PPSC FPSC Lectureship Preparation

"The Canterbury Tales" is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400 ¹ ². The story follows a group of pilgrims who tell stories to pass the time on their journey to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Thomas Becket ³. The stories are framed by a narrative that introduces each pilgrim and allows for a diverse range of stories, including romance, comedy and moral allegory ³.

Ode on a Grecian Urn
By John Keats

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden w**d;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

*Helen of Troy*

1. Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships.
2. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, a Spartan queen.
3. Helen's abduction by Paris sparked the Trojan War.
4. She was known for her extraordinary beauty.
5. Helen was married to King Menelaus of Sparta.
6. Paris, a prince of Troy, fell in love with Helen.
7. He abducted her with the help of Aphrodite.
8. The Greeks assembled a massive army to reclaim her.
9. The Trojan War lasted for 10 years.
10. Helen's story has been retold in countless works of art.
11. She was a symbol of beauty and desire.
12. Her fate was decided by the gods.
13. Helen's abduction led to the downfall of Troy.
14. She was a pawn in the conflict between Greece and Troy.
15. Her story has been interpreted in many different ways.
16. Some see her as a victim, others as a seductress.
17. Helen's beauty was said to be divine.
18. She was a queen, a wife, and a lover.
19. Her story has inspired countless works of literature.

10 factual statements from the novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" written by James Joyce:

1. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Joyce's own life.
2. The protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, is a fictional representation of Joyce himself.
3. The novel is set in Dublin, Ireland, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
4. Stephen is raised in a middle-class Catholic family.
5. He attends Belvedere College, a Jesuit school in Dublin.
6. Stephen struggles with his faith and eventually rejects Catholicism.
7. He is deeply interested in literature and philosophy.
8. Stephen's mother, Mary Dedalus, is a devout Catholic who worries about her son's spiritual welfare.
9. His father, Simon Dedalus, is a charming but troubled man who struggles with alcoholism.
10. The novel explores themes of identity, art, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.

🚀 New Video Alert!

Here's a new strategy for writing formal letters in less than 20 minutes.

See how simple it is to get Band 9 when you use the right strategy.

Click here to watch now- https://youtu.be/sR4mnzJatOc