When Beowulf first arrives, he matures little as he already has the characteristic of a hero. However Hrothgar sees Beowulfs potential and sets out to take advantage of Beowulfs natural talent.

Connor Reilly British Literature Mr. Caswell 9 September, 11 An Unfettered Warrior To a Mature King The poem starts off with an immature Beowulf in his youth. Characterized by his strength and courage, his stories of achievements establish him as a perfect hero. The decisions and actions he makes put him on a path to become a great hero but lack the characteristics of a prodigious leader. The epic separates his phases of growing heroism through out his three increasingly difficult battles with Grendel, Grendel's mother and the dragon. During these conflicts, spaced between a period of 50 years, Beowulf makes his transition from his unfettered warrior to a loyal mature king. When Beowulf first arrives, he matures little as he already has the characteristic of a hero. However Hrothgar sees Beowulf's potential and sets out to take advantage of Beowulf's natural talent. As Beowulf begins to see Hrothgar as a mentor, the change in his figure becomes more and more evident in his actions. He begins to see the importance of loyalty and courtesy. The advice he receives helps to prepare Beowulf for the values demanded by the throne. Although it takes many years for Beowulf to take that position, it gives him time to change into the model he will become. Out of respect for the throne, he encourages Hygelac's son to take his rightful position as the king. This gave Beowulf

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Referring to either The Flea and/or The Broken Heart do you think that it is fair to say that Donnes choice of metaphor is nothing other than a desire to startle.

Referring to either 'The Flea and/or 'The Broken Heart' do you think that it is fair to say that Donne's choice of metaphor is nothing other than a desire to startle. "The greatest thing by far, is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance." Aristotle states how successfully creating a metaphor shows true talent in a poet. Many poets throughout the years have used striking metaphorical images for different purposes and John Donne is an excellent example of this, he chooses unusual and often startling metaphors in order to validate his opinion and perhaps to shock his audience. In 'the flea' he uses the conceit of a flea in order to illustrate his lust towards his mistress. Arguably using a flea in order to persuade and seduce his lover to sleep with him is far-fetched and hyperbolic. Immediately we see Donne having a conversation with his lover and saying to her 'in this flea our two bloods mingled be.' This demonstrates Donne is using the flea to represent the mixing of two people. Donne is viewing the flea as a sexual symbol which seems implausible and startling. He goes on to use it as a symbol for pregnancy as it 'swells with one blood made of two'. Donne seems jealous of the flea as it gets 'pamper'd' and wonders freely over his mistress' body and he

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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In what ways is The Merchant's Tale a response to The Clerk's Tale?

In what ways is The Merchant's Tale a response to The Clerk's Tale? Chaucer's establishment of the Clerk in the General Prologue as a committed scholar who prioritises his academic studies over material wealth contrasts sharply with the description of the Merchant's 'bargaines' and his 'chevissaunce'. In placing The Clerk's Tale immediately before that of the Merchant and exploring similar themes within both, Chaucer introduces to his readership a likelihood of the second tale being a response to the first. The differing attitudes and outcomes of the tales, whilst having significant links in their subject matter, provoke comparison of the narrators in their personal discussions and the protagonists become the embodiment of their views towards marriage in the tales. Walter is presented by the Clerk as a largely stereotypical marquis, whose qualities of humility and understanding in his proposal to Griselda are linked to the distinct lack of irony in the introduction to his character. The Clerk narrates in praise of the protagonist, "Handsome and young and strong; in him were blent High honour and a gentle courtesy." It is then admitted that Walter did show certain faults ("He was indeed to blame...") although the fact that he is named so shortly after the beginning of the tale resounds importantly in the Merchant's prologue, where Chaucer admits to having forgotten the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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“Love, time, death and loss have all been the inspiration for sonnets.” Discuss how this applies to the sonnets you have studied and comment on their technical variety.

"Love, time, death and loss have all been the inspiration for sonnets." Discuss how this applies to the sonnets you have studied and comment on their technical variety. The themes of love, time, death and loss are often and easily linked for obvious reasons. As far back as poetry and writing date, these themes will be clear within them. Often the inspiration for tragic or despairing poetry, one should perhaps observe the sonnets which are particularly linked to such subject matter. William Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 is about time bringing forth potential loss of love and the unavoidable consequences of age. The sonnet opens with a revelation of the time of year, imagery of autumn, the end of the year and the autumn of his own life. It is reflective almost to the point of wallowing; the sun is fading, the yellow leaves "do hang" and there is a poetic link to singing birds, highlighting the ever-present bitter sweet melancholy within the piece. The first quatrain begins to set the tune of the sonnet, using the concept of time within the seasons with an almost literal landscape foundation; the descriptions of nature are at their oldest, ravaged by time and nearing their ending. Shakespeare uses various parallels, drawing one in as the almost literal portrayal being in the 'autumn' of his own life. The second quatrain is also a careful parallel within these concepts of time,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Analyse Shakespeares attitude to love

Write 600 words on Shakespeare's attitude to love Sonnet 18 presents an idealistic, romanticised view of love. The true essence of the poem serves to depict the poets' love for the subject through an almost eternal/everlasting love, "but thy eternal summer shall not fade", and even states, "as long as men can breathe...this gives life to thee". Focusing on the stability of love, the subject of the poem is presented to the reader as a somewhat, glorified, perfect human being in that firstly, he is compared to summer, "shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" and secondly, the subject is summer, "thy eternal summer shall not fade." Sonnet 130, on the other hand, presents a more realistic perception of love than the previous. Unusually, Shakespeare, goes against the usual traditional, romanticised, love poetry, to present the reader with a negative comparison that, pokes fun at the typical exaggerated love poetry. "But no such roses see I in her cheeks." In conventional love poetry, we would expect the subject to be elevated and glorified, as in Sonnet 18; yet, this is not the case. The subject of the poem is compared in a negative manner as seen through the poets' senses. He sees her eyes as "nothing like the sun". He compares her smell to that of perfume "and in some perfumes is there more delight", which shows that he is not overly excited by her. We would expect the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Shakespeare was much more than just a playwright. He was also an artist of words in the era of language known as sonnet poetry.

"To be or not to be that is the question." This line was from one of Shakespeare's more famous plays, Hamlet. Although many people don't know this, Shakespeare was much more than just a playwright. He was also an artist of words in the era of language known as sonnet poetry. Sonnet poetry divides into three quatrains (four-line groupings) and a final couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The structure of the English sonnet usually follows the Petrarchan, or explores variations on a theme in the first three quatrains and concludes with an epigrammatic couplet. In sonnet sequences, or cycles, a series of sonnets are linked by a common theme. Within Shakespeare's Sonnet sixty, Shakespeare explains the importance of life and how precious time is to man by using imagery that relate to time. In the first four lines of the sonnet, Shakespeare is explaining how life is always changing and also how the life of man is short, just as the wave of the seas makes it's way toward the shore. In lines number two and three of the sonnet, Shakespeare is telling the reader that life goes from generation to generation; not necessarily as exactly as the last life but similar. Just as man produce offspring to carry their name from generation to generation and like the waves, "each changing place with which goes before," their offspring look similar but not identical to the "master mold" from which

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How are the characters in The Miller(TM)s Tale(TM) punished for their actions and do they deserve this punishment?

How are the characters in 'The Miller's Tale' punished for their actions and do they deserve this punishment? Of all of the major character in 'The Miller's Tale', only Alison is physically unpunished. Each of the other characters - John, Nicholas and Absolon - receives some kind of physical punishment for a flaw in their personalities or a mistake that they make. John receives punishment in the form of a broken arm which he obtains "with the fal". In the middle ages, medicine was nowhere near as developed as today, and broken bones would take a long time to heal. For John, a carpenter, use of his arms is vital to his livelihood, and so this physical punishment is a lot more damaging to him than one might expect. If his arm did heal, he would be out of work for a considerable amount of time. Not only this, but he has to suffer humiliation, as all of the neighbours "turned al his harm unto a jape", believing him to be mad. The reason that John is punished is that he has taken a wife much younger than him - "she was wilde and yong, and he was old". The Miller pokes fun at the carpenter because he does not know that "man sholde wedde his similitude". It is unnatural for a man as old as John to take such a young wife, and to keep her "narwe in cage" when she is lively and a creature of appetites that must be satisfied. The Miller suggests that John deserves to be cuckolded

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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In the poem, 'To His Mistress Going to Bed,' John Donne, in the form of first person dialogue, uses various themes and extended metaphors to illustrate the seductive, witty events occurring

English Commentary Elegy XX - To His Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne In the poem, 'To His Mistress Going to Bed,' John Donne, in the form of first person dialogue, uses various themes and extended metaphors to illustrate the seductive, witty events occurring between the speaker and his mistress. The metaphysical nature of the themes and imagery introduces a lot of complex ideas, parallelism, and concentrated language within the poem. Such themes are revolved around the events of the poem. The mistress is 'willingly' stripping nude for the speaker and is doing so in a submissive yet seductive manner, which is powered by a single force of sexual desire. The structure follows a chronological set of events. Each of these events holds a unique image which is linked with the other poem's images through some fundamental themes. Such themes include eroticism, excitement, adventure and pureness, which is illustrated through the many kinds of images used. The poem begins with a seemingly rather colloquial and arrogant tone from the speaker, saying to the woman, "Come, all rest my powers defy; until I labour, I in labour lie." Firstly the exclamation to the woman creates more demand for attention which compels the reader to continue. For the lines, they not only suggest that the woman is a prostitute with authoritative and colloquial language but it introduces the speaker's

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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My Last duchess - review.

My Last duchess Summary This poem is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara, who lived in the 16th century. The Duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke's marriage (he has recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful family. As he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl. The Duke begins reminiscing about the portrait sessions, then about the Duchess herself. His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behaviour: he claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his "gift of a nine-hundred-years- old name." As his monologue continues, the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke in fact caused the Duchess's early demise: when her behaviour escalated, "[he] gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together." Having made this disclosure, the Duke returns to the business at hand: arranging for another marriage, with another young girl. As the Duke and the emissary walk leave the painting behind, the Duke points out other notable artworks in his collection. Form "My Last Duchess" comprises rhyming pentameter lines. The lines do not employ end-stops; rather, they use enjambment--that is, sentences and other grammatical units do not

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Robert Browning - 'The Last Duchess' - 'Write a letter to the count whether or not he should let his daughter marry the Duke'.

RASHID ZAMIR RESPONSE TO LITERATURE- POETRY (PRE-1900) ROBERT BROWNING- 'THE LAST DUCHESS' 'Write a letter to the count whether or not he should let his daughter marry the Duke' Dear Count I have visited the duke at his home and have come to a conclusion. I don't think you should give your daughter to him. When I visited him he sounded happy and joyful. I thought he was a nice guy and a perfect match for your daughter. But all things changed. Whilst touring around his home, he took me downstairs to a dark room. When he turned the lights on, all I saw was loads of amazing pictures surrounding the room. Whilst looking at the pictures one specific picture caught my eye. It was covered in a red distinctive curtain. I wondered what was behind it and before I knew it the duke dragged me across the room towards the painting. He then took off the red curtain and revealed to me a portrait of a beautiful woman. He said 'That's my last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she was were alive.' When I heard this quote I was quite surprised, because he said that she was looking, as she was alive, which makes me assume that she is dead. I then started to compliment the portrait because the woman was amazing in it, I couldn't get my eyes off it. When the duke saw me staring at the picture he quickly dropped the curtain and started to talk about the artist who painted it. He

  • Word count: 979
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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