Sherlock Holmes

Examine how Arthur Conan Doyle builds tension and sustains mystery for the reader in 'The Speckled Band' The speckled band is a fiction story about a well known detective called Sherlock Holmes working solving crimes or investigations. This particular investigation is about the death of lady called Julia Stoner, just weeks before her wedding, her sister Helen believes she was either frightened to death or killed by gypsies, not knowing the exact truth for her sister's death; she went to Sherlock Holmes to seek for advice as she is concerned what the future awaits. Dr Roylott who lives with Helen Stoner, the stepfather of both girls is one of the main characters in this story, who may be the villain however with the gypsies living in the same area and wild animals roaming freely, the suspect cannot be for certain. The main mystery of this story is how Julia stoner died and what does the speckled band actually mean as these were the last words that Julia actually said, as the title has a great importance in the story, The adventure of the speckled band was published in 1892, and is widely admired as one of the best written and most exciting Sherlock Holmes stories. Queen Victoria reigned over Britain at this period. Urban city life was hard as people had to live in cramped conditions. The average life in the Victorian times was to live up to forty years. Crime was rife at the

  • Word count: 2552
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes assignment Introduction "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and its hero Sherlock Holmes remain very popular over a hundred years. An investigation has been produced to show why this is so. Section 1 The Hound of the Baskervilles begins with Sherlock Holmes showing off his detective skills. He lets Dr. Watson construct who Dr. Mortimer is. Watson gives the reconstruction of Dr. Mortimer and Holmes thanks Watson for his reconstruction. Then Holmes himself has a look at the stick. He says to Watson that most of his conclusions were wrong, and then he shows his expertise because he rights all of the wrong conclusions Watson made. Holmes amazes the reader because he tells of lots of information about a man just from his walking stick. He even concludes what dog Dr. Mortimer has from the teeth marks on the walking stick. Holmes also estimates a right age for the owner of the walking stick. The reader is now probably amazed by Holmes' correct calculations. He makes gentle fun of Watson because of his wrong conclusions, but at the same time, he thanks Watson for his reconstruction of Dr. Mortimer. Section 2 A lot of the success of the Hound of the Baskervilles comes from the hero-Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a character that lives an odd sort of life. He's eccentric and almost un-human. An example of his eccentricity is that he sometimes stays up all

  • Word count: 1029
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Sherlock Holmes Coursework

Prose Study - Coursework By Monica A. Discuss, with reference to three of the Sherlock Holmes stories you have read, the statement that 'Holmes too often puts himself above the law'. In your response you should consider Holmes' relationship with the police. The author of the famous Sherlock Holmes Stories was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1859-1930. With his stories being entwined with many mysteries, Sherlock Holmes is the main character to solve them with his right-hand partner in solving these cases, Watson. In my essay I will be referring to the three stories Sherlock Holmes stories, 'Silver Blaze', 'The Final Problem' and 'The Empty House'. I will also state my opinion on: "Do you think Holmes too often puts himself above the law?" In my perspective, I assume Holmes does but at the same time has the right too as most of time he is right however, feels too snobby at times and should accept those willing to help to solving the case also. Sherlock Holmes is an honourable character, he is intellectually arrogant and, from this point of view, the reader gets the impression that Holmes considers himself to be above the law. Holmes adores a challenge and is willingly enough to accept. Holmes is well educated and of a high social class, and therefore his attitude to the law could be said to be 'snobbish'. I can support this as in the story 'Silver Blaze', Holmes remarks: "I

  • Word count: 1318
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Sherlock Holmes Essay

Sherlock Holmes is one of if not the most popular and well known fictional detective of all time. His powers of observation and expertise in his field of work - investigation of crimes, led him to great popularity in the late 19th to early 20th century. His creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, shot to fame with his first published Sherlock appearance in, "A Study in Scarlet," which was printed in "Beeton's Christmas Annual," in 1887. Sherlock Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street, London. He wore a deerstalker cap, smoked a hooked pipe, carried a large magnifying glass and was known for his subliminary addictive catchphrase, "elementary, my dear Watson," used every time he solved a case. His image was formed from the early magazine illustrations of the stories. But of course, where would any good detective be without their trusty sidekick? The sidekick in question being Dr. Watson, Sherlock's helpful and shrewd sidekick or "partner in crime." Watson plays a major role in every one of the stories although at first it seems he doesn't. His main purpose in the stories is to be the narrator, rather than expecting the reader to understand the situation themselves. All the stories are in first person, i.e. "I" "We", and this is because it is as if Watson is telling the reader the story directly, which is a very clever technique used by Doyle to try and make the reader feel that they are

  • Word count: 1772
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Sherlock Holmes Essay

Sherlock Holmes Essay By Lisa Higgins Arthur Conan Doyle has written a number of short stories about a fictional character called Sherlock Holmes and his trusted work mate Dr. Watson. Together they solve mysteries using the art of the reasoner and imaginative thinking. I have recently been studying the adventure of the speckled band among other short stories. Holmes is portrayed as an intelligent crime solver, with quick thinking skills and a sharp mind. We find straight away in the story that Dr. Watson and Holmes are good friends as Holmes wakes Watson up early especially because he thinks he would want to learn about the case right from the start. Holmes has an eye for detail, which we realise near the beginning of the story as he can clearly describe how the woman travelled to meet him, by the half return ticket and mud splatters on her jacket. The crime is a murder; set it the mansion belonging Dr. Grimesby Roylott in Stoke Moran. Dr. Roylott was in great debt and rented out most of his property to gypsies. He was a very lonely, bitter, miserable man. The murder is described by the victims sister, Helen Stoner, she saw her sister just before she died and experienced some of the strange things that happened to her sister on the night of her death, afraid and worried she turned to Holmes for his help. There are many suspects in this story, such as the gypsies, or

  • Word count: 816
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a writer of many books. He is most well known for being the creator of Sherlock Holmes. He was influenced to write by family, professors, and spiritualism (www.members.hom.net). Arthur Conan Doyle was born May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh. He was the second born of seven children. His mother, Mary Foley, came from a military family; and his father, Charles Doyle, was a draughtsman who was an alcoholic. His family was a very devoted Catholic family (Cavandish, Marshall). Arthur was sent to Stonyhurst; a private school in Lancashire. After attending Stonyhurst, Arthur attended another Jesuit school in Austria. Here he decided to become a doctor (Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan). In 1876 he entered Edinburgh University where he studied to become a doctor. He graduated from here at the age of twenty-two. There Arthur met Dr. Joseph Bell, his influence for Sherlock Holmes (www.siracd.com). Dr. Bell had the ability to diagnose patients by their clothes, manners, behaviors, habits, and occupations. When Arthur's father was put in a nursing home for alcoholism, Arthur had to help provide for his mother. He got a job as a surgeon on the ship called the Hope in 1880. The next year he took a journey on the SS Mayumba, a cargo and passenger ship heading for South Africa. On his way home he received a letter from George Budd one of

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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the speckled band

"The Speckled Band" Coursework "The Speckled Band" is set in London 1886 in the era of Queen Victoria. Crime was rife in the slums of London. Prostitution, drug abuse and murder were high. There was much poverty and ill health as poor people lived in cramp dirty conditions and smog from the factories weighed heavily on the city, making it dark and dreary. When Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, the Victorians immediately fell for the fictional character. He became the perfect detective solving every case. When Doyle tried to kill off his character in 1893, there was a public outcry and Doyle received death threats warning him to keep Holmes alive. Sherlock Holmes has become one of the most celebrated and famous fictional detectives the world has ever known. Conan Doyle had many influences that helped him to write the Holmes adventures. The main influences were the tales of Edgar Allen Poe and the novels of Wilkie Collins. The works of these and other authors established the pattern that Conan Doyle's stories follow. The main ingredients of a typical murder mystery usually include a body, a motive, a weapon, a suspect, an alibi and a detective. This detective story has all of these. "The Speckled Band" also follows a typical murder mystery structure. Miss Stoner tells her tale to Holmes and Watson; Holmes questions her; Holmes and Watson visit the crime scene; Holmes

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Speckled Band

The Speckled Band John Walsh Writers of crime stories have to make the reader feel tense and excited to keep them interested. Arthur Conan Doyle makes the story interesting and tense by introducing key scenes which include firstly at Baker Street when Holmes rushes into Watson's bedroom, Dr. Roylotts sudden arrival, Dr. Roylotts brutal behaviour towards his young servant, Holmes and Watson's meeting with the baboon, Dr. Roylotts light goes on and they hear a hissing sound in the background, Holmes suddenly jumps up and attacks the snake, they find Dr. Roylott dead in his chair with the snake wrapped around his head. Helen looks very pale, she wears black all the time and her behaviour is as if she is frightened and very nervous and quoted "her face all drawn and grey with restless frightened eyes like those of some hunted animal". Dr. Roylotts appearance is of a very huge looking man and his behaviour is very powerful and threatening. An example of this is when he bends the iron poker with his bare hands. Holmes' appearance in his face is sometimes pale and tense and his behaviour sometimes nervous and dramatic. Helen's way of speaking is very nervy and frightened and quoted "it is fear, Mr. Holmes, it is terror". Dr. Roylotts language is very threatening and violent as quoted " I am a dangerous man to fall foul of!" Holmes' way of speaking is often dramatic,

  • Word count: 383
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Speckled Band.

In this essay I am going to examine the characters, settings and how the author creates tension. From the first opening paragraph Watson quotes "working as he did rather for the love of his art than for he acquirement of wealth". This implies that Sherlock Holmes is a talented detective who looked for cases that would challenge his abilities to the ultimate. Also this quote gives us an insight to how much Holmes really loves his job. As the paragraph continues Watson begins looking over some old cases, when he comes across the very strange case involving the well - known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. He recalls a pledge of secrecy that was given not to disclose the truth but now the lady in question is deceased and no harm could come of it, the truth could be revealed. For such a long time they have kept their promise, showing how trust worthy the two are and that's another quality of Holmes and Watson. In the second paragraph this is where the story begins. Holmes, seen as a late riser was up in the early hours of the morning, fully dressed at the side of Watson's bed. It was a surprise to see such a thing and with Watson being an early riser, was shocked and grumbled "What is it, then? A fire?" Holmes replied "No a client. It seems a young lady has arrived in considerable amount of excitement, who insists upon seeing me." Holmes knew straight away that this

  • Word count: 1342
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Speckled Band

The Speckled Band This is a short story that is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. At the time in which this short but very good story was written it was one of the first detective fiction story. This review of it will guide you through why it is a typical but very well written story. It includes the most famous detective in the world and is still a household name to this very day. The detectives name is Sherlock Holmes and has been written and read about for a number of decades. The main frame of the story is a lady called Helen Stoner who is worried about her life and comes to Sherlock for help and advice. Holmes with his partner Doctor Watson investigates Helens sisters death and hopes to find out the reason for this sinister crime. After looking and analysing the story it is evident that it has the right ingredients for a good detective fiction story. The ingredients that have been well placed into the story are a good opening. The opening starts with Sherlock waking up to his companion Watson and explaining that he is needed as a client is in deep worry. The other essential ingredients are drama, suspense a heroine or a such as Holmes as the hero and Helen stoner as the heroine. Detail is important in every story and detective fiction is no exception. Without detail the reader cannot properly understand what the situation the detective is in. Also the story has to

  • Word count: 1793
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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