Based on the novel by Susan Hill. A young lawyer is sent to wind up the affairs of a deceased woman. He begins to put two and two together about her strange life, alone in a big mysterious house.

Based on the novel by Susan Hill. A young lawyer is sent to wind up the affairs of a deceased woman. He begins to put two and two together about her strange life, alone in a big mysterious house. Years later, he recounts his experiences in hopes of exorcising the ghosts of the past. A brilliantly effective spine-chiller - it plays on all our Primal Fears As a play, it binds the audience in its tightly-knitted plot which unravels an incredible sequence of events and as a theatrical experience, a poignant one that is never to be forgotten. IMAGINATIVE AND HIDEOUSLY REAL An elderly lawyer hires the services of a young actor to re-enact the experiences of his youth in an attempt to exorcise a ghost which has been haunting him. Their rehearsals conjure up a world of dark, secluded houses, petrified locals and a story which is both tragic and terrifying. With just two actors and minimal props, the atmosphere is ingeniously evoked through simple light and sound effects. In doing this, it proves that there's nothing more terrifying than your own imagination. These things that go bump in the night could be cliches if they weren't so devestatingly well delivered. There is no explicit violence or gore, but the suspense is enough to give the hardiest person the exciting chill of real fear. This production will have you on the edge of your seat (if not under it). The several

  • Word count: 4241
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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I'm the King of the Castle

I'm the King of the Castle Passage-based Question (pages 51-52) (i) With close reference to the passage, give evidence to show how Hooper knew that locking Kingshaw in the Red Room would scare him. From the beginning of this chapter three, we have already been exposed to the fears of the despondent young boy - Kingshaw. In this passage, Hooper welcomed the supposed to be honoured Kingshaw into the Red Room. When the door was opened wide for Kingshaw, he stepped a little into the room and then he stopped. While Hooper was standing "beside the doors, the keys in his hand". With a tuck from Hooper's challenge to go on into the room and look around, "Kingshaw stiffened and moved slowly towards the first of the glass cases" and then "drew in his breath sharply". Hooper was watching him intently waiting for the next chance to attack his prey. Kingshaw also gave his fear away when he stuttered upon asking, "who...where did they come from?" while trying to act interested about the dead moths in that dark and dreary room. The despot's wit took him nearer to his opportunity. He offered the small key to "open one of the cases" so that Kingshaw could touch them but Kingshaw was very overwhelmed by his fear that he replied Hooper with a straight "No." four times. That only led himself deeper into the tyrant's trap. Not only did Kingshaw's answers betrayed himself, he also started

  • Word count: 1255
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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This task requires me to identify trends that may occur in West London. I will comment on what these trends and what implications they have on William Hill especially on specific job roles and the HR department.

Question 5) This task requires me to identify trends that may occur in West London. I will comment on what these trends and what implications they have on William Hill especially on specific job roles and the HR department. A trend shows the general direction of a service of data over a period of time that is why when looking at the population at the type of age available in the area and what sectors face a decrease in employment I noticed that population for LWLSC is projected to increase by 2.1% to 1,395,622 in 2005. This trend will affect William Hill because they have various large and small LBO's in West London, which means that they will have a larger pool of core and peripheral labour to choose from. When looking at the core workers in William Hill these are usually the managers who play a major role in the organisation of branches and William Hill win be inoperative without them and peripheral workers are those who fill the slots and can be easily replaced for instant Cahiers. The Size of LWLSC between 1999-2005 of the population aged 15 and under is likely to increase by 2.4%, 16-18 by 7.7%, 19-24% by 7.1% and 25-59 by 1.9% the LWLSC population aged 60+ is projected to decrease by a small percentage in 2005 by 0.9%. By this William Hill knowing the size of the population means that they can plan ahead knowing how many core and periphery workers they will need

  • Word count: 2122
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Kingshaw's Misery in I'm the King of the Castle

Throughout the novel I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill, we are constantly aware of the misery felt by twelve-year-old Charles Kingshaw. This, and the way it is shown, is very important in really understanding his character, and what eventually leads him to his own death. Charles Kingshaw has a series of irrational fears. Although this is normal for most children, his fears are so crippling that they go far beyond the typical childish nightmare. An example of one of these fears is swimming pools. Early on in the book, Kingshaw recalls being taken to an open-air swimming pool by his father as a much younger child. He remembers how he had feared the water, not only because he couldn't swim, but also because of its "glassy, artificial blueness" and how "people's limbs looked huge and pale and swollen underneath." He also fears the "terrible" moths in the Red Room at Warings, and is afraid of touching their "furry bodies". Another fear he has is of crows. Even before he is attacked by the crow in the cornfield outside Warings, Kingshaw notes that it has "ragged black wings" and "small, glinting eyes". He has to tell himself that it is "stupid to be scared of a rotten bird". Later on, when Hooper puts the stuffed crow on his bed, he is "faint with fear" and wishes for his own death - even though he knows immediately that it is not real. This is just one example of the way

  • Word count: 1260
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Critical response to 'Z for Zachariah'.

The book I read is 'Z for Zachariah' by Robert C. O'Brien. I enjoyed this book because it contained few but excellent characters and is full of mystery and suspense. 'Z for Zachariah' is about a sixteen-year-old girl, called Ann Burden who thinks she is the only person to survive a nuclear war. However, as her diary entries progress, you learn of a person in a green suit who is pulling what looks like a trailer covered with the same green material as the suit approaching Ann Burden's valley. Later in the diary you find out that the person is a man who had been an industrial chemist before the war, working for the Government designing a suit to protect people in the event of a nuclear explosion. His name is Mr Loomis and he is wearing the only one of these suits. When Mr Loomis finally arrives in the valley, he is amazed by the fact that there is water, which appears to be safe but Mr Loomis makes one severe mistake. When he checks the water for the level of radiation with his Geiger counter he in fact checks the clean water in the stream but then goes on to venture further down the valley, where he finds Ann Burden's home where the polluted Burden Creek is nearby. Once Mr Loomis has seen inside Ann's house (where Ann has cleverly hidden any clues that could show the visitor that there has been people living there recently) he then proceeds towards Burden Creek in the

  • Word count: 2035
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'The Go-Between' by L.P.Hartley - "It did not occur to me that they had treated me badly" - What Sympathy do you have for Leo in the Go-Between?

'The Go-Between' by L.P.Hartley "It did not occur to me that they had treated me badly" What Sympathy do you have for Leo in the Go-Between? This essay is to assess how much sympathy is deserving of the young and naïve Leo Colston after being permanently emotionally damaged from a visit to a school friend in the country in the summer of 1900. The prologue acts as the introduction to the elder character of Leo Colston, a man in his sixties, and it is here that we are presented with the impact of his summer visit to Brandham Hall, over fifty years before. From the opening of the novel with "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there", the reader is immediately made aware of the themes of past and of memory. Although these themes are initially conjured up, from the tone of narration, there is a much greater sense of distance and of being wistful. Not only is this sense of distance represented by the narrator talking in the past, but by the choice of grammar, "they" instead of "we" and "do" instead of "did", suggesting that the past could be of a foreign nature, causing the reader to believe that memories have become foreign due to their burial deep in his mind from many years ago. From this opening line, there is a distinct suggestion of an alienation of events that have occurred in the past, which have greatly affected Leo, and consequently he has

  • Word count: 2350
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast the presentation of Charles Kingshaw and Edmund Hooper in I'm the King of the Castle with Gregory and the narrator in The Half Brothers.

I'm the King of the Castle - Susan Hill The Half Brothers - Elizabeth Gaskell Compare and contrast the presentation of Charles Kingshaw and Edmund Hooper in I'm the King of the Castle with Gregory and the narrator in The Half Brothers. Examine their respective relationships, comment on the behaviour of the adults and explain how it affects the boys and helps influence the outcome of each text. I'm the King of the Castle is a fairly recent novel compared The Half Brothers, a pre 20th century text. The two texts deal with the issues that arise from family relationships. However, I'm the King of the Castle portrays bullying within a family relationship and The Half Brothers portrays jealousy in a family relationship. In I'm the King of the Castle Edmund Hooper, the son of Joseph Hooper who is the owner of Warings shows many similarities with the narrator in The Half Brothers. Both boys are the sons of successful, dominant men who are the heads and owners of their houses. Because of the influence of their fathers, both boys are dominant and enjoy the feeling of being in control. Like his father, Edmund lacks friends and has a detached outlook on life. He is displeased at the news of Kingshaw joining his home, but is not concerned about Kingshaw interfering with his relationship with his father as the family relationship is dysfunctional anyway. Joseph Hooper says '[he] had

  • Word count: 1149
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Charles Kingshaw: A Coroner’s report

Charles Kingshaw: A Coroner's report Ladies and gentleman; it is my sad duty to tell you all of the sad events and circumstances that lead to the tragic death of Charles Kingshaw who drowned near the family's home, the isolated, lifeless "Warings". Firstly, I will read what the events leading up to the death were. Edmund Hooper has had a very disturbing and a very abnormal childhood. Since his mother's distressing death when he was 4 years old, he embarked on a sad infancy of neglect and misunderstanding. Young Edmund's personality was mutilated by the awful lack of emotional and physical attention, which resulted from his mother's death. His father was obviously seriously affected also; he threw himself into his work and spared little time for Edmund. Edmund essentially brought himself up emotionally himself, which left him with very serious behaviour deformation. When Mr Hooper met Ms Kingshaw, it seems that he had less time still to spare for his growing child. However, a large addition had been made to the house. Not only did Ms Kingshaw (herself divorced) move into the house as a "temporary housekeeper", a place which, it is of my opinion, was only offered in order to give enough time for Mr Hooper and Ms Kingshaw to make a romantic bond, but also, a new child of Edmund's same age, Charles Kingshaw moved in also. Edmund, it appears had become very

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss the significance of the title "I'm The King Of The Castle".

Discuss the significance of the title "I'm The King Of The Castle" The novel "I'm The King Of The Castle" is all about growing up as a child and having to deal with the problems in life in a middle class family, things such as stepparents, divorce, peer pressure, and the whole idea of gaining power over someone else, when you are a child, such as the way Hooper tries to gain some sort of power over Kingshaw, but its not so much a physical power, but more psychological, in the way that he is always threatening and destroying Kingshaw's life. The novel was written in the 1960's, and represents a middle class family dealing with life. Although it is written in the 1960's it is a modern gothic horror story, with evil that is an aspect of all people, including children, will erupt and cause a lot of harm to every one who is involved. "I'm the king of the castle" at the beginning of the story is referred to Hooper, who does not want to share his house with anyone, and is determined to get rid of anyone who he feels might take it away from him, this represents Charles Kingshaw, when he first throws down a piece of paper from his bedroom saying "I don't want you to come here" as if he was a medieval Lord asking for a challenge (page 25) and immediately Kingshaw put the paper in his pocket fearfully, showing the reader that he isn't such a strong boy, and doesn't appear to tell

  • Word count: 1248
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss the similarity between Mr. Hooper and Mrs. Kingshaw and their impact on their child's character

Discuss the similarity between Mr. Hooper and Mrs. Kingshaw and their impact on their child's character Neither parents are able to communicate with their child nor can they understand their child's feelings because in the first place, they did not even bother to try and understand their sons. Instead, they have always been self-indulgent. Thus, neither parent relates well with their children. The parents are blind to their child's doings and thoughts. In Mrs. Kingshaw's case, she is always indulging herself in the arms of Mr. Hooper, enjoying herself in his company while she neglects her own son's well being. All she does is to care about her own happiness and never thinks about her son's feelings. For example, she often thought to herself that she should not think too much of her son, instead, care more about herself. From these personal thoughts, it can be seen that she is very selfish in terms of showing concern for Kingshaw's well being in Warings and only cared about hers. Also, she always wants to please Mr. Hooper very much, often very keen to do so by perhaps assisting him in arranging the cocktail party and so on. Therefore, it can be concluded that Mrs. Kingshaw always put herself before her son and neglects him, hence creating a gap in their mother-son relationship. This leads to Kingshaw being so isolated and alone as he had no one to turn to in times of needs.

  • Word count: 769
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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