Shades Of Grey- A Short Story
Shades Of Grey All was black. He had seen his last light, like the last ray of sunshine leaving the earth at dusk on the evening of the apocalypse. There was no hope of a bright moon coming to him out of the darkness, or stars showing themselves, eager to be wished upon. No hope of tomorrow's dawn to bring a rebellious flicker of light to his heart. . . . We are all logs on a wide river, being swept along in life, Watched. Some of us are big logs, destined to knock into others, to change the courses of other people's lives for better or for worse through powerful decisions. Many of us are smaller logs, who drift along, our lives being changed indirectly by the bigger logs we never meet. We only change the courses of the smaller logs, through our brief encounters with them as we roll forever forwards. All these logs are affected by their personal route through the river, and no two routes are identical. Some meet rocks that stop them for a while, before they change their course. Others meet little resistance on their path, but the undercurrent that finally sinks them. Some logs sink early. Some duck under for a few seconds, so the Watcher may think they have been sunk, but to his surprise and delight, they bob back to the surface with all the defiance and tactlessness natural to humans. The news hit Timmy like a particularly heavy steamroller, but it hit his father
The Trouble with the Birlings and Gerald Croft is they Confuse Respectability with Morality To What Extent is this Statement true?
"The Trouble with the Birlings and Gerald Croft is they Confuse Respectability with Morality..." To What Extent is this Statement true? The Birlings are an upper class family living in pre-war England; they think very highly of themselves and are quite shallow minded. They concentrate centrally on material possessions. The Birlings live in a well-established and comfortable home, which is richly furnished, yet does not have a hint of homeliness or a sign of family life in it. Throughout the play there are symbols used to create the air of wealth, such as the Port they drink, and the careless way they talk about golf. It is obvious that they are rich and used to being that way. You could never call the Birlings anything but respectable; they consider social status as an extremely serious matter. However they seem to confuse respectability with morality; no matter what they do it is only their own benefit or enjoyment. Even Mrs Birling's charitable works do not seem genuinely to be because she cares but more to do with controlling a certain image. Mr Birling is a pompous and solemn man who is of new money and has made his wealth through business and industry. It is obvious he lacks some of the manners and etiquette that would prove him to come from old money. Birling is obviously conscious of this and feels the need to impress other people by 'name dropping'. His speech is
Revenge- A fictional story
Chapter 1 It was the coldest night of the year yet. The village of Livingstone, on the Eastern Coast of England, was slightly quieter than the usual array of silence. Everyone seemed to be anticipating something, just like those at Grimond Hall. Beth Crooke was anxiously waiting, gazing at nothing but the door. 'When would they come?' was the only thought in her head. Rocking on her chair, she was knitting a scarf to take away the pain. Her hazel eyes were like little beacons in the midst of the ocean as the ships navigate their way around the bold illumination. She hadn't showered in days so her ginger hair was frizzy and gave a nasty odour. Zoe, her only daughter, came rushing downstairs. Her lips whispered loudly to her mother's ear, 'They're here.' She looked like her father with her sea blue eyes and nourished brown hair curled to her liking. She was taller than her mother and had the same figure but her character was totally contradistinctive. The long expected knock on the door finally came. Zoe scampered to her bedroom and hid under her bed. Her mother just sat there, still composed in knitting. Eventually, the knocking stopped and again, silence, only to be broken a few seconds later by the crashing of the front and rear doors and voices saying, 'Quickly! Find her and arrest her!' Mrs Crooke had no idea why this was happening but all she did know is that it was
great expectations
How does Dickens guide us to feeling sympathy for Pip? After reading the classic novel, 'Great Expectations', I will be studying two different extracts to try to identify different devices used by Dickens that guides us toward feeling sympathetic for Pip. These particular extracts will be chapters one and eight, because I feel that these show the greatest examples of how Dickens manipulates the readers of this novel to make us feel sorry for the protagonist, Pip. I will also be studying how Dickens' life was similar to some aspects of 'Great Expectations' and how the times and trends influenced this epic novel. 'Great Expectations' was first published in 1861, and is considered to be one of Dickens' greatest works. It has many similarities to Charles Dickens' life, and is considered to be one of his most autobiographical novels he wrote. Born in 1812 in Portsmouth to Elizabeth and John Dickens, Dickens had an unhappy childhood, with his father often in heavy debt. After nine years living in Kent, Dickens and his family moved to London. In 1924, Dickens' father was sent to Marshalsea prison after compiling massive debts. Dickens' mother arranged for Dickens' seven brothers and sisters to go to prison with their father, but as Dickens was older, at twelve years of age, she arranged for Dickens to work at a blacking warehouse and to live alone. Charles Dickens despised this;
How the writer creates interest in the story
Introduction In my essay I will be examining the various methods used by writers, to keep the readers interested in their short stories. I shall be looking at certain techniques which create and keep interest, such as openings, language, characters, settings, plot, hints, build ups, mystery, atmosphere, tension, twists and climax. I have chosen three short stories, to which I will be referring and using as examples to support and explain my theories. The three short stories I have chosen to use include the following: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Landlady and The Monkey's Paw. The Tell-Tale Heart is my favorite of the three stories. It was written in 1843 by a famous author named Edgar Allan Poe. (Allan Poe suffered from epilepsy, and fear of being buried alive, as people often were during his time. When ever a person would fall unconscious, they were mistaken for dead and often woke to find themselves trapped in a coffin, 6ft under.) The Tell-Tale Heart is written in first person by the character, who is tying to prove he is not mad by explaining his reason for, and describing the events of how he committed murder. The character talks the readers through the events of how he murdered an old man simply because he did not like his eye. He tells us that he decided to "take the life of the man, and thus rid himself of the eye forever". Soon after, he is overcome with guilt and the
Hysteria - creative writing
Hysteria On the balcony of my favorite restaurant Nes, David and Rich wanted to take me out for my birthday. It is so perfect. The candlelights, glasses and silverware sparkle on every table. Everyone sparkles with jewelry and shimmering evening clothes. It has been a long time, since we have been here. The hour it took to straighten my long black hair was worth it. Nick, my boyfriend, already gave me a matching silver barrette and jewelry set this morning. Tonight is for hanging out with the guys until later. They all love the new outfit. Slick, black, fitted to accent my good features. They look great tonight. Variations of mock turtle necks and black trench coats. Nes wore white ruffles and a black headband to go with his long blonde hair. Rich has extra spikes to look "Industrial." David looks as usual, keeps pointing out the new black leather belt. Keeps saying, "Herica, it's hand made." A great night, Nick wanted to meet later at a club Hopefully it is good. They want to treat me to something special. Ecstatic I told them, "Wow, you were paying attention. I wanted to go here since last year." You have to know where it is. No neon lights or flashing banners, a simple name painted by the doorway off the alley. David replies, "We wanted to go too." It was not much to look at. It was like a cheesy Hollywood set. I didn't know bars like these actually existed in real
How does Shakespeare Prepare the Audience for the Tragic events of Act 5 Scene 3?
How does Shakespeare Prepare the Audience for the Tragic events of Act 5 Scene 3? Shakespeare opens 'Romeo and Juliet' with a love sonnet; a prologue that tells the end; a portent of things to come. The prologue tells the audience about the tragic ending so instead of wanting to know what happens in the end, we want to know how it happens. It is in this sonnet that there is the first mention of fate; 'a pair of star-cross'd lovers' meaning that their love is to be directed by fate. Shakespeare follows it with the word 'fatal'; this word encapsulates fate and death; fate meaning the unstoppable force acting on the lovers and death being what their love results in. In this opening fourteen lines Shakespeare introduces the idea that love will end in death and nothing can stop it because the stars and therefore fate are in control. This theme of fate reoccurs throughout the play- it is a constant reminder of the helplessness of Romeo and Juliet's love and the lack of control they have over the events that lead up to their inevitable death. This opening speech is then followed by the first scene- a fight between the Montagues and Capulets. The crudity of the language used is a direct contrast of the following part of the scene in which Romeo is first introduced. The men in the fight use sexual innuendos to show their masculinity, 'Ay, the heads of maids or their maidenheads,'
Victorian And Edwardian Stories, Tension
Explore how writers of Victorian and Edwardian Supernatural stories build up tension in their narratives. Supernatural means anything unexplainable, for example magic powers, wizards, witches, wishes, beasts, monsters, the living dead; all resolving around the idea of, ying - yang, good and evil, dark and light. As the great saying goes, "We fear what we do not understand." To me the world of the supernatural seems a cliché, I mean, for example, it's always at midnight that evil comes out, bad things tend to happen in three and of course, curses and bad luck. To make a good story, there are techniques or patterns that they must be followed, first there has to be an introduction to the environment, characters and lifestyle, following this there has to be a complication, be it death, love / fear, etc. then finally a solution to bind everything together. But some writers attempt to mix this up, to grab the readers' attention to the utmost limit, e.g. cliff hangers, sections left to the readers imagination, change in order of a story or a basic twist to the tale. To construct the complication, specifically in supernatural stories, writers tend to use tension; this creates a mix of emotions and engages the reader further. As this paper regards the build up of tension, I have devised a list of ways to do so in narratives: - An Ominous opening - The spooky Setting - Reference
The role of the Inspector in 'An Inspector Calls.'
4786 words The role of the Inspector in 'An Inspector Calls.' Discuss the role of the Inspector in the play. How does Priestley use him? Comment on the way the Inspector varies his treatment of the characters. An Inspector Calls is a play with many social and political messages. J. B. Priestley believed a great deal in socialism and he used several of his plays to try and influence people to be Socialist as well. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen as the way forward. It was a popular way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was probably to teach the unconvinced. The Inspector in J. B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' is one of the most thought-provoking and mysterious characters that modern day literature has yet produced. It is this mysterious element that contributes greatly to making him a very interesting character and one that may be perceived in many ways. The audience does not find a great deal out about the Inspector and nothing is explicitly told to us; we are given hints and clues from the way he acts and what he says and are forced to piece these together to form our own ideas about his identity and his intentions. In this way, Priestley has asked his audience to act as a judge and to reach personal conclusions about him. The role of the Inspector is one of many levels.
In its day
The Monkey's Paw In its day "The Monkey's Paw" was a very effective story. Referring to social and historical context discuss why this would have been so effective. The Monkey's Paw was written in the turn of the century which was the time of industrial revolution. Great industries and cities were building up all across the country but not everyone was involved in this change. Older and less educated people were getting left behind by the new technologies and education. This story reflects these changes in the society and shows us how an innocent world could be destroyed by the power of greed. The Monkey's paw would have been this effective of a story in its time because I think it had everything that needs to be in a horror story of anytime and I am going to show that in my essay. This story is written in the time when people didn't have a lot of social life, they were not highly educated and just had simple things as there pleasures and they were honest people who didn't earn a lot of money but earned enough to make the most of living. TV wasn't around at those times and the biggest form of entertainment for them was to listen to other people's experiences on travel and to have a family get together for a story reading and other things. Straight from the start of the story the writer puts the reader into a atmosphere where the reader will feels safe by setting the
