British writer, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who is the best-known detective in literature and the embodiment of sharp reasoning

British writer, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who is the best-known detective in literature and the embodiment of sharp reasoning. Doyle himself was not a good example of rational personality: he believed in fairies and was interested in occultism. Sherlock Holmes stories have been translated into more than fifty languages, and made into plays, films, radio and television series, a musical comedy, a ballet, cartoons, comic books, and advertisement. By 1920 Doyle was one of the most highly paid writers in the world. Arthur Conan Doyle was born at Picardy Place, Edinburgh, as the son of Charles Altamont Doyle, a civil servant in the Edinburgh Office of Works, and Mary (Foley) Doyle. Doyle's mother, Mary, whom he called "the Ma'am," was interested in literature, and she encouraged his son to explore the world of books Doyle was educated in Jesuit schools. During this period Doyle lost his belief in the Roman Catholic faith, but the training of the Jesuits influenced deeply his thought. Later he used his friends and teachers from Stonyhurst College as models for his characters in the Holmes stories, among them two boys named Moriarty. Doyle studied at Edinburgh University and in 1884 he married Louise

  • Word count: 202
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

I am going to compare the opening pages of two detective stories 'The Adventures of the speckled band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'Miss Marple's Final cases' by Agatha Christie. I am then going to find out what is the most convincing and why.

Wide Reading Coursework I am going to compare the opening pages of two detective stories 'The Adventures of the speckled band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'Miss Marple's Final cases' by Agatha Christie. I am then going to find out what is the most convincing and why. In the beginning of the Speckled Band it starts off with Holmes' sidekick, Dr Watson examining his case notes 'on examining my notes'. He talks about the way that every one of the cases is unusual 'a large number merely strange'. He then recollects on one specific story. He then sets the scene of when Sherlock is woken up by a woman. He then talks about Holmes then going down stairs to meet her and discover the situation that she is in. At the beginning of Miss Marple's Final Cases it starts off just like an ordinary day. The Vicar's wife comes into the church to do her flower arranging as usual. It was a cold day but also sunny 'as she did so the sun came out'. Whilst inside the church she noticed something huddled on the chancel ' On the chancel steps was a huddled dark form'. She then realised that it was a man. He then utters the word 'sanctuary' twice. The similarities between the two beginnings are that they both start off in quite a normal way. This is seen in the way the Vicars wife is doing the ordinary thing of flower arranging 'arranged the blooms in their holders'. Another way in which they are

  • Word count: 872
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

How Far Are 'The Speckled Band' And 'Lamb To TheSlaughter' Typical Of Murder Mysteries? How Are The Stories The Same And How Are They Different? Compare The Ways In Which The Stories Are Told.

How Far Are 'The Speckled Band' And 'Lamb To The Slaughter' Typical Of Murder Mysteries? How Are The Stories The Same And How Are They Different? Compare The Ways In Which The Stories Are Told Murder mystery usually means where there is a murder involving money, love or revenge. The victim's friend or a family member goes to a detective and tells them what they know about the murder and the suspects and where they were, and what they were doing at that time. There are a lot of famous detectives in books, TV and video for example; Sherlock Holmes, Jonathon Creek, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse, Danziel and Pascoe. They even appear in children's books and on TV, for example, Scooby Doo. The detective and usually an accomplice will look at all the evidence and maybe, even find a few red herrings, and suspects and keep the audience in suspense until the end when they usually set a trap and say how they found out it was him or her. Sometimes, the murder is set the other way round where the audience knows who it is but the detective doesn't. I have studied the 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl, a comic crime thriller in miniature which has become one of his best known stories and whose plot must be amongst the first ever to have a freezer in it. Apparently, Ian Fleming had given the idea of the story to him over dinner. In the text Mary says can they do her one last thing

  • Word count: 2457
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

After Reading Three Crime Stories, Which Detective Do You Find Most Believeable?

AFTER READING THREE CRIME STORIES, WHICH DETECTIVE DO YOU FIND MOST BELIEVEABLE? Over the last few weeks I have thoroughly analyzed four uniquely different detective stories. Each story was gripping and compelling in its own way. The first story I read was titled 'A Wife in a Million' by Val McDermid. Basically in this story detective Maggie Staniforth is called in to investigate mysterious murders occurring in the area, whilst trying to keep her relationship under control. The second story is titled 'The Man with the twisted Lip' written by the legendary Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'. In this detective story Detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr James Watson try to unravel an ominous case where a man seems to vanish without a trace. In this case Holmes has to use all his legendary detective qualities to unravel a truly bizarre case. The third story which I read was titled 'superfluous Murder' written by Milward Kennedy. In this ironic story Mr. John Mansbridge attempts to kill his cousin Felix Mansbridge in a bitter money dispute, however it becomes evident that John Mansbridge is too smart for his own good, and it is up to the detective to unravel a truly superfluous murder. The last of the stories which I read was titled 'The Reluctant Detective' by Michael Z. Lewin. In this story amateur detectives Fredrick and Dawn are unwillingly called in to investigate a

  • Word count: 2062
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comment on the portrayal of Gender, Ethnicity and Class in two of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories

Comment on the portrayal of Gender, Ethnicity and Class in two of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories Arthur Conan Doyle was a well known writer during the Victorian Era and still is today. He was famous for his stories. One of his books had a fictional character that caught people's attention. This character is a spectacular detective, Sherlock Holmes. People loved Sherlock Holmes so much because he always solves the case and always defeat evil. In fact, in one of Arthur's short story, 'The Speckled Band', Sherlock Holmes was described as "the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office" and "the busybody!" This period of time is called the Victorian Era because the ruler during this time was Queen Victoria. There were a lot of crimes committed at this time. Common ones were murder and drug abuse, which were feared greatly by people. The life style of people in the Victorian Era was different to everyday life. In the Victorian Times, there were three different groups of people. These were the upper class - rich and powerful people who don't need to work, middle class - have to work to support but not physical work, and lower/working class - poor people with no money and works physically. 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' are one of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. This piece of writing is to show how these two stories give the readers an idea of how people lived and behaved in

  • Word count: 1317
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing two stories from "Nineteenth Century Short Stories", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and "The Half Brothers" by Elizabeth Gaskell

Nineteenth Century Short Story Assignments-English Literature In this essay I will be comparing two stories from "Nineteenth Century Short Stories", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and "The Half Brothers" by Elizabeth Gaskell. I am going to look at how family relationships are used in each story and how similar the family relationships are compared to each other. In, "the adventure of the speckled band" one of the main characters is Helen Stoner who tells Sherlock Holmes the story. She has no immediate family left except her aunt but she lives with her stepfather, Dr Grimsby Roylott. Her twin sister Julia died at the age of twenty eight and her mom, Mrs Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, died six years before Julia. Dr Roylott, "the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran", has no friends at all and is feared by most people in the village. His late wife had left money for him to give to Helen and Julia when they got engaged but coincidently, soon after Dr Roylott had heard of Julia's engagement, she was mysteriously murdered. Julia and Helen were extremely close and, therefore, Helen was really hurt when Julia had died. In, "the Half Brothers", there is a boy named Gregory whose mother, Helen died when he was three years old and he had to live with his stepfather, William

  • Word count: 1136
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing two detective stories - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story 'The Speckled Band' and 'Death on Pine street'.

English GCSE Coursework Comparing Two Detective Stories In this essay I will be comparing two detective stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story 'The Speckled Band' was written in the 1890's and set in England. It follows Sherlock Holmes as he investigates the unusual death of a young woman. Through clever logic he manages to solve the case entirely by simply investigating the scene of the crime. 'Death on Pine Street' was written in the 1930's and set in America. The detective in this is a more "street-wise" roughed up detective, investigating the murder of a woman's husband. His sly and even dishonest methods of investigation solve the case, however there are a few complexities. Both stories are first person narratives. In 'The Speckled Band' Dr. Watson is the narrator but in 'Death on Pine Street', the Op himself tells us the story. This means that in the Holmes story the reader is kept in the dark about what is happening because we only know what Watson knows and, therefore, have to wait to the end of the story for Holmes to explain how he solved the crime to Watson. In the other story, because the Op is the narrator we know what he is thinking and what is happening to him. This different style works well, because although we know what he is thinking, we still have to wait to the end for the Op to explain how he solved the crime to the police; this way it doesn't ruin

  • Word count: 1425
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead, deals with the exploration of Lila Mae Watson, a black female intuitionist, who undergoes a quest to reveal what Intuitionism is all about.

Wrstletokill Writing & Lit. I 02/19/03 A Character's Role In a world focused on elevators one wonders, what would it mean if one were to take the stairs? The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead, deals with the exploration of Lila Mae Watson, a black female intuitionist, who undergoes a quest to reveal what Intuitionism is all about. As a result of her quest, the connection between James Fulton, the creator of Intuitionism and Lila Mae Watson's role as character is revealed. Lila M. Watson, the protagonist of this novel, endures a number of experiences as the first black elevator intuitionist. An accident occurs with an elevator which she was in charge of. From then on the story introduces Lila Mae's quest for answers. Lila Mae's life goes into detail about how fragments of her life have been shattered with grief, and racism above all. During her exam about elevators in college, she was answering flawlessly with details and precisions at the professor's questions. The last question had nothing to do with elevators, just a reckoning to her; so that she knows that there are only twelve colored inspectors and they most of them are not even working, by making her know that even though she answered swiftly she didn't know everything: "So you don't know everything; that will be all Miss Watson." (p 53) Within the story she goes into a subtle exploration of her own identity, race,

  • Word count: 862
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Why do the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle continue to appeal to readers, even in the 21st century?

Why do the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle continue to appeal to readers, even in the 21st century? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a famous author notably known for his series of 'Sherlock Holmes' detective narratives. He wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and the stories were much loved by the public in the era of which they were written. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Scotland on the 22nd of May 1859. He went to a boarding school at the age of nine and so no longer lived at home. After graduating he left to study medicine in Edinburgh. Doyle ended up working with a doctor called Joseph Bell. Some say he was Doyle's biggest influence as he seemed to share many characteristics with Doyle's most famous fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. Bell was said to be observational, logical and able to diagnose a patient without them even speaking. These characteristics are later evident in Sherlock Holmes; thus creating the basis of his character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the writer of arguably the most famous fictional detective ever, Sherlock Holmes. He wrote his Sherlock Holmes stories in the Victorian era. The Victorian audience was fear-stricken and lived in constant terror of crime. Holmes surfaced at a time when crime was commonplace and the corrupted Police forces were incapable of protecting the public. An infamous example was

  • Word count: 2336
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Examine the role of Sherlock Holmes as a Detective in the Story Of The Speckled Band

Aysha Osman 10U Mrs Ahmed 10-3 31st January 2005 Examine the role of Sherlock Holmes as a Detective in the Story Of The Speckled Band The creator of the very legendry stories of Sherlock Holmes was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur. As a child he was sent to a harsh, strict and then applied to study medicine. After qualifying, he travelled as a ships doctor, however he had very little success. Without his career, Conan Doyle had much spare time and decided to write stories as a pass time. These stories he wrote were detective stories with Sherlock Holmes as the main character. Sherlock Holmes had many different skills and abilities. Some of the characteristics he had reflected on the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This pass time, which became partially of a career for him, bought him fame and money. His books were very entertaining, as they were written and set in the Victorian era and in those days there were not many leisure and entertainment facilities. Although Arthur had public success, his personal life away from fame bought him sadness and unhappiness. His first wife had past away due to a lingering illness. Yet after grieving, he remarried. One highlight of his life was that he was knighted for his defence of British involvement. Conan Doyle was popular and loved and he continued to write Sherlock Holmes stories until the late 1920's,

  • Word count: 894
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay