Discuss The Effect Of Culture Or Tradition On The Theme Of 'Revenge' In 'The Schoolteachers Guest' And 'Vendetta'.

Charlotte Bright 10CB Discuss The Effect Of Culture Or Tradition On The Theme Of 'Revenge' In 'The Schoolteachers Guest' And 'Vendetta'. Culture and traditions affect us all in different ways. Culture, from the Latin word colere, is a way of living and are the norms, values and customs of a country. Examples of this are Arab countries. Somewhere like Iran or Saudi Arabia things are very strict. Women are not allowed to drive and every woman must wear a head to foot abaya and Muslim police patrol streets. Visitors to the country must obey the rules and women visitors must wear an abaya at all times when outside also. In class we have been studying two short stories. The first is called 'Vendetta' written by Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant was born at the Château de Miromesnil, near Dieppe. Until he was thirteen years old Guy lived with his mother at Étretat, in the Villa des Verguies, where between the sea and the luxuriant country, he grew very fond of nature and outdoor sports; he went fishing with the fishermen off the coast and spoke patois with the peasants. He was deeply devoted to his mother. He became a writer of short stories and novels. His short stories are characterised by their economy of style and the efficient way in which the various threads within them are neatly resolved. Some of his stories would now be considered to be horror fiction. A vendetta used to

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Analysis of the opening sequence of ' William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet' directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Analysis of the opening sequence of ' William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet' directed by Baz Luhrmann. Baz Luhrmann decides to mask the prologue of the film as a news broadcast on television. It begins with a slow camera movement into a television set on a contrasting black background, switching channels. I suggest that Baz Luhrmann decided to use this approach to begin the prologue, to make the viewers focus directly on the television screen. The switching of channels on the other hand, makes me feel as if he was trying to make the audience feel more involved. The camera stops the movement when the television set is in the middle of the screen and a news reporter appears reciting the prologue in Shakespearian English. I also noticed the opening sequence is framed, in my opinion so was done to make the audience imagine they were told a story, and make them feel as if they were to step out of reality. When the news reporter concludes reciting the prologue the camera zooms into the television set very fast and a rewinding sound is heard, then there are some aerial shots over the city of Verona, which is represented by an American city during the film, I noticed this as the city seemed very modern with many skyscrapers, I think this setting was chosen to add modernity to the film, and to make it relevant to the words used in the prologue. Whilst the prologue is repeated a

  • Word count: 1202
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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With close reference to the language and imagery of the passage, show in what ways it helps to establish important issues within the play

With close reference to the language and imagery of the passage, show in what ways it helps to establish important issues in the play Caliban and Trinculo are hiding underneath Caliban's cloak because they are afraid of the storm and of what other beings are approaching them. Stefano has discovered what he thinks is a creature with four legs and two heads, which is really Caliban's and Trinculo's legs next to each other and both of their voices. The use of language in this extract differs between characters. Stefano's use of language is blunt and basic English. The fact that he is drunk adds to the effect that his words are slightly slurred. Stefano and Trinculo are both very low down in the hierarchy, Stefano is the Alonso's butler and Trinculo is his jester, and this also means that they would not have been taught proper English and so would not have been able to speak in clear, full sentences even when they were not scared of the storm and drunk. Caliban's language however is a lot nobler and it is of much better English than those of Trinculo and Stefano. This is strange because it would be much more correct to have it the other way around with Trinculo and Stefano speaking better English than Caliban. The reason for this is because when Prospero first discovered Caliban, he treated him nicely and with some respect and Miranda also taught him to speak properly and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Lear change throughout the play?

King Lear Coursework How Does Lear change throughout the play? In a play about individual tragedies, a lack of responsibility plays an important part. The play 'King Lear' shows Lear's descent to madness'. In the play, King Lear experiences his own journey through time. He is betrayed by two of his daughters but is reconciled to his youngest at the end. All of the turning points of his reign as a king, was due to his lack of thinking as he never thought of what he is doing until his actions take an awful turn. Lear is a complex tragic hero. He, unlike other tragic heroes, doesn't have one flaw which leads him to his downfall, but rather multiple flaws. Lear doesn't realise at the beginning that he isn't seen as the perfect king but we as the audience know this is entirely true. His character has many different weaknesses ranging from the smallest things to the most important things that some may stumble on. My initial impression of Lear is that he is a naïve and arrogant king who indulges himself in false praise from others. He thrives of power and lives day by day on his wealthy state. At the opening of the play, the audience sees Lear as the 'enemy' of the play. 'King Lear' was written in the early 17th century. This was the time when Kings and Queens ruled the land with unquestionable power. The play is about a struggle for power and property. 'King Lear' perhaps

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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King Lear

Chris Rose 5 February 2002 GCSE Major Coursework Assignment: Shakespeare: King Lear The play king Lear written by William Shakespeare deals with relationships, greed and selfishness as issues. The play is about an aging king and his three daughters to decide how much each daughter gets he asks them all to in turn to put their love for him into words. The most loved daughter and youngest daughter called Cordelia goes last. After Regan and Gonerills speech Cordelia refuses, saying that she cannot ask her love into words. Lear casts her away and as disowns her. She goes off to marry the king of France, and later returns leading an army. The rest of the play revolves around the consequences of these actions. Shakespeare would have got the ideas that he put in king Lear from topical gossip and books that were around at the time. One topic of conversation in London around this time was sir William Allen. He suffered a similar state of affairs as King Lear did, because he was also aging and he also decided to give up his estate and split it three ways, only, Lear had one advantage, Lear had Cordelia whereas sir William Allen was mistreated by all three of his daughters. One winter, his daughters got so sick of looking after him, that they even refused to give him fuel to keep himself warm. Another celebrity from around that time that suffered a similar mistreatment by his

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The daring and brave Hamlet

The Daring and Brave Hamlet Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. The young Prince Hamlet is the protagonist of the play and is portrayed as a very emotional soul, a daring, brave character with a violent temper. Hamlet is a very emotional young man who struggles to cope with the death of his beloved father as sown here: 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, / Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, / No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior of the visage, /Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, / For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that within which passeth show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe (I.i.82-91). He lets it be known that, regardless of how grief-stricken he might outwardly appear, his appearance cannot hold a candle to how miserable he feels inside. Claudius, speaking as one who is incapable of reaching Hamlet's depth of emotion, mentions that Hamlet is taking the mourning of his father's death to extremes: To give these mourning duties to your father; /But you must know, your father lost a father;/ That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound/ in filial obligation for some term to do obsequious sorrow (I.ii.94-98). The King tells Hamlet that death is a part of the natural

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Prospero and Miranda's relationship in the Tempest is a strongly bonded one.

Tempest Coursework Prospero and Miranda's relationship in the Tempest is a strongly bonded one. However, Prospero has a very strict control over Miranda, especially any aspects relating to sexual relations. Prospero loves having and controlling power, and Miranda is another thing to add to his list, which he can have complete power over. Like every parent and their children, they are bound to have arguments at some points through their life, but these hardly change the relationship between them. In the time that Shakespeare was writing this play, woman played less important roles in society that men did, so we have to take this into account. There are also many different ways in interpreting what Shakespeare has said, so sometimes, we have to choose what we, ourselves think is right. From the beginning of the play, we can tell that Prospero and Miranda's relationship is a strong one, when Prospero uniforms her of their past. Miranda is obviously very close to her father, because when he tells Miranda about being usurped by his "false brother" Antonio, this immediately provokes hatred in Miranda. If she wasn't so close to her father, and did not love him as much, then she wouldn't have been so moved by what she just heard. She says: "I should sin To think but nobly of my Grandmother; Good wombs have born bad sons." This quotation expresses her disbelief in the feat of

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare present Hamlet in Act III scene ii and iii? Include ideas for how you would direct the scene to reveal Hamlets character, his state of mind and the scenes dramatic impact.

How does Shakespeare present Hamlet in Act III scene ii and iii? Include ideas for how you would direct the scene to reveal Hamlets character, his state of mind and the scenes dramatic impact. My main reaction to Hamlet in these scenes is that he has a very changeable character. He treats different people in different ways, depending on whether he thinks they are plotting against him or not. But also his moods change from one extreme to the other, especially with Ophelia. In one extreme he will be declaring love for her and the next he will be saying that he never loved her. This is possibly to play up to his madness. This gives the effect that Hamlet is not a very good mannered person, which we know he isn't because as the audience we know he's plotting to kill the king. But the characters in the play don't know that, they think he is genuinely mad. He treats Horatio with some respect throughout the play and this can be seen in these two scenes. He has no respect for the king, which is understandable, as he was his fathers' murderer. Hamlet is a very emotional play as Laertes and Hamlet are all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all want revenge for a slaughtered father. The beginning of Act III scene ii presents Hamlet as a planner. He plans the play carefully and this is shown by his instructions to the players, he wants the play to have the right

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Midsummer Nights Dream

Katy-Leigh Bogin A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay The play that I have recently been studying is called 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', written by William Shakespeare, in approximately 1594. In the Elizabethan times, paper was expensive so Shakespeare didn't physically write down his plays, therefore they are not accurate. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first printed in 1600. In the play, Shakespeare shows us a variety of different types of love, this is the focus of my essay. In this essay I will compare, contrast and discuss Shakespeare's approach to displaying these various types of love through his characters, the art of theatre and dramatic devices. Shakespeare has used many characters in the play, some with similar names such as Hermia and Helena to try and confuse the audience. In the play the characters run in parallel worlds; the fairies and the people of Athens. Throughout the play these two interact to cause further confusion, plus the Elizabethan's would have liked this, as they believed in supernatural. Firstly, there is Theseus, the Duke of Athens, who plans to soon marry Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, who share a mature love. Helena is in love with Demetrius, but Demetrius loves Hermia, Egeus' daughter. Hermia and Lysander are both deeply in love with each other, even though Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Hermia and Helena's

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare present tension

How does Shakespeare present tension Shakespeare presents the tensions between Civilisation and Nature through the way in which the settlers interact with one another, through the relationship between the natives of the Island and the settlers, through the way in which Shakespeare presents characteristics in both Prospero and Caliban which oppose the generalisations of civilised society and through the play's historical link to the Colonisation of America. The generalisations of Civilised society were that the "savages" of the 'new world' were brutal and needlessly violent, viewed as inferior by the standards set by a 'civilised' moral bound society. However, through the use of the characters Prospero and Caliban, Shakespeare upturns these generalisations by revealing traits of each character that contrast surprisingly to their stereotypes. Caliban is presented by Prospero and Miranda to be a foul beast "not honoured with a human shape" of which "any print of goodness will not take" and the audience immediately accepts their description of him because they are disgusted by his attempted rape of Miranda and especially by his lack of guilt, "o ho would't have been done!". By this Shakespeare is presenting how Caliban is so emotionally uneducated he is by presenting him as wild and immoral in a world where there is no social code. Caliban feels strongly for Miranda, her being

  • Word count: 1922
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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