"How does Chaucer use or adapt the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale"?"
"How does Chaucer use or adapt the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale"?" In this essay I am going to reveal how Chaucer uses and adapts the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale". Chaucer plays around with the conventions of fabliau and courtly romance engaging the idea of a carnival narrative, which uses the reversal of roles. There is also a Latin saying the sprouts from this: "bais cul", which means, "kiss my ass" and basically sets the tone of "The Miller's Tale". Fabliau is a mediaeval verse narrative written for and by aristocrats in whom they make fun at the social appirations and customs of the middle classes. This is the first in the mockery. For the narrator is the miller who is brawny and big boned (L. 548 of The General Prologue) and would steal corn then charge three times the price for it to be brought back (L. 564 of The General Prologue). A man who has no social class whatsoever. The narrative is usually very sexual and earthy. It contains the main characters of a cunning woman, a prostitute, a jealous old husband, a lecherous student and a merchant or priest, of which the husband is normally humiliated. The characters are given no characterisation therefore no sympathy can be given. The main stories normally tell of a second Noah's flood, a misdirected kiss, or of branding. All the
"How does Hardy treat gender roles in chapter 10 of Far from the Madding Crowd."
"How does Hardy treat gender roles in chapter 10 of Far from the Madding Crowd." Hardy uses many subtle and individual techniques to display gender roles within this chapter. In the main these reciprocate normal behaviour by having a woman in a superior position dominating a lot of men. This idea is known as subversion of gender, and this is the main technique used in this chapter. One must remember that at the time of writing this was sensational, as women were not considered self-reliant. The first thing the reader sees is the chapter heading, and in Hardy's case, he uses chapter headings as a summary for the chapter; "Mistress and Men" implies a Mistress holding power over men. It is this subversion of gender roles, which lends the attraction for ladies of leisure in the 1900s, and also generates humour; as at the time the thought of a woman in control of men would have been laughable. It also serves to impress upon the ladies of leisure that would have read this format of writing, that women could be self-reliant. This could have been seen as a dangerous ideal, as it promotes independence, something not required of the middle and upper class ladies of the time. The main technique Hardy used is the subversion of gender, and this is shown when Bathsheba speaks to the men. There is a reciprocation of gender roles; she shows independence and speaks to the men with great
"How does J.B Priestley end each act on a note of high drama?"
English essay: "How does J.B Priestley end each act on a note of high drama?" Introduction The play starts off with the setting of an apparently normal family, the Birlings. They are celebrating Sheila Birling's engagement to Gerald Croft , the son of Mr Birling's friendly business rival. At first it appears as though nothing is wrong until an Inspector appears from seemingly no-where ,claiming to be investigating the suicide of a young girl. From this point on the tension in the play builds as one by one the characters are interogated by the Inspector.The highest points of tension are at the end of each of the three acts and Priestley does this in a number of different ways. Act one One of the first things Priestley does to set the scene would be the lighting.At first it would be bright and cheerful ,with colours such as white,yellow and pink.But as the play goes on and reaches the climax the lighting changes and thus does the mood of the audience. It is Birling's speech in Act 1 that sets the scene for the action in the play. Birling is confidently talking to Eric and Gerald about what he thinks about the future.He thinks of everything as though it is business and openly gives Eric and Gerald advice that every man has to look out for himself ,which may leave the audience wondering if this good advice or not. During the early stages of the first act Sheila hints at a
"How effective is Chaucer in establishing the General Prologue of "the Canterbury Tales"? (Line 1 - 43)
Edward Gillingham A2 English Lit. (The Canterbury Tales) "How effective is Chaucer in establishing the General Prologue of "the Canterbury Tales"? (Line 1 - 43) The General Prologue is developed through the conflict Chaucer presents between nature and life. Both his description of the scene and of the characters of which he writes, is seen to mirror this contrast and thus it can be seen as one of the many literary devices he uses to make the piece effective. I will show how these devices, the language he uses and the tone it creates allow his success in making the passage efficient. Chaucer opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. He describes the April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. The invocation of spring is lengthy and formal compared to the language of the rest of the Prologue. The first lines situate the story in a particular time and place, but the speaker does this in cosmic and cyclical terms, "Zephirus...with his sweete breeth." Chaucer is seen to use such descriptive terms as a celebration of the vitality of spring, using such lexis as: "inspired...engendred...bathed", and qualifies this with images such as: "smale fowles maken melodie." This approach gives the opening lines a dreamy, timeless, unfocused quality, and it is possibly surprising therefore, when he reveals that his true subject is not
"How far is the Inspector an 'embodiment of a collective conscience' (Gareth Lloyd Evans)?" Consider the Ways in Which JB Priestley Develops the Inspector's Dramatic Impact in the Play
"How far is the Inspector an 'embodiment of a collective conscience' (Gareth Lloyd Evans)?" Consider the Ways in Which JB Priestley Develops the Inspector's Dramatic Impact in the Play In this essay I will consider the way in which JB Priestley presents the character of the Inspector and how he develops his role throughout the play. I will study the Inspectors role through each Act, in detail, and the effect of his presence and questioning on the Birling Family group. I will also look at how far Priestley displays the Inspector as 'an embodiment of a collective conscience'. In Act One, from the point of entry the Inspector begins to affect the family group. He enters at a critical point during Mr. Birling's speech when he sums up his ideas and thoughts on how "A man has to mind his own business and look after his own" (p.10). This speech shows Birling for who he really is; rather pompous, opinionated, bombastic and self-centered, and also makes the audience aware that he will be the main opposition to the Inspector. As soon as the Inspector enters the atmosphere of the room changes, Priestley shows in the stage directions that 'the lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder'. This makes it seem as though the room and its occupants are moving from their delusional happiness about life and the engagement, more
"How far Nora is a tragic heroine in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House"
IB Oral Oral Exposé on - Presentation Date: March 3rd-7th 2003 "How far Nora is a tragic heroine in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" On a frigid April day in 1864, Henrik Ibsen arrived at the docks in the Norwegian capital of Oslo (then called Christiania). The young man was a failure. The theater he'd run had closed, and none of his own plays were successful. Disillusioned by his country and society, Ibsen, together with his wife and son, boarded a ship and left Norway, figuratively slamming the door behind him. Fifteen years later a similarly disillusioned Nora Helmer would slam the door on stage at the end of A Doll's House, helping to change the course of modern drama. Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentleman, today I will be doing an oral exposé on How far Nora Helmer is a tragic heroine in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House". The tragic events in a play enable critics to consider it a "tragedy", one which to some extent follows and diverges from the Aristotelian definition. Aristotle believed that tragedy must revolve around a central character known as "the tragic hero, on whom the plot focuses and who exhibits certain characteristics, which leads to his, though in this particular case, her downfall. A tragic heroine is the female version of a tragic hero and is defined as one who tries to remain true to oneself and will do anything to preserve herself. The use of the
"How far was Lloyd Georges fall from grace in 1922 the result of his own mistakes after 1918, rather than Conservative disillusionment with him?"
"How far was Lloyd Georges fall from grace in 1922 the result of his own mistakes after 1918, rather than Conservative disillusionment with him?" A general election held in 1918 gave Lloyd George and the Conservative coalition a very comfortable majority in parliament, but it also left Lloyd George in an untenable position. The coalition consisted overwhelmingly of Conservatives, meaning that Lloyd George's hold on power was extremely weak. He could not do many of the things he would have liked to do in a purely Liberal government, simply because he did not have the support of the Conservatives. After the war, Lloyd George faced some very serious domestic problems. Firstly was the issue of the German reparations and punishments. There was a strong feeling in Britain that Germany was fully responsible for the war, and therefore should be punished severely. Lloyd George did not subscribe to this opinion. He felt that Germany should be punished, but not to the extent that it ceased to exist. He came to the conclusion that if Germany was effectively destroyed by war payments, it would leave a large power vacuum in the centre of Europe. Lloyd George was worried that this gap would be filled by the Communist ideals of the Bolsheviks. Along with this, the post-war depression that was consuming Britain resulted in a loss of popularity for Lloyd George. The new markets Britain were
"How far would you argue that it was clear from the beginning that the league of nations would fail?"
"How far would you argue that it was clear from the beginning that the league of nations would fail?" The league of nations was put up after the Treaty of Versailles in 1920, January 10. Its headquarters were in Geneva. The leagues membership was forty-one in 1919, then fifty by 1924 and sixty by 1934. This league was the idea of the American president of the time Woodrow Wilson, even though they don't join the League. The League of Nations aimed to establish institutions for international diplomacy and arbitration. In this essay I will argue whether it was clear that the league would fail from the beginning. One of the problems that should have made clear that it would be difficult for the League to reach its aims was the fact that it needed as much power as possible and by two of the most powerful countries, America and USSR. The whole structure of the league was a not very strong. It had 6 departments: Secretariat, Council, Assembly, Court of International Justice, International Labour Organization, and keeping order. At the assembly ( based in Geneva) all the countries had to take a vote and they had to vote on the members budget, at the International Labour Organization they aimed to improve the working conditions for the workers and they collected all the statistics. These two departments in the League only met up once a year which made the process of complaints
"How helpful is the concept of counter-culture in understanding the changes that took place during the Sixties
"How helpful is the concept of counter-culture in understanding the changes that took place during the Sixties There were many changes, shifts in ideas and movements during the period of the Sixties, which may or not be easily defined by the term counter-culture. It can be argued that there were changes at this time which were a progression of earlier events over a long period of time, and therefore cannot be defined to the Sixties; also some changes appear to be more ideological than counter-cultural; and there were also changes which could be considered a reaction to the counter-culture itself, and therefore be considered counter counter-cultural. I am going to discuss changes in History, Science and Religion, in order to establish to what extent the concept of counter-culture can be of use in this study of the Sixties. By careful study of the Chronology in Resource Book 4, we discover that changes were happening to the social climate from 1954 onwards. In the USA, the fight for black civil rights and desegregation won a victory in this year when segregation in public schools was pronounced illegal in the Supreme Court. In the following year, the movement accelerated when 'Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus', and in the same town 'Martin Luther King leads a boycott of Montgomery buses' (Resource Book 4, p5).
"How important are kinship ties in industrial societies." Discuss.
"How important are kinship ties in industrial societies." Discuss. In small pre-industrial societies people rely on kin to meet most of their everyday need. The functional significance of kinship tends to decline in industrial societies where people distinguish between close relations who interact regularly and typically live together, and distant relatives, among whom there is often little social contact. Each individual belongs to a family irrespective of the type. It occurs that with a change in society so culminates a deviation in the social relationship between members of the nuclear family and their kin. Here we will discuss the importance of kinship ties in an advanced industrial society which involves the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of such an association. We will also examine kinship ties in a pre-industrial society to show its uses back then thus illustrating its usefulness or lack thereof in an advanced industrial society. The family and kinship relations generally existed to organize principals of social life. This association between family members of common ancestry or a type of kinship group known as a lineage and also those in an extended family, they produced goods and services together, the profits being shared among them. Many behaviors are shaped by our status as kin for example uncles take up the responsibility of caring for kin in the
