The impact of bombing during WWII

"Of course, the air raids caused much suffering and hardship. In the long term, however, the raids strengthened national unity and reduced the differences between people. The people believed that by showing that they 'could take it'; they were on the way to winning the war. (A.J.P Taylor English History 1914-1945 1965) In your opinion, are the views expressed by A.J.P Taylor about the impact of bombing justified? To come to a suitable opinion on the accuracy of A.J.P's statement I will have to pick out the main points he makes about suffering and hardship, national unity, they can take it and the reduced differences between people, and compare his comments to other sources that both agree and disagree with him. During World War 2 cities particularly industrial centres including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Coventry, Liverpool, Swansea and many others were bombed from the air by the German special air force the Luftwaffe in air raids known as the Blitz. The bombing in 1940 was most intense in a period called the battle of Britain where the Germans decided to concentrate all their efforts in destroying British morale and our industry and military bases. Hitler intended to dissolve the positive outlook many Britons had stubbornly sustained and crumble the unity of the country in 'total war' by bringing the devastation and suffering of war to their doorsteps,

  • Word count: 6982
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Shakespeare uses this theme of different kinds of love to show the many different situations that can arise from these different kinds of love, and henceforth lead the audience to think deeper and ponder upon the wonders of the different kinds of love....

Discuss the different kinds of love presented in the play. Twelfth Night, in itself, portrays many hidden meanings and themes that speak out to different people, in different ways. Shakespeare makes use of the many characters, and choreographs different steps and creates relationships and the plot, and sub-plot, to make Twelfth Night complete, with its many themes. One of the central messages of this play is prominently, love. With this main theme, Shakespeare creates an interesting plot and sub-plot, to entertain, and also provoke his audience to think hard, and allow them to decide for themselves, which kind of love is one that they would choose in their own lives. Different kinds of love, such as in love with the idea of love, imaginary love, self-indulgent love, self-love, or true, sacrificial love are displayed in this play. Shakespeare uses this theme of different kinds of love to show the many different situations that can arise from these different kinds of love, and henceforth lead the audience to think deeper and ponder upon the wonders of the different kinds of love. "What you will", could probably be speaking out to the audience as well, to carefully think about which type of love impresses upon them most, and allow the audience to choose for themselves, what applies to them the most. One of the main types of love portrayed would be romantic love. Romantic

  • Word count: 6979
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare and contrast 2 or more anthologies. Consider the principles and preferences which seem to underlie the compilers selections, and the purposes which the book might serve for specific readers.

Compare and contrast 2 or more anthologies. Consider the principles and preferences which seem to underlie the compilers selections, and the purposes which the book might serve for specific readers. Poetry is very powerful and can create a range of emotions and enrich our lives. Poems can be there to help us through difficult times, to make us laugh, cry, reminisce or just entertain us. The value of poetry is endless. I am going to discuss 2 anthologies- Wendy Copes 'heaven on earth, 101 happy poems' and Andrew Motions 'Here To Eternity'. Both are highlighting the impact that poetry can have on our lives. I will look at the selection of poems, and will discuss a few in detail. Since becoming Poet Laureate in 1999, Andrew Motion has been tireless in his efforts to raise the profile of poetry. In his anthology he has brought together a wide range of poems, exemplifying his belief that, if we let it poetry has a unique power to enrich our lives as it diversifies them. The poems have been arranged in ten sections: Self, home, town, work, land, love, travel, war, belief and space. Although the poems are about these subjects they are about much more and can reflect many of the other topics in the sections as well as deepening the readers understanding of life and the world. This is reinforced by the title - 'here to eternity' it suggests that the world is much bigger than

  • Word count: 6877
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Scene by scene analysis of "Equus"

Romany Watkins (Act 01 – Scene 01) This scene indicates us a first overview about the psychiatrist Dysart. The scene is a monologue of Dysart, in what he thinks about the boy and the horse. Here you can understand that Dysart wants to find the problem of the horse, or what Sun 12:12 Romany Watkins (Act 01 – Scene 01) This scene indicates us a first overview about the psychiatrist Dysart. The scene is a monologue of Dysart, in what he thinks about the boy and the horse. Here you can understand that Dysart wants to find the problem of the horse, or what is wrong in the horse, that Alan did the crime. But Dysart's main problem is he cannot understand the horse's head - "a horse's head is finally unknowable to me". He only handled children's heads. Scene 1 delivers insight into the whole story and about the exercise that Dysart has to do. (Act 01 – Scene 02) In scene 2 Hesther is coming to Dysart because of an urgent concern. Entering the room Dysart welcomes her with a kiss on her cheek. So what kind of relationship do they have, is not clear but it seems that they have a strong and close relation. Hesther tells him the problem with the boy Alan Strang. He would be going to prison if nobody helped him. Dysart is not interested in this case and tells her that he has enough patients. Hester goes on telling him the story of this boy and what the boy is about and

  • Word count: 6825
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

From the pre-1914 selection, choose two poems that show different attitudes towards war and soldiers - Give an account of each poem showing the contrasting ideas of the poets - Show how language is used to effect.

Poetry Assignment From the pre-1914 selection, choose two poems that show different attitudes towards war and soldiers. Give an account of each poem showing the contrasting ideas of the poets. Show how language is used to effect. I have chosen to base my assignment on two poems, called 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'The Hyaenas.' I have chosen to study these two poems because they have completely different opinions on war and soldiers. One focuses on the negative side of war and the other on the positive side. I think that this will make it more interesting to study and also fits in perfectly with what has been assigned for me to do. The Charge of the Light Brigade The Crimean War took place in 1854 when Nicholas I was the emperor of Russia. The War came about because Nicholas claimed that he had the right to protect all the Christians in the lands ruled by Turkey. The Sultan of Turkey was encouraged by the British Ambassador to refuse any interference with his empire, resulting in a War. The War was not very well managed at all. The armies, who were sent to attack Russia, went without enough food supplies or clothing to protect them from the winter cold. There were also no proper arrangements made to care for the sick and wounded. The situation continued to decline and the Allies' transport system broke down. Urgently needed stores were left rotting on the shore.

  • Word count: 6821
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The Battle of the Somme 1916

The Battle of the Somme 1916: Coursework Assignment ) What can you learn from Source A about what life was like in the trenches during the Great War? Source A's provenance tells us that it is a secondary, written text taken from a book about trench warfare. The book was written by an English historian and published in 1976. This suggests that the text is about the allied experience and that it was for a British audience. It must also be noted that the date is 60 years after the war, or more precisely, the Somme. It can be considered that the book was published in significance to the 60th anniversary to the Somme. The length of the text also suggests that it is just an introduction and therefore not as much detail would be given. The tone of the source is informative and quite downbeat. After reading it, it seems as if trench life was mostly manual labour: ''Inspections, guard duty and work detail took up most of the day.'' Although this statement was most likely true for some days, it was probably different and livelier when the troops were attacking or being attacked. The text does not imply that trench life was very lively or dangerous but describes a quiet day for a soldier, giving small details of how they adjusted from a normal life to trench life: ''...breakfast was cooked and the troops washed and shaved as best they could.'' However, it does hint that the night

  • Word count: 6713
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Critical Analysis of Huckleberry Fin

American Literature Critical Analysis of Huckleberry Finn Marina Pindar In outlawing reading for motive, moral, and plot, the notice proleptically--if unsuccessfully--attempts to ward off what in fact has become an unquestioned assumption behind most interpretations of Huckleberry Finn, namely, the premise that the text affords a critique of its extraliterary context by inveighing against the inequities of racism. In Mark Twain: The Fate of Humor James M. Cox analyzes why such readings of the novel are problematic. His contention, anomalous with respect to Mark Twain criticism in general, is that the novel mounts an attack against conscience, specifically the conscience of the moral reader. He locates this attack in the last ten chapters of the novel--the famous Phelps farm episode--and maintains that the discomfort and disapproval readers feel about Tom's cruelty toward Jim stems from their own identification with Tom: If the reader sees in Tom's performance a rather shabby and safe bit of play, he is seeing no more than the exposure of the approval with which he watched Huck operate. For if Tom is rather contemptibly setting a free slave free, what after all is the reader doing, who begins the book after the fact of the Civil War? . . . when Tom proclaims to the assembled throng who have witnessed his performance that Jim

  • Word count: 6687
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

of mice and men

Chapter 1 The novel begins near the Salinas River, south of Soledad in the California valley. The Gabilan Mountains rise up on one side and drop to valleys on the other. The river and its banks are alive with animals and plants. A path leads to the banks of the river, and the two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small, follow this path to the river. While George is small with sharp features, Lennie is a big man with rounded features. He drags his feet when he walks, following George step for step. They are on their way to a job at a nearby ranch, and their ride has left them several miles away. It is hot and they are tired from the walk. Topic Tracking: Landscape 1 Topic Tracking: Animal (Lennie as an animal) 1 When the two men reach the water, Lennie falls to his knees and takes a long drink. George gets angry with him for drinking so fast from water that might not be good. Lennie's action and this exchange show his mental retardation. When George sits down, Lennie imitates him exactly. And when George starts to complain about how their ride left them so far from their destination, Lennie has to ask George where they are going because he can't remember. George, annoyed, reminds Lennie about where they got their jobs and their work cards, and Lennie looks in his pocket for his. Certain Lennie would lose it, George did not let him keep his card. But Lennie does

  • Word count: 6576
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Consider atmosphere and setting in the 19th century stories you have read, and discuss how the authors have created fear and atmosphere.

English Coursework Consider atmosphere and setting in the 19th century stories you have read, and discuss how the authors have created fear and atmosphere. I am going to discuss how three Gothic stories written by authors in the19th century create fear and atmosphere. The three stories which I will be considering are The Monkeys Paw, by WW Jacobs, The Body Snatchers, by Robert Louis Stevenson and also The Signal Man, by Charles Dickens. The gothic genre was very popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries and was a very fashionable aspect of lives in that era. Almost all gothic stories included similar aspects which made the atmosphere spooky and scary. Most gothic stories included elements such as grave yards and dead bodies creating a sense of death and killing of people. The weather in gothic stories is often the kind that scares you for example thunderstorms, fog and almost all gothic stories are set in the dark of the night. Some gothic stories may include a supernatural aspect, curses, spells, wishes, ghosts , this was very popular in this era because the Victorians were very in touch with the supernatural side of their lives and believed strongly in the presence of ghosts and life after death. Gothic stories would usually include elements of surprise and realism to make the story more believable. A gothic story will always be full of suspense and tension to make the

  • Word count: 6559
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

How do Politicians gain support through language? AQA English coursework

How do Politicians gain support through language? Word Count: 6262 INTRODUCTION Politics is concerned with power, and the language that politicians use reflects their craving for it. Through language politicians hope to make decisions that will influence other people's behaviour and even their values. Power can be gained in many ways, in a dictatorship by force, in a democracy through law, or often a much more successful technique; through the power of persuasion. This method is often found in political speeches, and is used to coerce people into embracing a politician's goals. Much background reading was done into politics and the English language, including "The Language of Politics" by Adrian Beard and George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language", in order to gain a deeper insight into this distinct style of language. "The Language of Politics" highlights the different stances that political parties may take e.g. left or right wing, and this is often reflected in the politician's speeches. Left wing parties such as Labour are often socialist or radical groups, and right wing parties, such as the Conservatives are often conservative or nationalist. Both types of party have very different values. Beard also points out some of the techniques that politicians use in speeches in order to be persuasive. For example: metaphors, contrastive pairs and tripartite

  • Word count: 6367
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay