Day: February 8, 2022

THE BIOGRAPHY OF ALEXANDER POPE:

EARLY LIFE:

Alexander Pope, (born May 21, 1688, London, England-died May 30, 1744, Twickenham, near London), poet and satirist of the English Augustan period, best known for his poems An Essay on Criticism  (1711), The Rape of the Lock  (1712–14), The Dunciad (1728), and An Essay on Man (1733–34). He is one of the most epigrammatic of all English authors. Pope’s father, a wholesale linen merchant, retired from business in the year of his son’s birth and 1700 went to live at Binfield in Windsor Forest. The Popes were Roman Catholics, and at Binfield, they came to know several neighboring Catholic families who were to play an important part in the poet’s life. 

EARLY WORKS:

Windsor Forest was near enough to London to permit Pope’s frequent visits there. He early grew acquainted with former members of John Dryden’s circle, notably William Wycherley, William Walsh, and Henry Cromwell. By 1705 his “Pastorals” were in draft and were circulating among the best literary judges of the day. In 1706 Jacob Tonson, the leading publisher of poetry, had solicited their publication, and they took the place of honor in his Poetical Miscellanies in 1709.

This early emergence of a man of letters may have been assisted by Pope’s poor physique. As a result of too much study, so he thought, he acquired curvature of the spine and some tubercular infection, probably Pott’s disease, that limited his growth and seriously impaired his health. His full-grown height was 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 meters), but the grace of his profile and fullness of his eye gave him an attractive appearance. He was a lifelong sufferer from headaches, and his deformity made him abnormally sensitive to physical and mental pain. Though he was able to ride a horse and delighted in travel, he was inevitably precluded from much normal physical activity, and his energetic, fastidious mind was largely directed to reading and writing.

CAREER AS A SATIRIST :

As Pope’s career continued, his satirical writings became more and more pointed. The Dunciad, first published anonymously in 1728, would come to be considered a masterful piece of poetry but earned him a huge amount of hostility. The poem is a mock-heroic narrative that celebrates an imaginary goddess and her human agents who bring ruin to Great Britain. The allusions in the poem were aimed at many prominent and aristocratic figures of the day, as well as the Whig-led government. Pope’s satire earned him so many enemies that, for a time, whenever he left the house, he brought his Great Dane with him and carried pistols, in case of a surprise attack by one of his targets or their supporters. In contrast, his An Essay on Man was more philosophical, reflecting on the natural order of the universe and suggesting that even the imperfections in the world are part of rational order.

FINAL YEARS AND LEGACY:

After 1738, Pope mostly stopped producing new work. He began working on additions and revisions to the Dunciad, publishing a new “book” in 1742 and a complete revision in 1743. In the new version, Pope more clearly satirized and criticized Horace Walpole, a Whig politician who was in power and who Pope blamed for many of the problems in British society.

By that point, however, Pope’s lifelong poor health was catching up to him. He had suffered from chronic pain, respiratory problems, a hunchback, frequent high fevers, and other problems since childhood. In 1744, his doctor reassured him that he was improving, but Pope only made a joke and accepted his fate. He received the last rites of the Catholic Church on May 29, 1744 and died at his villa, surrounded by his friends, the following day. He was buried at St. Mary’s Church in Twickenham.

In the decades following his death, Pope’s poetry went out of fashion for a time. 

Published by Ayisha Shabana. M….

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THE BIOGRAPHY OF DANIEL DEFOE:

Daniel Defoe was an English writer, trader, journalist, Pamphleteer, and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Ben and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.

HIS EARLY LIFE:

Daniel Foe was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St Gile cripplegate, London.  His birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, and sources offer dates from 1659 to 1662, with the summer or early autumn of 1660 considered the most likely. His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow Chandler of  Flemish descent, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. In Defoe’s early childhood, he experienced some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, 70,000 were killed by the Great Plague of London, and the next year, the Great Fire of London left only Defoe’s and two other houses standing in his neighborhood. In 1667, when he was probably about seven, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway via the River Thames and attacked the town of Chatham in the raid on the Medway. His mother, Alice, had died by the time he was about ten.

HIS EDUCATION :

Defoe was educated at the Rev. James Fisher’s boarding school in Pixham Lane in Dorking, Surrey. His parents were Presbyterian dissenters, and around the age of 14, he was sent to Charles Morton’s dissenting academy at Newington Green,  then a village just north of London, where he is believed to have attended the dissenting Church there. He lived on Church Street, Stoke Newington. During this period, the English government persecuted those who chose to worship outside the Church of England.

HIS BUSINESS CAREER:

Defoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woolen goods, and wine. His ambitions were great and he was able to buy a country estate and a ship (as well as civets to make perfume, though he was rarely out of debt. On 1 January 1684, Defoe married Mary Tuffley at St Botolph’s Aldgate . She was the daughter of a London merchant, receiving a dowry of £3,700 a huge amount by the standards of the day. With his debts and political difficulties, the marriage may have been troubled, but it lasted 47 years and produced eight children. In 1685, Defoe joined the Ill-fated  Monmouth Rebellion  but gained a pardon, by which he escaped the Bloody Assizes  of Judge George Jeffreys . Queen Mary and her husband  William III were jointly crowned in 1689, and Defoe became one of William’s close allies and a secret agent.

Some of the new policies led to conflict with France, thus damaging prosperous trade relationships for Defoe. In 1692, he was arrested for debts of £700 and, in the face of total debts that may have amounted to £17,000, was forced to declare bankruptcy. He died with little wealth and evidently embroiled in lawsuits with the royal treasury.

HIS WRITING CAREER:

Defoe’s first notable publication was An Essay upon Projects , a series of proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King  William III to a standing army  during disarmament, after the Treaty of Ryswick  (1697) had ended the Nine Years’ War  (1688–1697). His most successful poem,  The True-Born (1701), defended William against Xenophobic    attacks from his political enemies in England, and English anti-immigration sentiments more generally. In 1701, Defoe presented the Legion’s Memorial to Robert Harley , then- Speaker of the House of the Commons —and his subsequent employer—while flanked by a guard of sixteen gentlemen of quality. It demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who had asked Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France.

Published by Ayisha Shabana. M

Akshar – A Unique school in Guwahati

Have you ever heard of a school that charges a fee for collecting plastics?

Akshar school in Pamohi village, Guwahati, Assam, where pupils pay plastics as a fee in exchange for an education. The school only accepts a polythene bag full of plastic rubbish as payment.

Akshar is a model school that provides quality education to children from economically disadvantaged families. Parmita Sarma and Mazin Muktar launched the company in 2016. They began by providing free education in the community, but they soon found a high use of plastics in the area, and locals had developed a practise of burning plastics to stay warm during the winter.

Because of smoke from burning plastic, their classroom used to be filled with those hazardous vapours at times. As a result, they established a pricing structure in which students pay for their education by bringing 10–20 pounds of plastic debris to school each week. Students were taught how to successfully recycle plastic garbage, how to manufacture eco-bricks, and have already constructed a plant guarder in their school grounds.

They use a different format than the one used throughout India. There are both traditional and vocational subjects available. They instruct children on how to instruct.Higher-class students teach the school’s younger students, and they also receive a reward money, similar to that used in video games, that allows them to shop at the school store. The school has raised awareness about the dangers of plastic and transformed the thinking of the students’ families. Their class classification is based on IQ level rather than age, and students are taught lessons depending on their IQ level. They intend to grow Akshar School throughout India.

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Digital Marketing

“Marketing is no longer about the products you create, but rather about the tales you tell.” –Blogger and best-selling author Seth Godin
Digital marketing, often known as online marketing, is the promotion of brands through the use of the internet and other types of digital communication to interact with potential clients. As a marketing channel, this comprises not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages. Simply said, if a marketing campaign includes digital communication, it is considered digital marketing.

The goal of digital marketing is to reach a wider audience than could be reached via traditional methods.

It aids in identifying the prospects most likely to purchase your goods or service. It has been observed that it is typically more cost-effective than traditional advertising, and that it allows you to track progress on a daily basis and pivot as needed.

It’s easy to get the terms digital marketing and inbound marketing mixed up. This is due to the fact that digital marketing makes use of similar methods to inbound marketing, such as email, content on an internet platform, and so on. Both marketing strategies attract prospects’ attention and convert them into customers throughout the buyer’s journey. So, what makes the difference? The area in which the views of the relationship between the tool and the objective in the two area.

 

The importance of digital marketing
Digital marketing can work electronically and online thanks to the internet. This opens up a slew of new ways for firms to connect with customers, including email, video, social media, and search engines.

Digital marketing has shown to be quite beneficial to one’s business and brand awareness. Almost every company nowadays has a website. Even if they don’t, they should have a social media presence or a digital advertising strategy. Consumers have come to expect and rely on digital information and marketing as a means of learning about brands.

Digital marketing types
There are several methods to interact with digital media, just as there are numerous specialisations within digital marketing.

SEO stands for search engine optimization.
Marketing with content
Marketing on social media
PPC (pay-per-click) affiliate marketing
Advertisement that is native to the environment
Marketing automation is a term used to describe a
Marketing via email
Digital marketing’s benefits
On a global scale, trading
For a modest investment, a website allows one to discover new markets and trade abroad.

Cost-efficient
When compared to traditional marketing tactics, a well-planned and well-targeted digital marketing campaign may reach the correct demographic at a considerably cheaper cost.

 

Tracking is simple, and the outcomes are measurable.
The results of digital marketing can always be measured or predicted. It enables the business owner to measure his or her online marketing with web analytics and other online metric tools, making it easier to determine the effectiveness of their campaign.

Personalisation
If your client database is linked to your website, you can greet visitors with targeted offers everytime they come to the site. The more they buy from you, the better you’ll be able to develop your client profile and promote to them more successfully.

Transparency
By engaging in social media and carefully controlling it, one can generate consumer loyalty and establish a reputation for quality

 

The value of social money
Using content marketing methods, digital marketing allows you to construct engaging campaigns. This content (pictures, movies, and articles) can generate social currency by being shared and going viral.

Digital marketing’s drawbacks

When it comes to digital marketing, there are some obstacles and disadvantages.

Having the Right Skill Set

To be successful with digital marketing, one must ensure that their workforce has the necessary knowledge and expertise. Because technologies, platforms, and trends change at a rapid pace, the staff must stay current with all of them.

 

Time-consuming
Optimising online advertising campaigns and developing marketing content are two areas that can consume a significant amount of effort. To secure a return on investment, it’s critical to track your progress.

The stakes are high.
Because everyone uses digital marketing nowadays, all firms are faced against global competition. Standing out from the crowd and grabbing attention amid the various messages aimed to consumers online can be difficult.

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Disadvantages Of An Online Examination System

Online assessments have gotten something beyond a pattern in India. The remarkable ascent in internet learning has made online tests an important asset for instructive organizations and corporates. While understudies pick serious tests like Feline, JEE, Door, etc, working experts select tests like UPSC, GMAT, Bank PO, or CAT. The shared factor here is online assessments.

Pen and paper tests are as of now being enhanced or rather subbed by online evaluation stages, because of quick digitalization. An investigation by KPMG states that the online assessment industry is required to develop into an amazing USD 11 billion market by 2021. Appropriately so, since it is the second-biggest e-learning market after the US.

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Let us look at the disadvantages of an online examination system:

  • Challenges in Technology Adoption
  • Infrastructural Barriers
  • Difficulty in Grading Long-answer Type
  • Susceptible to Cheating
  • Transitioning to Open-Book Exams
challenges in technology adaptation

Executing another framework may make a minor interruption and require time of acclimation by the clients. Any change from conventional procedure to the online mode will require some speculation from instructive establishments to update the frameworks. Nonetheless, acclimating the two understudies and educators with the progress is the ideal route forward. Such preparation would instruct understudies and educators about the new highlights and advantages of an online assessment framework.

infrastructural barriers

One of the significant weaknesses of the online assessment framework surfaces in distant areas where admittance to power stable web association and other fundamental framework prerequisites are hard to meet. Such boundaries obstruct online tests. Along these lines, while moving to the online mode, establishments should consider whether everything understudies can show up for the test and what plans can be made to guarantee something very similar.

difficulty in grading long-type answers

Despite the fact that online assessments have facilitated the invigilators’ work, the issue emerges generally with long answer-type questions. Abstract answers require manual reviewing, for which inspectors need to contribute extra time. This is the place where the cutting-edge framework covers with the customary one. As innovation in the instruction area keeps on advancing, the reviewing of emotional answers would get simpler.

suspectable to cheating

One of the significant impediments of an online assessment framework is cheating. Particularly in high-stakes tests, understudies regularly resort to pantomime, making colleges speculate test-takers’ character. Understudies may likewise get outer assistance through cell phones or smartwatches. The frameworks utilized by up-and-comers likewise offer various bamboozling openings, for example, interfacing outer capacity gadgets, screen sharing, and so forth.

transtioning to open-book exams

Normally, the configuration of online tests is seen as much the same as open-book tests. Dissimilar to a customary test setting where outer materials are not allowed inside the test corridor, there is no such arrangement in the advanced organization. Truth be told, it is hard to prevent understudies from alluding to their investigation materials during an online evaluation. Also, there is an absence of oversight during the test meeting, which risks the validity of these tests.