature. As I’ve mentioned earlier, these courses could be divided in two groups: first is the ‘main’ subjects. They are:

Course Code	Course Tittle	Marks	Credit
1152	English Reading Skill	100	4
1153	English Writing Skill	100	4
1154	Introduction to Poetry	100	4
1155	Introduction to Prose: Friction and Non-friction	100	4

And the second group of courses which is mostly called ‘Allied’ courses includes these subjects:

Course Code	Course Tittle	Marks	Credit
6203 *****	Introducing Sociology Or Introduction to Social Work	100	4
6192	Introduction to Political Theory	100	4

Course wise description

English Reading Skill
Course Code: 1152 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

This course was included in the syllabus form from the session 2009-10, mainly intending to help student enhance their English reading skill. In this course, students have to solve different type of question form a piece of (unfamiliar) writing, thus prove his/her comprehension level thereby reading skill. The reading text is generally chosen form different type of writing like descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, journalistic, and academic texts e.g. History, philosophy etc. The course seeks to develop students following skills and sub skills:

* Guessing word meanings by using knowledge of word form (class), word function, word structure and formation and most importantly, contextual clues.
* Understanding ornamental expressions and tackling sentence meaning,
* Surveying text organization; Reading for specific information (skimming),
* Reading for general comprehension/gist (scanning), summarizing, predicting and interpreting.
* Recognizing, author’s position, tone and attitude, etc

English Writing Skill
Course Code: 1153 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

This course will focus on helping students develop their writing skills in English with focus on writing correct sentences, using proper punctuation marks, writing with good organization (coherence and cohesion), writing good topic sentences and concluding sentences in paragraphs, writing good introduction, body and conclusion. Students will be required to write:

a) Paragraphs using a variety of techniques such as examples, listing, cause and effect, comparison, contrast, comparison-contrast among others.
b) Descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative essays
c) Reports
d) Formal and informal letters
e) Amplifications
f) Stories

Introduction to Poetry
Course Code: 1154 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

Introduction to poetry course is intended to introduce students with realm English poetry through giving them an overall idea of Poetry of different poets, ages and other corresponding information. There are 15 poems included in the course of several prominent poets from different ages. They are:

W. Shakespeare—Shall I Compare Thee?
John Donne—Good Morrow
Robert Herrick-- - Daylight in Disorder
W.Wordsworth—I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
P.B.Shelley—Ozymandias
J.Keats—To Autumn
Elizabeth B.Browning—How Do I Love Thee?
Emily Dickinson—Because I Could not Stop for Death
W.B. Yeats—No Second Troy
R.Frost—Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
D.H. Lawrence—Snake
Dylan Thomas—Fern Hill
Ted Hughes—Pike
Adrienne Rich—Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Kaiser Huq— Ode on a Lungi
In addition to these poems, some related Literary Terms and Prosody has also been included to make the comprehension of the poems easier. 

Introduction to Short Story: Friction and Non-Friction
Course Code: 1155 | Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours

Introduction to Short Story course contains altogether 12 short stories. Among them 6 stories are fractious when rest 6 belongs to Non-friction category. Short stories for non-friction includes passage, address letters and autobiography. The stories included are:

Non-Fiction:

Francis Bacon—Of Studies

Abraham Lincon—Gettysburg Address

Rabindranath Tagore—Letter to Lord Chelmford Rejecting Knighthood

Gorge .Orwell—Shooting an Elephant

Nirad C. Choudhury—River & Rain (from The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian)

Martin Luther King—I Have a Dream

Fiction:

Somershet Maugham-- The Ant and the Grasshopper

James Joyce—Araby

Katherine Mansfield-- The Garden Party

Anita Desai—Games at Twilight

Edgar Allan Poe—The Tell-Tale Heart

Ernest Hemingway—Cat in the Rain

Introducing Sociology
Course Code: 6203| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Students have to chose either of the either of the ‘Introducing Sociology’ or ‘‘Introduction to Social Work’ course to study. However, Introducing Sociology course discuss basic concept of Sociology. As this course is an ‘Allied’ course, and not directly associated with English literature, many students mistreat it as a ‘less important’ subject that have ‘nothing to do’ with study of English Literature. But whatever it is, it’s score worth same as main course’s score in GPA calculation. To as least o make a good result, this subject must be taken sincerely. This course include:
* Definition, Nature & Scope of Sociology
* Culture, Beliefs & Values
* Globalization, Culture and Society
* Urbanization and Social Formation
* Gender and Society
* Environmental Problems, Natural Disasters and Social Crisis
* Social Inequality
* Types of societies
* Deviance & Social Control
* Health, Illness and Society
To avail the detailed syllabus: click here.

Introduction to Social Work
Course Code: -----,| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Like ‘Introducing Sociology’ course, ‘Introduction to Social Work’ course discusses the basic concept of social work too. And student’s attitude towards it is also no different from Sociology course. Just like sociology, many students count this course ‘boring and unnecessary’ too.

To view what is studied under this course, click here

Introduction to Political Theory
Course Code: 6192| Total Marks: 100 | Credit: 4 | Lectures: 60 | Exam Hours: 4 Hours.

Introduction to Political Theory is another ‘allied course’. Unlike Sociology or Social course, students are to study this course. The negative attitude towards allied course also prevails here. This course includes these topics:

Political Science : Meaning, Nature, Scope, Methods, Relations to other Social Sciences, Importance to Study Political Science.

State : Definition, Elements, State and Government, State and Individual, State and Society, Theories of the origin of the state.

Fundamental concepts : Sovereignty, Law, Liberty, Equality, Rights and Duties, Nation, Nationalism, Internationalism.

Concepts of Political Sociology : Political culture, elite theory, Max Weber and Bureaucracy

Political Thinkers : Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.

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First Year English (Hons.) Syllabus (Effective from session 2009-10) for Department of English, National University, Bangladesh

First year syllabus is widely available in web. Then why I posted it in my blog again? First reason is the blog is about English literature of Dept. of English of national university, so i posted it to make it more easily available. And the second reason is National University’s official website doesn’t supply any in-page syllabus that could be viewed without downloading thereby If anyone wish to see what is included in First years honours course of Dept. of English, They must download the whole syllabus in pdf format. So here I’m posting the First year HONS. syllabus (effective from session 2009-10) so anyone can see the courses and/or texts included in the syllabus without downloading them.

However, If anyone needs the Syllabus in pdf format, please download it from here.

====================================================================================

National University

Subject: English Syllabus for Four Year B. A Honours Course

Effective from the Session: 2009-2010

  Year wise courses and marks distribution.

First year Honours.

Course Code	Course Title	Marks	Credits
1152	English Reading Skills	100	4
1153	English Writing Skills	100	4
1154	Introduction to Poetry	100	4
1155	Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non-Fiction	100	4
6203 -----	Introducing Sociology, Or, Introduction to Social Work	100	4
6192	Introduction to Social Work	100	4
	Total	600	4

 Detailed Syllabus

 First Year

Course Code: English Reading Skills, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

The course seeks to develop students' reading skills and covers the following sub-skills;
a) . Guessing word meanings by using knowledge of word form (class), word function, word structure and formation and most importantly, contextual clues.
b) Understanding ornamental expressions
c) Tackling sentence meaning,
d) Surveying text organization,
e) Reading for specific information (skimming),
f) Reading for general comprehension gist (scanning),
g) Summarizing,
h) Predicting,
i) Interpreting.
j) Recognizing, author's position, tone and attitude
The reading texts will be chosen from different types of writing like descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, journalistic, and academic texts e.g. History, philosophy etc.

Recommended Reading

Williams, E. 1984. Reading in the Language Classroom. Mcmillan.
Wallace. 1992. Reading. OUP
Barr. P. Clegg, J. and Wallace, C. 1981. Advanced Reading Skills. Longman Walter,
Catherine. 1982. Authentic Reading. CUP Greenwood, J. 1988. Class Readers. OUP

===:===:===

Course Code: English Writing Skills, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

This course will focus on helping students develop their writing skills in English with focus on writing correct sentences, using proper punctuation marks, writing with good organization (coherence and cohesion), writing good topic sentences and concluding sentences in paragraphs, writing good introduction, body and conclusion. Students will be required to write:

a) Paragraphs using a variety of techniques such as examples, listing, cause and effect, comparison, contrast, comparison-contrast among others.
b) Descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative essays
c) Reports
d) Formal and informal letters
e) Amplifications
f) Stories

Recommended Reading

Alice Oslima, Anna. Introduction to Academic Writing
Beverly Ingran and Carol King From Writing to Composition.  
M. Knight. English Essays for GCE O level 
Patricia Wilcox . Developing Writing 
John Langhan. 2001. College Writing Skills  ( International edition). Mcgraw-Hill
R. R. Jordon. 1995. Academic Writing. OUP
H. Ramsey Fowles. 1983. The Little Brown Handbook. The Little Brown Company.  (Text)

References:
John Langhan. 2001. College Writing Skills  ( International edition). Mcgraw-Hill.
Joseph Gibaldi and Walters S Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New Delhi:
Affiliated East West Press.
Karen L Greenberg. 1994. Advancing Writer, Book 2. Harper Collins. 
Mary Stephens. Practise Advanced Writing. Longman.
R. R. Jordon. 1995. Academic Writing. OUP

===:===:===

Course Code: Introduction to Poetry, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Poetry:

W. Shakespeare—Shall I Compare Thee?
John Donne—Good Morrow
Robert Merrick— - Daylight in Disorder
W.Wordsworth—I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
P.B.Shelley—Ozymandias
J.Keats—To Autumn
Elizabeth B.Browning—How Do 1 Love Thee?
Emily Dickinson—Because I Could not Stop for Death
W.B. Yeats—No Second Trov
R.Frost—Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
D.I I. Lawrence—Snake
Dvlan Thomas—Fern Hill
Ted Hughes—Pike
Adrienne Rich—Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
Kaiser Huq— Ode on a Lungi

Literary Terms:

Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Metonymy, Symbol, Irony, Climax, Anticlimax, Hyperbole,Paradox, Onomatopoeia, Bathos, Allusions, Conceit, Pun, Imager.' and all other literary terms

Prosody:

Accent, Foot/Measure, Blank Verse, Rhyme, Tercet, Scanning of Verse and others.

===:===:===

Course Code : Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non-Fiction, Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Non-Fiction:

Francis Bacon—Of Studies
A.Lincon—Gettysburg Address
R.Tagore—Letter to Lord Chelmford Rejecting Knighthood
G.Orwell—Shooting an Elephant
N.C.Choudhury—River & Rain (from The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian)
Martin Luther King—I Have a Dream

Fiction:

S.Maugham— The Ant and the Grasshopper
James Joyce—Araby
K.Mansfield— The Garden Party
Anita Desai—Games at Twilight
Edgar Allan Poe—The Tell-Tale Heart
E.Hemingway—Cat in the Rain

===:===:===

Additional Courses

Course Code : Introducing Sociology; Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

1. Definition, Nature & Scope of Sociology, relationship with other social sciences. Development of Sociology: Contributions of Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber
2. Culture, Beliefs & Values: Norms, sanctions, symbols, language, subculture, counter­culture, hegemony & resistance
3. Globalization, Culture and Society: Globalization and its different dimensions, Cultural globalization, global culture and social change
4. Urbanization and Social Formation: Definition of urbanization and urbanism, Process of urbanization in developing societies and social formation, over urbanization, growth of slum & poverty in mega cities
5. Gender and Society^-: Discourse of W1D, WAD and GAD, Why gender is important in the discourse of development. Gender inequality & women's subjugation in developing societies.
6. Environmental Problems, Natural Disasters and Social Crisis: Climate change and its impact on society, Natural disaster, social crisis and vulnerabilities, Climate change, deforestation and mal-development.
7. Social Inequality: Dimensions of social inequality: Class, gender, age, minority group (religious and indigenous), economic vulnerability, Social inequalities in developed & developing countries.
8. Types of societies: Marxist view on classifying societies on the basis of type of control over economic resources and Lenski's view on classifying societies by their main means of subsistence.
9. Deviance & Social Control: Definition of deviance, theories of deviance. Crime & justice system, agencies of social control
10. Health, Illness and Society: Nature & scope of the problem, Urbanizations, acute, chronic & life style diseases, Social, environmental & behavioural factors affecting health, Communicable & behavioural diseases: STD, HIV AIDS, TB, Hep-B etc

Reference

Giddens Sociology
Tony Bilton et al Introductory Sociology

===:===:===

Course Code: Introduction to Social Work ; Marks 100,4 Credits, 60 Lectures

1. Social Work: Meaning, Characteristics, Scope and Importance Relationship of Social Work with other Sciences- Sociology, Economics, Psychology and Political Science.
2. Evolution: Evolution of Social Work in UK, USA, India and Bangladesh.
3. Social Reformers and their Movements in Pre-partition India and Bangladesh: Raja Rammohan Ray, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, A.K Fazlul Haque, Sir Syad Ahmed, Begum Rokeya.
4. Social Legislations Related to Social Security, Women Welfare, Child Welfare.
5. Profession and Social Work: Meaning and Characteristics of Profession, Social Work as profession, Philosophical, Religions and Ethical Basis of Social Work.
6. Industrial Revolution: Meaning, Impact on Society, Industrialization, Urbanization, Welfare State.
7. Social Problems and Social Services in Bangladesh.
8. Methods of Social Work: Basic and Auxiliary Methods and their Basic Issues such as Meaning, Elements, Principles and Area of Use. Importance of Social Work Methods in Bangladesh.

Books Recommended:

1. Barker, Robert L. :Social Work Dictionary, 3^rd ed. NASW, New York, 1995.
2. Coulshed, Veronica Social Work Practice: An Introduction 2^nd ed. London. Macmillan, 1991.
3. Friedlander, Walter A. : Introduction to Social Welfare. Prentice Hall, 2^nd ed. New Delhi-1967.
4. Khalid, M.: Welfare State, Karachi, Royal Book, 1968
5. Morales, A. And Shaefor. B. Social Work - A Profession of many faces, 4^th ed. Allvan and
Bacan, Boston, 1986.

===:===:===

Course Code : Introduction to Political Theory; Marks 100, 4 Credits, 60 Lectures

Political Science : Meaning, Nature, Scope, Methods, Relations to other Social Sciences, Importance to Study Political Science
State : Definition, Elements, State and Government, State and Individual, State and Society, Theories of the origin of the state.
Fundamental concepts : Sovereignty, Law, Liberty, Equality, Rights and Duties, Nation, Nationalism, Internationalism.
Concepts of Political Sociology : Political culture, elite theory, Max Weber and Bureaucracy
Political Thinkers : Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.

Books Recommended :

1. R.G. Gettell :  Political Science
2. J. W. Garner :  Political Science and Government
3. R. M. MacIver :  The Modern State
4. G.H. Sabine :  A History of Political Theory
5. William Ebenstein :  Great Political Thinkers-Plato to the Present
6. H.G. Laski :  A Grammar of Politics

===:===:===
END OF SYLLABUS

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Main text of all poems included in “Introduction to Poetry” course in the syllabus of First Year of Department of English, National University, Bangladesh.

 
Student life in National University of Bangladesh especially, the students who has chosen English literature as their subject, is beset with various troubles. One of them is not getting studying resources easily available. In the beginning of new academic year, we all feel interested toward the new texts of new class. Unfortunately, it’s often takes some time to avail new books at hand. And the more the time prolongs, the more we lose our interest and passion for new text.

So I’ve decided to post all text from syllabus of all four years. I can’t post all text within a night. So it’ll take time and I plead your patience. In the first phrase I’ll be posting all poems included in the first year syllabus of ‘Introduction to Poetry’.

Introduction to Poetry (First Year)

Here is all the 15 poems included in first year syllabus (effective from session 2009-10) Department of English, National University, Bangladesh. Those poems primarily intends introducing student with English poetry from various ages and poets. Click any of the poems to read it. Note that, I’ve only posted main text of the poems. Word meaning, annotation, paraphrase and other materials like questions, answers etc. will be added soon. 

Collection of all fifteen poem included First years in Dept. of English, National university of Bangladesh for the course "Introduction to Poetry"

• W. Shakespeare—Shall I Compare Thee?
• John Donne—Good Morrow
• Robert Herrick-- - Daylight in Disorder
• W.Wordsworth—I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
• P.B.Shelley—Ozymandias

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'Ode on the Lungi' by Kaiser Haq

Ode on the Lungi by Kaiser Haq is the only poem from any Bangladeshi writer included in the first year syllabus. Student are to study the poem as a part of their 'Introduction to Poetry' course. In the poem Professor Dr. Kaiser M. H. Haq appreciate lungi for it's worldwide familiarity, utility and effectiveness as a popular dress. He urges it's equal regard like other regular dresses.

 

Ode on the Lungi

by Kaiser Haq

Grandpa Walt, allow me to share my thoughts
with you, if only because every time
I read “Passage to India” and come across
the phrase “passage to more than India”
I fancy, anachronistically, that you wanted

to overshoot the target
by a shadow line
and land in Bangladesh

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot
about sartorial equality
How far we are from
this democratic ideal!
And how hypocritical!
“All clothes have equal rights” –
this nobody will deny
and yet, some obviously
are more equal than others
No, I’m not complaining about
the jacket and tie
required in certain places –
that, like fancy dress parties,
is in the spirit of a game

I'm talking of something more fundamental
Hundreds of millions
from East Africa to Indonesia
wear the lungi, also known variously
as the sarong, munda, htamain, saaram,
ma’awaiis, kitenge. kanga. kaiki
They wear it day in day out,
indoors and out
Just think –
at any one moment
there are more people in lungis
than the population of the USA
Now try wearing one
to a White House appointment –
not even you. Grandpa Walt,
laureate of democracy,
will make it in
You would if you
affected a kilt –
but a lungi? No way.
But why? – this is the question
I ask all to ponder

Is it a clash of civilisations?
The sheer illogicality of it –
the kilt is with “us”
but the lungi is with “them!”

Think too of neo-imperialism
and sartorial hegemony,
how brown and yellow sahibs
in natty suits crinkle their noses
at compatriots (even relations)
in modest lungis,
exceptions only proving the rule:
Sri Lanka, where designer lungis
are party wear, or Myanmar
where political honchos
queue up in lungis
to receive visiting dignitaries
But then, Myanmar dozes
behind a cane curtain,
a half pariah among nations
Wait till it’s globalised:
Savile Row will acquire
a fresh crop of patrons

Hegemony invades private space
as well: my cousin in America
would get home from work
and lounge in a lungi –
till his son grew ashamed
of dad and started hiding
the “ridiculous ethnic attire”

It’s all too depressing
But I won’t leave it at that
The situation is desperate
Something needs to be done
I’ve decided not to
take it lying down
The next time someone insinuates
that I live in an Ivory Tower
I’ll proudly proclaim
I AM A LUNGI ACTIVIST!
Friends and fellow lungi lovers,
let us organise lungi parties and lungi parades,
let us lobby Hallmark and Archies
to introduce an international Lungi Day
when the UN Chief will wear a lungi
and address the world

Grandpa Walt, I celebrate my lungi
and sing my lungi
and what I wear
you shall wear
It’s time you finally made your passage
to more than India – to Bangladesh –
and lounging in a lungi
in a cottage on Cox’s Bazar beach
(the longest in the world, we proudly claim)
watched 28 young men in lungis bathing in the sea

But what is this thing
(my learned friends,
I’m alluding to Beau Brummell)
I repeat, what is this thing
I’m going on about?
A rectangular cloth,
White, coloured, check or plaid,
roughly 45X80 inches,
halved lengthwise
and stitched
to make a tube
you can get into
and fasten in a slipknot
around the waist –
One size fits all
and should you pick up dirt
say on your seat
you can simply turn it inside out

When you are out of it
the lungi can be folded up
like a scarf

Worn out it has its uses –
as dish rag or floor wipe
or material for a kantha quilt

Or you can let your imagination
play with the textile tube
to illustrate the superstrings
of the “Theory of Everything”
(vide, the book of this title
by the venerable Stephen Hawking)

Coming back to basics,
the lungi is an elaborate fig-leaf,
the foundation of propriety
in ordinary mortals
Most of the year, when barebodied
is cool, you can lead a decent life
with only a couple of lungis,
dipping in pond or river
or swimming in a lungi
abbreviated into a G-string,
then changing into the other one
Under the hot sun
a lungi can become
Arab-style headgear
or Sikh-style turban
Come chilly weather
the spare lungi can be
an improvised poncho
The lungi as G-string
can be worn to wrestle
or play kabaddi
but on football or cricket field
or wading through the monsoon
it’s folded vertically
and kilted at the knee

In short
the lungi is a complete wardrobe
for anyone interested:
an emblem of egalitarianism,
symbol of global left-outs
Raised and flapped amidst laughter
It’s the subaltern speaking

And more:
when romance strikes, the lungi
is a sleeping bag for two:
a book of poems, a bottle of hooch
and your beloved inside your lungi –
there’s paradise for you

If your luck runs out
and the monsoon turns into
a biblical deluge
just get in the water and hand-pump
air to balloon up your lungi –
now your humble ark

When you find shelter
on a treetop
take it off',
rinse it,
hold it aloft –
flag of your indisposition –
and wave it at the useless stars

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‘Snake’ by D. H. Lawrence

Snake
by D. H. Lawrence

A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there.

In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree
I came down the steps with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before
me.

He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of
the stone trough

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Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.

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"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth (From Collection of Fifteen Poems of "introduction to Poetry" course of First year.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

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No Second Troy by William Butler Yeats

No Second Troy
by William Butler Yeats

WHY should I blame her that she filled my days
With misery, or that she would of late
Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways,
Or hurled the little streets upon the great.
Had they but courage equal to desire?
What could have made her peaceful with a mind
That nobleness made simple as a fire,
With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind
That is not natural in an age like this,
Being high and solitary and most stern?
Why, what could she have done, being what she is?
Was there another Troy for her to burn?

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‘How Do I Love Thee?’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How Do I Love Thee?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

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OZYMANDIAS by Percy Bysshe Shelley (from 'Introduction to Poetry' course of First years hons. English Literature, National Univeristy of Bangladesh)

OZYMANDIAS
Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

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DELIGHT IN DISORDER by Robert Herrick

DELIGHT IN DISORDER
by Robert Herrick

A SWEET disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness :
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction :
An erring lace which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher :
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly :
A winning wave (deserving note)
In the tempestuous petticoat :
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility :
Do more bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.

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Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

The poem ‘ Stopping By Woods on a   Snowy Evening’ is considered one of the best poems of Robert Frost. It’s included in the 4 credit course “Introduction to poetry”. It’s one of the best poems both by lucidity of language and significant of meaning included in first year.

 

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

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Because I could not stop for death by Emily Dickinson (from first year, introduction to poetry, department of English, national university, Bangladesh.

Because I could not stop for death

by Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

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Pike by Ted Hughes (from first year, introduction to poetry, department of English, national university, Bangladesh.

The poem ‘Pike' by Ted Hughes is one of the fifteen poems form ‘Introduction to Poetry’ course of First year. The poem is one of the specimen of modern poetry that has been included in first year syllabus of first year, national university Bangladesh.

Pike
Ted Hughes

Pike, three inches long, perfect
Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
They dance on the surface among the flies.

Or move, stunned by their own grandeur,
Over a bed of emerald, silhouette

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THE GOOD-MORROW by John Donne (from first year, introduction to poetry, department of English, national university, Bangladesh.

The poem ‘The Good Morrow’ is a representative of Metaphysical poetry included if first year syllabus. It’s the only poem form John Donne or Metaphysical in “Introduction to Poetry Course’. Here is the Main Text of the poem. Supporting material like word meaning, paraphrase, questions and answers will be added soon to aid better comprehension of the poem.
 

THE GOOD-MORROW
by John Donne

I WONDER by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved ? were we not wean'd till then ?
But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly ?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den ?
'Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be ;
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

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To Autumn by John Keats (included in First Year in Dept. of English Literature under National University, Bangladesh)

Introduction to Poetry (First Year, Department of English, National University, Bangladesh: To Autumn by John Keats (From Fifteen Poems) 

The poem ‘To Autumn’ is one of the fifteen poem included in the syllabus of Dept. of English, National University, Bangladesh. Students read it as a part of their ‘Introduction To Poetry’: 4 credit course. This is the only poem of John Keats in First Year. The poem mainly resembles Keats most known side: his Sensuousness.

the poem is as follows:

To Autumn
John Keats. 1795–1821

SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,

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‘Sonnet 18’ or ‘Shall I compare thee’ by William Shakespeare

Shall I Compere Thee or Sonnet 18 is one of the fifteen poems included in 'Introduction to Poetry' course in 4 year Hons. Syllabus of Department of English of National University, Bangladesh. 

The poem's been included mainly to introduce students with Shakespeare's poetry. It's one of the best specimen of Shakespearean Sonnet. To understand Shakespeare in upcoming years (ie. second yeare, third year etc)  proper comprehension of the  poem is very important.

the poetry is as follows:

Shall I Compare Thee Or Sonnet 18
by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 

And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:

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‘Aunt Jennifer's Tigers’ by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

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Second years honours syllabus (effective form session 2009-2010) for national university Bangladesh.

This post provides an in page syllabus (effective form session 2009-10) Honours 2nd year, Dept. of English, National University, Bangladesh. If you want this syllabus in pdf format download it form here.

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National University  

Subject: English Syllabus for Four Year B. A Honours Course
Effective from the Session: 2009-2010
Year wise courses and marks distribution.

Second Year

Course Code	Course Title	Marks	Credits
	Introduction to Drama	100	4
	Romantic Poetry	100	4
	Advanced Reading and Writing	100	4
	Sociology of Bangladesh  Or  Bangladesh Society and Culture	100	4
	Political Organisation and The Political System of UK and USA	100	4
	Viva-Voce	100	4
	Total:	100	24

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Main Text of ‘Games at Twilight by Anita Desai’

Friction: Short story ‘Games at Twilight’ by Anita Desai.

This is one of the stories included in friction category in the syllabus of Department of English, National University of Bangladesh. The story is given below:

Games at Twilight

It was still too hot to play outdoors. They had had their tea. They had been washed and had their hair brushed, and after the long day of confinement in the house that was not cool but at least a protection from the sun, the children strained to get out. Their faces were red and bloated with the effort, but their mother would not open the door, everything was still curtained and, shuttered in a way that stifled the children, made them feel that their lungs were stuffed with cotton wool and their noses with dust and if they didn't burst out into the light and see the sun and feel the air, they would choke.

                  'Please, ma, please,' they begged. 'We'll play in the veranda and porch — we won't
                  go a step out of the porch.'

                  'You will, I know you will, and then—'

'No — we won't, we won't,' they wailed so horrendously that she actually let down the bolt of the front door so that they burst out like seeds from a crackling, over-ripe pod into the veranda, with such wild, maniacal yells that she retreated to her bath and the shower of talcum powder and the fresh sari that were to help ; her face the summer evening.

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Kishorganj (My Birthplace) by Nirad C. Chaudhuri for First year, Department of English, National University, Bangldesh

Nirad Chandra Chauduri

 Kishorganj (My birthplace is a Non-friction short story form Nirad C. Chaudhuri's Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. The author describes his birthplace in this short story very precisely.

Bangla version of this short story could be availed from here (Note that: The original text was written in English and bangla translation is made)

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Sample Essay on Friendship

Friendship is the divine feeling or relationship between friends. Friendships developed ultimately and required to be maintained with care. Men can’t live without friend and real friendship could be a great support for one’s life.

Friendship is simply a divine relationship based on feelings and understanding. It’s not ordinary social or official affair between people but a divine feelings and care based on mutual trust, affection and support. A true friendship is developed ultimately; sometimes relationship could be established for earthly benefits but that is not really considered friendship. A real friendship does not aim any worldly interests rather spiritual and based on share and care between friends.

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