Discuss the view that The Great Gatsby and 1984 concern the attempt of an impossible idealism to realise itself in a grossly materialistic world.

Discuss the view that The Great Gatsby and 1984 concern the attempt of an impossible idealism to realise itself in a grossly materialistic world. What was it that finally brought Gatsby down? The title to this novel seems odd in relation to the way he finally passed: the "great" Gatsby killed over one woman's death, for which he accepted all blame even though he was innocent. His final demise could be credited to a dream that had soured, though he was so infatuated with achieving a long-desired aspiration that he would do anything to secure it. His dream of course was Daisy. Similarly the character Winston smith, the main protagonist in George Orwell's '1984' ultimately sacrifices himself for a similar cause, an unattainable longing for freedom and the love of a woman, both novels share a common theme that is a society where social class takes all precedence. The greatest idealism within The Great Gatsby is the pursuit of happiness and dreams. Gatsby having been so desperate to achieve his dream that he placed every ounce of his effort into building himself into a strong economic and social figure. The pursuit of this dream and the effect that it had upon him as a driving force and to have created and achieved as much as he did, shows the power of aspiration. However, this novel grows to be especially hedonistic in its portrayal of life, as it seems as though the majority

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How far do you agree that Jane Austens novel Pride and Prejudice is no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society and its trivial doings?

How far do you agree that Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' is 'no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society and its trivial doings'? In 'Pride and Prejudice there certainly is a great deal of comedy, and will appeal to many readers for what Claire Tomalin calls 'its good-humoured comedy, its sunny heroine, its dream denouement'. The two main characters appear to be part of what Vivien Jones calls a typical 'rags-to-riches love story', maintaining happiness after a series of vicissitudes, which might incline readers to think it rather superficial. The critic talks about the surface trivia of Austen's society, which seems to comprise only of balls, scarlet coats and Muslin gowns, but she probes beneath the surface of her society, and concerns herself with the real confinement of the lives of women in her period. Jane Austen explores how women were victims of a patriarchal society, by presenting the unfairness of the entail. She presents Mr. Collins as a fool, by bluntly stating through the critical objective narrative that he 'was not a sensible man'. By this we see that it is ridiculous that such an imbecile should be able to turn out the two rational sisters Jane and Elizabeth from their own home, since should they not be married they could be facing the same options as Jane Fairfax in Austen's 'Emma', left to 'the governess trade', with it's

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Summary of "Critical period effects in second language learning - The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language", by Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L. Newport,

Psychology of Human Development 3054, Section 5014F 9 October 2001 Summary of "Critical Period Effects in Second Language Learning: The Influence of Maturational State on the Acquisition of English as A Second Language", by Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L. Newport, Published by Cognitive Psychology in 1989, pages 60-99. The original paper attempts to focus on whether or not the ability to adopt a second language, namely English, also lies within a certain designated period which defines the period for first language acquirement as well. Johnson and Newport attempted to modify Lenneberg's definition of the original critical period (mentioned below) into two versions: "The exercise hypothesis and The maturational state hypothesis". The first version implies that the attainment of a native language needs to be rehearsed during a period in early life and the ability will decrease with age. However, once this has been accomplished, the attainment of a second language is quite feasible at any point during the person's lifetime. The second version implies that full native or even multiple language attainment abilities are present only during an early period of life and if this period is not utilized, learning of any language decreases with age. The hypotheses tested mainly focused on the effects of age on second language attainment. Two studies were done on immigrants

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The Color Purple

English Essay The color purple Extract - 142 - 143 In this extract, Nettie is the first person narrator. She is writing to Celie from the Olinka encampment. She describes a lot of the Olinka's beliefs and attitudes, as well as telling Celie about her relations with Corrine, and the children. She also describes the setting, she tells Celie about the hut, and the camp. One major idea presented in the novel is the idea of sisterhood. In this extract, sisterhood is illustrated between Nettie and Corrine; however, the extract does not emphasize the common view of women's attitudes at the time, and how they should stick together, but rather demonstrates the breakdown of this sisterly relationship, because of jealousy, one emotion that destroys bonds between women throughout the novel. Corrine is clearly bothered by Nettie, and the way she spends time with Samuel, and how the Olinka people see Nettie as Samuels's wife as well as Corrine, following their beliefs of polygamy. Another thing bothering Corrine is how the children look so much like Nettie, the Olinka think they are Netties. So jealousy breaks down the relationship, and this is illustrated by dialogue. Corrine confronts Nettie, and tells her they should call each other sisters, they should not borrow each others clothes, and the children can't call her 'Mama Nettie'. Nettie tells us she is bothered by this, but does

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Analyse how Seamus Heaney uses language to convey his childhood experiences to the reader in his poems

Analyse how Seamus Heaney uses language to convey his childhood experiences to the reader in his poems "Death of a Naturalist" and "Blackberry Picking." Both poems are similar in their content as they are both written by Seamus Heaney about his childhood experiences. I also believe that both his experiences have a similar content. In "Death of a Naturalist" we find that the poem is about being out in fields collecting frogspawn. In "Blackberry Picking" the poet is speaking again about his childhood experiences in the fields. This time he is collecting blackberries. This is similar to "Death if a Naturalist" as it is in the wild at a young age enjoying nature. The titles are not so similar; "Death of a Naturalist" is a symbolic title. The title is not literal, no one actually dies in the poem. The death is of the way the poet feels about the frogs. In the first verse the poet feels for the frogs but in the second verse he almost fears them. "Blackberry Picking" on the other hand is not a symbolic title it is literal. In the poem the poet goes blackberry picking and this is explained in the title. Although the title could be considered symbolic also as perhaps the simplicity of the title portrays the simplicity and innocence of the child's mind. The mood between the two poems is also very similar. In "Death of a Naturalist" the mood changes between the two verses. In the

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HOW DOES FITZGERALD TELL THE STORY IN CHAPTER 1 OF THE GREAT GATSBY?

"HOW DOES FITZGERALD TELL THE STORY IN CHAPTER 1 OF 'THE GREAT GATSBY'?" The opening chapter of any novel is fundamental in setting the tone for that which follows it: Fitzgerald therefore ensures that the first chapter of the 'The Great Gatsby' firmly imprints certain key themes into the mind of the reader, using a variety of devices to do so. The very first thing that Fitzgerald makes clear to the reader is the perspective from which the novel will be presented. From the first sentence, it is plain that there is a first person narrator, meaning that the narration will opinionated and cannot be taken as fact. The narrator is a man called Nick Carraway, and the first thing the reader learns about him is something which his father told him when he was younger, which he has been "turning over in (his) mind ever since" (i.e. something essential to our understanding of his views and actions: a core part of his psyche). This turns out be his father telling him that "all the people in the world haven't had the advantages that (he has) had". As a consequence of this advice, Nick tells is, he has always been "inclined to reserve all judgements", showing the reader that he will not tend to present his views on a person before he has had a chance to learn more about them. This appears to make him an ideal narrator for a story, because all of his views will be given after

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Critical Commentary - Mariana

Critical Commentary Mariana 'Mariana', written by Lord Alfred Tennyson - a poet of the romanticist era - revolves around one character only who awaits the arrival of her renegade lover who never arrives: Mariana. She is alluded to the character of the same name and demeanour in Shakespeare's play 'Measure for Measure'. The simplistic title consisting of only the character's name suggests that she is indeed the main subject of the poem. It begins with an epigraph, 'Mariana in the moated grange', taken from the aforementioned Shakespeare play. The epigraph offers the readers a glimpse of what is to come in the poem, and it does shed light on the fact that Mariana is an isolated figure (physically so, because she is surrounded by a moat) on a dilapidated grange. The concept of a dilapidated grange is emphasised in the first eight lines of the poem. The first line paints a picture of a dark, gloomy surrounding, as 'blackest moss' suggests. Not only is there moss, but also it is black. The colour black often connotes evil and strange nightly mysterious deeds. It 'thickly crust[ed]' the flower-plots, suggesting a long time has passed since the garden and the house was tended to, as does 'rusted nails'. Tennyson also describes the 'unlifted' clinking latch, therefore suggestive of the fact that nobody has entered or been out of the house for a considerable length of time.

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Walker's presentation of Sofia and Harpo.

English essay Walker's presentation of Sofia and Harpo Alice walker uses a variety of techniques to present the characters of Sofia and Harpo during page 60 of 'The Color Purple'. I will be exploring a number of lexical, grammatical and phonological choices, as well as other techniques, in the order they appear in the letter and will be discussing how these can lead to the development of attitudes and values. The introduction to the Sofia and Harpo relationship shows the reversal of the fixed stereotype perpetuated by other couples in the novel that a man should lead and a woman should follow. Previous letters depict Harpo as the feminine, subservient man, "...crying like his heart gon break." While Sofia is much the dominant figure in the way she is "marching" like "going to war". In not conforming to the basic male-female stereotypes we see Sofia "working on the roof" while Harpo is happy to "hold the baby" and "give it a kiss". However, once Harpo sees that he is losing face he begins to eat gluttonously as he believes that physical strength leads to power. Although this gluttony could in fact be comfort eating and so is associated with his feminine image. Harpo's need for control then extends to the bedroom, where Sofia says "once he git on top of me I think bout how that's where he always want to be." The situation here - as well as the previously accumulating

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A critical appreciation of 'to my mother' by George Baker.

Sonnet To My Mother Most near, most dear, most loved, and most far, Under the huge window where I often found her Sitting as huge as Asia, seismic with laughter, Gin and chicken helpless in her Irish hand, Irresistible as Rabelais but most tender for The lame dogs and hurt birds that surround her,- She is a procession no one can follow after But be like a little dog following a brass band. She will not glance up at the bomber or condescend To drop her gin and scuttle to a cellar, But lean on the mahogany table like a mountain Whom only faith can move, and so I send O all her faith and all my love to tell her That she will move from mourning into morning. George Barker A critical appreciation of 'to my mother' by George Baker This sonnet by George Baker is, as the title suggests, a tribute to his mother, evidently, at the time of the aerial bombardment of Britain by the Luftwaffe in the Blitz during the Second World War. The poet was then, apparently, living in a far distant part of the world, as he refers to his mother being 'most far'. This was probably some time between 1942 and 1943 when Baker was living in the U.S.A and Canada. The poet's intension is not only to pay tribute to his mother but, more specifically, as the poem is addressed 'to' her, to send her his love and expression of his firm belief that she will 'move' from 'mourning to morning', in

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"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke: Language, theme and treatment of the subject matter

"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke: Write a critical appreciation of the poem, paying special attention to the language, the theme and the treatment of the subject matter. "The Soldier" is an Italian sonnet written in iambic pentameter. It has an English rhyme scheme for the octave and an Italian rhyme scheme for the sestet. The sonnet is about a soldier's somewhat idealistic view of war of how people should not mourn for the dead of a war but instead be proud that they have done their country proud. The mood of the poem is blissful and reminiscent. The two main themes of the sonnet are about patriotism and war. At the beginning of the sonnet, the poet states that one should "think only this of me". The choice of the word "only" shows how the poet believes that the following is what is worth thinking about and that they should not bother about anything else concerning his death. This already shows how he ignores the fact about the cruelty of war and how he believes that personal loyalty to the country overrides everything else, even the losing of large numbers of young men's lives. In the next line, he writes about how, if he dies, there would be "some corner of a foreign field/ That is for ever England". The use of "corner" and "foreign" brings with it a sense that the area is hidden and insignificant and this makes the reader feel distant from that place. However, this

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