"In Batiste's determination to continue the struggle lies the essence of Blasco Ibaez's optimism. La barraca is a novel of protest, not of hopelessness" (G. Cheyne). To what extent do you agree with this statement?

"In Batiste's determination to continue the struggle lies the essence of Blasco Ibañez's optimism. La barraca is a novel of protest, not of hopelessness" (G. Cheyne). To what extent do you agree with this statement? I do not fully agree with the above opinion given by Cheyne. I do think that what he says is partly true but to say that the novel is lacking the theme of hopelessness would be wrong. It is more apt to say that the novel displays both a sense of protest from its characters and also a sense of hopelessness. In this essay I intend to explore the themes of hopelessness and of protest, discussing how they interact and thereby provide a sense of fate in the novel. Furthermore I will talk about what devices Blasco uses to emphasise these themes to the reader. From the beginning of Batiste's arrival in the huerta, the fields in which he works and lives have a sense of doom attached to them. Pimentó assures the huertanos that Bastiste's farming of the fields will not be successful and his efforts to do so would be stopped: Él, lo único que podia asegurar es que el tal sujeto no cogería el trigo, ni las habas, ni todo lo que había plantado en los campos de Barret. Aquello sería para el demonio.1 I would say that the way in which the whole of the village side against Batiste is a negative value of society that Blasco wishes to display through the device of the

  • Word count: 2896
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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What does Jane Austens The Three Sisters show us of the lives of women in the nineteenth century through the letters of Mary and Georgiana?

What does Jane Austen's "The Three Sisters" show us of the lives of women in the nineteenth century through the letters of Mary and Georgiana? Jane Austen's The Three Sisters is a short story written in epistolary form around 1792. It deals with the situation of three young sisters, of whom the eldest, Mary, receives a proposal of marriage. As the story is written in epistolary form, the reader is given a personal insight into the mind of the character and subsequently the story becomes more real. The theme of marriage is extremely common among Jane Austen's works including Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. She was fascinated by the question of who married whom and why. In her writing she examines all sorts of types of courtship thus showing how important marriage was in society at the time. The story begins with a letter written by Mary, the eldest of the girls. She has just received an offer of marriage from 'Mr Watts' and it is the 'first' Mary has ever had. This suggests that was not uncommon for young women to receive many offers of marriage. In Jane Austen's time there was no real way for young women of the 'genteel' classes to strike out on their own or be independent, the real purpose of life was marriage. Jane Austen was herself seventeen years old when she wrote the story, and therefore only just entering onto the marriage market. Along with the fact

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Compare The Awakening to Madame Bovary

Compare The Awakening to Madame Bovary Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary are both tales of women indignant with their domestic situations; the distinct differences between the two books can be found in the authors' unique tones. Both authors weave similar themes into their writings such as, the escape from the monotony of domestic life, dissatisfaction with marital expectations and suicide. References to "fate" abound throughout both works. In The Awakening, Chopin uses fate to represent the expectations of Edna Pontellier's aristocratic society. Flaubert uses "fate" to portray his characters' compulsive methods of dealing with their guilt and rejecting of personal accountability. Both authors, however seem to believe that it is fate that oppresses these women; their creators view them subjectively, as if they were products of their respective environments. Chopin portrays Edna as an object, and she receives only the same respect as a possession. Edna's husband sees her as and looks, "...at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage." (P 2 : The Awakening) Chopin foils their marriage in that of the Ratignolles who, "...understood each other perfectly." She makes the classic mistake of comparing one's insides with others' outsides when she thinks, "If ever the fusion of two human begins

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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In "Emma" Jane Austen presents a picture of an inward looking community, limited in outlook. Does this view fit with your reading of the novel?

Romi Verstappen In "Emma" Jane Austen presents a picture of an inward looking community, limited in outlook. Does this view fit with your reading of the novel? In Jane Austen's novel "Emma", the purpose of the limited setting is to demonstrate life as it would be in Highbury around the same time as Austen was writing the novel(around 1815). The setting mostly refers to the period that is set in the novel as well as the place. However, Jane Austen's main concern in the novel was to express social convention, an aspect of life which would have a major affect on the characters in the novel. In "Emma", the setting for the novel is a 'large and prosperous village' called Highbury, and it is supposed to be situated 16 miles from London and 9 miles from Richmond in Surrey. Emma and her father live on the edge of this village in what is unquestionably its Principal house, named Hartfield. "Emma" is set in a very fixed environment; practically the entire story is set in the village and a small surrounding area. Although Austen focuses on one small community and is limited in outlook I don't think this is a negative point. It is this small community displayed in the novel that allows Austen to focus on certain relationships and develop them to the reader in more detail. Therefore the novel is microcosmic as even though it is focusing on a small community it tells us about how

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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"'Frau Brechenmacher' is a cry against the stupidity and brutality of men and the women who support arrangements through sentimentality or weakness; it is written with feminist rage." Do you agree with the above quote? Discuss.

"'Frau Brechenmacher' is a cry against the stupidity and brutality of men and the women who support arrangements through sentimentality or weakness; it is written with feminist rage." Do you agree with the above quote? Discuss. I do not fully agree that 'Frau Brechenmacher' was written with feminist rage. The suppression of woman and the dominance of men had always appeared in most of Mansfield's writings. However in her biography it has been stated that she does not view herself as a feminist. I think 'Frau Brechenmacher' is more of a psychological exploration of women who let men deny them of independent roles and a reminder as well of what is lost once a woman is married. Also, being that the story was set in Germany, we have to take in the account that women, socially and culturally, were viewed and expected to be nothing more then an extension of the men they were with and were primarily viewed just as objects in the German society. Throughout the story, Mansfield reveals with clarity, how the men completely dominates the women. The opening paragraph of the story immediately gives us a sense of Frau Brechenmacher's strict household. There is also a sense of rush or hectic as she 'runs over [Herr Brechenmacher's] best shirt with hot iron' and prepares the rest of his uniform. The mentioning of uniform in the first paragraph, paints a picture of a military structure in

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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"Discuss the development of Mr Knightly's character in chapters 1-30 - Is he a man of my mystery, or is he a straight forward man?"

"Discuss the development of Mr Knightly's character in chapters 1-30 - Is he a man of my mystery, or is he a straight forward man?" Helen Mullis 12FA Mr George Knightly is one of the principle characters in "Emma" by Jane Austen. He is a good friend of the Woodhouses' and consequently he appears in much of the novel. We know quite a lot of the facts about Mr. Knightly reasonably early in the novel. For example, he is a wealthy gentleman of thirty-seven years, unattached matrimonially, whose brother, John, is married to Isabella, Emma's sister. John is a Lawyer and lives in London with his rather large family. Mr Knightly, being the eldest of the two brothers, has inherited the estate at Donwell Abbey, which neighbours Highbury. He also has the most consequential circumstances of anybody in the novel. These are indisputable facts about Mr. Knightly; they do not change throughout the course of chapters 1-30. What does change however, is the way the reader perceives Mr Knightly. This is inevitable with the progression of any novel and, it is also fair to add that the reader does not need to alter their view of Mr Knightly as much as other characters - Frank Churchill, for example. Mr Knightly is one of the first characters the reader meets, as he appears in chapter one. This is the night of Mr Weston and Miss Taylor's wedding where he walks to Hartfield to pay a visit, even

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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"Discuss two chapters in which Emma(TM)s emotions and thoughts are used to engage readers"

"Discuss two chapters in which Emma's emotions and thoughts are used to engage readers." "Emma", by Jane Austen, is an example of the literary style "bildungsroman", which is a novel focusing on the self-improvement and knowledge-gaining of a character. Austen's eponymous heroine Emma Woodhouse must undergo a series of life-altering experiences in order to become more knowledgeable about the world around her, and also gain more understanding of herself. This is done through a series of crisis and hard-hitting aftermaths. Chapter 16 is the first "traumatic aftermath" which Emma finds herself experiencing. After the shocking ordeal the same evening with Mr. Elton announcing his being in love with her, Emma sits down to "think and be miserable" while pondering on what has happened, and what will happen next. The opening paragraph is an expression of Emma's agitated emotional turmoil. The short phrases broken up with dashes and exclamation marks indicate her disturbed, irrational thought pattern. This engages readers in her activities because we empathise with her in wondering what she can possibly do to resolve the situation. This chapter can be called Emma's "Nadir", the lowest emotional frame of mind she has encountered so far. However, it is clearly a key moment in her bildungsroman enlightenment. For the first time, Emma seems to see things clearly. She has the dawn of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Discuss how Jane Austen presents Emma in chapter twenty four and at one other point in the novel?

Discuss how Jane Austen presents Emma in chapter twenty four and at one other point in the novel? The two chapters that I am going to be looking at are chapter sixteen and twenty four. Chapter sixteen fits into the novel on the whole as the first time Emma has to deal with something that has vexed her. Chapter twenty four on the other hand we learn further about how Emma's "fancy" has created a story about Jane Fairfax. Before these chapters, it is established that Emma is "handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition......with very little to distress or vex her". Furthermore we learn that Emma is in the class of the gentry and lives in Hartfield which intern due to society beliefs at the time encourage her to believe that her status makes her right all the time. We also find out that Emma follows her heart rather then her head, using her fancy rather then her intellect. This is shown when she tries to match make Harriet and Mr Elton which fails due to Mr Elton actually being interested in her. Furthermore Emma possesses "the power of having rather to much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself". This quote from third person narration which is one of the key devices from the novel foreshadows that from this point on things will likely not go her way. Chapter sixteen is written mainly in free indirect thoughts that

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Austen wrote that Pride and Prejudice is too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants shade. How far and In what ways do you agree with Austens view of her own novel?

Austen wrote that Pride and Prejudice 'is too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants shade'. How far and In what ways do you agree with Austen's view of her own novel? Austen believed that Pride and Prejudice was 'too light, and bright' and said it needed to be 'stretched' out with 'long paragraphs of sense'. Indeed others have taken the view that Pride and Prejudice is nothing more than a comedy and a pretty love story. For example in his 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright focuses hugely on the love and the humour arguably removing any 'shade'. It can be considered that some characters have no function other than to be caricatures. They are there to poke fun at society and provide humour. For example Mary, whose every action is exaggerated and shown to be lacking. 'Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how' here the 'very' makes her desire seem childish by accentuating it and combined with her inability 'knew not how' completely undermines her intelligence. Both the narrator and the characters mock Mary suggesting there is no real substance to her, 'what say you Mary? For you are a young lady of deep reflection I know.' The fact that Austen mocks Mary in the form of the omniscient narrator is telling, as Eaglestone says, 'even the omniscient narrator is a character' guiding us as to how we should perceive each character and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The two characters of Ruby and Ada are brought to the reader of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier as an example of the strange and illogical way

Examine how Frazier portrays Ruby and Ada in the chapters you have read so far. Focus on the way he presents the contrast between these two women. The two characters of Ruby and Ada are brought to the reader of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier as an example of the strange and illogical way in which people were thrown together in times of desperation and uncertainty such as the American Civil War. The reader is enthralled as these two women find in each other the qualities to soothe their needs and for Ada, gain the appropriate education which is crucial in order for her even to survive. Frazier uses the relationship built between these two characters to impel the reader into feeling and understanding the desperation and hardships faced by the characters at the time of the novel and the utter importance of knowing nature and the workings of the natural world. The contrast between the two women is evident from the beginning of the novel from their individual appearances through to their motivations, priorities, life experiences and status economically and socially. It is however, the common drive, the need to survive, that brings Ruby and Ada together and Frazier uses this strange union to explore many intriguing themes and ideas. We are first introduced to Ada in chapter two of the novel as she 'sat on the porch of the house' writing a letter to her beloved Inman. An

  • Word count: 1474
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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