Equiano, the Free Man.

Ashley Abboud Dr. Keegan English Literature II 5 December 2002 Equiano, the Free Man Black Trans-Atlantic writers tend to be placed into three categories such as American, British or African. Many of these authors fit nicely into such categories, and would believe that Equiano is just another African author. There in lies a problem, his writings do not reflect an African mentality, Equiano has made a category for himself, authors of the "free" category. In his autobiography, as do many other black Trans-Atlantic authors, he writes about the trouble and troubles faced in slavery. This is not the central motif of his autobiography, but rather a record of his work to earn his freedom. Through Equiano's narrative The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, this essay will illustrate Equiano's desire to be in a category all his own. His curiosity with the "white magic," helps him forge relationships with men aboard the ship and aids in his persual of education. Another aspect that gains Equiano freedom is his education which makes him a viable person in the "European world." His ability to trade and be trusted, gains him the money to buy his freedom. His inclusion of the letter of manumission at the end of his narrative, symbolizes his idea of earned freedom. Finally the title alone speaks for itself. These instances through interpretation, argue

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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Duffy obviously takes the figure of Miss Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations. But the question then is: why? to what effect? what, in this pre-existing figure, presents itself as an opportunity for the writer? how is Duffy's figure different fro...

Duffy obviously takes the figure of Miss Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations. But the question then is: why? to what effect? what, in this pre-existing figure, presents itself as an opportunity for the writer? how is Duffy's figure different from Dickens's? One simple thing: The title is Havisham, rather than Miss Havisham - which is how the character is always referred to throughout Great Expectations. Why, to what effect? Perhaps Miss defines the character socially - whereas the poem concentrates on the nature of the character's individual feelings - the character's psychological/sexual nature, rather than her social being. The absence of the formal title also makes the 'feel' of the poem blunter, more simply there, perhaps. Duffy's poem gives Miss Havisham a body, a knot of desires which Dickens does not attempt. beloved sweetheart bastard The poem begins as if addressed to the jilting bridegroom. It doesn't continue in this direct address - by the end of the poem the male figure will have become a male corpse - any male (generalised), and radically rendered into an object (no longer even alive). The most striking thing about the first sentence is the combination of 'love' (beloved sweetheart) and hatred (bastard). Dickens's character is motivated by revenge alone - against the male sex in general. Duffy is interested in the unstable combination of desire

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Violence in A Clockwork Orange

Violence in A Clockwork Orange Remind yourself of Chapter 2 of Part II of A Clockwork Orange. (i) How does Burgess present violence in this chapter? This chapter is unusually short; it is probably the shortest in the book. And yet the violence that takes place in the chapter is extremely graphic. It seems more intense because it is concentrated in two ways: firstly, it is limited by the more obvious confines of the prison cell walls; but secondly, it is confined in a metaphorical sense within the "walls" of a very small chapter. Therefore one would expect the chapter to be weak. But instead Burgess manages to cram every shocking image into a small space, concentrating the violence into one large, disturbing image. Scenes are described such as "the Wall fisted his rot" and "a horrorshow kick on the gulliver". These are nothing special when compared to some of the actions of the previous chapters. But what makes the entire scene stick in the reader's mind is how complete the description of it is. Added to the images are the descriptions of sounds, such as "oh oh oh " and "the new plenny creeched". Furthermore is the vivid and widespread use of the colour red: there are the usual copious amounts of "dripping red krovvy"; and the entire scene is cast in an ominous blood-like glow from the "red light from the landing", which almost sounds like a filming technique, even though

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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A prequel to 'Of Mice and Men' - Drawn together.

Drawn together Dawn had barely passed when the playful sounds of laughing and splashing filled the air by a small river in Auburn. The sun streaked heavily through the crispy remains of the last leaves in autumn. It was just cold enough to see your breath floating away in front of you like a tiny silver cloud. The sudden sound of a loud shout encouraged many resting birds to fling them selves noisily from the huge birch trees; causing a shower of autumn leaves to rain upon two fifteen year old boys. "Hey, hey George, I caught one George, I got one of these here lil' fish!" "That's great Lennie, just put um' in the bag." "Okay George I will, I'll put um' right in the bag, and we can take um' home to your ma' and my aunt Clara." With that the tall, broad fifteen year old boy plunged himself towards the sunken river bank, where an old brown shoulder bag lay; half empty with glistening autumn salmon flopping every few seconds as they slowly dried up. On the other side of the river there was another boy of about the same age. He was much smaller than Lennie but average for his age. He had dark features and was sprawled slovenly across a blue and red woollen rug with an aimed slingshot in his dirty hands; ready to shoot a small pebble at the other boy, Lennie. He slowly pulled back the elastic trigger and followed Lennie with one eye closed. He let the elastic go and watched

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Critical Analysis of Soldier's Home

Kevin Davis English 12 CP Mrs. Connie Newcomb March 25, 2002 Critical Analysis of Soldier's Home Ernest Hemingway uses his life as a setting in his short story "Soldier's Home". Although this is not considered an autobiography, it certainly contains some relevance to Hemingway's life and can be interpreted many ways. "Soldier's Home" is a story about a young man, Harold Krebs, who returns home from World War 1 in a time in which the country was to "return to normalcy." His relationship with his family is increasingly deteriorates, he cannot adapt to the changes that have taken place in his community, and he cannot leave the tragic events of the war behind him. Hemingway grew up in very much the same way, and when a writer can write about his/her personal experiences, the emotions and creativity are expressed vividly. In "Soldier's Home," Hemingway creates an emotional, somewhat autobiographical look at a young soldier returning to society from war. Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899 into an upper-middle class family. His childhood was not traumatic, but as he grew older, his hostility towards his father and mother increased. He saw his father as a "weak and ineffectual" (#87) man, and his mother as "strict and domineering" (#87). He entered World War 1 as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross in Italy at the beginning of the United States'

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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
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While Heathcliff and Edgar act as foils for one another, it is more useful to consider their function in the novel as individuals. Discuss

While Heathcliff and Edgar act as foils for one another, it is more useful to consider their function in the novel as individuals. In the novel, if Heathcliff is to be considered the primary protagonist, then Edgar is the primary antagonist. Heathcliff's greatest desire is Catherine and the main obstacle that stands in his way is Edgar who, with his greater wealth and higher social status manages to keep her out of his reach. There is therefore a great connection between these two characters which could be explored in great detail; but is it more useful to consider them as two separate entities in the novel, with their other connections having greater importance? When viewed together it can be claimed that as the reader we understand the characters more clearly when they are contrasted against each other. Bronte has set up a possible juxtaposition between Heathcliff and Edgar as it allows the reader to gage the extremities of the two men who are, in many respects polar opposites. This is evident in the most immediate of ways: physical appearance. There is an instant difference in the "long light hair" of Edgar whose figure is "almost too graceful" to the face of Heathcliff that is "half covered with black whiskers" with eyes "deep set and singular". Further and possibly more useful comparisons include the gulfs in class and wealth of the two men. This is obviously an

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  • 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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"'We Need to Talk About Kevin' presents us with unsympathetic characters who nevertheless attract our sympathy." To what extent do you agree with this judgement?

"We Need to Talk About Kevin presents us with unsympathetic characters who nevertheless attract our sympathy." To what extent do you agree with this judgement? In the novel we are presented with three characters who are potentially unsympathetic, but who do seem also to attract our sympathy: Eva, Kevin and Franklin. The epistolary nature of the novel strongly influences our perception of the characters - we can only see them through Eva. The reader is not the intended audience for these letters and thus finds themselves baffled by such images as "But since we've been separated, I may most miss coming home to deliver the narrative curiosities of my day, the way a cat might lay mice at your feet: the small, humble offerings that couples proffer after foraging in separate backyards" - this is not aimed at us but based on a shared experience or private joke that Eva and Franklin would understand and is therefore frustrating. Eva's use of sophisticated vocabulary is potentially irritating because it comes across as pretentious, but the detached tone this creates is in fact rather admirable - it allows her to avoid self-pity: for example, when talking of the poor heating in her "Tinkertoy duplex" she says "awareness that there is no reserve permeates my ablutions with disquiet". She also refuses to give Kevin the recognition he wants for "Thursday" ("The atrocity sounds torn

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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