scarlet Letter.

scarlet Letter It has been said that Hawthorne condemns the Puritan society of Boston and at the same time presents it as a stable necessary environment for the New England settlers at that time. In the scarlet letter the core of the story line revolves around a movement known as the Puritan. The Puritan movement began when King Henry declared England's independence from the Church of Rome and he appointed himself head of the new Church of England. King Henry did this because he wanted to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. By appointing himself head of the Church of England he was able to grant himself his own divorce that the pope would not give him. At first there was little difference between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic but later with the spread of Protestant reformers such as John Calvin the church began to change. Some people thought the church of England retained too many of the superstitious practises of the Roman Catholic Church. They wanted simpler truths and less structured forms of worship like the earlier Christians, because they wanted to purify the Church of England, they got the name of Puritans. John Geree describes the puritans as "one, that honoured God above all, and under God gave every one his due"! These Puritans followed a very strict code of practise; they were greatly influenced by the bible, their

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Could I Have Lived My Life Differently? : The Diary of Bigger Thomas.

Could I Have Lived My Life Differently? : The Diary of Bigger Thomas Osarieme Erhunmwunsee Computational Literature 2/2 Dr. Hoffman 30 May 2003 Could I Have Lived My Life Different? : The Diary of Bigger Thomas Winter of 1930: Fear It was a harsh winter in the "Black Belt" of Chicago. Me, a twenty-year-old, black man who lives in the ghetto my momma, Vera and Buddy has to wake up to a huge rat trying to snip at us. So I take my momma's heavy iron skillet, and kill the rat right after if tries to bite me and rips my pants. Vera started to cry after I shoved the dead rat in her face, swinging the animal's body by its tail. All momma could do after Vera passed out was nag, nag, nag and tell me to throw it outside. When Bigger re-enters, Ma continues her tirade, reminding him that he has a job interview that evening and if he has any "manhood" in him, he will take heed of the welfare relief agency's threats to discontinue the family's aid and living arrangements. After she is revived, Vera is worried that she will be late for her sewing class at the YWCA, but her thoughts turn to her mother's depression and she seeks to console her. Ma is worried that her son appears unconcerned about her welfare and at breakfast, she "prophecies" that Bigger will go to "the gallows" unless he discontinues associating with his gang. Bigger quickly eats his breakfast and unsuccessfully

  • Word count: 16439
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Critical review Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 has itself been threatened and censored in various school systems, mostly due to the appearance of words like "hell" and "damn" in the novel, and has now taken its proud place on the list of books which have been censored or banned in America. Main Characters Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, starts out as a typical "fireman": he takes a primitive joy in his job -- which is burning books -- and never stops to question why things are the way they are. But after a series of reversals makes him question his assumptions, Montag begins a painful metamorphosis, eventually becoming first becoming a full-fledged rebel against his repressive society. At the beginning of the book, Montag is living what Henry Thoreau might call an "unexamined life": He believes what he's taught, respects his Fire Captain boss, and thinks that he is happy. But, after he meets young Clarisse McClellan, Montag's "happiness" crumbles away, and he finds himself left with a profound void inside. For the first time he lets himself be aware both of the problems of the world and of his own unsatisfied desires for knowledge, philosophy, and intimacy with other people. Finding that everyone else in his consumeristic culture is also skating on the thin ice of denial, Montag seeks friends and mentors in the thinking outcasts of society -- people like Clarisse, Faber, and Granger's

  • Word count: 14980
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How does the writer of the play 'A Kind of Alaska' show the struggle in Deborah's awakening?

How does the writer of the play 'A Kind of Alaska' show the struggle in Deborah's awakening? The awakening of Deborah in the play 'A Kind of Alaska' is a very slow progressing process, causing it to be one drawn out tense moment throughout the play. The struggle that is happening throughout the play conveys how difficult it is for Deborah to come to terms with herself and things that have happened without her influence. Confusion, reality and truth are the key points in causing the struggle for her, and decide on how she comes to terms with her life. Deborah succumbed to a 'sleeping' illness when she was fifteen. She has been in that illness for twenty-nine years and is not aware of anything that has taken place since the point she fell asleep. At the opening of the play, Deborah finds herself awakening in a plain room with two chairs, a table and the doctor. This causes Deborah confusion and distress, as she is struggling to come to terms with herself, her location and who the doctor is. Because this is the first time she has awoken in twenty-nine years, a fuss is made of her by the doctor. He is patient and waits for her to make the first move before he decides to question her about her 'sleep'. Deborah struggles with her words due to her not being provoked to make the first move. First she whispers, for this is all she can do due to her voice lying dormant for

  • Word count: 4986
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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As the number zero was the start of mathematics and the vacuum the foundation of physics.

A deafening silence Comic relief in stills in Faulknerian tragedy Term paper by R.Borst For Conrad & Faulkner by G.Moore st semester UVA 2003 Ronald Borst Jan v. Duivenvoordestr.183 067 MT Amsterdam Studentnr. 9187944 Introduction As the number zero was the start of mathematics and the vacuum the foundation of physics, so silence became the standard measure of civilization. Yet, all three of these 'scientific' standards spring from human imagination and are only applicable by general agreement, but remain in principle fictional. Few compositions have caused such a division of opinion as John Cage's '4.33' from 1952, one of his own favourites. A well-dressed pianist entered the stage, sat down behind the grand piano, opened it, turned a page of the score in front of him every now and then and after about four and a half minutes he got up, made a bow and left the stage. Cage got the idea for this composition after a visit to a soundproof room and only wanted to show there is no such thing as absolute silence. This manifests itself on a recording of the piece that still exists. In it, a world of small tiny sounds opens up. Chairs squeak, uncomfortable coughing, the humming of the air-conditioning, some far-away sounds of traffic, the rustling of the pages of a program. Above all one can hear, just like the original audience back in 1952, the rushing of one's own

  • Word count: 4538
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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What was Daphne Du Maurier attempting in ‘The Birds’ and does she succeed?

Shabana Jamil 27th January 2002 What was Daphne Du Maurier attempting in 'The Birds' and does she succeed? In the short story 'The Birds', Daphne Du Maurier tells us about how humans have a false superiority. They think that they are the most intelligent race in the world but by the end of the story we realize just how small and useless we actually are against nature. This makes me feel genuinely frightened because Du Maurier makes the prospect of nature being able to wipe out mankind, very realistic. This apocalyptic story contains many techniques used by Du Maurier to highlight the themes and ideas behind it. Nature causes the destruction of mankind by attacking people in a way that they thought was not possible. Humans think that they are the masters of the universe but when nature fights against them, the whole civilization is wiped out. The story is based around Nat Hocken, his wife and two children, who live on the coast of Cornwall. One dreary, winter night, some birds manage to get inside the children's bedroom and deliberately attack them. When Nat tells the other villagers they inwardly do not believe that such a thing could have happened, but try and come up with logical explanations. Humans always believe that whenever there is a problem someone around the country or the world will come up with an explanation. Mrs. Trigg was one of the people that

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How is the LuLing that springs to life in her manuscript different from the figure Ruth grapples with on a regular basis?

How is the LuLing that springs to life in her manuscript different from the figure Ruth grapples with on a regular basis? Upon reading the manuscripts that have been written by LuLing, one can clearly spot an amazing amount of differences between the two LuLings that have been described in this book. The first LuLing represents the modern life that she lives as seen through the eyes of her daughter Ruth. The second LuLing is the autobiography that gives us a totally different image of her earlier life. By reading these manuscripts one can easily forget that those two are actually the same person. However, even if there are so many differences, one can spot the odd one or two similarities that can be linked to both LuLings. It is also essential for us to see how certain events in the past tie up with the present and how they have had impacts on LuLing which psychologically altered her behaviour and way of thinking. It is important for us to note down the different changes that she goes through while she's living in China. The first difference that we notice about LuLing as a child is that she is full of energy and will power. She is eager to learn. She was very playful as a child and sometimes a little naughty like the time when she visited the End of the World. In many cases this LuLing could easily have reflected upon Ruth. There are certainly some similarities between

  • Word count: 4112
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Black CatFor the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief

The Black Cat For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not - and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. In their consequences, these events have terrified - have tortured - have destroyed me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me, they have presented little but Horror - to many they will seem less terrible than barroques. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects. From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my

  • Word count: 4007
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Black Cat

The Black Cat For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not - and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. In their consequences, these events have terrified - have tortured - have destroyed me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me, they have presented little but Horror - to many they will seem less terrible than barroques. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects. From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my

  • Word count: 3994
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Crime and Punishment - Writer's Notebook

Vincent Naimo September 15, 2004 Block 3A Crime and Punishment Writer's Notebook . This first instance of this dual nature characteristic occurs when Raskolnikov begins to second guess himself as to whether or not he should commit the murder. This is evident when Dostoyevsky writes, "...he knew his thoughts were confused. He knew he was very weak." (Dostoyevsky 2). Even though Raskolnikov has planned the murder for several weeks, he is still unsure as to whether or not his plan was fool proof; however, at times he recognized his plan as being perfect in that it would ensure that the police would not discover the murderer. Eventually, Raskolnikov commits the crime. When he commits the crime he is still unsure which is evident because "he seemed to have no strength. Yet the moment he started bringing the ax down, strength sprang up in him" (Dostoyevsky 74). On his way to the police station to confess to the crime, his intellectual desire to confess to the crime and ease his suffering was overruled by his emotion desire to help the injured man, who turned out to be Marmeladov. This shows the dual nature of Raskolnikov. How his intellectual side is always deliberate while his emotional responses are spontaneous. Then this is reinforced when he gives away his last 20 rubles to Katerina, Marmeladov's wife. It is at this point in the novel that Raskolnikov meets the much

  • Word count: 3376
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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