English Language essay - Funeral

English Language essay - Funeral I gaze around. I see one family, brought together, to mourn for one of our own. Countless numbers of dark figures stand on parade, speaking in unison to pay our respects to one whom we adore. The sadness corrupts my inner soul and my heart bleeds a river inside. Nothing could change the wretchedness I feel. We leave, what seems to me, not a holy church, but more of a devil's palace. But the worst is yet to come. Still shedding tears I climb into the hearse, my eyes fixed upon the noble man in the back, in the vain hope that there would be life in him once again. It is useless. I stare outside in the deepest of depression, worrying about the road that lies ahead of us. The road spirals through the Welsh mountains and through the vast fields of my homeland. My mind strays aimlessly into the expanse, and a single minute feels like a lifetime upon this cursed Earth. The winding road takes us through light and dark as we progress through a city of leaves and reappear into the sunshine. One after the other, we are a pack of vehicles, in pursuit of the hearse in front. We ascend the mountain side in single file to achieve our goal, and I stare down at the town, which is just now a memory of suffering and sorrow. We reach the peak, but appallingly, there is still more to come. The car comes to a halt; my heart beats. Sweat drips from every pore.

  • Word count: 846
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Climax

The Climax Maureen Downing lives in a small council flat in Croydon; the council flat is grey and musty- the smell is choking. It smells of cardboard. The wallpaper all over the flat is still from the years ago when Alfred, her husband had originally hung it, when they moved in. Alfred Downing was Maureen's husband; they were married for 67 years. He had been stabbed for his money outside their block of flats 13 years ago. Maureen has not recovered from her loss- she used to call him "her everything". When he was taken away, she said she would never be truly alive again. She hasn't listened to music since, nor has she laughed. Her days are all the same- she wakes at 6 (her father was a miner, he'd leave for the pits at this hour, she had never broken out of this habit, much to Alfred's displeasure). She sits and "watches life go by" in the park. She watches animals, and people walking by. She says it's incredible how many people pass by. They had never had children; she couldn't- no one knows this. She is sitting in front of the television, her face, fixed to the screen with a feeling of wisdom and peace I've never seen before. The television is not on. Her wrinkled, battered face is small and narrow; it is astoundingly wrinkled. Her lips and narrow and taught. Maureen was a singer and had always wanted to sing in the clubs in the city. Years went by, and so did her dreams.

  • Word count: 1491
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Shakespeare's Use of Language in Act 3, Scene 1

Discuss the way Shakespeare uses language to portray the characters Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo in Act III, Scene 1. The compelling and tragic drama of "Romeo and Juliet" tells the story of two young "star-crossed lovers" whose blossoming romance is forbidden and jeopardised by the age-old rivalry of their families, which together, with chance and accident leads to fast-paced action on Verona's streets. Ultimately this leads to the premature deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt in Act III, Scene 1. The scene is a pivotal point in the play as the unfolding events trigger a chain reaction. However, it will eventually create a silver lining, which despite the surrounding heartbreak; will result in the resolution of the "ancient grudge." Throughout the play, as is evident in Act III, Scene 1, the main characters were given language by Shakespeare which would intensify the drama, set the scene and portray their emotions. Mercutio's greatest strength lies in his facility with words. This aspect of his character is illustrated when Benvolio says: "By my head here comes the Capulets." and Mercutio replies: "By my heal I care not." (3.1.30-31) Mercutio takes Benvolio's word "head" and replaces it with "heal" showing that he holds the completely opposite view as head and heal are opposite ends of the body. The word "heal" further shows Mercutio's care free quality and disinterest in

  • Word count: 2159
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Alan Bennett

How does Bennett use dramatic techniques to characterise his speakers in 'talking heads 2'? Talking heads is a series of monologues that are aimed for working to middle class, middle aged adults. The monologues try to make you have sympathy for the characters even if they have done something wrong. This is to show how they think and we feel more open to other people with the same problems. In 'Playing Sandwiches', Wilfred starts out as a normal, working class man that seems very nice and smart. This shows that actually, on the outside, he is a normal, well-educated person. Throughout the monologue we realise, by the use of dramatic techniques, that Wilfred has something wrong with him or that something weird is happening in his environment that he is not telling us about. My initial impressions of Wilfred start out as him being a normal, working class man. Alan Bennett achieves this by making him wear smart clothes, well shaved and he has a pleasant face. We see him working as a park attendant, wearing his park attendant uniform which shows he has a job and he talks about his wife and his family, these make us feel open to him. He has lighting all around him and a nice tone of voice that makes the audience certain he is nice. Narrative clues are given throughout the monologue, such as when his family are looking for a godfather they say 'No, Wilfred wouldn't be a possible

  • Word count: 893
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discursive writing assignment

H/W Discursive writing assignment Introduction In this piece of discursive writing I will be explaining the good and bad points of video gaming. Video games have been out for a long time. They have been said to be out in the late 1950's but really nobody knows when video games were invented. Video games have had a huge impact to our human nature. Are video games a good or bad thing? It depends really they can be looked at in a bad way but also in a good way. Video games can be a good thing for children but also a bad thing it depends on how you view the evidence. Video games have boomed in the gaming industry and some video games more than others and we will see why. Video games have become an attraction in today's modern world and we will see why it has caught the eye for our entertainment. Computer games are very popular with young people, but they are also controversial. For example, some people argue that they are harmful to brain development, cause children to neglect reading and other social activities. Video games can encourage violent or anti-social behaviour. Other people claim that the games help to develop advanced thinking skills and are often played with other people rather than alone. What is the truth of the matter? Research published in 2000 shows that computer games are

  • Word count: 1941
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Screaming. She was screaming again. In her head, but much louder than before, much louder than yesterday and far louder than last week

SCREAMING She hesitantly began. "Natasha screamed. She knew the answer but she couldn't pluck it from the sea of muddle that was her head. Slamming down her pen she agreed with herself that a break would be the best option. She made her way towards the kitchen. Their large family house is scattered with family photos, walking through the hall she stopped to look at one such picture, showing her family smiling and joyful, happy. A perfectionist - Natasha straightened the frame and continued, thinking about nothing much in particular." The girl paused, took a deep breath and continued. "Downstairs her mother was in the kitchen, the telephone cradled between chin and shoulder. A glass lay on the counter. As Natasha entered her mum put down the phone, Natasha caught sight of the glass and stared at it. She scanned the room and immediately caught sight of the inevitable, a bottle of wine, nearly finished sat inconspicuously behind a cooking book by the stove. Natasha looked briefly at the bottle, and then left without saying a word. She was screaming again. In her head, but much louder than before, much louder than yesterday and far louder than last week. She felt like hitting herself for caring so much and when she reached her bedroom, cradling her head in one hand she did just that. Repeated thumps to her head, as if trying to push out painful memories or painful reality.

  • Word count: 987
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Corruption-A fact of life in the indian society

Corruption: A fact of life in the Indian Society The consequences of corruption are well known. But, in India, these consequences are not well-realised. The public has not had an adequate realisation of the dangers of corruption. Corruption is Anti- national and Anti- economic development. We, as the inhabitants of this nation, have either given up hope of making our country less corrupt or, we have accepted corruption as a fact of life. It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with bribery and it takes several forms. Corruption has progressively increased and is now rampant in our society. Now, corruption is not only confined to politicians or the government alone. The fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. There are not many causes of corruption. But amidst these few causes, there is one main cause. That one main cause is us, the people of India. Just so that our work becomes easy and fast going, we pay bribes and make sure our wanted work is done. The main cause is growing competition in this growing country. As the country grows, so does the corruption and blocks the growth. This is one of the reasons for India still being a less economically developed country. From small time clerks to the high profile politicians,

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  • Word count: 879
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why Me?

Why Me? It was a nice sunny, summer's day in early July. My friends and I were enjoying a great game of football during the lunch break. Suddenly I had an urge to visit the bathroom. As I was going, I went past Mrs. Smith's classroom. She taught me English and she was a very good teacher. The door was ajar and the lock looked a bit ruined and messed up. I was starting to get worried, so I slowly walked towards the door to see what was going on. My blood rushed to my head I couldn't hear anything and I felt isolated with an annoying scent going through my head making me feel sick, I broke a sweat above my brow. I heard whispers and I recognised a voice. It was Steven Johnson. He was a tough boy who loses his temper extremely easily. He was a skinhead with a scar going through his head diagonally downwards from right to left. I noticed him doing something, the door squeaked, Steven saw me and I was amazed at what I just saw. I couldn't believe my eyes. I saw Mrs. Smith's bag open and Steven's left hand in it. Steven shook up. He looked terrified and worried. His face went red and he started breathing heavily. He was also holding a purse in his other hand, which surprisingly had a lot of money in it. I was also wondering what Mrs. Smith was doing with all this money, but that wasn't my concern at the moment. I was thinking why Steven needed the money because his family is

  • Word count: 1023
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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the killer in the back seat

The killer in the back seat!!!!! Anne was driving on narrow deserted country road without any front lights; she was only 20 years of age, with long black hair, blue eyes and no other family that she knew of. It was a cold, gloomy and dark night; Anne could sense the danger waiting for her just around the corner. As she went further down the narrow deserted road, dark clouds appeared quickly over her head and it became almost impossible to drive. Her heartbeat started to go up, so she increased her speed from 30 to 40mph. She wondered if things could get any worse than this. Suddenly, the rain started tipping down and it blocked the little vision she had left to concentrate on the road with. Anne could hear the hungry wolf prowling menacingly for food, at the same time the noise of the thunder made Anne jump every time it struck. However, she was pleased to be safe in her car, not worrying about the fact that she was driving without any lights and that none of the locks were working on all four doors. Anne was still feeling happy despite all the problems she was facing because she had been on a date with a friend. That night, Anne was a little short on money because she had spent all of her money on a golden necklace and a diamond ring she had bought. She was wearing both of them but didn't realise that she was in the middle of nowhere without any money. James Blunt's "You

  • Word count: 1178
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Original writing - The assassin.

Original writing He lay on the shaded part of a warehouse roof with a good view of the target's house and the area surrounding it. He stared through the rifle scope. His eyes looked menacing. He had a determined look on his face. And by looking at him you could sense his arrogance due to his evil smirk, he knew that he had done it many times before. The target's house was tidy in one of the upper-class areas of town, the street it was on was quiet no-one was around. Perfect for what was going to happen. His patience seemed to last forever. His thin expressionless face stayed fixed on the target's house, never looking away from his target. You could almost feel the tension. There was a chilling breeze whistling past. The house looked stately with statues and a small fountain in the garden. The driveway was made with small yellow stones. Inside was how you would expect a stately home to be like. With brown intricately patterned wall paper with a green border. The grand velvet red curtains cast a shadow over the entire room even when they were open. The antique furniture looked grand but out of place in such a small room, this also created a great absence of light in the room. The eyes on the paintings seemed to follow him around. The victim's large black car approached; it slowly drove down the road, opening the electrically controlled gates with a remote control, and then

  • Word count: 561
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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