Both A Passage to India and Heart of Darkness can be interpreted as portraying Imperialism in a critical light, as a dark force which spreads from England into foreign environments

The Hollowmen and the Horrors of the Abyss: An exploration of Forster's views of Imperialism in 'A Passage to India' explored via and compared with Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. Both A Passage to India and Heart of Darkness can be interpreted as portraying Imperialism in a critical light, as a dark force which spreads from England into foreign environments, and conveying the negative aspects of it, such as racism, cruelty and exploitation. As this is such a huge topic I will in this essay attempt to explore Forster's portrait of imperialism by using Conrad's novella's running theme of the "Heart of Darkness" - I am going to use the interpretation of the inner "Heart of Darkness" within all people- as a key to interpret Forster's views on imperialism and to see if they were similar to Conrad's. Morgan Forster's idea of the "Undeveloped heart" - being the lack of compassion and inability to understand or express feelings and emotions in the English public school boy - for me is a key similarity with Conrad's novel and his idea of the "Heart of Darkness" as the dark side of man. It seems throughout 'A Passage to India' that the defect is present in all people, but that the morally grey force of imperialism encourages it. For Forster, human defects thrive and are brought to the forefront by the force of imperialism. For men and women living in Forster's England, the defects

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Presenation of childhood in Jane Eyre and Once in a House On Fire

Presentation of childhood in Jane Eyre and "Once in a House on Fire" Charlotte Bronte writes about the past life of Jane Eyre as a child in the household of the Reed family, she describes how Jane Eyre was alienated and oppressed by the Reed family. However, Andrea Ashworth, even though she does endure bullying and misery, has more numerous happy moments such as when she plays with her sister when they were "hopping about in the cold" and imagined "bombs whistling out of the sky", however the reader is shown that it was a restricted fun as they "took care to keep their voices down" which shows how afraid they are of annoying their stepfather. The entire book of "Jane Eyre" begins by the use of pathetic fallacy to reflect the situation and mood of the protagonist, Bronte writes "The cold winter wind and "a rain so penetrating", this detailed description of the harsh weather could mean that the protagonist is in a dire situation. This is then followed by irony as Bronte writes that Jane Eyre was "glad of it" as it gave her an unexpected holiday from the walks with the Reed family, even though her description of the weather was made so harsh through the use of visual imagery. This is in contrast to "Once in a House on Fire" which at the beginning of the book presents the reader with a number of facts which are presented by Ashworth in such a way that we do not feel sympathy

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Discuss the view that The Great Gatsby and 1984 concern the attempt of an impossible idealism to realise itself in a grossly materialistic world.

Discuss the view that The Great Gatsby and 1984 concern the attempt of an impossible idealism to realise itself in a grossly materialistic world. What was it that finally brought Gatsby down? The title to this novel seems odd in relation to the way he finally passed: the "great" Gatsby killed over one woman's death, for which he accepted all blame even though he was innocent. His final demise could be credited to a dream that had soured, though he was so infatuated with achieving a long-desired aspiration that he would do anything to secure it. His dream of course was Daisy. Similarly the character Winston smith, the main protagonist in George Orwell's '1984' ultimately sacrifices himself for a similar cause, an unattainable longing for freedom and the love of a woman, both novels share a common theme that is a society where social class takes all precedence. The greatest idealism within The Great Gatsby is the pursuit of happiness and dreams. Gatsby having been so desperate to achieve his dream that he placed every ounce of his effort into building himself into a strong economic and social figure. The pursuit of this dream and the effect that it had upon him as a driving force and to have created and achieved as much as he did, shows the power of aspiration. However, this novel grows to be especially hedonistic in its portrayal of life, as it seems as though the majority

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Compare and contrast the struggle for identity in the face of outside influence in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Millar where Biff Loman is pressured to be something that he is not; and Making History by Brian Friel,

Compare and contrast the struggle for identity in the face of outside influence, with the view that Biff Loman has the greatest struggle. The Struggle for identity is a common theme dealt with by much of modern literature. Two pieces of literature that deal with this struggle in the face of outside influence are, 'Death of a Salesman' by Arthur Millar - where Biff Loman is pressured to be something that he is not; and 'Making History' by Brian Friel, where Hugh O'Neill is torn between two opposing forces, whilst being pushed to be a hero that he is not. Biff Loman, in 'Death of a Salesman' is not able to be himself due to the views and dreams that are enforced upon him by his father. Biff was constantly told by his father that he should aim to be the best. Unfortunately, for Willy, Biff was never that boy in terms of his practical orientated mind and love for the outdoors. Willy Loman is the inspiration to his son in everything that he believes in - passing on the views that his father has about the 'American Dream'. Biff is unable to be happy and find his identity because of his feelings towards his father's dreams and expectations, and his father thinks that Biff is capable of doing the things he wants him to. However, Biff is deluded by the vision that his father is the ultimate role model and will support him no matter what, but still does not know who he is himself.

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Exploration of the ways that Shakespeare and Austen present us with different aspects of love or the theme of love looking at similarities and differences in the two texts and bearing in mind the different times they were written in.

Exploration of the ways that Shakespeare and Austen present us with - different aspects of love or - the theme of love looking at similarities and differences in the two texts and bearing in mind the different times they were written in. In this essay, I am going to look two texts, Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' and Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' The theme I am fascinated to write about is love and this is very significant in both books. In 'A Midsummer's Night dream', love is displayed in a more light-hearted way and not absolutely serious, yet, 'Pride and Prejudice' is introduced more meaningful and formal. I will additionally investigate the first impressions of both books. 'Pride and Prejudice's' first title was 'First Impressions'. I will not only be investigating how the characters' first impressions effect one another but moreover the first impression of the reader and how they are affected by passion. Pride and Prejudice and A Midsummer Night's Dream are, as a matter of first importance, two texts about getting through difficulties and accomplishing emotional fulfilment and those problems. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth, the courageous person, and Darcy, her resulting husband, the main difficulty

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Within the three texts, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, Look back in Anger by John Osborne and The Whitsun Weddings by Phillip Larkin, each writer explores the concept of a changing world.

Michael LasseyA2 English Literature ‘Many post-World War II writers were concerned with making sense of a rapidly changing world’. Compare and contrast ways in which your chosen writers present a changing world. Within the three texts, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, Look back in Anger by John Osborne and The Whitsun Weddings by Phillip Larkin, each writer explores the concept of a ‘changing world’. However, this presentation of post-war Britain is dramatically different in each work. With Waugh, almost exclusively focusing on the effect of the aristocracy and upper classes, he differs from Osbourne and Larkin in this respect, as their texts largely concern the affect on the ‘ordinary’ and the working classes. All three main narrative voices in each of the three texts, however, all share the same sense of disillusionment, albeit for different reasons, that was part of the zeitgeist of Britain at the time still in the grips of economic and cultural austerity from the war . This disillusionment with the new world is also met in the texts with a longing for the past and a sense of nostalgia, particularly seen with the characters of Jimmy in Look back in Anger and Charles Brideshead Revisited. The three texts, although different in form and genre, all explore through varying literary methods, how the social changes in post-war Britain created a new generation

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The English Patient

INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE PROFESORADO Nº 4 "ÁNGEL CÁRCANO" ENGLISH LITERATURE II THE ENGLISH PATIENT MICHAEL ONDAATJE "NATIONALITY AND IDENTITY" DEADLINE: 24/08/08 TEACHER: RAQUEL VARELA STUDENT: PAOLA MAREGA Nationhood - a constraint on people's identity and relationships The English Patient, written by Michael Ondaatje in 1992, is a historical-fiction novel, defined also as historiographic metafiction1. Its tone is "reflective and poetic" (Schonmuller, B., 2008:13) and one of its major themes is nationality and identity. The narrative is an account of the gradually revealed histories of four people living in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. The characters are the mysterious and critically burned English patient of the title, a Canadian army nurse called Hana, David Caravaggio, an Italian thief, and an Indian sapper, nicknamed Kip, belonging to the British Army. Each of them is far away from home, displaced by the war, and though they come from different and conflicting countries, they are able to live together in the villa and get on well in spite of their national and cultural differences. The English Patient focuses on the personal experiences of war of the four main characters, who have been deeply wounded by a conflict based on national divisions (Woodcock, J., 2006: 51). It also explores the effort of the characters, particularly that of the patient

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In what Sense can we connect the Ideas of the Idealised Self and the Gap between the Signifier and Signified to Link our Understanding of the Ways in which Fitzgerald and Duffy Discuss Love?

In what Sense can we connect the Ideas of the Idealised Self and the Gap between the Signifier and Signified to Link our Understanding of the Ways in which Fitzgerald and Duffy Discuss Love? 'At the heart of Carol Ann Duffy's poetry is a continual acknowledgement and exploration of the limits of language.' As love is a main theme in Carol Ann Duffy's 'Rapture' and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' it is no surprise that many methods are used by both authors to discuss the way love is felt and used by people, including the language used, and the confusion that can be caused by the written word and speech. In 'The Great Gatsby,' the character of Gatsby is in love with Daisy, almost to the stage of obsession. This love is the thing that eventually pulls them apart. And the basis of 'Rapture' is from the beginning to the end of a love affair. The poems analyzed - 'Quickdraw,' 'Finding the Words,' 'Write,' and 'Syntax' - are placed throughout the collection, each of them indicating a different stage in the persona's relationship with their significant other. Michael Woods, in his critical essay regarding the works of Duffy, 'Translation, reflection and refraction in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy,' used the opening quote to summarise what he is reflecting about in his essay, and it is a near perfect summation of Duffy's, and to some extent Fitzgerald's, discussion of love,

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Blanche and Stanley

The play has been read as a symbolic exploration of the conflict between the north and south and between a lost past and a harsh present. How far can you argue the appropriateness of such a reading through an exploration of the conflict between Blanche and Stanley. Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire reflects upon the dark aspects of humanity and the result of these social downfalls, symbolised by the Deep South and the new world. The play seems to focus on the extremes of human brutality: madness, rape, nymphomania and violent deaths. Williams often commented on the violence in his own work, which to him seemed part of the human condition. Critics, who attacked these extremes of his work, were often making an attack on his sexuality. A Streetcar Named Desire shows the conflict between traditional values of an old-world of graciousness and refined beauty versus the thrusting, rough edged, physically aggressive new world. The conflict between the two ways of life is concentrated within the battle between the two protagonists Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski. The old civilisation vested in Blanche and the modern in the virile figure of Stanley. The two are like chalk and cheese, the result of their different lifestyles, status and culture. Blanche, an educated woman of wealthy, aristocratic Creole descent and symbolically the last of the Dubois lineage of 19th

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Innocence and Experience in "Atonement" and "The Go-Between"

"Adam and Eve, on eating the apple, could not have been more upset than I was" (The Go-Between Ch. 10). Discuss the ways in which the movement from innocence to experience is portrayed in two novels. "A story of innocence betrayed, and not only betrayed but corrupted" - thus L.P. Hartley set out to write The Go-Between, a story of childhood, sexual awakening, social convention and class. Ian McEwan's Atonement, a postmodern novel heavily influenced by The Go-Between, shares all these themes and more as it explores the nature of innocence and experience. The Go-Between and Atonement are most notably Bildungsromans - novels which chronicle the "coming of age" of a child. While many novels of the genre feature a movement from innocence to experience in the protagonist, both Leo and Briony, the narrators of these two novels, undergo an exceptionally profound and disastrous loss of innocence. The dual narrative voices of the two novels are themselves both innocent and experienced: the naivety of the juvenile narrator is overlaid with the shrewd hindsight of their aged self. This is used to dramatic effect in Atonement, when the older Briony bluntly states the imminent disaster - "Within the half hour Briony would commit her crime" - creating an atmosphere of prolepsis, or narrative anticipation. The Go-Between similarly hints at the forthcoming tragedy, albeit through the

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