my last duchess

By: Muzna Qureshi Comparing The Laboratory and My Last Dutchess The name of the first poem that I am going to introduce is, The Laboratory, written by the poet, Robert Browning. The poem is a monologue, I know this because of the fact that the poem is written from a personal view. The poem is about a lady thats producing a poison to murder her husbands mistress. We don't know whether the plan is successful or not. The name of the second poem that I am going to introduce is, My Last Duchess, written again by the same poet, Robert Browning. This poem is also a monologue as this poem is also written from a personal view. In this poem the poet gets married to a lady buh she smiles at everything the same way that she smiles at him. He gets angry and he asks a painter to paint a picture of her. But in the picture shes smiling too. So he gets her killed so she can't smile no more. In The Laboratory the themes are poisons, paranoia and jelousy. The poem is written from a females view. It is basically about her husband cheating on her, and they know that she knows and are purposely hurting her. So, she wants to poison the mistress. In My Last Duchess, the theme might be the possessiveness of the duke, his wife and the position of his status. This poem is written from a males view. He loves his lady very much but gets jelous everytime she smiles at someone, because she uses the

  • Word count: 3897
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Culture Shock

Culture Shock Definition of Culture Culture as the most complex terms has countless different definitions ranging from complicated phrases to the simple statement describing culture as "the way we do things around here". The widely used definition of culture is that of Meads (1951), "A body of learned behaviour, a collection of beliefs, habits and traditions, shared by a group of people and successively learned by people who enter the society"(Joynt and Warner, 1996, P. 33). Hofstede(1980) created the very illustrative definition of culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another". Again to Hofstede's option, culture is learned not inherited, it is not impossible to learn new cultural traits and to unlearn old ones (Manz, 2003, online). Therefore, it must be feasible to integrate cultural differences. Culture has significant influence on the behaviour of individuals. In general, a person's perceptions, attitudes, motivations, values, learning experience and personality are shaped by culture. The importance of culture lies in the fact that it provides the body of knowledge and techniques that enable people to act, both physically and socially, in the world and make sense of the people and around world . (Forester, 2000, p.63) Culture items 'above the waterline' include language, food,

  • Word count: 3797
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Travel literature

Travel literature took place around the 19th century. It was also known as the Augustan Age, the Age of Enlightens or the Neo Classical Age. The art of journeying is a process of self-discovery and to discover new destination, culture and place.During the 'Industrial Revolution' in Europe, traveling became very popular. The Europeans especially the Portuguese, Dutch, English and Spanish started to explore new places in the East. The first expedition to the east was conquered by the Portuguese. In November 1497, Vasco da Gama led the first major European excursion into the Indian Ocean at Cape of Good Hope which was the gateway to South East Asia. The second expedition was led by Alfonso de Albuquerque who extended their power eastwards by gaining control of Malacca in 1511. When the Portuguese first arrived at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the leading emporium of western South-East Asia was Malacca. It continued the practice of other great ports of earlier years where ships from India, China and Java converged on Malacca. They usually will not come at the same time because each group had to plan an inward and a return voyage to fit the seasonal changes of the monsoon winds. The cultural observations made by various writers are what I am going to discuss and it is based on J.M. Gullick's Adventures and Encounters in South East Asia. The two stories that I have

  • Word count: 3752
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare & Contrast "Mid Term break" by Seamus Heaney & "Treasure in the Heart" by Joolz.

Compare & Contrast "Mid Term break" by Seamus Heaney & "Treasure in the Heart" by Joolz. Recently I have been studying two similarly themed poems both concentrated upon the chilling reality of death. In the following essay I will to analyse & compare the similarities & contrasts between "Mid term break" Written by Seamus Heaney & "Treasure in the Heart" written by Joolz. I will attempt to delve & explore the subconscious meanings behind the structure and wording of these poems. I will attempt to give a brief overview of relevant background information concerning Heaney & Joolz which had a substantial effect on the poems written by both poets. Seamus Heaney was born in April nineteen thirty nine, the first of a closely knit family what would eventually turn out to be nine siblings. This ment Seamus felt a lot of responsibility to his family from a young age. This is surely a contributing factor to why he wrote this poem as he would have surely blamed himself in part for his brother's death. This is very similar to one of the reason why Joolz would have written her poem both were very close to these people and felt a lot of anguish at there passing. Both would have wanted to be able to pay there respects in a more memorable & effective way for themselves. Seamus family was a mixture of "old Ireland" his father being a second generation cattle. But his mother was a

  • Word count: 3744
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Edward Kamau Brathwaite: Limbo

Edward Kamau Brathwaite: Limbo This poem tells the story of slavery in a rhyming, rhythmic dance. It is ambitious and complex. There are two narratives running in parallel: * the actions of the dance, and * The history of a people which is being enacted. Going down and under the limbo stick is likened to the slaves' going down into the hold of the ship, which carries them into slavery. In Roman Catholic tradition, limbo is a place to which the souls of people go, if they are not good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell. More exactly, according to the Catholic Encyclopaedia, it is "...the permanent place or state of those unbaptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the beatific vision on account of original sin alone." The Italian poet Dante, imagines Limbo to be in the first circle of Hell, and to contain the souls of both unbaptized infants and virtuous pagans. It has come to mean any unpleasant place, or a state (of mind or body) from which it is difficult to escape. The story of slavery told in the poem is very easy to follow, yet full of vivid detail and lively action. The poem has a very strong beat, suggesting the dance it describes: where the word limbo appears as a complete line, it should be spoken slowly, the first syllable extended and both syllables stressed: Lím-bó. While the italics give the

  • Word count: 3672
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Balance sheet by John Montague - In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - A Major Road for Romney Marsh by U.A. Fanthorpe - Ninetieth Birthday by R.S Thomas - How do the poets convey feelings about a particular place?

How do the poets convey strong feelings about a particular place? The poems that I will be analysing are as follows: * Balance sheet by John Montague * In Romney Marsh by John Davidson * A Major Road for Romney Marsh by U.A. Fanthorpe * Ninetieth Birthday by R.S Thomas The first poem that I will be examining is Balance Sheet by John Montague. This poem describes a place in Ireland, which has gone through many social changes. Montague is comparing life now with the life of his grandfather many years before. As the title suggests the poem is like a real balance sheet, as it lays out losses and compares them with the gains to see what is left over at the end. When we look more closely at this poem we see that it has a very unusual layout as well as having an uncharacteristic title. When the poem is read we are able to understand why the poet has chosen such a title and layout. The reason being that he is trying to show the reader the change that has occurred through the times. He has done this by separating the poem into two parts, 'loss' and 'gain'. Loss signifies the things that have been lost while gain signifies the things that have been acquired. The poet compares the loss of the countryside for the gain of roads and modern development. Hence the reason for the title, 'Balance Sheet'. The poets tries to get the point across that the things that have been

  • Word count: 3436
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare and contrast Charge of The Light Brigade(TM) and Dulce et Decorum Est(TM)

Iestyn Evans English Coursework Compare and contrast 'Charge of The Light Brigade' and 'Dulce et Decorum Est' In this essay, I shall be comparing two poems namely 'Charge of The Light Brigade' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and 'Dulce et decorum est.' by Wilfred Owen. Wilfred Owen was actually a soldier in the war, whereas Alfred, Lord Tennyson had no experience of the battle itself and only wrote the poem based upon the second hand evidence that he either read or heard. 'Charge of The Light Brigade' delivers a strong message base on the theme of the war. The poem gives the impression that war is a glorious and noble act and consists of phrases such as 'When can their glory fade?', 'Honour the charge they made!' and 'The Noble Six Hundred'. This shows that in Alfred Lord Tennyson's opinion it is noble and glorious act to fight and die for one's country. Alternatively, Wilfred Owens's poem has a far more negative outlook on war. Contrary to Tennyson's noble and proud view of war Owen believes that dying in a war s a horrible, bitter death especially when such an end is as a result of a gas bomb being discharged in the surrounding area. He recounts graphic and horrific descriptions a soldier gradually dying while gasping for air. Some of the phrases that the poet uses to convey the hideous horror of the battlefield are; 'He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning', 'And

  • Word count: 3418
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Examine the way in which Culture affects the relationships of the main characters in 'Country lovers' and 'Veronica'.

Examine the way in which Culture affects the relationships of the main characters in 'Country lovers' and 'Veronica'. Culture in my opinion is a part of every ones lives; it affects the way in which a group of people behave to one another. All Cultures have certain traditions, rules and regulations; all of this is a part of what is called a Custom. Cultures can dictate the way one leads their life. In some cultures when you reach a particular age you are able to get married for example in Countries like in India and the Middle East when a young girl becomes a mature age she has a choice if she wants to get married, a lot of the time they have an arranged marriage, this is when the parents choose a partner for them, However quite often they are forced to marry some one who their parents have chosen, this is called a forced marriage. Culture can be described in many ways, One can tell what culture or religion an individual belongs to by the way they dress, the language they speak, the different ceremonies that they celebrate how they lead their life, the religion that they follow, the food they eat and many more. There are many things that culture contains that moulds a group of people in to who they are and their way of life. Religion, traditional values and customs are all aspects of culture. Some times different cultures can clash because people from one culture

  • Word count: 3411
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Discuss how the settings in 'The man with the twisted lip' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 'the Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens create mystery and suspense.

Discuss how the settings in 'The man with the twisted lip' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 'the Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens create mystery and suspense. The Victorians were extremely inventive when it came to entertaining themselves. Unlike us they could not simply slouch on the sofa, with the lights on bright and catch a quick episode of 'Eastenders', instead they often met up to share their ghost stories. With the ever flickering candle light casting ghouls all around, and that familiar blackness introduced by the shadows that managed to hide a twenty foot monster, it was no wonder that the Victorians were so petrified by such stories. In those days, everyone believed in everything supernatural so to them these stories where very real. I have read and studied the following Victorian short stories: The Signalman. By Charles Dickens The Man with the Twisted Lip. By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and The Red Room. By H.G. Wells 'The Signalman' story is entirely set around a railway track. It is told in the first person, by a holidaymaker who meets the signalman. Soon he becomes aware that the signalman is extremely frightened. The signalman tells the holidaymaker that recently he has been seeing a spectre in the railway tunnel. This ghost seems to be calling out to him in distress, as though warning him. The signalman speaks of how the red

  • Word count: 3407
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Discuss Merle Hodge'S Crick Crack Monkey As a Novel

DISCUSS MERLE HODGE'S CRICK CRACK MONKEY AS A NOVEL DEALING WITH THE CONFLICT OF CULTURES. Merle Hodge born in 1944, in Trinidad is the daughter of an immigration officer. After studying at the Bishop Anstey's high school of Trinidad, she obtained the Trinidad and Tobago Girls Island Scholarship in 1962 which led her to the university college of London. She obtained a degree in French and later in 1967 a Master Philosophy degree. Merle Hodge traveled a lot in Eastern and Western Europe and when she returned to Trinidad she started teaching French in junior schools. Later she obtained a post of lecturer at the University of the West Indies. In 1979, she started to work for the bishop regime and she was appointed director of the development of curriculum. In 1983, she left Grenada because the bishop was assassinated and she is now working for the Women and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. She wrote the novel Crick Crack Monkey in 1970 where she deals with the theme of childhood in the West Indies. The main protagonist called Tee lives with Tantie who is a working class woman. She later goes to live with her aunt Beatrice and she faces a new and different world from that of her Caribbean world: "Hodge's story is presented through the eyes of a black, lower class girl of Trinidad in the 1950s." The whole story is one presented from one point

  • Word count: 3376
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay