Class 12 English — Chapter 14: Freedom

What you'll learn

• ▸The Impossibility of Absolute Freedom
• ▸Natural Slavery vs. Unnatural Slavery
• ▸The Role of Government in Upholding Slavery
• ▸The Illusion of Democratic Freedom
• ▸Ideological Control through Propaganda
• ▸Critique of Economic Exploitation
• ▸The Self-Delusion of the Master Class

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- Non-fiction INTRODUCTION Non-fiction is virtually everything that we read as literature but that does not come under the categories of novel, short story, play or poem. Non- fiction, then, is writing that is factually true. It can include articles, editorials, reports, critical essays and interviews, humorous sketches, biographies and autobiographies, lectures, speeches and sermons. This section contains six non-fiction pieces, three by established writers of the canon: George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence; one each by Ingmar Bergman, Amartya Sen and Isaac Asimov. The themes are: freedom, stream of consciousness, importance of the novel as a creative form, the details that make film-making a creative art and the argumentative tradition in Indian culture based on the famous dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Asimov's piece talks of the universe of science fiction, correlating it to accounts of mythical superhuman beings in the p…

Practice Questions from this Chapter

Tap "Get Solution" on any question to ask our AI tutor.

1. Explain natural versus unnatural slavery. Get Solution →
2. Debate if true freedom exists. Get Solution →
3. Compare Magna Carta and Bill of Rights. Get Solution →
4. Who is the author of the essay 'Freedom' presented in the chapter? Get Solution →
5. According to G.B. Shaw, what is the definition of a perfectly free person? Get Solution →
6. What proportion of our lifetime does Shaw state we must spend sleeping? Get Solution →
7. Which of the following does Shaw categorize as a 'natural job' that cannot be shirked? Get Solution →
8. According to Shaw, what makes the 'slavery of man to Nature' different from the 'slavery of man to man'? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 Ancient Greek philosophers extensively discussed the meaning of true freedom.
• 💡 Mauritania was the last country to officially abolish slavery in 1981.
• 💡 The Magna Carta, signed in 1215, was a significant step towards limiting royal power.
• 💡 Many countries still have compulsory voting, where not voting can result in fines.
• 💡 George Bernard Shaw won both a Nobel Prize in Literature and an Academy Award.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Chapters