Compare and contrast the poems "Vultures" and "Night of the Scorpion", analysing how they communicate a sense of their cultural background.

Ashleigh Rothwell 10WX Poetry Coursework Vultures and Night of the Scorpion. Task Compare and contrast the poems "Vultures" and "Night of the Scorpion", analysing how they communicate a sense of their cultural background. Vultures I feel that the title "vultures" denotes a sense of scavenging as I view vultures as scavenging birds. As the title is vultures it must be set in a hot country as this is the traditional habitat of this species. My view of vultures is that they are ugly, unpleasant, greedy and savage. The setting is in Nigeria which is a part of Africa where many of these birds are found. At a glance it looks as though it is free verse but as you study it more carefully it actually has four verses each with a different part to play. All the observations; "greyness", "drizzle", "sun-break" and "nestled close" are all found in the first verse. This verse sets the scene for the reader. In the second verse the author is commenting on the observations he has made. He mentions the "charnel house" which is a place where the bones of dead people are placed. This is particularly appropriate because when the vultures have finished with the corpse then all that remains are the bones; picked clean and left to bake in the midday sun. The author also comments on the unusual way that vultures can in one minute be evil with their prey and the next be loving and nestling close

  • Word count: 1246
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Room 101. The first thing that I would out into room 101 is the money grabbing, cold-hearted, kill joy mugs. If you havent guessed yet, I am talking about the selfish traffic wardens.

Room 101 The first thing that I would out into room 101 is the money grabbing, cold-hearted, kill joy mugs. These Gestapo's walk around, head down, scribbling away in their nasty little books, feeling proud of ruining yet another innocent person's day. If you haven't guessed yet, I am talking about the selfish traffic wardens. 99.9% of vehicle/car owners don't even realise that they have done anything to deserve a parking ticket! How would you like it if you had paid for a 1hour p+d (pay and display) ticket and you came to your care at 1 minute past and a warden was stamping the sicky yellow piece of paper on your windscreen? - That is so unfair. For arriving at your car one minute late you have to pay a massive fine of £30. Right, imagine this. You have just had the most wonderful day out to Southport with you family and your children's smile spreads right across their face. (Feels good doesn't it!) Then you walk over to your car to find the dreaded yellow ticket. The smiles have now hit the floor. But wait, you check you p+d ticket and you are back before the expiry time...so why are you getting charged? What's going on!? Then you read the note... You put your parking ticket on the wrong side of the windscreen. How can there be a right and wrong side to put a p+d ticket? As I said before... selfish. For instance, the last time I heard of anyone getting a ticket

  • Word count: 681
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

In "A View from the Bridge" how does Arthur Miller build the dramatic tension to a climax at the end of Act 1?

Harkiran Bansal In "A View from the Bridge" how does Arthur Miller build the dramatic tension to a climax at the end of Act 1? "A View from the Bridge" is a play written in 1995 by Arthur Miller set in Brooklyn. During the 1950's Italy was a very poor country so there were many people immigrating to the U.S.A. Over a million Sicilians had already moved to the U.S.A. and there were more moving over. Many Sicilians dreamed of a better life in America with a well paid job and enough money to support their family. This play is based on a man named Eddie who lives with his wife Beatrice and niece Catherine who he has cared for since she was a child. Beatrice's cousins, 2 Italian immigrants come to stay with them. The tensions arise when one of the cousins, Radolpho, and Catherine fall in love and Eddie realises his true feelings for Catherine, which has devastating consequences and eventually leads to Eddie's tragic death. Throughout Act 1, Miller builds up tension, which eventually leads to the death of Eddie. Much of this tension arises from conflict between characters. One of the first moments where we see tension building up is when Catherine is telling Eddie how Marco and Rodolpho have been to Africa. She says "They went to Africa. On a fishing boat. (Eddie glances at her) It's true Eddie." The stage direction shows Eddies is interested in what they are talking about as

  • Word count: 1259
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The heat was unbearable as I pulled up to the starting line. The smell of exhaust fumes and burned rubber filled the air.

The heat was unbearable as I pulled up to the starting line. The smell of exhaust fumes and burned rubber filled the air. The starting light received my fullest attention, zoning everything out of my conscience. 3...2...1...green light! I stomped my foot on the accelerator as I side stepped my clutch. Shifting into second gear, I flipped the switch to my nitrous oxide system. Instantaneously I was thrown back into my seat. All of a sudden a loud pop disturbed the smooth roar of my engine. Halfway down the track my engine shut off and forced me to coast the car to the finish line. My teammates were already waiting at the end of the drag strip. Unable to restart my car, we pushed it back to our pit area. My hopes were crushed as I went over the fact that my day of racing was already over. . Drag racing is a big part of my life. All of my spare time is spent working on my 1996 Honda Accord. With an important drag race approaching quickly, I spent most of my waking hours for a week tuning my car. Sweat and hours of hard work finally prepared my car for racing. The interior was stripped down to the sheet metal and contained only the driver's seat to reduce weight. The whole exhaust system was removed to gain that little edge in power, which is essential for racing. My car was finally race ready, waiting to tear up the track. The

  • Word count: 618
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Write the first, second, third and last chapters of a murder mystery set in your school.

Board: WJEC Subject: English Language Task: Write the first, second, third and last chapters of a murder mystery set in your school. Marking: Sixteen marks available for content, four marks for accuracy. My Mark: A*, twenty out of twenty. Adams' Grammar School Murder Mystery Chapter 1: The Death Of An Earthworm A new day dawned on Adams' Grammar School. It was a Tuesday in early March, bright with the promise of Spring. The sunlight glinted off the golden hands of the ancient school clock, momentarily dazzling Mr R. Jones, veteran teacher of history, as he moved busily about the grounds in search of the disappearing textbooks. The school seemed to light up with every footfall, painted with a brush of tranquillity and joy. He passed Mr Cripps' lesson, in which a stimulating lecture on igneous rocks had been interrupted by visitors. The younger man was now busily engaged in describing the wonders of chemistry to the prospective parents. They were highly impressed, if not a little bemused. Mr Jones drifted past a window, through which a pair of Sixth Formers could be seen socialising in their common room. One checked his watch, and trotted merrily off to his next lesson. The other retired to the library for study, settling down under the warm, comforting glow of the lights. His studious endeavours would put him in good stead for the test next lesson. Despite his

  • Word count: 5760
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

"A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez.

The book "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez is about a murder in a small South American Village. It is based on an actual murder that took place in 1951 in the town of Sucre, Colombia. This novel provides a detailed insight to the culture of Latin America as it pertains to many aspects of an individuals life. Instances such as religion, marriage, death, and justice and interactions due to the concepts of honor and gender. Culture in most respects should be looked at holistically. Examining specific ideas and concepts within it become seemingly difficult because they form an intricate web, which can be related to other concepts and premises. Actions, dialog and even the descriptions of objects, people, and scenes enable readers to formulate a basic outline of the culture exhibited by the society expressed by Marquez. The story takes place in a small South American town some time in the mid-nineteenth century. While the story makes no direct mention of the year or city many sources indicate it was based on an actual event and dealt with people the author knew directly. It is an unconventional recollection of the author to the events prior to, during, and following the murder of a Santiago Nasar, wealthy young local Arab man. A native woman of the town, Angela Vicario had become the love interest of a flamboyantly rich and young Bayardo San Roman, son of

  • Word count: 1362
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

"A distant howl broke the silence".

Lauren Caswell Mr Hope 0xPortia "A distant howl broke the silence" "Come on, time to go!" I heard Mum shouting. I quickly jumped off my bed and grabbed my green rucksack. On the way out of the bedroom I whipped my baseball off the peg and sat it on my head. Down the stairs I ran and stroked the cat on my way out. It was time to go. I spent the last week packing and unpacking my bag. I was so excited that I couldn't think about anything else. This was finally the day I had been looking forward to for the last two months. The calendar in my bedroom had a countdown on it, and I crossed off each day as it passed. Today was the day of our camping trip. I rushed out of the house eager to get into the car and Mum shut the house door behind me. It looked as though we were going to hold a car boot sale. There were bikes fixed carefully to the boot, fishing rods strapped on top of the car and sleeping bags, pillows and suitcases piled into the boot. I carefully opened the boot of the car, not wanting to knock the bike rack off and threw my bag inside. Mum opened the front car door and started the engine. Dad was sitting in the front passenger seat, fiddling around in the glove box for some music to put on. My brother and sister were in the back of the car fighting over who was going to sit by the window. As the car reversed off the drive I was thinking about the two weeks ahead

  • Word count: 988
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

"A Rose by any other name".

"A Rose by any other name" And with a quick glance from Simon; Hannah, Jamie, Jennifer and Alison knew they were his prime suspects. Simon knew that if he nailed this story he would get the promotion he's always wanted-he promised his mother before she died that he would one day edit his own successful newspaper an would do anything to make it possible. "So..." said Simon in a tone of voice so venomous it left a trail of poison in the air "let's go over this again, Jamie, where were you at the time that Oliver was...well....murdered?" "I've told you Mr Cossons, I was in my dressing room, I wasn't needed for the scene so I was changing into my outfit for the finale" "Jennifer was the 1st one to be questioned that night, she had a plausible alibi and had been sitting there for at least 3 hours, she wanted to go home, she wanted to be held in her lover's arms and be comforted-after all her best friend had just been killed and draped over her in front of an audience in his last moments as he swallowed what was to be his last drink. Jennifer could not understand why anyone would want to kill someone in a way so evil and degrading. But at that instant paranoia had started to seep into her thoughts as she sat thinking of the possibilities "......David?" she said quietly to herself, David was her very jealous lover he was always complaining that she spent too much time on the

  • Word count: 561
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

"Back Home Contemplation" - Write about the ways in which the poems in this section are linked.

Remind yourself of "Back Home Contemplation". Write about the ways in which the poems in this section are linked. Consider: - -Register and tone -Form and style -Any other features of language you consider to be important. The section "Back Home Contemplation" represents an important section n of the entire novel. It pulls together the idea of the black woman from Africa to the Caribbean. It embodies all the experiences, emotions and feelings by showing her memories of the childhood she experienced and sharing them with the reader. "Back Home Contemplation" discusses the memories, which Nichols had as a child, which are shown in the form of a snapshot memory. The lexical framework, which Nichols uses, emphasises the imagery used throughout the section. She uses an ongoing image of water throughout the section in order to show her ties to her family. The water represents the way in which her family are all streams flowing from one origin but in different directions. This is shown in "Hey There Now!" which says "my sunchild branching from my mountain river". By using this technique Nichols shows to the reader how highly she thinks, not only her close family, but of the people of her origin. She uses the idea of water to represent strength, protection and a necessity for life. This shows the reader the importance of this section to Nichols and also sets the scene for

  • Word count: 1328
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

"Breaking Point" Article Letter

The Big Issue 236-240 Pentonville Road London N1 9JY Dear Sir, I am writing to you to express my views on teenage crime. I believe most people's opinions on young people is clouded by stereotypes made by the media. Reading Leonardo Cito's article "Breaking Point" has given me reason to believe that their eyes might be opened to reality. The first thing from the "Breaking Point" article that I want to comment on is in the sub-heading. "Vandalism isn't always mindless", this obviously implies that some people think that others vandalize because they can and not because they have social problems with family, teachers etc. but there are deeper meanings to vandalism. I strongly agree with this point. Most of the time, adults believe that young people are behind vandalism because they think it's fun. This view on teenagers has been reinforced by the media, with their pictures of destroyed shops and houses, followed by endless security video footage of hooded males executing crimes. I have recently been a victim of second-hand judgment. About a month ago, during one of my daily jogs in the park, I noticed a mangled memorial bench that had been smashed into pieces and offensive graffiti had been sprayed onto it. Pausing in my jog to see the extent of the damage, I suddenly noticed a senior citizen yelling at me down the path. As he got closer, I was able to get a grip on

  • Word count: 878
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay