MIXED BAG

 BY  PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU   (1)NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND In a long period of 500-600 years   after the historic Norman conquest, England   --living under   Anglo-Saxon kings    in a   rural oriented   old world rural atmosphere-- underwent a great   change . Though separated by the sea from the continent   it was now becoming fully a part of European cultural, religious and political changes . England   was linked to European royal families by marriage alliances. England was growing agriculturally prosperous and was becoming one of the central players in   west European politics   .   England right from Anglo-Saxon times was an active seafaring nation with its ships protecting the coasts from Viking and Norwegian pirates. The Celtic people dominated areas of Ireland   Scotland and Wales and were somewhat aloof and backward. The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 was a great ...

  BY PRAGYAN SHARMA POLAVARAPU INTRODUCTION In the many literary masterpieces of old classical English , we can see in some  a serious  classical   inimitable beautiful style (Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden ,Dr Johnson  ) and in some a more flowing and simpler but in outstanding   majestic new styles  ( Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Sir Walter Scott, RL Stevenson ,Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame, ,Jane Austen and many others) . There are perhaps thousands of other outstanding writers of last 300-400 years. Here only a little group of  great names is given by a foreign admirer of English. To understand the big transformations  that occurred perhaps  over a period of 1000 years to create modern English, we have to know a little of history of England. NORMAN CONQUEST From days of Norman Conquest (1066) of England  large number of French words crept into  English language.  The political landscape of...

BY    PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU  The life  of people of British isles  since  ancient times  is  influenced  by the not-so-cold oceanic climate --England being at the eastern edge of the vast Atlantic ocean which spreads 3000 miles up to shores of USA.  The weather is influenced by the warm oceanic currents. The often rainy drizzling type weather and the greenery (forests and  low hills  in the south, forests and mountains and foggy weather in north) make British Isles a picturesque place. A genuine love for nature—visible in the descriptions of the greenery, low hills  and valleys, vast agricultural fields ,mountains and the seaside environment –pervade English literature from old to new times . “What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass....