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April 7, 2017

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Amidst the academic maelstrom, pacify your hearts with our tips and tricks of writing an apt assignment, as they might just be your saving grace.

Between incubating fond remembrances during the months of February and March which are huddled with the fest season and reminiscing back on the months/years gone by in April, the home of the farewells, there comes a brief stretch of time when all that remains are social media feeds full of hyperventilating posts of being stressed with internal submissions. Here’s a list of don’ts to ensure that your assignment is received with satisfactory scores!

Don’t start sentences before knowing where they should end

Start your assignment with a generic thesis about what your essay endeavours to entail. Let the top sentence of a paragraph explain what the next few lines are about. If you still choose to type down random words flowing out of your intellectual space, then may the force be with your teacher.

Don’t end up copying verbatim

If you haven’t been scared off by the ethical advisement against plagiarism, then chances are your attendance marks are zero. The temptation to copy and paste from the online reading material is unparalleled, but in perspective, it’s just a different shade of stealing.

Don’t mistake critical readings for décor

Remember the bunches of photocopies of essays and readings lying somewhere in your bag or between the ruins of your study table? Yes, they are supposed to be transcended into the depths of your mind so that those ideas can be presented in your papers. Unusual concept, is it?

Don’t take deadlines for granted

Dates circled on the calendar or reminders by friends are not frivolous spams which are out to vex you. If you plan to stick by the deadline initially, there’s a good chance you might actually end up submitting on time.

Don’t end up doing the opposite

These are they key ingredients to prepare an almost-perfect assignment. A dash of carelessness and a spoonful of laziness might end up giving you low scores. Tread this path carefully; for the road to writing assignments is dark and full of terror.

 

Saumya Kalia

[email protected]

 

Image Credits: All About Comprehension

 

After a global speculation build-up which can only be termed masterclass, with a flash teaser commercial during the U.K.’s X Factor on March 25 and the title and cover art reveal on March 31, Harry Styles has finally rolled out his debut single Sign of the Times today.  Releasing the song on his pal Nick Grimshaw’s radio show only to be followed online, Harry formally ended his music hiatus. And as expected for the half of the world population and unexpectedly for the rest, this is an absolute killer from the One Direction frontman.

Things can be pretty easy if you are Harry Styles. Keep holding to your safe zone, bring out something sweet and cheesy, and you can well expect a chartbuster.

But Harry Styles does not like it easy. With this new ballad, in what can be seen as a major departure from the “boyband culture”, Harry has justifiably taken the musical fraternity on fire.

“If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from..The bullets?”

A meticulous lyrics, penned down in the span of months by Jeff Bhaskar and Harry himself, combined with an electrifying background piano sequences in the opening seconds,  leading to the slow rock crescendo in something similar to the 90’s music, all in a brilliant sync with Harry’s heartthrob of a voice, relatively soft in the opening lines with awe-inspiring thundering high notes progressively; Sign of the Times is easily the best rock ballad  we have heard this year.

Later in the day amid music critics related Harry’s latest vocal lament venture to David Bowie, the single debuted #1 on US Billboard.

“Just stop crying

Have the time of your life

Breaking through the atmosphere

And things are pretty good from here

Remember everything will be alright

We can meet again somewhere

Somewhere far away from here”

 

Nikhil Kumar

[email protected]

 

Image credits- nme.com

From Mao to the Nazis, propaganda posters have been a significant aspect of politics and mobilisation. Merriam-Webster defines propaganda as the spread of ideas, information or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, is often quoted as saying that ‘propaganda’ is used to refer to something inferior and despicable, always leaving a bitter aftertaste. Ironically, much of this ‘bitter aftertaste’ may be attributed to Goebbels himself and his manner of seeking popular support for the policies and decisions of the Nazi regime.

 

Though broadcast media like the radio and television are increasingly used to garner support for a specific agenda from a large set of people, various forms of art have also been used to reach out to the masses. King Tut’s gold mask, the pyramids of Giza, and the statues and pillars that almost every emperor, from the Romans to Akbar, erected to mark their victories are often seen as methods of propaganda. Visible signs of grandeur and power serve the purpose of bolstering the image of the ruler as an infallible one, in whom the subjects must place their utmost trust and devotion.

 

Since they can be cheaply reproduced, posters have been an important part of political propaganda. Posters belonging to the period of Mao, Hitler and the Soviet era all reflect a clever use of colours, images and visual symbols to promote an idea. The mass reach of a poster is largely due to the fact that the message it conveys does not hinge on literacy. Further, images have an almost subconscious effect with regard to normalising and internalising certain ideas.

poster-1
A World War II anti-semitic poster in Russian, which says ‘Who’s winning the war? The Jews are! Nations are fighting and dying for them and Jews make money on their deaths.
Communist propaganda poster from Russia, 1919. It says "Death to capital, or death under the heel of capitalism." The representation of capitalism as a wealthy, obese man is significant.
Communist propaganda poster from Russia, 1919. It says “Death to capital, or death under the heel of capitalism.” The representation of capitalism as a wealthy, obese man is significant.
poster-3
A smiling Chairman Mao was often represented with children and families on posters in order to portray him as a father and teacher figure.

 

Whether propaganda posters can be considered ‘art’ is something to consider. ‘Propaganda art’ seems almost like an oxymoron to me. They are two words that appear to contradict themselves. Referring to propaganda as ‘art’ would restrict the meaning of art to merely anything that is visually represented. However, ‘art’ has a deeper implication-that of allowing pluralities and multiple perspectives to exist, while propaganda seeks to eliminate all such multiple views.

 

Image credits:

Poster 1: iCollector.com

Poster 2: modernworldhistory-levelfive.blogspot.com

Poster 3: maospropaganda.wikispaces.com

 

Abhinaya Harigovind

[email protected]

 

 

 

The Beauty and the Beast maybe a ‘tale as old as time, true as it can be.’ However, the reactions of some conservationists over a singular ‘gay moment’ in the movie is perhaps, further behind time.

The Alabama Theatre has banned the screening of Disney’s latest live action adaptation of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ over the featuring of Disney’s first gay character.

The musical score has also faced a setback in Russia where it has been slapped with a 16+ restriction. Even though the Russian Box Office has agreed to distribute the film’s license without any restriction, the ‘adult only’ viewership has stripped away a large section of the movie’s intended audience.

A Progressive attempt by Team Disney

In what is being hailed as a watershed milestone in the world of entertainment, Disney is finally embracing diversity. In an attempt to educate children on the different forms of love and equal representation in a pluralist society, the character of LeFou has been given a homosexual twist in the Beauty and the Beast.

LeFou, who has been dubbed as Disney’s first ‘unambiguously gay character’ is the chubby sidekick to the villainous Gaston. He is confused about what he wants and is just coming out of the enchanted wardrobe.

‘Just a Little Change, Small to say the Least’

Disney history has its fair share of ‘queer coding’ as villains like Scar from “The Lion King” , Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” and Jafar from “Aladdin” were modelled after drag queens and given effeminate undertones.

Despite several examples of Disney using queer coding to demonize its villains, there are other positive characters that have a large gay following. The iconic Genie from ‘Alladin’ has been adored and admired for his cross dressing tendencies and pop culture references.

The beautiful Elsa from “Frozen” is also speculated to be gay and the Oscar winning song “Let it Go” has been hailed as the ‘coming out anthem’ to break free from the shackles of confinement. A huge Disney fan base is rooting to #GiveElsaaGirlfriend to prove that a princess does not always need a prince to find her happily ever after.

Even though “The Beauty and the Beast” is not a giant leap for LGBT representation, it is however the first time that Disney has acknowledged that a character like LeFou is homosexual and has taken a small step towards inclusiveness.

Anahita Sahu
[email protected]

 

Image credits: Broadway.com