Review of Lost Memory of Skin by Russel Banks

Review of Lost Memory of Skin by Russel Bank

The Themes of Alienation and Homelessness in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel: A Critical Study

Nissim Ezekiel, a renowned Indian English poet, is celebrated for his exploration of complex themes such as identity, existentialism, and human relationships. This study examines the themes of alienation and Homelessness, which refer to the estrangement of individuals from society, the self, or the environment, in Ezekiel’s poetry. Analyzing key poems such as “Night of the Scorpion,” “Enterprise,” “The Patriot,” “Background, Casually,” and “Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher,” this paper identifies four aspects of alienation present in his work: alienation from society, the self, the environment, and interpersonal relationships. In Ezekiel’s poetry, characters often experience a disconnect from their society due to factors such as cultural differences, social expectations, and spiritual disillusionment. His work also delves into the internal struggle of individuals trying to understand their own identities, resulting in a sense of alienation from the self. The theme of alienation from the environment is explored through the portrayal of hostile natural elements and the protagonists’ inability to find solace in their surroundings. Lastly, Ezekiel’s poetry examines the breakdown of interpersonal relationships, highlighting how feelings of estrangement can manifest within close connections. This study demonstrates that Ezekiel’s portrayal of alienation is a powerful reflection of the complex, multi-layered nature of human existence. His work serves as a reminder that the quest for belonging and connection is an ongoing struggle that transcends culture and geography. By examining the elements of alienation in his poetry, we gain a deeper understanding of Nissim Ezekiel’s perspective on human existence and the challenges that individuals face, ultimately fostering empathy and understanding among people from diverse backgrounds

The Living Indian Critical Tradition

Peer-reviewed article.This paper attempts to establish the identity of something that is often considered to be missing – a living Indian critical tradition. I refer to the tradition that arises out of the work of those Indians who write in English. The chief architects of this tradition are Sri Aurobindo, C.D. Narasimhaiah, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Homi K. Bhabha. It is possible to believe that Indian literary theories derive almost solely from ancient Sanskrit poetics. Or, alternatively, one can be concerned about the sad state of affairs regarding Indian literary theories or criticism in English. There have been scholars who have raised the question of the pathetic state of Indian scholarship in English and have even come up with some positive suggestions. But these scholars are those who are ignorant about the living Indian critical tradition. The significance of the Indian critical tradition lies in the fact that it provides the real focus to the Indian critical scene. Without an awareness of this tradition Indian literary scholarship (which is quite a different thing from Indian literary criticism and theory as it does not have the same impact as the latter two do) can easily fail to see who the real Indian literary critics and theorists are

Effect of Admixture on the Compressive Strength of Composite Cement Mortar

The effect of superplasticizer on the development of composite cement based on flyash/limestone powder as per EN-197-2000 has been studied. Various mixes of fly ash and limestone up to 40% has been blended. The results have been compared with clinker of 43 grade ordinary portland cement used in the present study. 1 day strength of mixes with 5% and 10% limestone powder has been found to be is comparable to control. Further, it has been found that 28 days strength of mix with 15% lime stone powder and 25% fly ash gives more than 32.5 R required for composite cement. With the use of superplasticizer, strength has been found comparable or more in all the mixes at 1day to 43 grade OPC. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of various mixes at different hydration times has also been evaluated.

Topological entanglement and hyperbolic volume

The entanglement entropy of many quantum systems is difficult to compute in general. They are obtained as a limiting case of the R\'enyi entropy of index $m$, which captures the higher moments of the reduced density matrix. In this work, we study pure bipartite states associated with $S^3$ complements of a two-component link which is a connected sum of a knot $\mathcal{K}$ and the Hopf link. For this class of links, the Chern-Simons theory provides the necessary setting to visualise the $m$-moment of the reduced density matrix as a three-manifold invariant $Z(M_{\mathcal{K}_m})$, which is the partition function of $M_{\mathcal{K}_m}$. Here $M_{\mathcal{K}_m}$ is a closed 3-manifold associated with the knot $\mathcal K_m$, where $\mathcal K_m$ is a connected sum of $m$-copies of $\mathcal{K}$ (i.e., $\mathcal{K}\#\mathcal{K}\ldots\#\mathcal{K}$) which mimics the well-known replica method. We analyse the partition functions $Z(M_{\mathcal{K}_m})$ for SU(2) and SO(3) gauge groups, in the limit of the large Chern-Simons coupling $k$. For SU(2) group, we show that $Z(M_{\mathcal{K}_m})$ can grow at most polynomially in $k$. On the contrary, we conjecture that $Z(M_{\mathcal{K}_m})$ for SO(3) group shows an exponential growth in $k$, where the leading term of $\ln Z(M_{\mathcal{K}_m})$ is the hyperbolic volume of the knot complement $S^3\backslash \mathcal{K}_m$. We further propose that the R\'enyi entropies associated with SO(3) group converge to a finite value in the large $k$ limit. We present some examples to validate our conjecture and proposal.Comment: 38 pages, 24 figures & 15 tables; v2: Introduction & Conclusion modified, new subsection added in section 3, three new references added; matches published versio

Entanglement on linked boundaries in Chern-Simons theory with generic gauge groups

We study the entanglement for a state on linked torus boundaries in $3d$ Chern-Simons theory with a generic gauge group and present the asymptotic bounds of R\'enyi entropy at two different limits: (i) large Chern-Simons coupling $k$, and (ii) large rank $r$ of the gauge group. These results show that the R\'enyi entropies cannot diverge faster than $\ln k$ and $\ln r$, respectively. We focus on torus links $T(2,2n)$ with topological linking number $n$. The R\'enyi entropy for these links shows a periodic structure in $n$ and vanishes whenever $n = 0 \text{ (mod } \textsf{p})$, where the integer $\textsf{p}$ is a function of coupling $k$ and rank $r$. We highlight that the refined Chern-Simons link invariants can remove such a periodic structure in $n$.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure

Evolutionary Analysis and Motif Discovery in Rhodopsin from Vertebrates

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