my speech on the main themes in the novel "The Chrysalids"

Everyone: Good morning teachers and friends :) *remember to smile :) a good presenter is the one who smiles :) LOL don't say that out loud its just a reminder :P* Subiksha: Today, we are going to be presenting to you about three main themes from the book, which is, genetic mutation, eugenics and evolution and telepathy and the future. We would be covering the definition, examples from the past, why and how they occur and how it is relevant to the book. RJ: firstly, what is genetic mutation? Genetic mutation is the changing or altering of the gene's structure which results in a variant form either physically or mentally and can be passed down to subsequent generations. Deborah: Why and how does genetic mutation occur? It occur due to events that alter the genetic structure of the DNA. These events include, DNA damage from environmental agents such as radiation. Radiation, can alter the DNA within the cell. mutagenic chemicals, such as transposons, can insert harmful chemicals that can alter the gene's activity. It can also occur due to the error that occurred during DNA replication, mutations that are inherited, novo mutation and Viruses which can replace a part of the DNA with their own. Erica: Some of the examples from the past include, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which releases large amounts of radioactive contamination

  • Word count: 936
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A selfish and bitter old woman. To what extent would you agree that this is a valid assessment of Barbara, as she is portrayed in Notes on a Scandal" by Zoe Heller?

Notes on a Scandal "A selfish and bitter old woman". To what extent would you agree that this is a valid assessment of Barbara, as she is portrayed in "Notes on a Scandal?" I strongly agree that Barbara Covett is a selfish and bitter old woman for many reasons. One being the name that Zoë Heller chose to give her; Barbara Covett, which means to desire wrongfully without thinking of others. "From time to time my colleagues will call me Barb". Already the reader starts to get the impression of this character thinking that she is probably a selfish and bitter, envious old woman. Barbara is an old woman in her sixties and teaches at St. George's school. She's also a very lonely woman with a cat in a small flat on her own, before she meets Sheba. And as we see in the book, she craves for close friendships and will never let go unless she must. We see this when she talks about her long friendship with her "closest friend" at the time, Jennifer Dodd. But we also see that she doesn't fit with all the teachers in the staff room as she has criticised every single one, which shows she is a very sour lonely woman who is unwanted in some sense. Barbara is quite dedicated to her work; she is a professional history teacher and has been teaching for over forty years, which is bound to make the readers think that she has a good experience in what she does. She's a very realistic person

  • Word count: 1244
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Literary Analysis and Comparison of

Literary Analysis and Comparison of "A Persistent Woman" And "Uncle Ernest" I have chosen to compare and analyse the openings of "A persistent woman" and "Uncle Ernest" because the both authors have used similar literary techniques to try and make the reader read on but it in very different ways. For example both extracts describe the main characters (Uncle Ernest and Temple) but in "Uncle Ernest" this is very explicit, describing his appearance in great detail. Just from the first sentence we know he is a "middle-aged man wearing a dirty raincoat" and can begin to form a mental picture, creating familiarity and empathy. In sharp contrast, A Persistent Woman creates mystery and suspicion about the main character, Temple. His appearance is not described at all so the reader cannot form a picture of him, creating distance from the character and therefore forcing the reader to relate to the character objectively rather than with empathy. The use of names is also in contrast. "Uncle Ernest" is informal and the use of his first name gives a very relaxed feel and the word uncle makes him seem friendly and the reader is able to relate to him because an uncle is a close member of most peoples' families. Temple in contrast is only named using his surname, which is much more formal and unfriendly. Neither piece, however gives information as to their personalities. The authors only

  • Word count: 659
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In the novel The Divine Wind, written by Gary Disher, the characters have to make important choices. With every character in the novel their choices are not always good and in some cases effect other characters in the novel a bad way.

The characters of The Divine Wind are made to choose frequently but are their choices always good ones? In the novel The Divine Wind, written by Gary Disher, the characters have to make important choices. With every character in the novel their choices are not always good and in some cases effect other characters in the novel a bad way. Different reasons and circumstances compel different choices. To see whether the choices made where good ones, we need to take a look at each choice specifically. Ida chose to leave her family and husband so she could return back to her homeland where her heart still was. Ida was very unhappy in Broome, and she longed for her life back in England. All throughout the novel there was a visibleline between the differences of Ida, her family and the people of Broome. Ida simply did not fit in. Alice chooses to end her relationship with Carl after she sees his true colours. Carl wants Alice to be moulded into a station wife and Alice does not want to repeat the same mistake as her mother by trying to be changed by a loved one. Also if Alice was to stay with Carl, she wouldnt have been able to fulfil her dream of becoming an army nurse. One of the Consequences of Ida leaving was it had sent Michael in state and his hurt had surfaced. as a result, he decides to take the lugger boat out ealry, despite how bad the weather was. this bad choice of

  • Word count: 444
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Change through Events in a Novel

Naana Ankoma-Mensa Mrs. Valdez ENG-2D1-01 Wednesday December 18, 2007 Change through Events in a Novel In many novels, characters experience first hand the challenges they must go through as the transition from who they portrayed to be in the beginning as opposed to how they change their personalities, actions, and life style in the end. In the novel, The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks, the author uses certain events from the novel to change the characters personalities and ways of life. This is demonstrated through the main characters Julie Barenson who changes from a nice, loving woman to an afraid and unstable woman because she finds out Richard is stalking her and Richard Franklin who changes from nice and an at times jealous person, to a crazy, possessive stalker because Julie doesn't love him. By exploring these two characters, it is evident that change in characters through different events in the novel is depicted through how they change their lives, ways of action and personalities. During the early years of Julie's life, she has many problems and is not stable. Julie's mother is an alcoholic and they live in a trailer. Her father moves away to Minnesota when she is two year old. She runs away when she is sixteen and lives on the street until she meets Jim, who takes her to Swansboro and marries her. At the beginning of the novel, the author portrays Julie as a

  • Word count: 1173
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Short Story Essay - Chemistry by Graham Swift

SHORT STORY ESSAY 'CHEMISTRY' - GRAHAM SWIFT In my opinion, 'Chemistry' by Graham Swift is a short story which is both well written and enjoyable to read. Swift effectively encompasses interesting characters who are quirky and distinctive. He uses gaps and silences to captivate the reader, causing them to question the motives of the characters and the ambiguous meaning of the story. The themes of isolation and loneliness covered during the story are easy for the reader to relate to. Swift uses many writing devices which work together to make an interesting and ultimately an enjoyable story. 'Chemistry' is a story that is open for interpretation to each and every reader. Although this is quite a short story, the characters are all fairly well developed, with the exception of Ralph. The narrator is a young boy who tells the story from both an outsiders' point of view and from personal experiences during the story; he is quite the observer. It is assumed that the narrator wrote this years after the events of the story, "We would go even during the winter... it must have been soon after Mother met Ralph". His childish observations are mixed with a more adult explanation "I didn't want to kill him... since death is a deceptive business". He lost his Grandmother suddenly when he was 4 years old and his father to a plane accident when he was only 7 years old. He has experienced

  • Word count: 2123
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Arthur miller show Abigails character in The Crucible.

Crucible Throughout act one Abigail is the only character that is omnipresent. At first she seems to be an innocent child however it soon changes. As the play goes on we learn that Abigail is manipulative and cunning to get her own way. In addition she does this to persuade her uncle that she is innocent, and she has nothing to do with Betty or witch craft. Therefore the audience are confused and don't know how to respond to her. Abigail behaves differently with different characters, with John Proctor she is more open and every emotional also he is her weakness; he makes her feel loved but not the way Abigail thinks or wants. "You loved me John proctor and whatever sin it is, you love me yet." The words "Love, sin" are oxymoron's as well it shows that Abigail is bewildered, utterly puzzled and her emotions are taking over her. However with Betty she is powerful, strong and contently controlling. She is extremely manipulative to get her own way. On the other hand she clearly display her desperation to be with John proctor and shows how she can face vulnerability. This shows she can expose her true self and does not seem as strong and powerful by this the audience realise that she is not the leading power as it seems to the other girls, however she has a different side to her. Furthermore, this damages the opinion of the audience in the later play as she accuses people

  • Word count: 530
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Privileged prisoners in the labor camps.

Meline 15-02-03 Privileged prisoners in the labor camps. In the novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, we are shown the horrendous conditions in Stalin's labor camps through the protagonist's eyes. We share only 24 hours of Shukhov's life, as shown by the title of the novel, but the awful living conditions are well shown. The author creates a dramatic foil between the privileged and ordinary prisoner, also called zeks. In these camps we know that food is the money and that without it you cannot survive, it is a power! The contrast shows the corruption and injustice that this power brings; some zeks abuse the power that is given to them and misuse it by treating others badly, others make good use of it and help out the rest of their squad, finally, the rest of these privileged zeks take advantages of their power but would still share some of their "wealth" with the ordinary zeks. In this novel, there are many examples of abuse and corruption. The main one is the mess chief and the limper. The mess chief has the "money" of the camp; he is the most powerful prisoner in the camp. By the way Shukhov describes him, we realize how corrupted he is. "The mess chief was a fat swine, with a head like a pumpkin and a mighty pair of shoulders. ... Once they'd tried to beat him up but all the cooks - choice thugs they were - had leaped to his

  • Word count: 1875
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss how Blake uses language and imagery in chimney sweeper poems to communicate his message.

Discuss how Blake uses language and imagery in chimney sweeper poems to communicate his message. In the late 18th century, children from as young as 3 years old were sold by their parents or kidnapped by business men to be made to work as chimney sweepers; these children were forcefully, against their own will, made to climb up peoples chimneys to clean them; having no guarantee that they would ever come back out of a chimney alive. Child labour in the 18th century was made legitimate and was ignored by authority to be seen as immoral. The late 18th century society was very hypocritical and according to William Blake, religion was the main reason that established the hypocrisy of society. William Blake was a late 18th /early 19th century poet that was obsessed with religion he challenged the laws of authority and stood up to the hypocrisy of society. Through his poetry he used religion as a medium to translate his messages in two very different ways through his two poems 'chimney sweeper'; one published In the songs of innocence and the second published in the songs of experience; although both poems have the same title, they send very different messages across about religion where on one hand, the first poem from the book 'songs of innocence' implies that religion is the answer to all problems, the second book named 'songs of experience' insinuates that religion is

  • Word count: 1813
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A raisin in the sun

A raisin in the sun coursework In this essay I am going to analyse how Lorraine Hansberry presents the transformation of Walter in the play 'A raisin in the sun'. The pages I'm going to concentrate on are pages 1787 and 1788. A raisin in the sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger's life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfil a dream she shared with her husband. Mama's son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family's financial problems forever. Walter's wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter's sister and Mama's daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa. Later on in the play, the Youngers fight

  • Word count: 1544
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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