In her essay "Flight," Doris Lessing illustrates the story of an old man who is learning to let go his granddaughter as she grows into an adult
Essay on "Flight" It is always hard to get separated from someone you love and with whom you have shared every moment of his life until he decides to walk on a different path than yours. You don't know how to react and confusion dominates your mind. Should you be angry at him for leaving you, or should you support and respect his decision ? In her essay "Flight," Doris Lessing illustrates the story of an old man who is learning to let go his granddaughter as she grows into an adult and is about to get married. Lessing wisely delivers this particular old man's situation to her readers through her use of literary techniques and devices. Thus, she greatly succeeded at making her readers feel and live the grandfather's difficulty to get separated from his granddaughter. Throughout the story, Lessing skillfully uses narration and description to catch the readers attention, making us feel the grandfather's state of emotions. Hence, in the beginning of the story, we first meet his granddaughter Lisa through his eyes that "travelled homewards along the road until his granddaughter swinging on the gate underneath a frangipani tree. Her hair fell down her back in a wave of sunlight ; and her long bare legs repeated the angles of the frangipani stems, bare, shinning brown stems among patterns of pale blossoms." We follow the movement of his eyes that see her as a shinning light that
Discussion of Discourse in Nabokov's Lolita
IB Extended Essay English A1 How does the discourse between Humbert Humbert's authorial strategy as the first person narrator of 'Lolita' and Vladimir Nabokov's own strategy as the book's author affect our reading of the text? Candidate Name: Natasha Frost Candidate Session Number: 000434-033 School: Kristin School 000434 Supervisor: Mrs. Meryl Noyes Word Count: 3,994 Abstract This essay explores the relationship between authorial strategy and the strategy and defence of the narrator within the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. It also considers how the discourse between these two elements affects the reader's perception of the narrator and our judgment of his crimes, coming to the conclusion that we must consider the bare facts presented by Nabokov and prevent ourselves from becoming swayed by Humbert's rhetoric and powerful aesthetics. It considers this in light of the views of previous readers in order to understand how Humbert's manipulation can at times be successful. The essay investigates in some depth the notion of Nabokov's description of events and the subtle tools he uses that undermine the story we are told by Humbert Humbert. It considers the psychological tools Humbert uses to inspire pathos and understanding and the nuances to his character that make him considered 'reputable', such as his scholarship and seductive use of language, making reference to
Discuss the relationship between Keith and Stephen that is presented in the first Six chapters of the novel 'Spies' the riveting novel written by Michael Frayn is narrated
Essay: Discuss the relationship between Keith and Stephen that is presented in the first Six chapters of the novel 'Spies' the riveting novel written by Michael Frayn is narrated by Stephen Wheatley himself as he realises that he must take a trip to the destination: Memory Lane. He's looking for "the last house before you go round the bend and it turns into Amnesia Avenue," because of something sensual that triggered a remembrance, in this case the "vulgar" smell of privet hedge. The odour takes him back to a terrible summer during World War II when he and his friend Keith were caught up in the adolescent fantasies of wartime. They lived in a nameless suburb of London on a claustrophobic cul-de-sac or "close" of ordinary houses where privet hedges were great hiding places. Stephen Wheatley can be described as a 'dopey, dreamy lad' and he forms an unlikely friendship with Keith Hayward who is the opposite to him. keith is a polite, fiercely disciplined, quite sinister boy with a vicious and sinister father and a nice charming mother. Stephen and his best friend, Keith Hayward, contribute to the war effort by proposing terrible goings-on in their neighbourhood that need investigating: murderers, smugglers, and secret societies. One day, Keith announces that his mother is a German spy, and a new game begins. In the first chapter Stephen refers to himself as 'the awkward
Snowdrops (short story) analysis
What happens in Snowdrops? This story is important as much for what we do not learn directly as for the surface narrative. The story appears to be about a boy and his day at school. He goes to a primary school in Wales - in a town that seems like the author's hometown of Merthyr. Apart from a few very specific details that tell us this, the town could be almost anywhere. His teacher has promised the class that they can go outside to look at the snowdrops that are now coming up. While the children are looking at the snowdrops, they can see a funeral procession passing the school. The boys' parents have spoken earlier about a young man, killed in a motorbike accident, and it is his funeral. Evidently the teacher knows this, for she stands watching and crying. The story that Leslie Norris does not tell directly, but tells indirectly by hints and clues, is about the love between the young man who has died and the teacher, Miss Webster. The themes of this story The title of the story suggests one of its themes - of course it is about snowdrops literally. But for the reader and for the children in the narrative, snowdrops symbolize the renewal of life that comes in the spring, or perhaps eternal life beyond the grave for those who have died. We also see, in the contrast of the adult conversation and the viewpoint of the child the idea of childhood and growing up. There may be
A critical exploration of Irish Society at the end of the 19th century. How far would you agree with this comment on The Real Charlotte?
The Real Charlotte Coursework "A critical exploration of Irish Society at the end of the 19th century". How far would you agree with this comment on The Real Charlotte? "The Real Charlotte" is a novel which contains a wealth of information regarding Irish society at the end of the 19th century. The authors Edith Somerville (1858-1949) and Violet Martin (1862-1915) - who adopted the pseudonym of Martin Ross - lived in Ireland during this period and belonged to the landed Anglo-Irish Ascendancy class. Not only did they have an inherent knowledge of their own class but they also had a deep understanding of the Irish peasantry. This stemmed from their keen observations of the native Irish people and Martin in particular had an intimate knowledge of their lives, having observed and interacted with the tenants of her father's estate. Likewise, she spent sixteen years living in the north of Dublin which enabled her to acquire knowledge of the middle classes. As John Bayley points out in the Listener : "Edith Somerville and Martin Ross knew Irish manners through and through: they were connoisseurs not only of the Ireland of the Ascendancy, with its ramifications of cousinage high and low, but also of the Ireland of turf-cabins and of genteel poverty in the back streets of Bray and Dublin. They knew their world as well as Jane Austen knew hers". Throughout the novel we are
How do the writers Sylvia Plath and Ken Kesey portray the struggle of the individual in The Bell Jar and One flew over the Cuckoos Nest?
How do the writers Sylvia Plath and Ken Kesey portray the struggle of the individual in "The Bell Jar" and "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"? In The Bell Jar and Cuckoo's Nest, both the protagonists struggle not only with a deteriorating mental stability and oppression from those surrounding them but also with a lack of a sense of individuality. Kesey and Plath explore these personal struggles through the experiences of alienation and identity paranoia through evocative literary techniques; being overwhelmed and powerless to break free of their inner world of isolation. Esther, in The Bell Jar, is a young, sensitive and intelligent woman who feels oppressed by the apparent social restrictions placed upon women in a pre-feminist, repressive 1950s America, and the pressure she feels regarding her future. She struggles with individuality and is faced with many choices complying with her future, and consequently, the path for the rest of her life. Esther's insecurity and struggle to discover her identity causes her to look to the personalities of the woman that surround her in life, but her inability to adapt to these personalities or the traditional concept of the "feminine ideal" ultimately leads her to a psychological breakdown in life. It is not just the nature of that struggle we are presented with, but Plath's literary techniques which help to portray this "struggle" to
"The double-faced Hazard/Chance family is served up the reader as a model for Britain and Britishness."
"The double-faced Hazard/Chance family is served up the reader as a model for Britain and Britishness." To what extent do you agree with Kate Webb's assessment of the political underpinning of Wise Children? Wise Children, by Angela Carter, concerns itself with the life, family and societies inhabited by Dora Chance. Wise Children's plot contains subplots, messages and themes. Carter uses the traditional Shakespearian five act (and therefore, here, five chapter) structure which the reader would recognise as an integral part of a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare plays deal with societies and relationships, providing messages for the audience; the part we play in society and interact and how societies develop and function. The reader would see this in Wise Children's five-chapter structure. The characters Carter creates present sides of life that aim to change our perceptions of our world and of ourselves. The reader would consider the novel a commentary on Britain. Britishness is society within Britain over time. In the past, Britishness may have been the 2-up-2-down 2.5 children family but today Britain is multicultural, so traditional views of Britain have changed. Britishness is hard to define, therefore, but perhaps this difficulty in definition makes Britishness. Britain's 20th Century was a century of change and we must consider political context when studying Wise
London, Jack: The Call of the Wild
London, Jack: The Call of the Wild . Poet and his life Jack London was born on Jan. 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. Jack London was only a pseudonym, adopting the surname of his stepfather, London for it. His real name was John Griffith Chaney. Because of his parent's lack of money, London had to drop out of school after the eighth grade in the age of 15. He shortly worked in a fish cannery. Being sixteen he became an "oyster pirate" in San Francisco Bay and later changed to the other side of law, joining the fish patrol. In 1893, in the age of 17, he set off on a seven-month voyage on a sealing ship to Japan. This experience led to his first story, and later influenced one of his best known novels, The Sea-Wolf (1904). Returning to the USA, he became a hobo travelling trough America. He experienced economic depression, unemployment and poverty. After being jailed for vagrancy near Niagara Falls, he realised the need of an education. He finished High School and studied at Berkley University. Before that he had educated himself at public libraries with the writings of Charles Darwin, Marx and Nietzsche and developed an own blended philosophy of socialism and white superiority. After a year at Berkley, London left University to seek a fortune in the Klondike gold rush of 1897. What he did find was scurvy and London got back to California after a year and a
Discuss Hosseinis exploration of the parent/ child relationship in the Kite Runner.
Discuss Hosseini's exploration of the parent/ child relationship in the 'Kite Runner'. Hosseini portrays and contrasts many different forms of the parent/ child relationships in The Kite Runner, from the main protagonists, Amir and his tenuous relationship with his father, 'Baba'. To Hassan's contrasting, tender relationship with his father Ali. Through the exploration of these relationships Hosseini stresses the importance of the parent/child relationships and the consequences of lack of love and neglect, the child can become insecure and in Amir's case, his attempts of trying to win the father's affection lead to devastating consequences. Harvey Freedenberg remarked that a 'source of tension in Amir's life is his relationship with Baba, his hard-driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father's affection and respect...' This is a very accurate representation of Amir and Baba's relationship, as Baba is indeed the 'demanding' father, expecting more of Amir than possible, while young Amir is an insecure child vying for his father's attention. An example of this can be seen through Baba's indifferent response of a unenthusiastic: 'muttered, Good' when Amir beats all his classmates in a poetry game, an aloof reaction dampens his win but was no surprise to Amir. The relationship between Amir and Baba is very precarious, principally arising from the disparity of the
How far do you think Ethan Frome himself is responsible for his tragedy?
Q. How far do you think Ethan Frome himself is responsible for his tragedy? A: Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, published in 1911, was a departure from her other works that were primarily concerned with the privileged New York Society and its hypocrisy. Critics have agreed that Ethan Frome was probably one of the most autobiographical of Wharton's works because it talked about an illicit affair while Wharton herself was going through one at that time. Wharton probably wanted the people to understand her and her actions and sympathize with her. She does this, in the book, by drawing our sympathy towards Ethan who is trapped in a lonely and desolate farmland with a wife he does not even like. Through her depiction of Ethan, Wharton, perhaps, wants us to see how the surroundings and circumstances can influence our actions and behaviour. There are strong traces of Determinism and Naturalism in this novel as Wharton herself was a believer in it. She, perhaps, also wants us to feel that Ethan's tragedy was inevitable and that it could not be stopped no matter what. I too believe that Ethan's tragedy was inevitable. It could have been stopped long ago yet it was not. I don't think anyone in the novel is to blame. The characters in the novel are all, like Ethan, victims of circumstances but they do, however, determine Ethan's - and perhaps one another's - actions. Throughout the