Synopsis and Explanation of the Tagore’s poem 'Hide and Seek' (লুকোচুরি)

You Tube Link of the Poem:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xjz0Xdod8w


The Poem: 

লুকোচুরি রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর                             আমি যদি দুষ্টুমি করে চাঁপার গাছে চাঁপা হয়ে ফুটি, ভোরের বেলা মা গো, ডালের ‘পরে কচি পাতায় করি লুটোপুটি, তবে তুমি আমার কাছে হারো, তখন কি মা চিনতে আমায় পারো। তুমি ডাক, ‘খোকা কোথায় ওরে। ‘ আমি শুধু হাসি চুপটি করে। যখন তুমি থাকবে যে কাজ নিয়ে সবই আমি দেখব নয়ন মেলে। স্নানটি করে চাঁপার তলা দিয়ে আসবে তুমি পিঠেতে চুল ফেলে; এখান দিয়ে পুজোর ঘরে যাবে, দূরের থেকে ফুলের গন্ধ পাবে— তখন তুমি বুঝতে পারবে না সে তোমার খোকার গায়ের গন্ধ আসে। দুপুর বেলা মহাভারত-হাতে বসবে তুমি সবার খাওয়া হলে, গাছের ছায়া ঘরের জানালাতে পড়বে এসে তোমার পিঠে কোলে, আমি আমার ছোট্ট ছায়াখানি দোলাব তোর বইয়ের ‘পরে আনি— তখন তুমি বুঝতে পারবে না সে তোমার চোখে খোকার ছায়া ভাসে। সন্ধেবেলায় প্রদীপখানি জ্বেলে যখন তুমি যাবে গোয়ালঘরে তখন আমি ফুলের খেলা খেলে টুপ্‌ করে মা , পড়ব ভুঁয়ে ঝরে। আবার আমি তোমার খোকা হব, ‘গল্প বলো’ তোমায় গিয়ে কব। তুমি বলবে, ‘দুষ্টু, ছিলি কোথা। ‘ আমি বলব, ‘ বলব না সে কথা। ‘

Hide & Seek Rabindranath Tagore If I play a mischievous trick and blossom as a flower in the Champa tree and early in the morning roll over the tender leaves of the branch, you would then- oh mother - loose out to me as it is doubtful that you would be able to recognize me. You will be shouting "Khokhaa, where are you?" I will just keep quiet and smile. When you will be busy doing your chores, I will keep a watch over it all with my eyes open. After taking bath - with your hair unkempt - you will pass the Champa tree as you go to the puja room from where you will be getting smell of the flowers coming from a distance. At the time, you will not know that the smell that was coming was from your Khokhaa's body. In the afternoon after others have finished their meal, you will sit down with the Mahabharata in your hand and the shadow of the tree coming through the window will fall on your back and on your lap. On my part, I will be swinging my tiny shadow over the pages of your book. Even then, you won't have any idea that it is the shadow of your Khokhaa that is floating across you eyes. In the evening after lighting the lamp you will proceed to the cow-shed and at that time, mother - acting like a flower - I will shed myself and drop to the ground. Again I will become your Khokhaa and will come to you and demand, "Please tell me a story." You will ask, "You naughty boy, where have you been?" I will simply say, "That I won't tell you."

Synopsis: 

          The poem “Hide and Seek” is one of the most conspicuous nature poems of Rabindranath Tagore. Throughout the poem, we observe that the poet plays the game of ‘Hide and Seek’ with his metaphorical mother (nature).  We know that a child always likes of being playful with its mother. Similarly, the poet will be playing a naughty game with his mother (nature). He considers himself as a Champa flower.  As a Champa flower he will be tossing over the tender leaves of the branch of the tree. The mother (nature) will be anxious regarding her son and  the poet will be confused by thinking whether his mother will be able to recognize him in a different form. The mother(nature) will be shouting to find out her son but being vexatious, he will not not respond to the call of his mother.

          In the second stanza, we observe that the nature (poet’s metaphorical mother) will be busy to ordain itself with its natural ornaments and the poet will be looking at her busyness.  The line ‘after taking bath’ may refer to rain which showers the nature as well as ‘the hair unkempt’ refers to the nature which has unfurled its beauty for everyone. In this poem, nature is being compared as a devotee of god who regularly worships god. When his mother will be worshiping at the puja room, she will get the smell of Champa flowers but she will not be able to recognize the smell of her son. Here, in this stanza, we again observe that the poet, in the form of Champa flower will be playing ‘Hide and Seek’ with his metaphorical mother through spreading his smell that will be unrecognizable.  

        After doing all household chores, the poet’s metaphorical mother (nature) will be sitting down to read  Mahabharata. It is the time when the sun still remains at the sky; so the shadow of the trees   fall on the on the earth. However, when the poet’s mother will be sitting down to go through Mahabharata, the shadow of the tree will be falling on the back and lap of his mother. And, as usual, the poet will be playing ‘Hide and Seek’ through swinging his shadow (shadow of metaphorical Champa flower which the poet considers himself) ‘over the pages’ of Mahabharata. His mother will completely be unaware that it is the shadow of her son which is hovering in front of her eyes over the Mahabharata.  

        We know that in the evening almost every housewife light the lamp of the house in order to remove darkness. After lighting the lamp, the mother will approach to the cow-shed and just at that time the poet, as a Champa flower will be dropped to the ground so that his mother pick his son to give shelter in her lap. Again coming back to the lap of his mother, the poet will urge his mother to tell him a story. Instead of telling story, the mother will first ask whereabouts of the poet all day long. But, as usual, through hiding the truth the poet will simply reply, "That I won't tell you."

Explanation:

  First of all, I want to go through the definition of nature, the word "nature" comes from the Latin word, "natura," meaning birth or character. Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and fostering aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother.

          Similarly, in this poem we observe that Tagore Personifies nature as his mother which very affectionately nurtures the poet. We observe human interaction of the poet with nature. If we deeply observe this poem, we find that Tagore sees the Divine spirit within all creation evinced within the richness of nature. Through connecting himself with the nature, he obtains a sense of creative joy. We can say that to some extend his contact with nature is mystic since he seeks by meditation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or amalgamation into the nature. 



         In India this spiritual contact with nature is known as SHAMANISM.  Shamanism is about developing a relationship with nature; with the light, the plants and rocks, the trees and flowers and all the animals, and Mother Earth. Harmony is immanent to nature and thus also inherent to shamanism. In the poem, we observe that Tagore has developed a harmonic and soothing relationship with nature. It is the relationship between a mother and the son. He plays with nature thus gains an aesthetic joy.  He is the child of the nature who plays and takes shelter in the lap of nature. 

Representation of Appearance and Identity Crisis in T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Thomas Stearns Eliot, who is widely known as T. S. Eliot, is an American-born British essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic and one of the twentieth century's major poets.  “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is one of the most provocative and  important works of T. S. Eliot, which was composed in February 1910, and was first published in “A Magazine of Verse” at the instigation of Ezra Pound (1885–1972).  Prufrock is the protagonist of the poem who unable to encounter the fragmented images and the voice that Prufrock feels “cannot exist in the gaze of the other”. Bellour Leila(22-24) argues that gender is constructed by the society and Prufrock lacks the characteristics of that of defined gender of the society. Prufrock’s self is fragmented, which is a clear crisis to his identity and thoughts. This fragmented self also makes him think that his image or physical appearance is unattractive and indicates his lack of self-esteem and self respect. On the other hand, Luis Alberto Lazaro Lafuente addresses Prufrock’s fragmented identity which gets exposed in the poem. Brandon Colas has delineated regarding Prufrock’s identity crisis and his appearance which are considered as barriers of Prufrock to lead a normal life.

On the surface level, it seems that the poet is singing the sad song of a modern isolated, frustrated, impotent, socially insignificant, and disgusted person but deep inside the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” reveals Prufrock’s dissatisfaction with his appearance and throws light into the tortured psyche of a man struggling with his self image. However, this paper delves into the protagonist’s perception about his own appearance, as well as his identity crisis which are greatly responsible for his frustration, anxiety, and trivialness. For this, this paper looks at Prufrock through the lens of ‘Gaze Theory’ of Foucoult and Lacan who argue that a person’s identity is being constructed by the society. If any person fails to conform to the requirements of the society, he may face unrealistic anxiety. According to them, gaze is always considered as voyeuristic which always keeps ones under observation and demands to fulfill the norms and values of the society.  Moreover, in gaze theory “I” is always judged through the lens of “others” instead of the self which always demands the ideal or complete image of the being.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a modern and symbolist poem which expounds the narrator’s stream of consciousness in a fragmented fashion and his random thoughts are being explored by the structure of the poem. The poem's structure was heavily determined by Eliot's extensive reading of Dante Alighieri and makes several references to the Bible and other literary works. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a narrative poem which represents a moment in the life of the title character. It opens with an epigraph from Canto 27 of Dante’s Inferno, which consists of six lines in the original Italian.  In this poem, Eliot sketches a modern man who is overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilted. If we examine this poem on the surface level, we can say that the poem illustrates the idea of a sexually frustrated middle-aged man who wants to say something but is scared to do so, and eventually does not.

Then, in the poem, we observe that Prufrock embodies a frustrated man who is isolated from his imagination and is precipitated for imaginative salvation. Prufrock is the unheroic hero whose identity is caught between the inner and outer world and his self appearance does not go with the stereotypical masculinity of the society; thus these things have injected the perception in his mind about insignificance or trivialness in the society. He is leading his life with futile gestures and predictable encounters. Prufrock’s disagreement and disappointment with his surroundings are being depicted in the poem.  Prufrock is an image representing the cultural dissolution and moral deterioration. Prufrock knows that he cannot be the hero of anyone’s story; he cannot be Hamlet (despite Hamlet’s similar bouts of indecision). He is only a bit player, even a fool. He imagines himself growing old, unchanged, worrying about his health and the “risks” of eating a peach. Still, he dimly hears the mermaids of romance singing in his imagination, even though they are not singing to him. In a final imagined vision, he sees these nymphs of the sea, free and beautiful, calling him.  However, in reality, he intrudes in the form of “human voices,” perhaps those of the art-chattering women, and he is “drowned” in his unfilled life.

 Eliot finished composing the poem that was originally published sometime in July and August 1911 at the age of 22. In 1912, Eliot revised the poem and included a 38-line section now called "Prufrock's Pervigilium" which was inserted on those blank pages and intended as a middle section for the poem. However, Eliot removed this section soon after getting advice from his fellow Harvard associate and poet Conrad Aiken. This section would not be included in the original publication of Eliot's poem. This section would not be included in the original publication of Eliot's poem but was included when published posthumously in the 1996 collection of Eliot's early, unpublished drafts in Inventions of the March Hare: Poems 1909–1917. However, later Eliot published the poem in the Chicago magazine Poetry in June 1915, "Prufrock" with the help of his buddy Ezra Pound. In 1917 the poem was published as part of a small book called “Prufrock and Other Observations.”

If we closely examine the paper we can see Prufrock’s “quest for gender identity especially that he inhabits a world where patriarchy is on the wane” ( Leila-7) and  his “dissociation of sensibility or a split of mind and body.” (Leila- 9). Henry Krips in his paper clarifies that gaze is deeply rooted in the ‘concrete object’. A person’s identity is determined by the society and if any person cannot fulfill the requirements of the society, it brings “unrealistic anxiety” (according to Freud) in him. According to Lacan, sometimes ‘I’ faces resistance from the unanimous other. People or the overall society is considered as a mirror which determines one’s identity and it also creates anxiety in the mind. Gaze also demands to look at the self not through the lens of the “I” but through the lens of the “other” It always demands the ideal or complete image of the individual in the society. Lacovetti in his paper claims that “Prufrock (like Heyman) faces the reality that his identity is determined more by externally symbolic actions than by anything in his internal constitution or character”(5).

 In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, we observe that “Prufrock is caught between identities; one which he is obliged by the society to perform; other he wishes to perform, and these conflicting ideas are the reasons of his paralysis. As pointed out Suzanne Churchill points in her essay “Outing T.S. Eliot”, “Eliot emerges in his letters as a psychosexually conflicted man, torn and tormented by conventional demands of masculinity...” therefore it is in his writings his characters are failing to perform conventional needs/demands of masculinity”(Baghira, 2261). Baghira also emphasizes, “Prufrock caught in conflict between the social demand and his internalized feeling about his own identity. We found his reluctance in performing certain stereotypical gender roles set by the society and this inability in his ‘performance’ casts him outside the society.”(Baghira, 2260). He also talks about the use of pronouns “you” and “I” in the poem through stressing on transgendered and two identities of Prufrock. The pronoun “you” and “I” might mean two gender identities within him, the female and the male” (Baghira, 2262). Lafuente(161) also questions regarding the use of pronoun “You” and “I” in the first line. The reader immediately wonders who these people are and where they are going. It is obvious that the "I" is the speaker, and according to the title his ñame is Prufrock; but what about the other person? If we think of the title again, the "you" could be a lady; but the epigraph would suggest a different type of person”. Prufrock fears that his “his true self will be reavealed to the ladies at the tea party that he is about to attend”. Prufrock is a character who is being paralyzed and anticipating for the total image , Leila in her article depicts Robert McNamara’s  argument, “Prufrock suffers from self-fragmentation and that his “paralysis [is] a result, in large part, of his desire for a totalizing image of himself.”(7).  According to Leila the “You”, whom the readesr presume to be Prufrock’s companion, disappears after line 12 because it is a mere fragment of his shattered self(9).

 Moreover, prufrock is a character who is aware of his physical appearance. He is afraid that women won't find him attractive because he is thin and balding. He is ashamed of his personal appearance and looks towards social advancement as a way to assure himself and those around him of his worth and establish who he is.  Regarding this, Leila in her article says, “He is afraid that his image is unattractive, and hence, of what others might say or think of him. He starts imagining women’s acerbic comments on his physical appearance.”(39). Prufrock is afraid of being mocked because of the thinness of his body, which indicates his lack of masculine vigor; “They will say but how his arms and legs are thin!”(40) (15) and thus Prufrock “is suffering from certain type of inferiority concerning his age and ‘thwarted masculinity” Temple also claims that “ Prufrock imagines them obsessed with his physical appearance cattily gossiping”. Prufrock’s struggle regarding his identity and his perception regarding his appearance are the vital reasons for his suffering, alienation, paralysis, anxiety, and lack of self esteem and respect. Prufrock’s anxiety throughout the poem is essentially bound up with his notion of himself, his identity, and his social significance.

Furthermore, “The Love song” is not really a love song though love is the underlying theme. It records the identity crisis, perception of the self appearance, frustration, indecision, hesitation, and   alienation. The poem is rather psychological intended to dissect the suppressed feelings of Prufrock. However, we know that our identity is being constructed and defined by the external sources or others. In the stereotypical society, if a man failed to perform his stereotypical masculine roles, he is considered as the ‘other’ in the society. And this failure of any individual “can contribute to a self-centered anxiety about his identity. This anxiety, in turn, is transformed into an experience of being externally scrutinized – an anonymous look from elsewhere by an invisible other before whom the young Lacan is reduced to anxiety and shame.” (Krips-93).  Prufrock is a character who is aware of his fluidity of his masculinity that is necessary to establish any romantic relationship in the society. He wanders in the street in search for a romantic relationship but he knows that it is quite impossible since he does not have the sexual virility and the masculine appearance. These things make him suffer from neurotic anxiety and thus he is delaying to give a proposal for a romantic relationship;

                                      “Time for you and time for me,

                                       And time yet for a hundred indecisions,

                                     And for a hundred visions and revisions …”

                                                                                      (The Love song, Lines 31-33)

Prufrock craves for establishing a romantic relationship but after sometimes he returns to the reality which shatters his desire for romanticism since he knows that he is unable to conquer his “inner inadequacies and inhibitions and probe into the physical and corporeal world of the Other.” (Leila-14). He is suffering from the dismemberment which is a barrier to express his feelings to the outer world. Moreover, he does not have the courage to confront society.

In fact, the protagonist of the poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” is being portrayed as a modern man who has a split or fragmented personality. If we closely examine the poem, we find that Prufrock’s identity is torn between two identities, one which is being demanded by the society and the other he desires to perform. In this regard, Baghira refers to Suzanne Churchill’s essay titled “Outing T.S. Eliot”,“Eliot emerges in his letters as a psychosexually conflicted man, torn and tormented by conventional demands of masculinity... therefore it is…… in his writings his characters are failing to perform conventional needs/demands of masculinity.”(2261) Prufrock is unable and reluctant to perform certain gender roles which are being constructed by the society, thus these inabilities make him an ostracized in the society. He is scared of the society and people which are being reflected in his questions:  

                                         “Do I dare

                                         Disturb the universe?”

                                                              (The Love song, Lines 38-39)

Hence, he thinks that he will offend the globe by his failure to perform his masculine role constructed by the society. According to Leila, “Despite many endeavors, Prufrock fails to act his masculine role. His question “Shall I disturb the universe?” does not only indicate his inability to perform his conventional and traditional role, which is masculine. It also suggests an unconventional homoerotic love” ( Leila, 23). It might be the reason that his homosexual desire might come as a shock to the world. The society is never going to accept his homosexual identity or desire and it is the cause of “homo sexual panic” of Prufrock. There are number of references where we see Prufrock’s ‘homo-sexual panic’. The repetition of the phrases, “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” is very indicative regarding this matter. The phrase Michelangelo may be referring to his sexuality. Baghira in his paper refers to Rictor regarding this argument who argues that “Michelangelo had a reputation for homosexuality among his contemporaries.” (2265) Thus Baghira claims that “Talking of Michelangelo” might also mean his sexuality and Prufrock is suffering from the panic of him being identified by the society as a person who desires same sex love (2264).

                          

 Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets               

                            And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes 

                           Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?

                                                              (The Love song, Lines 70-72)

 These above lines may indicate that Prufrock likes the ‘men in shirtsleeves’ and craves to unite with them  physically. Prufrock is being trapped between homosexuality and heterosexual craving and these two conflicting desires are the reasons for shattering his unified self. Prufrock tries to prove his masculinity by wearing dresses like a man. In the poem, we observe his description regarding “morning coat, (his) collar mounting firmly to the chin,  necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin” . But Judith Butler argues that a man does not have the manly characteristics through only the ‘speech’ and ‘acts’; bodily acts or masculine essence are being required to establish masculine identity which Prufrock lacks(Leila,23-24). Prufrock dresses like a man but he aspires to dress like a woman. If we look at Prufrock through the lens of transgendered identity, it can be perceived through his description of the women “Arms that are braceleted and white and bare” and “…the mermaids singing each to each” is not indicating his longing them sexually rather he is craving for their sexuality. Prufrock speaks regarding ‘“skirts that trail along the floor.”(85) which points out the conflict between the inner psychological aspiration and outer world’s expectation. Butler considers this type of attitude as “fluid and precarious nature of gender". She claims that “In imitating gender, drag implicitly reveals the imitative structure of gender itself-as well as its contingency.”(87) Prufrock asks, “Shall I part my hair behind?”(88), thus Prufrock is referring to his feminine identity. He finds it difficult to perform the masculine role in the society even he is not able to confess it because of the social restrictions of the society.

In addition, if we consider the use of pronouns “You” and “I” in the first line of the poem, we find that the poet introduces these two pronouns at a point in a debate at which the subjective “I” is surrendering to the more objective “You” agreeing to go somewhere.  However, the pronouns “You” and “I” might indicate two gender identities within him, the male and the female. According to Butler, “homosexuality with the image of a man pursuing or being pursued by his double.”(75)(Leila,22). So, we can say that Prufrock’s fascination with his self-image and his disaffiliated self are being impersonated by his double and the use of the pronoun “You” in the opening line can be defined in terms of homoeroticism. Even, Prufrock is confused regarding his identity. In Dante’s Inferno, Guido da Montefeltro, a corrupt Franciscan identifies himself to Dante, on the basis of his self-revelation on self-confidence that no one else will find out his identity. Montefeltro will provisionally answer the question, "Who are you?" but to this " devastating question," Prufrock will only snap,

                                 “Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”

                                                 (The Love song, Line-11)

Prufrock’s dual identities can be further clarified by the following line;

                             “There will be time to murder and create,”
                                                  (The Love song, Line 28)

After all, Prufrock is a transgendered individual who is torn between binary identities and he has to ‘murder’ or suppress one in order to subscribe or ‘create’ another. We know that transgendered people face huge social pressure in the society. In our society it is considered as the “fluidity in the performance of the gender role” (Baghira, 2258) Being scared of the society, transgendered people always try to hide their identity.

           Furthermore, Prufrock is a character who is in quest of acceptable gender identity which he lacks. He confesses that he is not Hamlet or John the Baptist since none of these societal identical roles suit him. He proclaims that;

                         “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;”
                                          (Love song, Line 111)

Under these circumstances, Prufrock is unable to approach for his love interest like the vigorous figure of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. He also believes that he cannot be compared to Lazarus who is a man of miracle; that is why Prufrock   divulges;

                          “To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,

                           Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—

                           If one, settling a pillow by her head

                          Should say: “That is not what I meant at all;

                          That is not it, at all.”
                                                 (The Love song, Lines 94-98)

Regarding Prufrock’s reluctant to compare himself to the vigorous figures, George Temple indicates, “Prufrock’s inability to express himself to women follows as a direct consequence of his consistent identity-relation to the masculine symbols of his literary history, prescribing a set of tropes he constantly compares himself to.”  He is ashamed of his personal appearance which is not masculine in form and compares himself to the different masculine figures as a way to assure himself and those around him of his worth and establish who he is.

 In “The Love Song”, we see that Prufrock’s perception regarding his physical appearance is another cause of his anxiety. He is not only obsessed with his physical appearance but also ashamed of his personal appearance and looks towards social advancement as a way to assure himself and those around him worth and establish who he is. Prufrock thinks;

                          With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—                   

                          (They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)     

                          My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,   

                          My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—          

                         (They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)

                                                                         (The Love song, Lines 40-44)

Consequently, Prufrock is afraid of being exposed in the tea party; he thinks that the ladies at the tea party will gossips about his thin hair which is the sign of his unimpressive mind and about his thin arms and legs which symbolize an unimpressive body. He knows that he does not have the macho physique which is required by the society. Thus, his dissatisfaction regarding his physical appearance is also the cause of his anxiety. Henry Krips refers to Lacan in this regard; “This anxiety, in turn, is transformed into an experience of being externally scrutinized – an anonymous look from elsewhere by an invisible other before whom the young Lacan is reduced to anxiety and shame.” (93). Prufrock thinks that the women are also obsessed with his physical appearance and they are gossiping regarding his physical appearance. Prufrock’s anxiety regarding the look of others at him is known as ‘gaze’ regarding which Lacan claims “is presented to us only in the form of a strange contingency, symbolic of...the lack that constitutes castration anxiety…It surprises [the viewer]…disturbs him and re-duces him to a feeling of shame” (Lacan 1981: 96, 72–73, 84) (quoted in Krips, 93).  Prufrock contemplates about his physique and thus his mind is being affected by his thought. He is afraid of his self image which is unattractive (according to Prufrock). He fears the judgment of others which leads him think of being rejected and injects the thought of his inferiority.  If we look at the phrase ‘dying fall’, we understand that it seems that they are talking to each other, but commenting on him. This is further apparent by the following line:

                                              “I know the voices”

                                              (The Love song, Line 52)

This line implies that he knows it well that they are talking about his unattractive physical appearance. Prufrock is dissatisfied about his physique which is an evidence of an underlying lack of self-confidence.

Prufrock even compares his life with a ‘coffee spoon’ and he imagines himself as an insect which clarify his lack of self-esteem and self-respect. Prufrock is terrified by the ‘gaze’ of the women. Throughout the poem we observe that Prufrock is afraid of all the “eyes” of the society since of his unattractive physique and binary identities.  He knows that the society is not going to accept the fluidity in his masculine physique and binary identities. 

                            “The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase

                            And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,

                            When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
                                                                           (The Love song, Lines 56-58)

His physical appearance and identity crisis make Prufrock think that he is inferior compared to others.  This inferiority complex comes into Prufrock’s sub-conscious or conscious mind, when he finds himself as a person of confusing identity, devoid of sexual virility, and unattractive physical appearance which are being disesteemed by the  ‘others’ or the society.

In this paper, I have tried to show the causes of Prufrock’s sufferings which are ramifications of his gender identity, his lack of sexual virility, and his assumption regarding unattractive physical appearance. He aspires to perform the stereotypical masculine role in the society but he cannot do so for his bifurcated gender identity (both masculine and feminine) and for his imperfect physique structure which are essential for a man to prove his masculinity. It is society which ascribes identities to the individual and also determines the ideal masculine physique in the society; fluidity of those assigned identities and imperfection of the physique are considered as a threat to the power structure.  Prufrock cannot express his feelings and thoughts to the ‘others’ (society) since he knows it well that he is not John the Baptist who was murdered since he had the intrepidity to reveal the truth that he was living corruptly. He died because of his courage to speak the truth. But, Prufrock imagines that disclosing his true self to others would kill him, so he will not. He is  being entrapped within the designated identity and ideal masculine physique of the society which are obviously the reasons of his anxiety and alienation. He even does not have the idea how to change it. As a result, Prufrock's "The Love Song" could only be sung to him by human voices that would wake his divided self to drown in the sea of his own emotions.

Work Cited

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prufrock”. American Research Thoughts .Issue 9. July 2015. PDF. Thursday, ‎June ‎16,   2016.

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of   Cahan’s Heyman and Eliot’s Prufrock. PDF. Monday, June 20, 2016.

Christ, Carol. "Gender, voice, and figuration in Eliot's early poetry." TS Eliot: The Modernis

 in History . Cambridge University Press. (1991): 23-37. Web. Monday, June 20, 2016.

 

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 Linköping University Electronic Press. (2010): 91–102.

 PDF. Saturday, June 18, 2016.

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 1989. PDF. Saturday, June 18, 2016.

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 J. Alfred Prufrock” . March 2014. PDF. ‎Thursday, ‎June ‎16, ‎2016.

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 Issue 21: Silenced Voices.  PDF. Thursday, ‎June ‎16, ‎2016.

A Guideline to avoid Plagiarism in Academic Writing

Plagiarism has always concerned teachers and administrators, who want students’ work to represent their own efforts and to reflect the outcomes of their learning However, with the advancement of the Internet and easy access to almost limitless written material on every topic, student’s using of plagiarism has begun to affect teachers at all levels and teachers somehow fails to develop students’ writing, reading, and critical thinking abilities. It is important to understand the exact definition of plagiarism, why it is so important to teachers and how we can avoid it. In my paper at first, I will try to define the term plagiarism. After that the possible causes of plagiarism, a set of responsibilities(for students, teachers, and administrators) to address the problem of plagiarism; and by recommending a set of practices for teaching and learning that can significantly reduce plagiarism. By following the suggestions instructors, administrators, and students can work together more effectively to achieve success in teaching and learning.

Plagiarism is an ethically complex problem. Plagiarism occurs when a write deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original material without acknowledging its source. Whether deliberately and accidently, plagiarism is a serious and punishable offence. Moreover, plagiarism is stealing the intellectual work of someone else and passing it off as his/her own. Plagiarism can occur in much different form also. Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit is stealing. It is the same thing looking over the shoulder of a fellow student during a math exam. If someone caught while doing plagiarism can receive a zero on his/her paper or could fail the entire course or even being suspended or expelled. So plagiarism is an act of using or imitating the language and thoughts of another person or author as his/her own without the authorization and consent from that author. The book titled ‘The Little Brown Handbook by H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron has mentioned two kinds of plagiarism. They are:

1.      Deliberate plagiarism and

2.      Accidental Plagiarism.

Deliberate plagiarism:  It includes copying a phrase, a sentence, or a longer passage from a source and passing it off as your own, summarizing and paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without any acknowledgement and coped from friend and another students.

Accidental Plagiarism:  It occur when writer forgetting to place quotation marks around another writer works and carelessly copying a source when the writer means to paraphrase.

So we can say plagiarism is -

·        Students can easily purchase notes from the internet or they could easily find the topic they are working on. Sometimes senior students’ sale notes to the junior students.

·        Students sometimes fail to cite the sources they have used for their writing which indicates plagiarism. Moreover a paraphrase with no citation is an example of plagiarism.

·        Sometimes writers took help from the family members or friends without mentioning their name is also plagiarism.

·        Students took ideas from multiple sources at a time which is also plagiarism.

·        Taking idea’s from others without their proper acknowledgement is plagiarism.

·        Lack of common knowledge of the students. That means, certain facts are so well-known that one do not need to worry about verification.

·        Using direct quotation from the internet without paraphrasing it is also plagiarism.

·        Paraphrase with no citation is example of plagiarism.

With the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW), students have the ability to access great amount of information at a faster speed. At past, in order to plagiarize the students had to spend hours searching through books to copy information to write a paper. Now it is very easy for the students to find an article on any subject, press the right button of their mouse, select, copy then paste and have the paper done in a matter of seconds. But students gain nothing from this, no effort or thought was put into the paper, nothing was learned or gained from the experience. If we spend our lives in cheating and stealing, we will never learn anything or have the opportunity to think wisely and logically.

Understanding why students plagiarize can help teachers to consider how to reduce the opportunities for plagiarism in their classrooms. There are some valid reasons behind the fact that why students plagiarize in their writing.

·        Students may fear failure or fear taking risks in their own work.

·        Students may have poor time management skills or they may plan poorly for the time and effort requires for research based writing and believe that they have no choice but to plagiarize.

·        Instructors or institution may fail to report cheating when it does occur or may not enforce appropriate penalties.

·        Students may not know how to generate the ideas of others and document the sources of those ideas appropriately in their writing.

·        Students may not know how to take careful and fully documented notes during their research.

·        Instructors may assume that students have already learned appropriate academic rules of research and documentation.

·        In some settings, using other people’s words or ideas as their own is an acceptable practice for writers of certain kinds of texts (for example, organizational documents), making the concepts of plagiarism and documentation less clear cut than academics often acknowledge and thereby confusing students who have not learned that the conventions of source attribution vary in different contexts.

In an academic context, students are taught to analyze the sources of their ideas. Therefore they are expected to provide citations for any direct quotations, paraphrases and important ideas that are taken others and failure to do so is plagiarism. Punishment for plagiarism is based on social, ethical factors. Students who plagiarize should get punishment because teachers want them to learn not to steal. The major consequence of plagiarism is that people who engage in it hurt themselves.  Good research involves good number of skills.  Evaluating sources, taking careful notes, selecting appropriate quotations, paraphrasing, and giving credit to others for their ideas and words definitely helps to avoid plagiarism.  Students who plagiarize may never learn these skills, and life in college and beyond can be difficult without them.  Of course people who engage in plagiarism also hurt others like their classmates, , the school or university they attend.  At the very least, turning in plagiarized work is unfair to students who do their own work.  It also affects the grading system.  And whether detected or not, plagiarism violates the rules of the institution. We have to keep in our mind that that students and teachers are working together to help students learn knowledge and skills that will enable them to fulfill their potential.    Plagiarism also undermines the whole notion of academia on which the academic world is grounded.  All knowledge depends on previous knowledge.

Sir Isaac Newton said, “We want people to be able to evaluate what we say, and we want to acknowledge our debt to those whose thinking has helped us.  We do so by carefully crediting others for their ideas and their words.”

One of the consequences of plagiarism is expulsion and this can literally ruin a student’s life. This means that students, who plagiarize, even if it is only one time, can face being expelled from their educational institutions. This could have long-term impacts on the rest of their lives as they would probably find it quite difficult to find another institution willing to accept them. Furthermore, it would be mean a lot of wasted time, money, and effort, especially if the student was nearing graduation. Many other institutions, both large and small, take plagiarism very seriously and are not hesitant to punish the plagiarized person.

. In their Official Plagiarism Policy Statement Illinois State declared that, “A minimum of one year of disciplinary probation is the standard precedent for such violations, in addition to appropriate educational sanctions” (2006).

They go on to discuss how the student will not be allowed to drop any classes so that whatever class they plagiarized something for they will certainly fail. It is clear that colleges do not accept plagiarism and work hard to make students aware of what it is by posting these notices about punishments and requiring professors to provide definitions and the fact that action will be taken if it is suspected.

To avoid plagiarism students must Just as students must live up to their responsibility to behave ethically and honestly as learners, teachers must recognize that they can encourage or discourage plagiarism not just by policy and, but also in the way they structure assignments and in the processes they use to help students define and gain interest in topics developed for papers and projects. If a student uses another person’s ideas, opinion he/she must have to give credit for that. Moreover, students have to be familiar with the topic they have chosen for the paper. By understanding the subject of the topic students can write in their own words. Students have to avoid reading from another author’s material too much as they will be more inclined to grave that author’s exact statement.

Some schools offers program or services that can scan papers for plagiarized content. If students are highly concerned, then they might want to consider such services. If a student gets confused about his/her work means whether they are in dilemma regarding their work then they should talk to their respective instructor. Its better to be clear before to face any serious consequences. A plagiarized paper can result in a` failing grade for the course, can get a negative comment on academic record or can dismissed from the institution.

We could follow these steps/recommendations  to avoid plagiarism:

·        Analyzing a set of sources that students have themselves determined are relevant to the issues they are investigating.

·         Acknowledging clearly when and how they are drawing on the ideas or        phrasings of others.

·         Learning the conventions for citing documents and acknowledging sources appropriate to the field they are studying

·         Consulting their instructors when they are unsure about how to acknowledge the contributions of others to their thought and writing

·        Building support for the students in researched writing

·        Clearly stated the writing policies to avoid plagiarism

·        Teaching students the conventions for citing documents and acknowledging sources in their field, and allowing students to practice these skills

·        Avoiding the use of recycled assignments that may invite plagiarism

·        Engaging students in the process of writing, which produces materials such as notes, drafts, and revisions that are difficult to plagiarize

·        Discussing problems students may encounter in documenting and analyzing sources, and offering strategies for avoiding or solving those problems

·        Discussing papers suspected of plagiarism with the students who have turned them in

·        Reporting possible cases of plagiarism to the administrators or boards

·        Declare policies for conducting ethical research, as well as procedures for

investigating possible cases of academic dishonesty and its penalties

·         Providing support services (for example, writing centers or Web pages) for students who have questions about how to cite sources

·        Supporting faculty and student discussions of issues concerning academic honesty, research ethics, and plagiarism

·         Recognizing and improving working conditions

·         Providing opportunities for instructors to change the ways they work with writing in their courses

·        Policy for using sources should be include in the syllabus

·        Design assignments that require students to explore a subject in dept

·        Start building possible topic early so that students can start their research by utilizing the given

·        Allow students to define specific questions about that theme so that they become engaged in learning new ideas

·        Developed schedules for students that allow them time to explore and to support their writing

·        Support student’s work

·        Make the technology used for the writing visible/ or acknowledging the online sources

·        Common knowledge means regular information known by all is also have to check

·        Show students how to evaluate their sources

·        Ask students to rewrite the sections where sources have been misused

·        Focus on successful reading to avoid plagiarism

·        Try to give several revision cross checking after finishing the  writing

“Writing develops from a seed idea and grows organically as a whole through proper use of revision.” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Finally, plagiarism is a serious crime we should not take it lightly. We should not take the risk of attempting plagiarism. It will cost not only to grade but also students respect and reputation in front of the teachers and friends. Students for their future life have to consider the goal. Management authority should take appropriate disciplinary actions so that the evil power called plagiarism could remove which will ensure a meaningful and authentic academic writer.

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