What are the Main Difficulties for a twenty-first Century reader in fully appreciating Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde(TM)

What are the Main Difficulties for a twenty-first Century reader in fully appreciating 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' The most prominent factor that affects how a twenty-first century reader can fully appreciate the novella, is simply the 'old-fashioned' grammar and vocabulary. This novella displays expressions that have either died out or changed meaning over the years. There are concepts within the novella that may have been controversial and new at the time it was written but have now have been discovered as a result of scientific advancement. The description in the novella is limited in such a way that the reader has to know a lot about London before the introduction of modern transport and roads. "...the low growl of London..." (p21), which most likely refers to the sounds of a horse and cart going along the cobbled roads. Although nowadays the 'low growl' could be related to the noise of cars, it is not a thought-provoking image as the reader has to relate the sound to something in the reader's experience and cars are an unrealistic idea to imagine in this novella. A twenty-first century reader could have difficulties in understanding the surroundings, as the writer assumes that the knowledge of the conditions is already there and he just needs to build on that. A likely difficulty for a twenty-first century reader is that this novella frequently switches between

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Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby,

Simon Everett Task A -Examine the relationships between the narrator of each novel and the character who so fascinates them in each case. Over the last fifty years, since the release of On The Road in 1957, it has not been uncommon for critics to draw parallels between Kerouac's semi-autobiographical novel and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, released thirty-two years previously. It is for certain that both the novels share many similar traits, both examine concepts of American ideals and The American Dream, both are heavily influenced by the jazz age of the time, but nothing binds the novels closer to one another than the authors' use of the first person narrative and that narrators relationship with their leading character. It is perhaps the most common reading to see both Jay Gatsby and Dean Moriarty awarded iconic status by their corresponding narrators. The connotations concerning the epithet found in the very centre of Fitzgerald's title alone can bring an image to the reader's mind of one of history's great leaders, putting Gatsby in league with characters such as Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great and Frederick the Great. It would seem obvious from the title that Gatsby is one beheld with admiration and respect by the narrator. The relationship between Kerouac's Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty is often viewed in much the same light. The

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What do the first four paragraphs of Chapter 4 in Of Mice and Men tell us about Crooks?

What do the first four paragraphs tell us about the character of Crooks? In the first four paragraphs of chapter four, we already know how lonely and broken, physically and mentally Crooks is. Yet, he is clever and proud. Crooks is a very lonely man, which we can see from the fact that his bunk is separated from the other workers', as shown in "Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room." He is isolated from the other workers because he is a black, and the only black, therefore is not considered important enough to have a living space separated from the working space, and this isolation takes away his chances of communicating to the other workers, which results in his loneliness. In the fourth paragraph, we know that it is Saturday night and sound of moving horses and feet stirring can be heard. We can understand from these that all other ranch workers had left for town, but Crooks is segregated and could not go with them. He can only stay in his bunk, which tells us that he is not accepted in the society. The imagery "a small electric globe threw a meager yellow light" also highlighted his loneliness, for the contrary between the dim, still light inside the barn and the lively noises in the dark outside created a sense of abandonment. The use of word "small" and "meager" also suggests that he is insignificant to the other workers. His loneliness can

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How does the character Sheila Birlings change in the play An Inspector Calls?

How does the character "Sheila Birling's" change in the play 'An Inspector Calls'? The play 'An Inspector Calls' was written in 1945 by J.B. Priestly, but it was set in 1912. At this time society was capitalist, there were very strong distinctions between upper and lower class people, industry and agriculture were privately owned and wealth was not shared equally. The play centers on the Birling family headed by Arthur Birling who is a wealthy factory owner. At the start of the play the Birling family is celebrating happily Sheila's engagement to Gerald Croft. However, the mood changes when Inspector Goole arrives and informs them about the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. Sheila Birling is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Birling is described at the start as "a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited", most probably because of her engagement to Gerald Croft. Her hopes and plans for the future are to have a happy married life with her husband-to-be. Early in the play her mother informs her about married life claiming that men "spend nearly all their time and energy on business". However, Sheila does not agree and she warns Gerald, "so you be careful", which shows that she wants her fiancé to be attentive towards her. When we meet Sheila she seems to be satisfied with life; she is also from a comfortable family and so is Gerald.

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The Slave's dream

'The Slave's dream', written in 1842 by the white man H. W. Longfellow, tells of the final dream of a black slave before his death. It is set on a plantation in America where the slave has stopped in the middle of a day's work, giving up hope of freedom in life, believing only in freedom by death. 'I, too' was written later than 'The Slave's Dream by Langston Hughes. It is about the hope for equality of a black servant after the abolishment of slavery in America. Written during the abolitionism movement, 'The Slave's Dream' helps to raise awareness of the immoral injustices black people had to face. This reflects the mood of the era as people at this time were trying to change the public's opinion of slavery and get it abolished. As the most important people at this time were whites, Longfellow must have used the colour of his skin to get people to listen to his point of view through his poems. H. W. Longfellow uses this poem to show that black people had lives before slavery, but that the white race had taken them away. The type of life that followed the taking of black people's freedom is reflected in the poem's rhyme scheme and stanza patterns. The poem has a very rigid structure. The rhyme scheme is regular and the lengths of lines have a repetitive pattern. The poet has conformed to such a rigid way of writing poetry, as a slave in America would have to conform to their

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Animal Farm

How does George Orwell reflect the Russian Revolution in Animal Farm? Towards the end of the First World War in 1917 the defeated Russian nation was forced to surrender to the mighty German army. This lead to the abdication of the Russian Monarchy and the installation of a liberal provisional government. Within nine month however, the provisional government was overthrown by a new system of government which had previously not been seen, Communism, which lead to the establishment of the Soviet Union. In 1945 George Orwell released his well respected satirical allegory of the communist government which was a parody of the soviet revolution in 1917. The book highlights the downfall of communism which eventually developed into a totalitarian dictatorship. In the book Snowball is a fictional character, a pig that is commonly believed to represent Leon Trotsky. The two characters display striking similarities, both appear to have the best interests of their nations at heart. Snowball is concerned with the improvement of conditions on the farm, such as the building of the windmill and the improvement of the animal's social welfare, which is apparent at the battle of the cowshed. This battle represents the civil war in Russia between the Tsarist forces and the Bolsheviks where the old regime tried to retake power. During the battle of the cowshed Snowball is in the thick of

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The symbolism of the beast in Lord of The Flies

The symbolism of the Beast & its significance to characters in LOTF In LOTF the beast is a symbol of fear, and is represented by Golding in many different ways. It is not only a physical thing, but also a presence within all of the boys, which creates an atmosphere of darkness, and horror. It is one of the signs that Golding uses to show that the island isn't as beautiful as it may seem, and that it has a dark side too. The beast is introduced when the littluns says that he has seen a "snake thing", describing it as "big and horrid." At first the beast is just a vague idea, and Simon says that the littluns scream in their sleep "as if it wasn't a good island." Highlights the dark side of the island. The main characters see the beast differently. As leader, Ralph tries to comfort the boys, by describing the idea of the beast as 'nonsense', which is helping the littluns come to terms with the idea. Jack almost undermines Ralph by saying that even if there was a beast "we'd kill it". This shows his hunter- gatherer quality. Piggy is the rational one, and says that "life is scientific", and that the beast doesn't exist. He gets close to the truth when he explains to the boys that it is possible to be "frightened of people." (The beast is within us all.) Simon is also very rational. He suggests that the only thing they should all fear is the savagery and evil in human nature.

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How does Wilfred Owen portray the horrors of war through his use of language in Dulce et Decorum Est?

How does Wilfred Owen portray the horrors of war through his use of language in Dulce et Decorum Est? Dulce et Decorum Est, a poem by Wilfred Owen, explores the many horrors and cruel ordeals of World War One. Through his use of linguistic techniques, vivid imagery and dramatic descriptions, Owen seeks to convince the reader that it is far from honourable to die for ones country, as the title of the poem in fact suggests. He does so successfully, presenting his opinion through a series of images designed to obliterate the misconception that war is admirable, as well as differentiating and varying his techniques throughout the poem. In the first stanza, Owen describes the state of the soldiers to allow the reader to visualise the cruel reality that war was for them. Their situation is made more realistic through the use of first person plural as displayed in the line "we cursed through the sludge". Unexpected and contrasting descriptions of the soldiers such as referring to them as "bent double, like old beggars under sacks", and associating them with animals by referring to them as "blood shod", also changes the reader's perception of what conditions were like during the war. In relation to their harsh portrayal, Owen uses similes such as "coughing like hags" to help produce a pitiful sense of anguish for the soldiers, as well as, for emphasis on their weariness, and both

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Focusing on THREE key incidents, explore the extent to which language is an effective method of control in "Animal Farm".

IGCSE English Literature Coursework - Animal Farm 4. "The pen is mightier than the sword" Focusing on THREE key incidents, explore the extent to which language is an effective method of control in "Animal Farm". Animal Farm is a fable, and all fables have meanings. This fable, "Animal Farm" has a very strong meaning and that is that the pen is mightier than the sword, which means that language can alter many things that violence can't. In Animal Farm, we can see violence but we also see a small character who could "turn black into white" by his language. He changes everything that happens in the farm only in language, and all the other animals believe him. His name is Squealer and he was one of the cleverest pigs in the farm. We first see him in the novel when George Orwell describes the pigs. "All other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white."(p.9) Here with only his first description we can see that Squealer was a very good talker, and he was good at arguing things. In the story, Napoleon gets advantage of

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What is the importance of Simon in 'Lord of the Flies'

What is the importance of Simon in Lord of the Flies? Write about: - The importance of the part Simon plays in the plot - How Simon is different from the other boy's - What Simon might represent - The ways the writer uses Simon to convey his ideas. 'Then one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up.' Even at this point, the very first mention of Simon in The Lord of the Flies, Simon is marked out as something different. Throughout the book, he is the outsider. Inhabiting the 'dubious region' between biguns and littluns - he is singled out for his faints, as Jack says, 'In Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor,' and, like Piggy, is often the subject of group ridicule. For example, when on page 92 he admits to being out at night, his mumbled excuses are put down with Jack's dismissive 'he was taken short' - and he is crushed by 'the derisive laughter that rose.' He also seeks solitude, not companionship - but somehow is never afraid, unlike the other boys - who are all afraid at one time or another. In due course, as the story progresses, he seems to become even more of a social recluse - even Ralph, who Simon generally seems to support, confides to Jack that 'He's queer. He's funny.' And this is without the one important, most drastic difference between Simon and the others - which only the reader finds out about - Simon's

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