Pronoun and its kinds

 Pronoun

A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun. Words such as I, We, You, He, Him, They etc. are called Pronouns because they are used in place of nouns which we don’t want to repeat in a sentence or in a piece of continuous writing.

Look at these examples.

·         I asked John whether John knew John’s marks

We do not speak or write in this way, repeating the noun ‘John’. We therefore put pronouns in place of ‘John and says:

·         I asked John whether he knew his marks

‘He’ in this sentence stands for ‘John’ and ‘his’(the possessive form of he) for Mohan’s’

Pronouns are of different kinds

i) Personal Pronouns

I, we, you, he, she, it, they are called Personal Pronoun because they stand for three persons, the First Person, the Second Person and the Third Person.

i) the person speaking (I and We are said to be the first Person)

ii) the person spoken to (You is said to the Second Person)

iii) the person spoken of ( He, She It and They are said to be the Third Person)

Here is a chart giving you these pronouns in their ‘Subject’, ‘Object’, Possessive Adjective’ (or Determiner’) and ‘Possessive Pronoun’ forms.

Subject	Object	Possessive Adj. or Determiner	Possessive Pronoun
I	me	My	Mine
We	us	Our	Ours
You (both Sin & Plu)	you	Your	Yours
He	Him	His	His
She	her	Her	Hers
It	it	Its	-----
They	them	Their	Theirs

(note that ‘it’ is not used in the possessive pronoun form)

The uses of Personal Pronouns

a) ‘I” stands for the speaker and is used to refer either to a masculine or a feminine noun

b) ‘We’ is used to refer either to a masculine noun or a feminine noun

c)’You’ is used to refer either to a masculine noun or a feminine noun

d) ‘He’ is used to refer to a masculine noun

e) ‘She’ is used to refer to a feminine noun

f) ‘It’ is used to refer to an animal or a thing, or a child whose sex is not specified

g) ‘They’ is used to refer to masculine or feminine or  neuter nouns according to what is stands for.

ii) Possessive Pronouns

The forms mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs are called Possessive Pronouns. They are used to denote the nouns that follow the possessive adjectives my, our, your, his, her and their respectively. Ex. a) That book is hers   b) The idea of yours is excellent

iii) Reflexive Pronouns

When ‘self’ is added to my, your, him, her, it and ‘selves’ to our, your, them, we get what are called Compound Personal Pronouns and are called Reflexive Pronouns. When the action done by the subject turns back upon the subject as,

They hurt themselves

iv) Emphatic Pronouns

Look at the sentences

I wash my clothes myself

Policemen themselves sometimes break the traffic rules.

In these sentences the ‘self’ pronouns are used to emphasize the nouns or pronouns they stand for. They are called Emphatic Pronouns.

iv) Demonstrative Pronouns

In the sentences below this, that, these and those are used not as Demonstative Adjectives (i.e. as Determiners), but as Demonstrative Pronouns. They stand for the things or persons pointed to.

Ex. a) This is the computer my sister gave me

(‘This’ stands for this computer)

v) Indefinite Pronouns

Look at the sentences

a) Some of the boys didn’t take the examination

b)  None of the boys knew the answer to the question

c) The doll is very nice. I buy some for my children

In the sentences above ‘Some’ ‘None’ refer to persons or things in a general way, but do not refer to any person or thing in particular. They are therefore, called Indefinite Pronouns

vi) Distributive Pronouns

Each, either, neither are called Distributive Pronouns because they refer to persons or things one at a time. For this reason they are always singular and as such followed by the verb in the singular.

‘Each’ is used to denote every one of a number or persons or things taken singly

Either means the one or the other of two

Neither means not the one nor the other of two. It is the negative of either

vii) Relative Pronouns

The words Who, which, whose, which and that are called Relative Pronouns

Look at the sentences

a) I met Ram who had just returned

b) She has found the pen which she lost

In the sentences above the words ‘who’ and ‘which’ are used instead of noun Ram. It, therefore, does the work of a Pronoun. The word who joins or connects two statements. It, therefore, does the work of a conjunction.

viii) Reciprocal Pronouns

Each other and one another are treated as single units. They express mutual or reciprocal relationship, and are therefore called Reciprocal Pronouns. They are used as objects of verbs and of prepositions, as shown in the examples below, but are not used in the subject position

a) The two sons quarreled with each other

b) The people of the village used to help one another at harvest time.

 

 

 

 

John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (part I)

 

Short summary of ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’

    - John Bunyan

One day Bunyan sleeps in a den. In his dream he notices a man standing in a field, his name is Christian. He cries out in pain and sorrow because he and his whole family as well as the town in which they live are to be destroyed. He has read about it in the book he holds in his hands, the Bible. Evangelist, a preacher of Christianity comes to Christian and presents him a roll of paper on which it is written that he should fly from the wrath of God and makes his way from the City of Destruction to the City of Zion. Christian explains it to his neighbours and family, but they think he is either sick or mad. Finally Christian runs off towards the light to find the Wicket Gate which opened into Heaven

     On his way he meets Pliant and Obstinate. He explains his plan to escape the city and convinces Pliant, but not Obstinate, to join him. The two hurry onward but soon fall into a bog called the Slough of Despond. Pliant turns back toward the city. Christian struggles his way out of the bog with the assistance of a man called Help.

Walking along further, Christian encounters Mr. Worldly Wiseman. He tells Christian of a nearby town called Morality where a father-and-son team, called Legality and Civility, live. Christian is fooled into taking Worldly Wiseman's advice. Evangelist catches up with him and warns him that Civility and Legality are frauds.  He advises Christian to follow the right path so Christian arrives at a Wicket-Gate. As per the instruction near the gate, he knocks the gate. He is greeted by Good-will, who opens the gate and sends Christian on toward the house of the Interpreter, who will show Christian "excellent things."

Arriving at the Interpreter's house, Christian finds himself in a kind of museum. The Interpreter first shows Christian a picture of "a very grave person" holding "the best of books" and speaking "the law of truth," with a golden crown hanging over his head. . Next comes a large and spacious room that is first dusted by a man with a broom, an action that kicks up choking clouds. The next room has two children named Patience and Passion. Another room holds a burning fire, which is continually doused by the devil but secretly fueled by Christ so that it never stops burning. After this, Christian learns the meaning of many of the Christian mysteries. Another room, dark and somber, holds a man in an iron cage, which represents the despair of those who have abandoned their faith. In a final scene, a man rises from his bed, troubled by dreams of the Last Judgment. Having seen all these things, Christian thanks the Interpreter and takes his leave with hope and fear.

 Continuing on his journey, he comes to the Holy Cross and the Sepulchre of Christ. There, his burden of sins fall off. Three "shining ones" appear and give Christian new clothing along with a sealed "roll" (scroll) to serve as a kind of passport at the Celestial Gate. He sings a song of rejoicing and resumes his journey, encountering three sleeping men "a little out of the way," with their feet bound in irons. He calls to the men—whose names are Simple, Sloth, and Presumption—but they fail to recognize that they are in any danger and lie back down to sleep. Next, Christian encounters Formalist and Hypocrisy, two men who snuck over the wall rather than going through the Wicket-Gate. Later, Christian pauses for a nap, the "roll" slips out of his pocket and is lost. Realizing he has misplaced his roll, Christian goes back down the hill and searches for it and  finds it.

, Christian happens upon a palace called Beautiful. He attempts to enter and seek a place to sleep but is deterred when he sees two lions near the entryway. The gatekeeper chides Christian for his cowardice and tells him the lions are chained. Christian takes Watchful at his word and enters the palace, where he meets four damsels named Discretion, Prudence, Piety, and Charity. They offer him food and lodging and converse with him about his travels.

     In the Valley of Humiliation, Christian is forced to fight the giant devil, Apollyon, whose body was covered with the shiny scales of pride. In the battle Christian defeats the giant but wounded. He heals his wounds with leaves from the Tree of Life. By reciting the verses from the Pslams, Christian crosses the Shadow of Death. After passing through this danger, Christian has to go by the caves of the old giants, Pope and Pagan. Then Christian meets his fellow traveler Faithful. As the two friends continue, they are joined by Talkative. Soon Talkative parts ways with them. Then Evangelist approaches Christian and Faithful and warns them of the dangers in the town of Vanity Fair.

Soon enough, the two pilgrims arrive in the town of Vanity, where the famous Vanity Fair is held year-round. There, all kinds of vain worldly goods are sold, and all sorts of crimes and subterfuges are committed. Christian and Faithful pass through the fair, drawing attention on account of their strange clothes and their distaste for the fair's goods. The crowd begins to mock them and eventually throws them into a cage as if they were madmen. The pilgrims remain calm, it aggravates the townspeople. Christian and Faithful are brought to trial before a judge named Lord Hate-good, where they stand accused of creating a public disturbance. Faithful is sentenced to be burned alive and Christian is put in prison. When Faithful dies in the fire, a Chariot comes down from Heaven and takes him up to God. Christian escapes from the prison.

Christian is now joined by Hopeful, a former resident of Vanity. They next visit Hill Lucre, where a man named Demas has set up a silver mine. The mine is dangerous, yet many adventurers are lured to it and end up losing their lives. The path to the Celestial City now runs parallel to a river for a while. The scenery is so pleasant and the going so easy that Christian and Hopeful are tempted to follow a side trail, not noticing that it curves away from the true way. The trail leads them to the domain of Giant Despair, who, with his wife, Diffidence, keeps the pilgrims prisoner in Doubting Castle. He seeks to convince them, through starvation and beatings, to give up on life and commit suicide. They escape, however, when Christian recalls that he has had a key, called Promise, to get out of the dungeon all along. Returning to the main road, the two pilgrims post a sign to warn others of the dangers of Doubting Castle.

They meet the four shepherds – Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere – who show them the Celestial Gate and warn them of the paths to Hell. Then the two pilgrim pass by the Valley of Conceit. There, they meet by ignorance and other men who have not kept to the straight and narrow path. They pass on the country of Beulah. At a  distance, they see the gates of the City of Heaven glistening with pearls and precious stones. Thinking that all their troubles are behind them, they lay down to rest.

When they go on toward the city, they come to the River of Death. They enter the river and begin to wade through the water. Soon, Christian become afraid and more afraid he becomes the deeper the water rolls. Hopeful shouts to him to have hope and faith. Cheered by these words, Christian becomes less afraid, the water becomes less deep and finally they both get across safely. They run up the hill toward Heaven. Shining angels welcome them through the gates.