An analysis of the ways in which two non-fiction texts present a biased account of the Derek Bentley case.
An analysis of the ways in which two non-fiction texts present a biased account of the Derek Bentley case. In this essay I will be analysing two biased sources of information, the first, a newspaper article and the second a film presenting an account of what happened. The newspaper account focuses on the death of the detective by alleged gangsters, whilst the film focuses on the unjust hanging of an innocent man with learning difficulties. The newspaper article is lifted from the Daily mail printed on the 3rd of November 1952, a right wing tabloid newspaper. This longstanding right wing newspaper was popular with the Conservative supporting public and its readers would mostly have been on the site of law and order, the police and other authorities. It would not have been have had liberal or sympathetic views about the perpetrators of the crime or been interested in what drove them to committing such a crime, as some liberal or left wing newspaper do today. The newspaper article is headlined "Chicago gun battle in London: gangsters with machine guns on roof kill detective, wound another", this headline immediately seeds in peoples minds thoughts of; gangsters fighting and bandits with machine guns. The word Chicago brings to mind a very rough and violent place in America that people would have seen in films about Al Capone. The headline also tells readers that a detective
Not only does 'Death of a Salesman' inform the audience about Arthur Miller's opinions on success, failure and dreams
'Death of a Salesman' The Inside Of His Head We have been studying 'Death of a Salesman' which was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. The play is set in America and revolves around a man in his sixties called Willy. Willy is an insecure, self-deluded travelling salesman who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that has not accomplished his lifelong dreams. The play takes place over 48 hours and we see Willy's fast decline into anxiety which eventually ends with suicide. During this essay, we will be exploring how Arthur Miller shows the audience the inside of Willy's head. The main characters in this play are Willy and Biff alongside many other supporting characters. Linda is Willy's adoring spouse; she is the epitome of a perfect American wife. Happy is Willy's younger son who is 'tall' and 'powerfully made.' He is more successful than Biff in the eyes of Willy because he shares Willy's inclination to exaggerate his success by making himself and everyone around him believe that he is the assistant buyer at his store, when, in reality, he is only 'one of the two assistants to the assistant.' Biff is Willy's oldest son who 'bears a worn air' and appears to be 'less self-assured' than Happy. He has a simple dream, he wants to 'find a girl' and not 'waste his life.' He acknowledges his failure and eventually manages to confront it; he refuses to resort to self-deception
What are the different forms of deception that occur in the play and what is their effect?
What are the different forms of deception that occur in the play and what is their effect? Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, is a play about misperceptions, love and the overall comedy of relationships. The main plot revolves around a young couple, Hero and Claudio, and the obstacles they must face in order to be together. The humour ensues when Benedick, a sworn bachelor, meets Beatrice, Hero's opinionated cousin, and from the very beginning they make their great resentment for one another extremely clear. Through the use of relationships in the play, Shakespeare shows the reader the many different forms of deception, and their positive and negative effects. One of the main examples of deception made evident in the play is deception of friends to promote love. This is shown when Don Pedro lets Hero and Claudio in on his plan to bring Beatrice and Benedick together: "I will teach you how to humour your cousin, that she shall fall in love with Benedick, and I, with your two helps, will so practice on Benedick." The effect is a positive one, as his plan works and the pair overcome their differences and end up falling in love. This is one of several examples of deception that is for positive, and helps the comic tone of the play evolve. Deception to cause harm is another form that is used in the play. This time Don John, the villain of the town, and Borachio, his
How does Shakespeare convey the theme of love and conflict in the Prologue, Act 1 Scene 5, Act 3 Scene 2 and Act 3 Scene 5 of 'Romeo and Juliet'?
HOW DOES SHAKESPEARE CONVEY THE THEME OF LOVE AND CONFLICT IN THE PROLOGUE, ACT 1 SCENE 5, ACT 3 SCENE 2 AND ACT 3 SCENE 5 OF 'ROMEO AND JULIET'? When writing about love and conflict in the play, I will focus on four parts of it; the Prologue, Act 1 Scene 5, Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 3 Scene 5. In each of them, I will look for love and conflict, and how is it related to many other things in the play, such us the development of characters or Shakespeare's dramatic style. The essay should help those who will read it understand what is hidden, or seems to be hidden, beyond Shakespeare's use of language, form and other things. All of my points are based on the different bits of the play and how I myself interpret them in relation to the theme. The whole play is introduced by the Prologue. In the 20th century film I saw with my class, the Prologue was given in the form of TV news, where a woman was introducing the story, as they usually do in the news, saying things like ''Three Italian soldiers died in Iraq in an explosion yesterday. Protests against the war rise.'' or ''Famous footballer X stopped playing football. Millions of fans wail.'', and then showing and speaking about the whole story. This quite well explains how the Prologue works. It tells us the destination of the story (''In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.''), explains who the story is about (''Two households, both
How does Miller show the changes in Hale during the course of The Crucible?
How does Miller show the changes in Hale during the course of 'The Crucible'? Reverend John Hale is a respected religious scholar who arrives in Salem to give advice on the witchcraft problem. He means well but is proved to be weak. He turns against the court but is unable to halt the executions. The lengthy stage directions before first Hales entry, is one way that Miller tells us about him. He seems to believe completely in what he is doing, and he thinks he is trying to eradicate witchcraft for all of the right reasons. "His goal...goodness and its preservation". Hale sees the study of witchcraft like a science, and Millers uses medical words to back this up; "painfully", "symptoms", "diagnostic" and "procedures". I think this is because Hale feels he is almost curing people of the illness of witchcraft, however it could just be to make Hales job seem more important than it really is. The idea of Hales job being like a science is continued through "the devil is precise". This starts to make Hale almost comic, as we really see how seriously he takes witchcraft, which today in the modern world we see as false. Hale states he is going to "crush" the devil. The idea of crushing the Devil, seems to foreshadow the death of Giles Corey who was crushed to death later in the play. It gives the idea of crushing lies to get to the truth. This shows Hales certainty that he is
Explore the way the characters between different generations is developed in An Inspector Calls
Explore the way the characters between different generations is developed in An Inspector Calls In the play An Inspector Calls, written in 1946 by Mr J.B Priestley, there are two contrasting generations, the old and new. These characters are developed as the play unfolds. The play is set before World War 1, in 1912. This period was drastically different to the one in which it was written, 1946, with the social classes being much farther apart and the welfare state being non-existent. In this essay I will look at how the characters Sheila and Arthur Birling change over the course of the play, and how the generation gap affects this. These characters have been chosen because they, in my opinion, differ the most out of any two characters in the play. I will firstly look at how Sheila is portrayed when we first meet her at the start of the play. In the first act the Birling family is having dinner to celebrate Sheila marrying Gerald Croft, a lucrative decision for both of the families. Sheila is shown as sarcastic and playful when she says “(with mock aggressiveness) Go on Gerald- just you object!” This sentence implies that Sheila likes to joke around with Gerald, which was actually in contrast to how women were supposed to act in that period, showing early on that she is also quite rebellious. The word “mock” means, in this case, means fake and not serious, reflecting
Compare and contrast the different generations in 'an Inspector calls'
Compare and contrast the different generation's response to the Inspector The different characters in 'an inspector calls' fall within different generation categories. The young being Eric ad Sheila, the old being Arthur and Sybil and Gerald who lies in between these two. They all have differing reactions to the inspector's presence and I believe the link is in their ages or generations. An Inspector Calls was written in 1946 but set in 1912. At a time when capitalism was ruling the country and people like Arthur Birling effectively rule the country. The setting of the play was very significant as it allowed the use of dramatic irony, especially when Birling speaks about the future. "We're in a time for a time of steadily increasing prosperity". As the audience knew what the future held for the people in the play they get an instant dislike for Birling as an arrogant, capitalist factory owner. The younger generation, Eric and Sheila respond to the inspector's presence very differently to their parents. Sheila responds to the inspector's interrogation very honestly and openly. "(Miserably) so I'm really responsible?" Instantly she accepts the blame and places it all on herself. This is a perfect example of how the younger generation reacts to the inspector. They don't lash out at him or try and shift the blame; they understand their part and accept the blame. Eric's
A letter from Lady Macbeth to her husband.
My beloved Macbeth, I can barely write as unrighteous tears cloud my eyes and blur my vision. Oh, my love, how I have battledwith my conscience and how my words 'our deeds must not be thought of ' come back to haunt me. Screams in my head paralyse my sleep and torture my wake. I can no longer live for fear of the truth being shared. Ever since I received that fateful letter I began plotting how we could speed our path to power. I should have let fate take its course instead of trying to take fate into my own hands. If I had done that then maybe the smell of Duncan's blood would disappear and perhaps I would not be writing this, my final letter. I remember the time when we were a young happy couple, so much in love, so much to live for. How long ago this all seems now. I wish we could return tothat happiness, but it is all too late. I have ruined everything you worked so hard for. You were a role model to everyone who knew you. Well respected, brave and loyal, you served your country and gained the trust of our king. He rewarded you well and would have rewarded you further, but now I' ve destroyed everything. I am filled with pain and anguish and hopeless despair and all I can offer you is that when I am gone it may relieve some of the guilt I have put upon your soul. I recall being overcome with emotion when you returned to me after the battle and you were given
Throughout the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth together demonstrate how ambition can turn a loyal soldier into a bloodthirsty murderer
Throughout the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth together demonstrate how ambition can turn a loyal soldier into a bloodthirsty murderer with his scheming and devious wife turning weak and disturbed as ambition slowly destroys her. Macbeth’s ambition to become king of Scotland turn’s him independent and ruthless. “The dead butcher and fiend-like queen”, is an accurate description as this is all they amount to. At the start of the play Macbeth is a loyal soldier returning from the civil war. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. The witch’s prophecies make Macbeth ambitious and tap into pre-existing ambition. Macbeth believes these prophecies as the first of his prophecies has been fulfilled. Afterwards the second prophecy is carried out. Immediately Macbeth thinks of murdering King Duncan so the third of his prophecies will be fulfilled even though he is horrified by the idea. Lady Macbeth’s greed makes her determined the third prophecy will come true. But believes Macbeth is not capable of murdering Duncan but will provoke him. When Lady Macbeth hears the news that that Duncan is coming to visit she believes it is the ideal opportunity to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits of darkness and evil to replace her nurturing and feminine qualities with remorseless cruelty. Macbeth is appalled of the
How Shakespeare portrays Romeo and Juliet in Act 2 Scene 2
How Shakespeare portrays Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene 2 is a particularly famous scene in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Often called the balcony scene, it is where the two lovers first meet to proclaim their love for each other. The balcony scene takes place after the ball in the Capulet Mansion, in Juliet’s orchard. The characters are presented in an unusual way, illustrating many recurring themes of identity, life and death, nature and love. The thoughts and feelings of Romeo and Juliet are conveyed through metaphors, enriching the reading or performance of the play. The actions and responses of others emphasize the division that is supposed to be between Romeo and Juliet and what makes it so moving is that we, the audience, knows what this division will bring about at the end of the play. The film by Baz Luhrmann of Romeo and Juliet enhances the visual experience and brings to life the metaphors used in a way that Shakespeare would have never been able to show visually. Shakespeare’s play contrasts with the societal views and expectations of young people and goes against the social norms expected in Elizabethan times. At the start of Act 2 Scene 2 Romeo, in a monologue, reveals his love and desire for Juliet as she appears at a window above him oblivious that Romeo is just beneath. The use of celestial imagery and mythological references are common
