Letter to daniel

"Letter to Daniel" Critical Essay "Letter to Daniel" by Fergal Keane is a non-fiction text that triggers an emotional response in the reader. Keane uses effective language, word choice, structure, setting and tone to reflect on his own personal experience which he uses to address the wider themes of the importance of family, forgiveness and the fallibility of man. The text takes the format of a letter from a new father to his newly born son. Keane uses this to reflect on his life experience as not only a new father but also a war correspondent. It also reflects on the horrors of child suffering he has witnessed, his relationship with his alcoholic father and how fatherhood clearly changes his outlook on life. Keane effectively uses language and structure in the opening paragraphs to evoke an emotional response from the reader. The fact that the text is written in letter format highlights that it is something personal. It includes first person thoughts and feelings of the reader which are usually meant for the person the letter is addressed to only. Kean's use of the vocative " My Dear Son" at the beginning of the first paragraph immediately emphasises the feelings he has towards his son and it makes the reader think that the letter is written from the heart. Throughout the letter Keane uses repetition. He says, " We had wanted you, and waited for you, imagined you and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Still I Rise vs I Too Sing America

Black civil rights campaigner, Jesse Jackson, once said, "I am black and I am beautiful...so I must be respected." In their poems 'Still I Rise' and 'I, too, Sing America', Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes also illustrate the idea of celebrating black pride to overcome racism. Through the use of metaphor, repetition and symbolism in their respective poems they show the reader the significance of the African American struggle for equality. In 'Still I Rise', Maya Angelou illustrates how the black race are battling to overcome the racism and hardship of their past. She employs the extended metaphor of the wave, "I'm a black ocean", to show how the black race have been oppressed, just like a tide is pushed back; but they have come back stronger, like waves that crash back to the shore. The rhyming line, "welling and swelling", symbolises the "past that's rooted in pain" of the black people - how they have been hurt, bruised and destroyed by the "hatefulness" expressed towards them, and the "swelling" of these bruises has still not fully faded. Black history is "welling" over with tales of injustice - in The Hurricane, a true film directed by Norman Jewison, Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for a murder he didn't commit just because of the colour of his skin, and there are many more victims of racism just like him. Angelou concludes the wave

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How is tension and suspense built up in 'The Monkey's Paw' & 'The Signalman?'

Pre-1914 Prose How is tension and suspense built up in 'The Monkey's Paw' & 'The Signalman?' 'The Monkey's Paw' is a horror story with action, tension, suspense and a mysterious death. The whole story takes place in one house. T he story was written in the nineteenth century. It's about a monkey's paw that grants three wishes. However every wish has consequences. In the first paragraph the scene is set and there is a contrast in the way the outside and inside are described. "Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of laburnum villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly" The conditions outside are typical of a horror setting "The night was cold and wet" This creates an unpleasant atmosphere. The characters are inside with the blinds drawn and seem separated from the outside with a burning fire. This creates a clam mood, the total opposite to outside. There seems to be no danger within the house but the reader knows something is going to go wrong. When the old solider first enters the story suspense is built up "As the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came towards the door." The introduction to new character builds up tension by not telling the reader who is trying to enter the house. The sergeant major is reluctant to explain what the monkey's paw is and tries to make out there is nothing special about the

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  • Word count: 950
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Harper Lee Present Jem As Developing And Changing Over The Course Of The Novel?

How Does Harper Lee Present Jem As Developing And Changing Over The Course Of The Novel? Harper Lee's character Jem Finch from her famous novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is very significant because during the course of the novel he undergoes a great maturation process. As he matures a great deal mentally he sees the evil in society and understands the social and emotional issues as an adult would, which helps him come to understand all the events which are occurring around him. At the beginning of the story Harper Lee illustrates examples of Jem's child-like immaturity. You are told Jem's age by Scout "When I was almost six and Jem was almost ten" (p.6) early on in the novel to help show he is still a child. Harper Lee then goes on to give more early signs in the novel of Jem's naivety when he gives a description of Boo Radley "Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch" (p.13) as you can see the description of Boo it is one of an imaginative child. I think Harper Lee has chosen to include this portrayal of Boo from Jem to help show he is still very much a child, this therefore helps set up the aging process that is to follow. There are many small incidents that show signs of Jem maturing such as Jem eventually stopping all games involving Boo. This is because he matures enough to see Atticus' point

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  • Word count: 798
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Task- To discuss how Steven Spielberg uses cinematic techniques in the opening sequence of his film Jaws to create tension and suspense.

GCSE ENGLISH COURSEWORK MEDIA JAWS Task- To discuss how Steven Spielberg uses cinematic techniques in the opening sequence of his film "Jaws" to create tension and suspense. Conditions- The film was watched in class and discussed. A final piece of coursework was completed after a first draft. Date Completed- June 2009 Toby Mynett Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws was first screened in 1975 and happened to be one of the most successful movies of all time, taking in almost $8,000,000 from the box office within a week. One of the reasons Jaws was so successful was Spielberg's unique approach of capturing elements of fright and history. By effectively blurring the boundary between fact and fiction, the fictional story became all the more believable. Although the film is rated PG, the content in the film is extremely violent and today Jaws would probably be 12A if re-released. Despite Jaws not being one distinct genre, the movie is a combination of thriller, action, and adventure. The film is set in Amity Island, a fictional location situated near the eastern coast of America. There are three main characters in the film - Police Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider, Quint the knowledgeable fisherman, played by Robert Shaw, and Matt Hooper the marine scientist, played by Richard Dreyfuss. As a gigantic great white shark takes refuge in Amity Beach's waters, Police

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  • Subject: English
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The role of animals in The Unbearable lightness of being

Medora Choi 28th July, 2009 What role do animals (Karenin, Mefisto, the crow, the cows, etc.) play in the philosophic structure of The Unbearable Lightness of Being? In Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the role of animals is always the opposite of the behavior of human being in the philosophic structure. For example, when a human character such as Tomas is experiencing heavy weight, the animals will always be the opposite --- lightness. In this novel, the relationship between of body and soul plays an important part in the role of animals. Tereza had always seen body and soul as one under the influence of her mother "where youth and beauty mean nothing, where the world is nothing but a vast concentration camp of bodies one like the next, with souls invisible" (47), until the day the engineer "lured her up to his flat" (152). Kundera contrasts the "excited" "soul" with the "betraying" "body" revealing the tension between the body and soul. (155) She also understood that "the soul for the first time saw the body as something other than banal" (155) that "this was not the most ordinary of bodies; this was the most extraordinary body" (155). On the contrary, "Karenin knew nothing about the duality of body and soul and had no concept of disgust" (297). Although Kundera does not entirely agree with Descartes, he noted that Descartes belives "when animals

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Othello Obituary

Othello Obituary In recent days our most respected and famous Othello has passed away. The cause of his death was due to his self inflicted stab wounds, a medical examiner later said he died due to blood loss. Our dear honoured Othello lived an interesting life, and passed many battles, sieges and fortunes, and the things he saw and experienced in his life time are the most indescribable. When he was young he was taken by the enemy and sold into a life of slavery but he managed to escape, explore the world and become a person in his own right, moving back to Venice and joining the military. You could say Othello was a successful since the day he joined the Venetian military, and the beliefs in honour he carried contributed to the respect he was shown. He was eventually made a significant figure in our national army and his quick thinking, ability to make difficult decisions, and success in battle, made him quite a hero. His mind was always focused on work and this gave his military subordinates faith in him and they fought till the death for him. It has been said that the undoing of the once great Othello and finally ending in his suicide is due to Iago, his trusted companion, and friend in battle. It has been said that Iago twisted words, bent the truth and planted false evidence so that Othello would think his fair wife, Desdemona, which he killed slightly before

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How does Shakespeare make Act3 Scene1 of Romeo and Julliet dramatic for the audience?

Shakespeare assignment: J. Thompson: "How does Shakespeare make Act3 Scene1 dramatic for the audience?" intro: Shakespeare is a very dramatic playwright and his works continue to affect people today. He evokes his audiences' emotions, through the use of many dramatic techniques. Romeo & Juliet is an especially dramatic story of "two star-crossed lovers"; And Act 3 Scene 1, on which we are focusing this assignment, is particularly powerful. Before act3sc1: Due to the theatre enacted in the previous scenes; much knowledge is brought through by the audience into Act 3 Scene 1. For example the Prince's warning in Act 1 Scene 1, lines 98-99 "If you ever disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace!" foreshadows this scene as a prediction of the future, making the scene dramatic as the audience are kept in suspense as to whether it will come apparent or not; the warning also serves as an ultimatum used to discourage the vengant characters (i.e. Tybalt and Mercutio) from causing more trouble. Another example is that of the preceding nuptial scene of Juliet and Romeo which we as an audience are aware of but the other characters, excluding the aforementioned and Friar Lawrence, are not. We as an audience therefore know that the two feuding families (the Montague's and the Capulet's) are now related and so this installs a sense of hope that the

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Describe the room you're in.

Describe The Room You're In. Hannah Wright. Still, a thick veil of cigarette smoke filtered my view of the dark, dank, desolate sitting room, and made the black walls appear grey. The early hours of the evening had consisted of me repeatedly lighting and leaving cigarettes to burn out between my fingers, not one of the twenty met my lips, as intended. The looming smoke crept slowly out of a miniscule hole in the top left hand corner of the window fame, to my right. I lazily calculated, judging by the time of the humungous clock on the wall opposite me, that I'd been slumped on this icy black settee for over 9 hours now. Time moved slower than I'd ever known it, it was gradually approaching 2:24am. There still remained a constant murmur of Freddie Mercury - telling me he could dim the lights and sing me songs full of sad things- his voice leaked aimlessly from the 2 white headphones lying forgotten on the bitterly cold tiled floor. My dog sat protectively at my feet, staring at me. Awfully tired, but reluctant to leave me to sit alone. I edged forward on the settee, the music seemed louder from there. The distinct scent of the condolence flowers, which lay in a tattered heap on the coffee table in front of me, under my tear-drenched scarf, danced through both of my nostrils. It was surprisingly strong. I glanced down at the dog, who obviously saw this as an invitation to a

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Analysis of the opening of the Shrek movie

'An Exploration Of 'Shrek' 'In traditional fairy tales humans are often portrayed as good whilst ogres are terrifying beasts.' Contrast the presentation of the humans and ogres in the opening few minutes of 'Shrek.' The portrayal of the human and ogre in the opening credits of 'Shrek' is certainly quite unlike that of which the audience has come to expect or is usually exposed to in the genre of the traditional fairy tale story.' Shrek' judging by those first few minutes, is a parody in the sense that it copies the style of the traditional fairy tale story yet adapts it in an amusing way. This is cleverly done by 'Dreamworks' using techniques such a colour and light, sound effects, music, and the general characterisation of the main character especially. There is a huge contrast between the portrayal of Shrek and that of the humans. Shrek's appearance certainly fits the criteria of an Ogre. His stocky, boulder-like shoulders and shiny, lucid green skin is what makes him emerge as a main character. The character of Shrek is presented as happy-go-lucky and so content with life, which you can see in the way he looks full of admiration and pride at his home. Shrek leads a modest life. He lives alone in a swamp but he has adapted to this in his own way. Shrek is also presented as having extremely revolting habits. Certainly, they fit the criteria of what one would expect from

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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