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(*Please see Editor's note below)

While many are familiar with the term "starving artist," this stereotype of impoverished artists struggling to get by has been sadly true throughout much of history. Fine art painters in particular are infamous for leading poverty and grief-stricken lives.

Much like today, many of history's famous artists also had to deal with rejection and negative criticisms during their lifetime.

Perhaps this makes their accomplishments all the more interesting, as their art, their struggle, and their lives still haunt and intrigue us to this day.
These 10 famous artists were all highly-skilled painters who had to deal with rejection, criticism, grief and/or poverty during their lifetime. Although a few eventually gained recognition during their life for their artistic contributions, most of them were under-appreciated and would never know the artisti c legacy they would leave behind because it came only after they had passed on. However, these 10 famous artists now live on forever as revered masters of their respective styles.
Claude Monet - As the founder of French Impressionism, Monet's paintings usually dealt with landscape scenes in a moment. While his seminal work "Impression, Sunrise" is now studied and appreciated in art colleges around the world, it was widely derided by critics when it was first revealed. Monet received little but abuse from public and critics alike, who complained that the paintings were formless, unfinished, and ugly. He and his family endured abject poverty. By the 1880s, however, his paintings started selling.
Vincent Van Gogh - It is hard not to think of tragedy when considers the l ife of Vincent Van Gogh. If there was ever a fine line between madness and genius, Vincent Van Gogh crossed it quite early in his career. Without his time in insane asylums and self-inflicted ear mutilation, the world would have never had "The Starry Night" and "The Potato Eaters." Despite his countless post-Impressionist chefs-d'oeuvres, Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime.
Johannes Vermeer - While Vermeer painted the "Girl with a Pearl Earring," he certainly was not draped in them during his life. Instead of having the elite or nobility commission works, Vermeer's genre of painting was catered to the provincial middle class. In 1675 Vermeer borrowed money in Amsterdam, using his mother-in-law as a surety. Soon after, the Dutch genre painter actually left his family in debt upon his death.
El Greco - While many have never heard of Doménikos Theotokópoulos, El Greco is a legend in the art world. But during his lifetime, because of his unconventional artistic beliefs (such as his dismissal of Michelangelo's technique) and personality, El Greco acquired enemies in Rome. He was so beyond his times that scholars still do not know how to properly define his style, which combined Byzantine and Western influences. Yet, his brilliant works like "The Assumption of the Virgin" would loosely inspire later forms like Expressionism and Cubism.

Paul Cezanne - Considered by many as the father of modern art, but Paul Cezanne was anything but common. Like El Greco, he made significant contributions to Cubism. Nevertheless, the Salon rejected Cézanne's submissions every year from 1864 to 1869. Few significant artists ever had less success. In addition, Cezanne's personal life was marked by tensions that sharpened his sensitivity to relationships. A mere one year after his death, he was inducted in the famed Salon d'Automne and given the recognition he rightfully deserved.
Georges-Pierre Seurat - Probably most well known for "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," Georges-Pierre Seurat redefined what it meant to be a 19th century renaissance man; his works were true artistic and scientific masterpieces. In his paintings, the artist introduced advancements in color and optical theory alike. After his painting was rejected by the Paris Salon, Seurat turned away from such establishments, instead allying himself with the independent artists of Paris.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Toulouse-Lautrec gave audiences a look into the real Moulin Rouge. An intimate friend of Vincent van Gogh (he even painted him) and Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec did not fare any better than his artistic comrades. On top of being a struggling artist, Toulouse-Lautrec also suffered from disabilities and chronic health problems. While his artistic achievements would eventually be recognized, he also made a splash in the medical field; in true bohemian fashion, one of his conditions, pycnodysostosis, would come to be known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome. Lautrec was often mocked for his short stature and physical appearance, and this led him to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Edouard Manet - There is probably no one on this list that was more frustrated by not receiving recognition than Manet. We can see him rebel in works like "Olympia" and "The Luncheon on the Grass" where he turned conservative French society topsy-turvy with the bold use of nudity. Rejected by the Salon, and later excluded from the International exhibition of 1867, Manet then set up his own exhibition that earned poor reviews from the major critics.
Paul Gauguin - Poverty became Gauguin's reality. Then his favorite daughter Aline died of pneumonia and Clovis, his son, died from a blood infection. Gauguin's escapades were far more exotic than his peers which eventually landed him in French Polynesia. There, he produced masterpieces like "Spirit of the Dead Watching," which largely inspired primitivism - an important art movement of the 19th century. After many years of poverty and sickness, Gauguin died from heart failure, alone and unaware of the mark his art would later make on the 20th century.
Alfred Sisley - Despite being part of the original core group of Impressionist artists, his works were usually rejected by the jury of the most important art exhibition in France. His artistic approach, innovative at the time, resulted in paintings more colorful and more broadly painted than the public was accustomed to seeing. This made it difficult for his landscape art to gain any recognition during his lifetime. Perhaps worse, he never gained recognition for his work among his artistic peers either. It couldn't have helped that he was a Brit in a world of French Impressionists.
Edited version of original post by Guest author Roman Sharf, founder of Luxury Bazaar, a leading online source of fine art, jewelry, and luxury watches. As a life-long connoisseur of art, he has developed a keen appreciation for the art of painting and the brilliant talents who make it great.

*****

*Editor's Note: The above article is a reposting of the article that was originally, inaccurately entitled, 10 Famous Artists Who Died Before Their Art Was Recognized. In an effort to bring you accurate and helpful content, I have chosen to edit and re-title this post because the original title was a bit misleading and dramatic. Although these artists had to deal with either rejection, criticism or grief, not all were starving, and some were eventually recognized during their lifetime. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thanks for your understanding. I have learned not to blog after midnight!!! ~Lori 😉
Let's also meet on Twitter, Facebook and now on Google Plus http://gplus.to/lorimcnee . To see my paintings, please visit http://lorimcnee.com

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10 Famous Artists Who Had to Deal with Rejection During Their Lifetime

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(*Please see Editor's note below) Perhaps this makes their accomplishments all the more interesting, as their art, their struggle, and their lives still haunt and intrigue us to this day. These 10 famous artists were all highly-skilled painters who had to deal with rejection, criticism, grief and/or poverty during their lifetime.

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1. Why is the short story titled "Pineapple Cake'?

2. What is the Desai saying about social status?

3. What is Desai saying about children?

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Texture: the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or substance.

Surface Texture: local deviation of a surface from a perfectly flat plane.

Texture is important to differentiate various objects and surfaces, transform light, and influence scale, but it can also communicate a particular design style.

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The aims of the syllabus are to:
Ethical
• raise awareness of timeless issues concerning society
• promote the appreciation of multiple perspectives; and
• build empathy and global awareness.
Aesthetic
• inculcate the habit of close reading
• promote heightened appreciation of nuances of language; and
• sensitise students to artistic decisions made by writers.
Intellectual
• cultivate metacognitive habits of mind as students pay attention to the impact of language on one’s thoughts and feelings
• develop greater acceptance for ambiguity and open-endedness; and
• equip students with the skills to convince others of their interpretations, based on sound reasoning with evidence.

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Candidates will be assessed on their ability to:

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Candidates will be assessed on their ability to:

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(i) demonstrate, through close analysis, knowledge of the literary texts studied
(ii) respond with knowledge and understanding to literary texts from the genres of prose, poetry and drama
(iii) demonstrate understanding of the ways in which writers’ choices of form, structure and language shape meanings
(iv) communicate a sensitive and informed personal response to what is read; and
(v) express responses clearly and coherently, using textual evidence where appropriate.

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But when that stress gets so bad that you feel ill or incredibly drained, that could be your body giving you a sign that it's time to take a step back. This is known as burnout.

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about the particular stresses of being a millennial - like feeling a need to look great on social media, or the fact that more and more people are working freelance, which comes with the added pressure of having to find the next gig. Feeling overwhelmed by all of this has been dubbed 'millennial burnout'.

The struggle is real

YouGov conducted a poll in 2018 for the Mental Health Foundation that found 74% of people in general felt so stressed that they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope. On top of that, only 7% of young adults said that they had never felt that way, indicating that this is an extremely pressing issue for younger people.

This upswing in discussion of the matter culminated in The World Health Organisation announcing in early 2019 that it now considers burnout to be an "occupational phenomenon" in their Internal Classification of Diseases. This means that, if you're feeling burnt out in the workplace, it should be recognised as a genuine health issue.

So what actually is it? Louise Theodosiou, a consultant psychiatrist for the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, explained: "Burnout tends to happen in situations where people are feeling under a lot of stress, and perhaps where there is very high levels of work."

This can manifest itself in a number of different ways but, according to Dr Theodosiou, some common symptoms are:

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Burnout: What it's like to suffer the symptoms at school or university

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But when that stress gets so bad that you feel ill or incredibly drained, that could be your body giving you a sign that it's time to take a step back. This is known as burnout.

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Is Suno burnt out, disillusioned, unmotivated, lazy or indifferent?

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https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/aug/13/edward-park-to-subhash-park-story-of-british-raj-and-freedom-1642657.html

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Edward Park to Subhash Park: Story of British Raj and Freedom

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After opening of the Jama Masjid metro station, work has begun on the reconstruction of Netaji Subhash Park in old Delhi.

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What is the relationship between Suno and his family?

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What is the relationship between Suno and his family?

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His father: continuous pressure to do well and constant reminders about getting a job. But he distracts Suno by listening to the radio in different languages.

His mother: Tries to be supportive by giving him large glasses of milk with sugar, cooking, cleaning. The only one who showed concern and comforted him.

His siblings: unnamed, noisy

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What are the difficulties that Suno is facing?

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What are the difficulties that Suno is facing?

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What role(s) does the Park play in Suno's life? 

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What role(s) does the Park play in Suno's life? 

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Let's discuss the 'scene that stopped it all, stopped me just before I died."

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Let's discuss the 'scene that stopped it all, stopped me just before I died."

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(1) What did it make Suno feel?
(2) Why is it important to include it?
(3) Why is a woman who is dying more 'real, human and alive as no one else in my life had been real and alive'?

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• There will be two sections in this paper.
• Candidates will select one question from each of the two sections.
• In total, candidates will answer two questions. • Each question is 25% of the total weighting.

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Section A: Prose [25%]
• For each of the six set texts in this section, one passage based question and two essay questions will be set.
• Candidates will answer one question [25%] based on one of the six set texts.
• For every year of examination, one or two Singapore texts will be set.

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Anita Desai was born Anita Mazumdar on June 24, 1937, in Mussoorie, India. Her mother was a German immigrant, and her father was Bengali. Desai grew up speaking German with her family and Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and English in the outside world. English was the primary language at school, and it was the first language in which she learned to read and write.
In 1947, when Desai was ten years old, India gained independence from Britain and split into India and Pakistan. Old Delhi, where Desai spent much of her childhood, was the capital of the British empire and combined elements of British, Islamic, and Hindi culture. The school Desai attended was nearly half Muslim, but all those girls left with the division of the two countries. This change greatly affected Desai and influenced some of her later writing.
Anita Desai's novels are very psychological, exploring the inner lives of her (often female) protagonists. She writes complex and emotional characters that allow the author to investigate the nuances of the human psyche. Desai works with various themes, including isolation, interpersonal relationships, femininity, and identity.

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1. Biracial
2. Multilingual
3. Multiple award winner
4. Unconventional childhood - lived in rural areas before moving to Mumbai
5. Surrounded by cultural elements which could have been simultaneously divisive and unifying
6. Elements like religion (and thus rules that govern behaviour, dietary requirements and values), language, stereotypes are issues that are presented in her stories.

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How does the writer build up tension in the start of the story?

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How does the writer build up tension in the start of the story?

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p1: Their faces were red and bloated from 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.

p1: ... they burst out like seeds from a crackling, over-ripe pod into the verandah, with such wild, maniacal yells...

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What are your impressions of the main character?

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What are your impressions of the main character?

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p7: What fun if they were all found and caught - he alone left unconquered! He had never known that sensation!

p10: ...silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance.

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What are your impressions of the other children? How does the author shape your impressions?

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What are your impressions of the other children? How does the author shape your impressions?

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p9: All this time no one had remembered Ravi. Having disappeared from the scene, he had disappeared from their minds. Clean.
L: The effective repetition of the word 'disappeared' to emphasise that the children had been completely unaware of Ravi. The use of the single word further adds to that emphasis.

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How does the author create the feelings of alienation in the story?

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How does the author create the feelings of alienation in the story?

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Consider the close analysis of the paragraphs that we completed in class.

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Games at Twilight: Close reading for Literary Devices

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What do you think is the authorial intent in this story?

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What do you think is the authorial intent in this story?

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Let us consider the theme of identity.

What is the meaning of the word identity?
How is identity shaped?
What is the importance of having an identity?
Does identity evolve or change or remain static?
What are the roles that members of a family play?
How are those roles assigned?

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How does Desai present the relationship between Mr Bose and his family?

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How does Desai present the relationship between Mr Bose and his family?

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p12: When he could not bear it any loner, he turned his head, slightly, just enough to be able to look out of the corner of his eye through the open door, down the unlit passage at the end of which, in the small, dimly lit kitchen, his wife sat kneading dough for bread, their child at her side.

p13: Mr Bose's moustache lifted up and out with almost a laugh of tenderness and delight. Beginning to laugh herself, she quickly turned, pulled down the corners of her mouth with mock sternness, trying to recall him to the path of duty, and picking up a lump of sticky dough, handed it back to the child, softly urging him to be quiet and to let his father finish the lesson.

p15: ...so all he did was bend and touch the snall curls of hair on his son's neck. They were so soft, they seemed hardly human and quite frightened him.

p16: Quite steadily he read, his tongue tamed and enthralled by the rhythm of the verse he had loved (copied on a sheet of blue paper, he had sent it to his wife one day when speech proved inadequate).

p18: 'Why? So that you can read poetry to that girl in peace?'

p19: 'He is asleep,' she said, glancing at him with a rather ashamed face, conciliatory.

p19: - as though the extra puree were a peace offering following her rebellion of haf an hour ago.

p19: 'One more,' he told her, 'just one more,' he teased, and they laughed.

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What are your impressions of the main character?

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What are your impressions of the main character?

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What is the role of the students in the short story?

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What is the role of the students in the short story?

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Pritam, son of a Brahmin priest

Upneet, student at a convent school

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How does Desai present the sense of unrest and despair in the short story?

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How does Desai present the sense of unrest and despair in the short story?

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How does Desai present the sense of unrest and despair in the short story?

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How does Desai present the sense of unrest and despair in the short story?

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Context: Tulsi Plant and significance in Hinduism

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Context: Tulsi Plant and significance in Hinduism

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In Hinduism

The holy basil plant is revered in Hinduism as a manifestation of the goddess Lakshmi (Tulsi), the principal consort of the god Vishnu. The plant is especially sacred to Vaishnavites (devotees of Vishnu), and the Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, is said to wear a garland of holy basil leaves and flowers around his neck. The plant is grown in many Hindu homes, often in the courtyard in a dedicated four-sided structure, and the presence of a holy basil plant is believed to increase piety, foster meditation, purify, and protect. Devotees commonly worship in the morning and evening with mantras and offerings of flowers, incense, or water from the Ganges, and Tuesdays and Fridays are considered especially sacred. Even the ritual act of watering and caring for the plant, usually undertaken by the women of the house, is considered worshipful and meritorious. Holy basil is cultivated at many temples, and the woody stems of plants that have died are used to make beads for sacred japa mala (rosaries). The beginning of the Hindu wedding season is marked by a festival known as Tulsi Vivah, in which homes and temples ceremonially wed holy basil to Vishnu. Water infused with the leaves is often given to the dying to help elevate their souls, and funeral pyres are commonly fitted with holy basil twigs with the hopes that the deceased may obtain moksha and be liberated from the cycle of rebirth.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616

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The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical discourses. Krishna-Dwaipayan Vyasa, himself a character in the epic, composed it; as, according to tradition, he dictated the verses and Ganesha wrote them down. At 100,000 verses, it is the longest epic poem ever written, generally thought to have been composed in the 4th century BCE or earlier. The events in the epic play out in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas. It was first narrated by a student of Vyasa at a snake-sacrifice of the great-grandson of one of the major characters of the story. Including within it the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata is one of the most important texts of ancient Indian, indeed world, literature.

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Bengali poetry is a rich tradition of poetry in the Bengali language and has many different forms. Originating in the Bengal region of South Asia, the history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the early age (like Charyapad), the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. All ages have seen different forms of poetry and poetical tradition. It reached the pinnacle during the Bengali Renaissance period although it has a rich tradition and has grown independent of the movement.

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It is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes that reality can never satisfy the expectations of the mind, resulting in "a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from the acute awareness of evil and suffering". The word weltschmerz initially came into being as a by-product of the European Romanticism movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A combining of the German words for "world" (Welt) and "pain" (Schmerz), weltschmerz aptly captures the melancholy and pessimism that often characterized the artistic expressions of the era. The term was used in German by the Romantic author Jean Paul (pseudonym of Johann Paul Friedrich Richter) in his 1827 novel Selina, but it wasn't adopted into English until the middle of the 19th century.

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Theme 1: Suno's struggles with individuality

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Theme 1: Suno's struggles with individuality

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Suno vs his family and their expectations.

Suno vs the students in the park

Suno vs the body-beautiful worshippers

Suno vs the elderly men

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Theme 2: Death in Life and Life in Death

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Theme 2: Death in Life and Life in Death

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Suno coming across the young Muslim lady was an epiphany - start of his transformation. Although, it was clear to Suno that she was dying due to unknown illness, she was alive as she enjoyed the park with her loved ones - an elderly gentleman and the young children.

Suno came to realise that he was leading a life-in-death as he studies for an examination that his parents have pressured him to take.  So he decided to take control of his own life and will not take the examinations. Suno now considers himself on a search, assumingly for purpose and meaning. He still goes to the Park with his book opened but he confident and speaks to the others like they are visitors.

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The story is told in first person. Suno is a character in the story. Therefore, reader's knowledge is restricted to Suno's perspective.

The reader is privy to his internal monologue - that is his struggles, his distractions, his epiphany, which results in his transformation.

Suno's stream of consciousness can be messy and jumbled. But it expresses his truth - frustration, exasperation, violence, joy, confusion, realisation.

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It makes sense that the word feeling can refer to an emotion and a sense of touch. Like smells and songs, certain textures can call up specific emotional states - the sense of calm coziness, for example, that comes from stroking the fur of a cat, or wrapping yourself up in a fleecyblanket.

Most of the time, these connections follow pretty predictable patterns. Studies on touch preference over the years have generally yielded the same results: We like things that are soft or smooth; we dislike things that are jagged or sharp; depending on what we're feeling, we experience a mild sense of pleasure or displeasure. Research has shown that these preferences can have measurable effects, influencing our moods and how we relate to others. We've made room for these patterns in our metaphors, too: A particularly harrowing experience is "rough." A sweet moment makes you feel "warm and fuzzy."

In some rare cases, though, the link between touch and emotion can take some strange and extreme turns. Imagine being so disgusted by denim, for example, that running a hand over jeans makes you want to puke. Or feeling the urge to laugh whenever you touch silk. Or getting the creeps whenever you put on a fabric glove. That's life for people with tactile-emotional synesthesia, a mysterious condition in which seemingly arbitrary textures can be enough to make someone laugh orcry.

Broadly speaking, synesthesia is when senses or information-processing pathways bleed over into one another. Synesthetes can hear colors, or see numbers as faces, or feel that they're touching something if they see another person touching it. There are no hard numbers on synesthesia's prevalence, but researchers have estimated that anywhere from 0.02 percent to 4 percent of people have some form of it. One of the most common types is grapheme-color synesthesia, in which letters or numbers are consistently perceived as certain colors (the numeral "4" is always orange, forexample).

Tactile-emotional synesthesia is among the rarest forms, or at least one of the most sparely studied. It was first identified in 2008 by Ramachandran, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, and his former graduate student David Brang, now a postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern University. In the journal Neurocase, the researchers described the unusual experiences of two women in their 20s, and : Both were mentally and neurologically normal, except for the fact that, both women, since early childhood, had experienced strong emotions brought on by certain textures. "Certain types of textures evoke raw or primal emotions such as joy or disgust," the authors wrote, "whereas others generate subtle nuances of emotion such as jealousy orguilt":

In the case of subject AW, the most extreme sensations arise from the texture of denim, causing feelings of depression and disgust, and silk, generating the experience of perfect happiness and contentment. With subject HS, the most acute sensation is gained from soft leather, which she personally describes as "making my spine crawl." The intensity and quality of each emotion experienced is consistent over time for any given texture (e.g., denim always causes extreme disgust). In both subjects there are textures that elicit no sensation (human skin orpaper).

For in particular, the researchers noted, the emotions differed depending where on her body the tactile sensations were happening. Emotions were strongest from her pinky and index fingers, but could come from anywhere on her hands and feet (though often with different results - when she felt ceramic tile with her hands, for example, it brought a sense of calmness, but feeling the same material with her feet triggered a sense of power). If she felt a texture someplace other than her hands or feet, she'd experience a weaker sense of the same emotion - denim on her face, for example, made her vaguely uncomfortable, but didn't trigger the same feelings ofdisgust.

So what separates regular feelings brought on by touch from tactile-emotional synesthesia? After all, past studies have shown links in non-synesthetes between what we touch and how we think and feel: Holding a warm beverage, for example, can as a buffer against negative emotions. Handling rough objects can make us harsher in our judgments of social interactions, while softer surroundings can make us moregenerous.

In part, it's a matter of degree: "It's an exaggeration of something that's present in all of us in a limited extent," Ramachandran says. He lists two main criteria for this particular form of synesthesia: The tactile-emotional connection has to be strong, and it has to be idiosyncratic. That vague sense of stroking-the-cat coziness doesn't count; 's account of becoming confused and disoriented when she felt corduroy, on the other hand, meets bothqualifications.

Researchers still don't know precisely what causes tactile-emotional synesthesia, but Ramachandran believes it has to do with excess connections between different areas of the brain: "In the brain of the fetus, everything is connected to everything. And there are genes which then prune these connections, sculpt the modular organization of the adult brain, so they remove the excessive connections," he explains. But in some cases, these genes express themselves abnormally, leaving stronger-than-normallinks.

Ramachandran and Brang have also studied grapheme-color synesthesia; in those cases, Ramachandran says, the part of the brain that processes shapes is hyperconnected to the part in charge of color. The same thing, he believes, may be happening in people with tactile-emotional synesthesia: It's possible that the insular cortex, which regulates emotion, may never have been fully pruned from the somatosensory cortex, which processes touch (Ramachandran describes it as "a map of the entire body surface," with different areas processing tactile sensations for different bodyparts).

Another piece of the puzzle, though, is how each connection forms in the first place - why denim in particular is disgusting, or why silk is joyful. On the one hand, Ramachandran says, it's possible that some of these responses are born out of memory, a particularly traumatic or positive experience with a certain texture creating a lasting unconscious reaction."They're not born with a response to denim," he says, "so they must have had exposure of some kind." But, on the other hand, certain quirks seem to suggest that these links truly are as arbitrary as they seem: If 's synesthesia was connected to a memory of ceramic tile, for instance, the emotions should have been the same regardless of whether she felt it on her hands orfeet.

If these associations are learned, it may be possible for synesthetes to un learn them, if they want to. The original case study suggests they might, at least in certain cases: "Switching rapidly across different textures from an array is reported to be 'emotionally draining,'" the researchers noted, and both women in the original case study had developed tricks to help themselves navigate a texture-rich, emotional roller coaster of a world. , for example, relied on size and temperature to guide her - the same object could inspire very different feelings depending on whether it was cold or hot, large or small. , meanwhile, would sing or hold a calming piece of silver in one hand whenever she had to touch somethingunpleasant.

At the same time, though, their synesthesia often came in handy, giving them a consistent, immediate way to regulate their mood: If they were stressed or upset, all it took was a touch of the right texture to pick them back up. It's like having the control panel to your emotions at your fingertips, with the power to press any button at will. Except, of course, you don't always know what each button will do. And inevitably, you have to spend some time pressing the bad ones. When seemingly any touch can send you up or down, the world becomes more thrilling and more frightening - and more emotionally evocative, a phrase we sometimes use interchangeably with the word "touching."

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The People Who Store Their Emotions in Their Fingertips

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With tactile-emotional synesthesia, just touching fabric is enough to trigger extreme sadness or disgust.

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Context: What is an obsession? What is insanity? 

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Context: What is an obsession? What is insanity? 

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- An obsession is an occurring thought which can appear as thoughts, dreams, urges and fantasies.
- An obsession is intrusive, unwelcoming and concerning.
- A compulsion can be a result or an outcome of an obsession. A compulsion is a repeated behaviour with a purpose of trying to deal with the obsession.
- Insanity is a general condition of mental disorder. It is a state where one cannot discern what is logical or not and what is right from wrong. It is a general break of the mind from the realities of life.
- With insane people, they have lost their ability to function effectively in almost all areas of life. They will not be able to take care of themselves and will not be able to establish social interaction. They are completely detached from reality thus they lose all normal functions.

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What is Desai trying to say about the roles men and women play in a marriage?

What is Desai saying about society when Harish is treated as a holy man by the end of the story?

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Anita Desai was born June 24th 1937 in Mussoorie, India. She got her BA with honors from Delhi University then in 1987 moved to the United States with her family. Desai now teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Here is a short interview with Desai.

Desai has written several novels in her life, which are critically acclaimed for there imagery and observations on Indian culture. One of her stories, “Surface Textures”, that dives into Indian marriages and the emphasis that her culture puts on divine insight. In this piece Desai wanted to expose the issue of single mothers having very little support when a marriage crumbles.  On page 1025 it states, “I suppose you want me to take the boys home to my parents,” said Sheila bitterly, getting up from the bed. “Any other man would regard that as the worst disgrace of all- but not you. What is my shame to you? I will have to hang my head and crawl home and beg my father to look after us since you won’t .” This is showing that Sheila really has no place to go after her husband, Harish, stops contributing to the family. It is a disgrace in the Indian culture if the man does not take care of his family. Now that Harish, in a way in giving up his family, he is leaving his wife to defend for herself. Being a single women with children, she does not get taken care of as well as she should. Harish on the other hand ends up getting taken care because the people of the community think he is a Swami.

“Shepard children, seeing him stumble about the reeds, plunging thigh-deep into the water in order to pull out a water lily with its cool, sinuous stem, fled screaming, not certain whether this was a man or a hairy water snake. Their others came, some with stones and some with canes at the ready, but when they say Harish, his skin parched to a violet shade, sitting o the band and gazing at the transparent stem of the lotus, they fell back, crying “Wah!”….they held there children still by their hair and shoulders, and came to bow to him.”

Here the community is accepting Harish as a Swami. It is interesting how Desi describes the interaction because at first the people did not see him as anything but a hermit but then something clicked and they thought he was indeed a man with divine insight. Deasi is critiquing her culture here by saying that people in her culture sometimes put emphasis on something that isn’t truly there. They are making Harish a Swami because they need him in society. Harish though did not really do anything great to get this honor. So Harish left his family, a disgrace in the eyes of his culture, but then because of his lack of action he is seen as a Swami. On the other hand his wife, who is now on her own taking care of there children, has to work harder to make up for Harish’s absence does not get any support from the community and is looked down upon. Desai feels like this balance within her culture is something that needs to be addressed.

The video shows a man going to visit a Indian Swami.

-Erica Nelson

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1. Marriage - role as a husband and provider
2. Family - role as a father
3. Job - role as an administrator who issues ration cards
4. Holy Man - he did not offer anything

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Description of Harish's Physical Appearance 

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Description of Harish's Physical Appearance 

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p35: 'regarded it with eyes that seemed newly opened'
: 'his eyes remained fixed'
: 'he reached out to touch the melon that so captivated him'
: 'He gave her a reproachful look'
: 'went about dividing the melon into quarter-moon portions with sighs that showed how it pained him'
: 'with a fearful expression on his face - as though he were observing cannibals at a feast.'
p36: 'his eyes continued to slide about'
p37: 'Always said he looks like a hungry hyena ... not human at all, but like a hungry, hunchbacked hyena hunting along the road'
p39: 'Nor had they seen a Swami who looked holier, more inhuman than Harish'
: with his matted hair, his blue, starved skin and single-focused eyes.

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What is art?
Dictionary definition: the making of objects, images, music and other forms of visual art that are beautiful or that express feelings

What is imagination?
Dictionary definition: the ability to form images in the mind

What is creativity?
the ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas

Does the artist have imagination and creativity?

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No one is named in this short story.

Why? What is the impact on the reader?
- No sense of individuality
- They are stereotypes: the poor, tortured artist, the long-suffering wife and the rich but pretentious artists
- There were no real relationships established between and among the characters
- ???

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POINT: pretentious - trying to appear more important or clever than they actually are
p43: One cannot pinpoint any school, any technique, any style - one can only admit oneself in the presence of a continuous and inspired act of creation: so they tell themselves.
L: in an incredulous and yet mocking tone - the third person voice enables Desai to belittle the buyers

POINT: fake, lacks real skill, superficial
p44: she is so artless, so completely without any vestige of imagination
L: description of character - judgment passed onto by the author

POINT: lacking imagination, practical, unable to appreciate art
p45: I can't believe you haven't actually painted them on the spot.
L: tone of disbelief

POINT: superior, they know they are the customers
p47: 'Yes, yes.' they all assure him together, upset by his change of tone.
L: their manner of grouping together - distinguishing themselves from the artist/seller

POINT: tactless, cruel, mean, they fail to understand that this is his livelihood and not a sideshow
p48: They laugh at his haste, his trembling, shrill excitement.
L: flippant tone

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What is your impression of the artist? How does Desai create this impression?

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What is your impression of the artist? How does Desai create this impression?

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p42: She sees him then, at the door, like a dog hanging about, wanting something, and immediately her nostrils flare.

p44: 'There you see - my birds and my flowers,' he tells her, clapping his hands as though enjoying a practical joke he has played on her.

p46: Only now and then he grows aware of his wife, breathing heavily because of the weight of the child asleep on her arm, straining to hear at the door, frowning because she could not understand, is not certain, is worried, worried to death... and then he draws down the corners of his mouth and is silent.

p47: 'I don't paint figures,' he says shortly.

p49: As they drive out of the lane and the smoke smudges and obscures the tail-lights, he hears his wife come out on the stairs behind him.

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Childhood - Relationship between mother and child

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Childhood - Relationship between mother and child

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Mrs Fernandez:
(p50) by holding out the bait of pineapple cake, his favourite,
(p50) had the boy dressed in his new frilled shirt and purple velvet shorts and new shoes that bit his toes and had him sitting quietly in church right through the long ceremony.
(p50) sighed to think how much easier it would be if she had a daughter instead.
(p51) Yes, the collar of the frilled shirt was a bit tight and the church was airless and stuffy but it wasn't very refined of him to sweat so.

Victor:
(p50) Victor was a nervous rather than rebellious child.
(p51) Victor hadn't much faith in his mother's promises. They had a way of getting postponed or cancelled on account of some small accidental lapse on his part.
(p52) and his mother was digging him in the ribs, shoving him out
(p53) He felt that he was being shoved out, he was not wanted, he had no place here.
(p53) Instinctively he put out his hand to find his mother's and received another shock
(p54) Victor's mother gave him a pinch that made him half-rise
(p55) when the boy didn't move but stared down at the pastry dish as though it were the corpse

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"The motherly Mira intervened. She pulled the boys roughly apart."

Their mother rose from her basket chair and came towards him, worried, annoyed, saying, ‘Stop it, stop it, Ravi. Don’t be a

baby. Have you hurt yourself?’

'... even Mira said, ‘Stop howling, Ravi. If you want to play, you can stand at the end of the line,’ and she put him there very firmly.'

The women are firm with Ravi. They show little compassion and understanding. They did not comprehend the importance of winning and of affirming the self.

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'Both of them seemed bound together and held down in some deeply absorbing act from which he was excluded.'

'She only glanced at him, pretended not to care, pursed her lips to keep from giggling, flipped the puree over and rolled it finer and flatter still.'

‘Why? So that you can read poetry to that girl in peace?’

‘Eat more,’ she coaxed. ‘One more’ – as though the extra puree were a peace offering following her rebellion of half an hour ago.

Mrs Bose is a docile housewife. She is not named and is simply 'his wife'. Her identity is wrapped around serving Mr Bose, the child and the house. However, she is easily jealous as she feels that the poems are her love language between Mr Bose and herself. They have a close and loving relationship. Mr Bose is constantly distracted by her and longs to be physically close to her.

Please do something similar for Upneet.

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'—And my mother. She cuts and fries, cuts and fries. All day I hear her chopping and slicing and the pan of oil hissing.'

Only my mother became resigned and gentle. She must have seen something quite out of the ordinary on my face to make her so. I felt her hand on my forehead and heard her say, ‘Leave him alone. Let him sleep tonight. He is tired out, that is what it is – he has driven himself too much and now he must sleep.’
Then I heard all of them leave the room. Her hand stayed on my forehead, wet and smelling of onions, and after a bit my tears began to flow from under my lids.
‘Poor Suno, sleep,’ she murmured.

While the mother has a small role in the story, it is a loving and compassionate one. Initially, Suno is irritated as Suno only sees her as a housewife who is noisy while completing her chores. But in the second half of the book, she comforted and consoled Suno. Her hands which were seen as simplistic are now familiar and safe. Suno felt safe enough to break down.

You can do something similar for the women in the park, in particular the one young woman whom Suno witnesses in a moment of tenderness.

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'her only thought had been Is it worth a rupee and fifty paise?'

'He left most of his rice and pulses on his plate, to her indignation.'

'The first few days Sheila stormed and screamed like some shrill, wet hurricane about the house.'

'After that, she wept. She lay on her bed in a bath of tears and perspiration,'

'What is my shame to you? I will have to hang my head and crawl home and beg my father to look after us since you won’t,’ and that was what she did.'

The wife is named in this story. Sheila seems preoccupied with money. She is easily annoyed and angered. She is totally dependent on Harish and later on her father to help raise the children. It is interesting that the story begins in her perspective but moves to Harish's by the end. This could be because she had dominated Harish's life in the beginning but she completely faded out as soon as he lost interest in his family.

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'She sees him then, at the door, like a dog hanging about, wanting something, and immediately her nostrils flare. ‘Can’t you answer the door?’ she cries. ‘What’s the matter with
you?'

Only now and then he grows aware of his wife, breathing heavily because of the weight of the child asleep on her arm, straining to hear at the door, frowning because she cannot understand, is not certain, is worried, worried to death ... and then he draws down the corners of his mouth and is silent.

As they drive out of the lane and the smoke smudges and obscures the tail-lights, he hears his wife come out on the stairs behind him.

Both husband and wife are unnamed in this short story. The wife is tense and anxious. She is worried about having enough money to support the family. She is highly strung and pressures her husband to make a sale. She is not physically present in the room but her presence is intimidating, and the artist is constantly reminded of his responsibilities.

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p52: his mother was making a din about finding a vehicle

p52: 'Those de Mellos must have money - they can't be so badly off - tea at Green's, after all.'

p52: 'When Mrs Fernandez realized this, she set her lips together and looked dangerously wrathful, and the party atmosphere began quickly to dissolve in the acid of bad temper and the threat to her dignity.'

p54: 'it was seats at a suitable table that Mrs Fernandez demanded, could not find, then spotted, was turned away from and, finally, led to two others by a slippery-smooth waiter used to such scenes.

p55: 'her mouth gave an impatient twitch and she reached out to fork the pineapple cake onto her own plate. She ate it quickly. Wiping her mouth primly, she said, 'I think we'd better go now.'

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p50: 'trying hard to keep his loud breathing bottled inside his chest and leaning down to see what made his shoes so vicious,'

p51: 'Victor hadn't much faith in his mother's promises.'

p52: 'He had seen nothing of it, only followed, disconsolately and confusedly, the smells and sounds of it, like some underground creature, an infant mole, trying to make out what went out outside its burrow, and whether it was alarming or enticing.

p52: 'Victor stupidly began a fantasy of slipping out of her hold and breaking into a toy shop for skates...'

p53: 'Victor sat still, not breathing.'

p53: 'He had been promised pineapple cake at Green's, sufficiently overwhelming in itself - he hadn't the wherewithal to cope with the Gateway of India as well.'

p55: 'and when the boy didn't move but stared down at the pastry- dish as though it were the corpse on the red rexine sofa'

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p55: 'and, to his amazement, a plate of pastries was actually on the table now - iced, coloured and gay.

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p53: 'Victor looked about him at the wonders of Bombay harbour'
'Had his father brought him here on a Sunday outing, with a ferry boat ride and a fresh coconut drink for treats, he would have enjoyed the Arab dhows with their muddy sails, the ships and tankers and seagulls...'

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Ravi:
1. one of many children - does not have any attention
2. wants to be a winner and prove his worth
3. has a vivid imagination
4. feels isolated and alienated from his family

Victor:
1. the only child - has all of his mother's attention and disappointment
2. used to unfulfilled wishes
3. feels isolated and alienated from his mother
4. unconcerned with status and wealth
5. has a vivid imagination

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Compare the students: Pritam, Upneet and Suno

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Compare the students: Pritam, Upneet and Suno

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Pritam: p13 'Pritam, the scabby, oil-slick son of a Brahmin priest'
1. comes from privilege and pedigree
2. indifferent and resentful
3. looks down on Mr Bose - condescending

Upneet: p15 'Under this Upneet's gaze such ordinary functions of a tutor's life as sitting down at a table, sharpening a pencil and opening a book to the correct page became matters of farce, disaster and hilarity.'
1. chooses the subject for personal interest
2. academically weak and incompetent
3. passive learner

Suno: p32 'I was a 'professional'. My life was dictated by the rules and routine of the park.'
1. pressured to perform
2. unmotivated
3. escaping from reality
4. chooses to live in the present - privileged to have understanding parents

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What is the difference in how the children are described and treated in Private Tuition by Mr Bose and Sale.

Baby:

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The story is told from Bhaiyya's perspective.
How does this strengthen and / or weaken the quality of the story telling?

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Relationship between Ustad Rahim Khan and the narrator, Bhaiyya

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Relationship between Ustad Rahim Khan and the narrator, Bhaiyya

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1. Do you think it is a supportive mentor relationship or an exploitative relationship?

2. Do you think the closeness is imagined or real?

3. What do you think will happen to the narrator when the Ustad Rahim Khan gets too old?

4. How and why did the narrator become so dependent on the Ustad Rahim Khan?

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1. How is the narrator, Bhaiyya, similar and different to Harish in 'Surface Textures'?

2. How is the narrator, Bhaiyya, similar and different to Mr Bose in 'Private Tuition with Mr Bose'?

3. How is the narrator, Bhaiyya, similar and different to the male artist in 'Sale'?

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1. Why is the short story titled 'The Accompanist'? How is he, simultaneously, the main character and the supporting character?

2. What is Desai saying about self awareness and sacrifice?

3, What is Desai saying about acceptance and ambition?