Jack the Ripper coursework questions

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Question 1

From source A we can learn how both Polly Nicholls as well as Martha Tabram, being the poorest of poor, had been brutally murdered, by the same person was unknown.  With source A being a newspaper article claiming how “a demented being” murdered these two and from this we know it’s in singular terms meaning one person.  Also the fact that both of the murders startled London tells us that London had never seen violence to a degree like this and was completely shocked at it.  In addition to this we know how the people were surprised that poor prostitutes had been attacked.  We can also learn how the newspaper would exaggerate their point to sell as much as many newspapers as they could, making this unreliable and might have stated untrue points or false information.  These prostitutes were viewed on as worthless and a nuisance to society and there was really no reason for killing them except for some psychotic, vengeful or some other reason.

Question 2

Source C being a doctors report it is meant to be as accurate as possible stating the true and right facts and only the right facts.  Here Source C differs from source A being a newspaper article of which would over exaggerate the point and main purpose was to sell its papers.  Source B comes from yet another professional view with it being from a Coroner who would know what they were talking about, in Source B it mentions how “the injuries have been made by someone who had considerable anatomical skill and knowledge” and who knew what they were trying to hit, e.g. which organ.  Similarly Source C mentions how the windpipe was cut completely in two and links Jack the Ripper to the skill he had for the body.  Source C being from a completely professional viewpoint as it was a report from a Dr Frederick, implies that Jack the Ripper is a professional as it states that he cut the windpipe completely in two, two and a half inches below the jaw, whereas Source A states Jack the Ripper as being a demented making Jack the Ripper sound psychotic.  As well as this the vocabulary used is interesting and would most likely draw the public to buy their papers in Source A which is their main objective making itself unreliable compared to source B and C being professional.  Source A connects Martha Tabrams murder with Polly Nicholls murder, with Martha Tabram’s murder including 39 stabs on the body showing no skill whereas Polly Nicholls windpipe was slashed twice and shows some anatomical skill for the body hitting precise areas, contradicting Martha Tabram’s murder.

Question 3

With Source D and Source E being of the same subject you would reckon the same results and statements would be included.  With Source D being from a professional point of view and E from a newspaper article which would without doubt say points either untrue or exaggerate certain points to sell it’s papers.  Elizabeth Long along with her evidence had proved useful in source D as her information was taken seriously and a lot of work went into finding a foreigner as she described the last man talking to Annie Chapman.  On the other hand Source E was a newspaper article they may have been trying to blame the police for failing to catch the murderer.  Both sources D and E prove not very useful in helping me to understand how Jack the Ripper avoided capture, as both were pretty laid back and not sure of the point.  Source E in addition to this suggested that advice was given to the police which was ignored and how Whitechapel was a hard place to police which is agreeable as there were dark and dingy as well as narrow streets being maze like.  Source D was written before the murder and E after the murder each would have had its different statements but both have proved not very useful in helping me to understand how he avoided capture.  Source E did prove useful when it mentioned “the main thoroughfares of Whitechapel are connected by a network of narrow, dark and crooked lanes.”  As it emphasised the point of how Jack the Ripper from these streets could have avoided capture.  Source D mentioning how the man “was dark complexioned and was wearing a deerstalker hat” with it also mentioning how “he was wearing a dark coat” this had proved useful as it had made Jack the Ripper sound as if he didn’t want to be seen.  If it was really Jack the Ripper the Source had made him sound like he wanted to be unseen and was very sneaky this adds to the point of how Jack the Ripper avoided capture by the police through just thinking about his move and shows how both Sources D and E would have some useful information but at other times completely useless information.

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Question 4

Throughout the 19th century the police both the metropolitan police who patrolled the outside of the city and the city police who patrolled the inside of the city of London.  With Source F being a leaflet that was handed out at a time it purposes was to tell people to inform the police if they see any suspicious characters.  No rewards were given which at first may sound dumb but avoids false claims and confuses the police ever more.  This is backed up by Source G which is as well as being written from a home secretary, something professional ...

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