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An Excellent Father (Jane Austen)   Jane Austen (1775–1817) was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where she spent the first 26 years of her life. She was the seventh of eight children in a close-knit family that greatly influenced her literary development. Writing primarily for her own pleasure and with little expectation of publication, Austen demonstrated a profound belief in artistic discipline, famously asserting that "an artist cannot do anything slovenly." Her major works, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Northanger Abbey, showcase her unparalleled ability to portray the complexities of human relationships and societal norms. Austen's novels remain celebrated for their incisive social commentary, vivid characterisations, and the use of everyday language that makes her work timeless and universally relatable. An Excellent Father Summary: This extract from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice sets the stage for the intricate...

  I Cannot Remember My Mother                    Rabindra Nath Tagore   About The Author Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Indian poet, philosopher, and Nobel laureate, was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He began to write poetry as a child; his first book appeared when he was 17 years old. After a brief stay in England (1878) to study law, he returned to India, where he rapidly became the most important and popular author of the colonial era, writing poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. He composed several hundred popular songs and in 1929 also began painting. Tagore wrote primarily in Bengali, but translated many of his works into English himself; critics agree they are much more effective in the original. Tagore’s writing is highly imagistic, deeply religious and imbued with his love for nature and his homeland. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in literature for his work Geetanjali, and in 1915 he was knighted by the ...

  Word The smallest unit of meaning in language. This definition emphasizes that words are the building blocks of communication that convey ideas. Words are the smallest units in a language formed by letters or symbols that have meaning on their own. The definition of a word as a "collection of alphabets" is not entirely accurate in linguistic terms because words are not merely random collections of letters; they follow specific rules and structures within a language. ( They should exists as independently meaningful in a particular linguistic dictionary). In linguistics, a word is typically defined as a unit of language that carries meaning and is composed of one or more morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language, which can be words themselves or parts of words.  For example, in English, the word "cat" is composed of three letters (C-A-T) but represents a single unit of meaning. Similarly, longer words like "elephant" or "com...

 A House, A Home (Poem) What is the difference between a house and a home? Discuss it with your partner. Then read the poem. What is a house? It’s brick and stone and wood that’s hard. Some window glass and perhaps a yard. It’s eaves and chimneys and tile floors and stucco and roof and lots of doors. What is a home? It’s loving and family and doing for others. It’s brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. It’s unselfish acts and kindly sharing and showing your loved ones you’re always caring.                                     LORRAINE M. HALLI The poem captures the difference between a house and a home beautifully. (Materialistic) => House A house is described with physical details: bricks, stones, wood, windows, and doors. It's a physical structure made of materials. (Sentimental) => Home A home, however, is described with emotional and relational words: love, family, kindness, c...