mes, Malouf's Sympathies

Year 12 Literature Remembering Babylon - David Malouf Research Assessment . Explain the significance of the two prefatory quotations used by Malouf. Remembering Babylon has two prefatory quotations. One, from The Four Zoas by William Blake, refers to Jerusalem and Babylon. And the other, from John Clare, comes from a time of trouble and darkness. Malouf's use of the two quotes is important in establishing the underlying message of the novel. In using the first quotation, Malouf questions the place that Gemmy has reached on the other side of the fence. Readers are inclined to question whether this "other side" is a place of redemption or a world of cruelty. When Gemmy is first found by the Aboriginals, he is a clear representation of the unknown. The Aboriginal women and children perceive Gemmy as an unfamiliar character; "What was it?". Gemmy again demonstrates unfamiliarity when he crosses the fence and is found by Lachlan and Janet. "And the thing... was not even... human". The Aboriginals took Gemmy in and taught him to live the same way as them. This was quite the opposite of his treatment by the majority of White Society. Historically, Babylon was seen as the city of enslavement and despair. In contrast to this, Jerusalem was the city of God and was viewed as a place of tolerance and peace. After reading the novel, readers understand that the perceived civility of

  • Word count: 3451
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Jane Austen Present Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice? What is His Significance in the Novel, Particularly in Relation to the Theme of Marriage?

How Does Jane Austen Present Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice? What is His Significance in the Novel, Particularly in Relation to the Theme of Marriage? 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' Yet not all such single men are as desirable as others, for example, a certain Mr Collins. 'Pride and Prejudice' is a novel set in the beginning of the 19th Century, a time when women were oppressed into being good wives and mothers and little else. All that was important was the marrying off of daughters and the settling down of women. This is apparent in the nature and purpose of Mrs Bennet, whose sole motivation is to marry off each of her five daughters as soon as possible. And Mr Collins is one such 'contender' for the Bennet sisters. With the entrance of Mr Collins comes bad news for the family, Mr Collins is Mr Bennet's cousin, he works as a clergyman, and because he is the next male in line to Mr Bennet, he stands to inherit Longbourne after Mr Bennet's death. He is seen as a 'villain' who has the power to take away anything the girls stand to inherit. From the very first mention of Mr Collins in 'Pride and Prejudice', there is a certain air of resentment between him and the Bennet family, and this estrangement carries on throughout the book. Jane Austen uses Mr Collins to show a veiled satire

  • Word count: 3438
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Pre 1914 prose - comparative literature essay

GCSE English literature coursework Pre 1914 prose - comparative literature essay. Suspense is a state of anxiety cause by having to wait for something. Both Edgar Allen Poe and Thomas Hardy successfully create suspense in their writing, ensuring that the reader is kept engaged until the end both in "Tell Tale Heart" by Poe and "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" by Hardy. "Tell Tale Heart" is a short story following the deranged narrator through his heartless, motiveless murder of an old man. "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is a novel that travels the life of Tess from rape, two marriages and murder which eventually spell the end of her own life. In chapter fifty six, the section that I will be analysing, Tess' first husband, Angel, arrives at Tess' house. This arouses Mrs Brooks' curiosity; she then spies on Tess and Alec and later finds Alec's body. "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" was published in instalments in a newspaper, and so the suspense techniques would have to keep the reader wanting to read the next instalment. Whilst both authors use similar suspense techniques, "Tell Tale Heart" is a short story, and so the suspense needed will be different from those in the novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", which was first published in instalments. In "Tell Tale Heart", suspense needs to build gradually, in order to keep the reader engages, whereas, in "Tess of the d'Urbervilles",

  • Word count: 3433
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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War poetry

What do we learn of the nature and experience of war from the descriptive power of the poets? Before World War 1, most was poetry tended to be unrealistic and used as propaganda. In many of the poems death was portrayed as being heroic and they gave the impression that it was painless. For example in the poem 'Charge of the Light Brigade' when a soldier dies it is described using the word 'fell' which makes death sound as if it was just a little accident, not an awful loss of life. Also the word 'fell' indicates that you can just get back up again but the men obviously couldn't. I think this is because before World War 1, there was censorship and nobody other than the soldiers really knew what war was like. When the soldiers went home, many of them didn't talk about their experiences mostly because they wanted to forget about it or not worry their loved ones. Lots of the poems were used as propaganda, so the poets had to make war sound glorious and honourable. If people knew about what it was really like, no one would enlist. In 'Vitai Lampada' Henry Newbolt makes war seem like fun by comparing it to a game: "Play up! Play up! And play the game!" In this poem death is played down metaphorically: "falling...the river of death has brimmed his banks." This plays down pain and the horrors and finality of death. By the word 'falling' being used, shows that death did not seem so

  • Word count: 3419
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Examine Guy de Maupassant’s narrative skills

Pre 20th Century prose/ other cultures Examine Guy de Maupassant's narrative skills The narrative skills of a writer are to create an interesting plot that makes you want to carry on reading to find out what is going to happen next, to create interesting and believable characters because if you don't believe the character is capable of what he or she is doing, you lose interest. You also need to create a good sense of mood, atmosphere and culture so people can understand the characters way of life and the environment they live in. Last of all, the story needs to make you think, for instance How did he do that? Or What is he going to do now? This makes you want to read on and get all your questions you had at the beginning answered so it doesn't leave you wondering. These skills are all important to keep the reader interested and to keep the story running in a smooth flow where one thing follows on from the last. It stops the reader giving up on a book, although some stories do start off bad if you keep on reading they usually gain that gripping edge again. The most important narrative skills in my opinion are the believable characters and an interesting plot although this opinion usually differs between people. If I don't like the characters or they don't sound realistic I usually stop reading because they stay with you for the rest of the story and begin to get really

  • Word count: 3319
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In the silence of the night

In the silence of the night Sasha Jones - 14/02/2002 The moonlight shone on the lake that was hardly visible from my bedroom window, it was another one of those nights where I just felt that something bad was going to happen any second, I had just been woken up when a nuclear missile hit my town in a nightmare, and I was sweating and signs of tears could be felt on my face. It was one bad dream, one very bad dream. I dreamt that Russia created a nuclear missile and launched it at the UN base in the USA, which was less than 3km away from the small county village that I lived in. The instant wave of radioactivity had deformed my elder sister, and the force had blown my house away along with my parents and baby sister. I was alone in the dust, not knowing what was happening to my body as the radioactive material from the air around my seeped into my body and into my blood supply, contaminating my organs and internal systems... That's when I suddenly woke up. I tried to close my eyes, and try to carry on the dream, to see what would happen next, but as always it never worked, and in the end I got fed up and went downstairs to get a drink and to wash the sweat and tears off of my face. I slowly made my way down the stairs trying to avoid the 7th step, which always creaked as you stood on it, trying not to wake my parents up. I reached the bottom of the stairs and made my way to

  • Word count: 3281
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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By what means has J.B Priestly created dramatic tension at the end of act two (pages 40-49) in 'An Inspector Calls'. How could you reinforce the tension as the director of this section of the play? An inspector calls by J.B Priestly.

By what means has J.B Priestly created dramatic tension at the end of act two (pages 40-49) in 'An Inspector Calls'. How could you reinforce the tension as the director of this section of the play? An inspector calls by J.B Priestly. Dramatic tension can be created in many ways. Perhaps how the scene is set can create dramatic tension for example: a murder could have red lighting, symbolic of blood. The room could be darkened symbolizing the mood of the act. The characters can also create dramatic tension in the way they act. The character could act suspiciously, an example of this would be in the play when Gerald recognises the name Daisy Renton, but when questioned by Sheila, refuses all knowledge of her. Another characteristic of tension is panic, in order to show a character's distress they become hysterical or very jumpy. Hysteria is shown in Sheila in the end of act one and beginning of act two. Gerald even suggests this when he says, " Inspector, I think Miss Birling ought to be excused any more of this questioning. She's nothing more to tell you. She's had a long, exciting and tiring day- we were celebrating our engagement, you know- and know she's obviously had about as much as she can stand. You heard her." Sheila then goes on to say, "He means that I'm getting hysterical now." There are many points of tension in act 2 of An Inspector Calls, pages 40-49: Sheila

  • Word count: 3251
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare And Contrast the Way In Which the Strong Willed Women are Presented In Each Story And Explain How They Are Influenced By The Setting

Compare And Contrast the Way In Which the Strong Willed Women are Presented In Each Story And Explain How They Are Influenced By The Setting 'Tony Kytes- The Arch Deceiver', 'The Withered Arm', 'The Vendetta', 'Turned' and 'The Necklace', are five short stories. Each of these stories contain strong willed characters, however these strong willed women are portrayed in different ways, using different techniques. 'Tony Kytes- The Arch Deceiver' by Thomas Hardy, 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant and 'The Vendetta' by Guy de Maupassant, I have chosen these three stories as I feel that these stories have the most to compare and contrast. In each of the stories there are main female, strong willed characters. In each story the strong willed female is made clear, however each story uses different techniques to highlight the strong willed females. 'Tony Kytes' by Thomas Hardy has a number of strong willed women and to suggest that one character is stronger willed than another would probably be debatable, however each of the female characters are strong in their own way. One way the personalities of the female characters are shown is by the descriptions; Milly Richards, Tony's fiancé, is described as a ' ...nice, light, small, tender little thing', this quotation seems to portray Milly Richards as a very child like character. 'Nice' is often used

  • Word count: 3242
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss the Dramatic Impact of Act 1, Scene 3 of othello and its importance to the play as a whole

English Literature Coursework Discuss the Dramatic Impact of Act 1, Scene 3 and its importance to the play as a whole Shayan Moghaddam Othello is a play about jealousy. In it we meet an array of characters whose characteristics change throughout the play. In Venice, Othello elopes with Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator. Iago, who despises Othello and who believes has been looked over for a promotion, plots to bring down Othello. Through Iago's deceit and exploitation, Othello believes that Desdemona has been disloyal and kills her. When the reality comes out, Othello stands on his reputation and kills himself. The play is set primarily in Cyprus however; it starts in the cosmopolitan town of Venice. This makes us assume that the characters are civil and arguably, learned. Act 1 scene 3 kicks off in the duke's council chamber. The beginning of the scene sees the Duke and Senators discussing the Turkish threat to Cyprus. At the beginning of the scene, the first stage direction is 'set at a table with lights'. This stage direction can be seen as being important as the light could signify importance. Furthermore, in the 1600's, light could also have been interpreted as enlightenment and we can infer from this fact that it means that there is to be little trickery or deception in this scene. It also focuses the scene on and around the table. Furthermore, this play

  • Word count: 3220
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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personal writing with a twist

English Coursework Personal Writing-An Autobiography with a Twist Well I'm Zoe Louise and I'm 14 years old. Today's date is the 28th October 2008 and the time is 4.55pm. Exactly 1year, 8 months, 14 days, 7 hours and 55 minutes ago, the first sign that I was going to have the worst day in the history of the world, happened... ... It was February 14th 2007 and I was in France at the ski resort of ST.Gervais. I was with my school on a skiing trip and my school friends. I remember the feeling that came across me that morning. I woke up in the dark loneliness of my room and thought to myself 'I would do anything to be waking up in the comfort ness of my own warm bed'. But I was here. I wasn't complaining though, I was enjoying myself. I love skiing and I love being with my friends. Perfect solution to a holiday you would think. But this feeling... 'Homesickness' I moaned to myself as I sat up in my bed. But today I remember having this other feeling. In my gut, as if I knew that everything was going to go wrong today. A few hours later I was waiting in the queue (if you can call it a queue, more like a crowd of hungry wolves) of people who are waiting to get in a gondola to take then to the top of the mountain. As I was waiting I felt a sense of tension within my body as if it were telling me not to go skiing today. As I got to the front I saw the non stopping gondola

  • Word count: 3211
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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