The English Patient
INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE PROFESORADO Nº 4 "ÁNGEL CÁRCANO" ENGLISH LITERATURE II THE ENGLISH PATIENT MICHAEL ONDAATJE "NATIONALITY AND IDENTITY" DEADLINE: 24/08/08 TEACHER: RAQUEL VARELA STUDENT: PAOLA MAREGA Nationhood - a constraint on people's identity and relationships The English Patient, written by Michael Ondaatje in 1992, is a historical-fiction novel, defined also as historiographic metafiction1. Its tone is "reflective and poetic" (Schonmuller, B., 2008:13) and one of its major themes is nationality and identity. The narrative is an account of the gradually revealed histories of four people living in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. The characters are the mysterious and critically burned English patient of the title, a Canadian army nurse called Hana, David Caravaggio, an Italian thief, and an Indian sapper, nicknamed Kip, belonging to the British Army. Each of them is far away from home, displaced by the war, and though they come from different and conflicting countries, they are able to live together in the villa and get on well in spite of their national and cultural differences. The English Patient focuses on the personal experiences of war of the four main characters, who have been deeply wounded by a conflict based on national divisions (Woodcock, J., 2006: 51). It also explores the effort of the characters, particularly that of the patient
Investigating how language has changed in children's literature; in relation to interaction between children and characters of authority in a boarding school setting.
Contents Contents Page Number Introduction 3 Hypothesis 3 Methodology 3 Initial description of 'The Doctor' 4 Initial description of 'Miss Loy' 4 Initial description of 'Miss Potts' 4 Initial description of 'Albus Dumbledore' 4 Discourse 5 Grammar 5 Semantics 7 Phonology 8 Graphology 9 Speech extract from Tom Brown's School Days 0 Speech extract from School Girl Chums 1 Speech extract from Malory Towers 1 Speech extract from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone 2 Comparison between extracts involving exchanges between lead characters, and characters of authority 2 Conclusion 5 References 6 List of Tables Table Number Name of Table Page Number Books chosen for comparison 3 2 Acknowledged frameworks 3 List of Figures Figure Number Name of Figure Page Number Comparison of sentence type in initial description of character 5 2 Number of adjectives in the initial description of character 7 3 Word count demonstrating conversation dominance 3 4 Number of adjectives in the speech exchange 4 Introduction Stories of children at boarding schools have always been a popular genre choice amongst both young and young adult readers. They emulate scenarios that children can identify with, more specifically the relationships between the students and their teachers/head teachers. As a result the language used
Language Aquisition Notes
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Theorists * Cognitive - Jean Piaget - can only understand lang when you understand concept (e.g. can talk in past tense when you know about time) * Behaviourist - Skinner learn through imitation - doesn't explain where new sentences come from * Nativist - Chomsky - Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - works out what is/isn't acceptable lang use using innate programmed patterns (which are general). exact rules learnt through trial and error. His theory supports the fact that children around the world seem to develop at a similar pace, irrespective of race/culture/mother tongue. (This also 'defies' Skinner's model) Also, the fact that there is a universal grammar amongst all languages of the world. & the fact that children consistently create new forms of language that they would not have heard before. * Conversely, John Macnamara - said that rather than having an in-built language device, children have an innate capacity to read meaning into social situations. It is this capacity that makes them capable of understanding and learning language, not the LAD. * Interactive - caretaker, motherese etc - slower pace than adult convo, simplified, repetition, short sentences, often caretaker asking 'where is___?', 'that's a___', tag questions to involve child ('isn't it?') * Example for importance of social interaction: Bard and Sachs. Studied a boy
Romeo and Juliet comparison
Media Coursework "Compare and contrast the ways in which Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli present act 1, scene 1 of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'." Hello Film Weekly fans and in today's 100th issue the main topic will be to compare the two 'Rome and Juliet' Films. The first one was directed by Franco Zeffirelli in1968 and the most recent version in 1997 by Baz Luhrmann. I will be comparing the opening scene (including the prologue) up to the end of the first fight between the two families. As you watch scene 1 in each film you will see the obvious differences in the ways that both approach the prologue n different ways, they seem to be intended for different audiences and the setting, i.e. Verona and Verona beach and time set one in medieval times the other in modern day times. Luhrmann and Zeffirelli use very opposite effects and techniques in each of the Romeo and Juliet films. The contrasts between the Zeffirelli 1968 and the Luhrmann 1997 versions are vast. Even though the directors of each film use different effects and techniques, they both tell the story in their own unique way. Zeffirelli's traditional, English, authentic piece of almost theatre with basic use of lighting, camera and sound. Luhrmann's modern, loud, and emotionally gripping piece of film uses a special variety of lighting, camera and sound to emphasise the piece to the max. Luhrmann's is
'Holden's quest is an impossible one; it is a quest for the preservation of innocence in a world of phoniness and cruelty'. By close examination of appropriate episodes in the novel, discuss how far you would agree with this statement.
'Holden's quest is an impossible one; it is a quest for the preservation of innocence in a world of phoniness and cruelty'. By close examination of appropriate episodes in the novel, discuss how far you would agree with this statement. On reading 'The Catcher in the Rye' by J.D Salinger we discover Holden Caulfield's quest to preserve innocence in the world of phoniness and cruelty that surrounds him. However, the various people, places and events that we come across as the story unfolds lead us to doubt the possibility of such a quest. The novel takes the form of a retrospective narrative as Holden, the seventeen year old narrator and protagonist, relates to us from a kind of institution the "madman stuff" that happened to him the previous December. It charts Holden's journey other three significant days in his life, from the elite boarding school Pencey Prep to the urban wilderness of New York City as he resists entry to the adult world which he views as a cold, cruel and corrupt place. His overriding belief is that this world poses a major threat to the purity and virtue of childhood innocence. I will now explore the many ways in which Holden attempts to protect this innocence and evaluate the extent to which he succeeds in his quest. In order to better understand the innocence-threatening world presented to us in the novel, we must first consider its various contextual
The causes of world war one
This is a map of Europe before 1914, as you can see the Austro-Hungarian Empire dominates what is now much of southern Germany and the Balkans. Germany is what we know presently as northern Germany and Poland. You may also have noticed that England, Scotland, Wales, and Eire made up the United Kingdom. Russia has a vast empire, a massive army (even though it is extremely poorly equipped, and trained). This was all changed by the First World War. The causes of world war one There are many reasons as to why the First World War actually took place, hardly any of them seem of great consequence when examined individually, however when examined together they do seem fairly major, but in my opinion don't merit a world war. Germany and France had a great rivalry after the wars of 1871 in which France lost the colonies of Alsange and Coraing to Prussia. France and it's people bitterly wand to have their revenge over Germany. Great Britain and Germany were also engaged in a hostile race to have the larger navy. This was heightened when Britain released a fleet of dreadnaughts which were the most lethal ships of warfare that the world had ever seen. The five major powers Great Britain At the start of the twentieth century Great Britain had the richest and largest empire in the world. Britain had the most trade and the largest navy on the planet. This had all happened under the
Investigation into the Judgements of Slang
Language Investigation into the Judgements on Slang Ben Rutter ........................................................................................................................... Introduction Whenever we open our mouths, judgements are made on our social class, intelligence and even personalities. These judgements are based on various speech elements, such as our accent, dialect, vocabulary and use of slang. It is the latter that this study is based on. The particular type of slang I intend to focus on has recently emerged alongside a new speech pattern known as Multi Ethnic Youth Dialect. (MEYD) My aim is to investigate whether there is a correlation between slang use and negative judgements made on the user. Secondly, as slang is frequently compared to Halliday's Anti-Language hypothesis, I intend to see if it can rationally be seen as such. I also wish to investigate whether specific lexical items a slang user deploys will affect the judgements. Much of the slang used takes origins from gang and drug culture and as a result my hypothesis is that if speakers use slang that holds its origins in these backgrounds, people are likely to extend the negative attributes that are assigned to gang members and drug users and thus label the speakers as violent drug users. I also hypothesise that users of slang will be judged more negatively than non-users of slang.
Exploring the genre and style of the Political Interview - Paxman and Galloway interview
Exploring the genre and style of the Political Interview Introduction Politics is an area in society which is accepted as an important aspect of our lives. It governs our country and, as a result, affects how we conduct our everyday affairs. Since the commercial availability of television, politicians have had the opportunity to express party views, promote their manifesto and justify controversial actions. Live interviews have allowed the nation to put forward questions they want answered, significantly progressing the basis on who we decide to vote for to govern our country. These interviews are perhaps most notable on Newsnight, hosted by Jeremy Paxman. Paxman became a presenter of Newsnight in 1989 and has since been a pioneer in the interrogative style used to unnerve his interviewees. This topic is of particular interest due to the nature of the interaction between a representative of the audience (the interviewer) and the politician. In many cases, it is evident that politicians adopt a tactful stance when answering questions in order to prevent perceptions and retain popularity. Interviews often gain entertainment value when questions are put forward that place the interviewee in a difficult stance, and more so when an attempt is made to divert the topic to suit the interviewees position. This is a typical method used in order to gain control of conversation, and
Analysing Wilfred Owens' Poem Disabled.
Diabled: Disabled shows the struggle of one man who everyday contemplates his wasted life. All he has are the memories but they seem to become more distant as the days go on. Owen is describing someone that he knew in the army. This man was in the Scottish regiment. He has had his leg blown up. He has no legs and his arms are sewn at the elbow. He is in an institute, a nursing home of some sought. He waits for darkness because then things will be quiet. He is fed up with life and is waiting to die. He hears voices of boys singing, these are voices of people playing just as he had once played. He talks about the evenings. He says that at this time the towns atmosphere was fun and happy everyone is dancing having fun. He is very sad that he will never again experience this again. He says the girls look upon like he has some kind of disease. He talks of how he will never again feel the waist of a women, he also talks about how he threw away his knees in the war He was once a lovely face now he looks old. He back is now in a brace this is the back that was not so long ago was as strong as anything. He has lost his colour just like losing blood. He feels as tough he has poured his life away down endless shell holes, he wonders what he has been given for this. Nothing. "And leap of purple spurted from his thigh." He loves his youth. When his leg was blown away a massive
HOW DOES JULIET'S CHARACTER DEVELOP FROM DUTIFUL DAUGHTER TO INDEPENDENT YOUNG WOMAN IN 'ROMEO AND JULIET'?
HOW DOES JULIET'S CHARACTER DEVELOP FROM DUTIFUL DAUGHTER TO INDEPENDENT YOUNG WOMAN IN 'ROMEO AND JULIET'? "O happy dagger, / This is they sheath; / there rust, and let me die." Juliet Capulet (5:3:168-170) First published in 1595, Romeo and Juliet has consistently been one of William Shakespeare's most renowned plays. It is primarily a tragedy, but it tells of one of the most iconic and famed love stories ever written. It tells of the death-marked love between a pair of star-crossed lovers, who must die to bury their parents' strife and end the ancient grudge between the feuding Capulet and Montague families. It tells the tragic lives of two young lovers, in a heart-gripping story containing light and dark, love and hate, life and death. Essentially, it tells of two young people taking their own lives to forever be joined with love. During this essay, I will follow the heroine, Juliet Capulet, in her story of how she burst into adulthood, and how she made the final decision to end her life forever. The first instance in which Juliet demonstrates independent thinking, is during Act 1 Scene 3, when she is asked by her mother about the possibility of an engagement between herself and the Prince of Verona. "It is an honour that I dream not of." (1:3:66) is Juliet's reply. For the Elizabethan era, this is an odd response, and the audience are unsure of whether or not she
