Death of a Salesman. Many symbols are included in the play. The tennis racquet, the seeds and the house are some of these symbols.

The American dream, a dream derived the ideals of life, liberty and happiness, is now merely defined in materialistic terms. Arthur Miller demonstrates how Willy's blind faith in the American dream turns into an obsession for success which destroys his life and almost that of his family. Miller communicates effectively with his audiences through the utilisation of literary techniques such as symbolism and motif. I shall begin by focusing on his use of symbolism and subsequently examine the use of motifs in the play. Many symbols are included in the play. The tennis racquet, the seeds and the house are some of these symbols. The tennis racquet which Willy observes is an obvious representation of Bernard's success and Biff's failure. Biff and Happy, who hope to make a fortune out of selling sports equipment, are revolving their lives around sport. Ironically, Bernard, who stood on the sidelines in high school while Biff played sports, now owns the tennis racquet. After spending a lifetime pursuing the unsuccessful American dream, Willy realises he has never left behind any accomplishments for his children in his name. The seeds represent the legacy that Willy will never leave with his family. "Oh, I'd better hurry. I've got to get some seeds. I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground." (page 122) During this scene, we see

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Character development of Shukhov in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Character development of Shukhov in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the protagonist of the novel 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' is a prisoner in the Soviet prison camp. He was caught by the Germans during the Second World War with perfidy when he tried to come back to Soviet lines. He spent earlier time of his imprisonment in Ust-Izhma camp and then in the "special" political camp. The special political camp was in the hands of harsh and abrasive authorities. Shukhov has spent eight years and he has enough experience of most of the tricks that can be used in the camp for the survival. He knows all the legerdemain of the harsh camp system, how to get extra food or other favours but he sticks to his moral principles of doing things so that there would be no harm for his self-respect. He actually adapts his own ways of survival in the camp. Shukhov was a farmer when he was in his home, in his own free life he used to think about the farming, buying horses and haymaking etc. It shows his agricultural experience and also shows his hard working life of being a farmer. As his life starts to move on, his carriers and thinking also changes with respect to his position. Then he became soldier of the Second World War but after that he could not go to his free living life of farmers and captured by Germans. Now, the life and thinking

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How do Medea and Hedda Gabler combine tradition and unconventionality within their roles as women in a constraining society?

How do Medea and Hedda Gabler combine tradition and unconventionality within their roles as women in a constraining society? The eponymous characters featured in both Medea and Hedda Gabler have perpetually been cast as unconventional women, defying every aspect of feminine behaviour expected of them in their respective societies. However, in truth, both women conform to convention far more than it would seem, albeit in contrasting ways. Medea dreams of the same future as any ordinary Greek woman would even despite her refugee status. In the end it is circumstances that drive her to the unexpected and terrible acts she commits. Hedda differs within her relationship with the culture surrounding her and fights at it. She is forced to live the life of a traditional woman in her society and hates it, as we shall see, she makes any effort she can to escape it. This combination of propriety and unconventionality contribute to the power of both plays as tragedies. There is some debate, though, on whether the playwrights intentionally did this, or, due to the cultural era they inhabited, they could not possibly see women totally unshackled from their roles in society. Medea appears to be a traditional wife in many ways therefore the cataclysmic breakdown of her marriage with Jason is more of a surprise to the reader; the way in which it dissolves into such violence. Throughout the

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Analysis of an extract from Chapter 3 of Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things".

This document is an extract from the novel entitled The God of small things written by an Indian author called Arundhati Roy . She's a famous novelist , activist and a world critizen . Moreover , she's well known for her writings criticizing the Indian society . Thanks to her first novel The God of Small Things she won the Booker Prize in 1997 when this novel was published . The text studied comes from the chapter 3 . The scene takes place in October 1962, Ammu was eight months pregnant. The War against China began and people were being evacuated, but Ammu was too pregnant to flee . When the twins were two years old, Baba was drunk most of the time. His English boss, Mr. Hollick, told him his job was in trouble but that they could work something out if Baba went out of town and let Mr. Hollick sleep with Ammu. But Ammu didn't agree with this plan , Babe knocked her down then passed out from being tired and drunk . Then , Ammu took the heaviest book and beat him . This scenario repeated itself a few times, and finally Ammu took the kids and left. At the end Pappachi didn't believe Ammu's story because he couldn't believe that English people can have bad behaviour . Firstly , I'm going to talk to you about Baba's alcoholism . My second part deals with Sexual harrasment . Later , the third part is about the divorce As I Said before on my summary , this part is

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Medea Reflection. When I first read the play Medea, I did not have any sort of sympathy for Medea herself.

Status' of Women in Ancient Greece Euripides has been known for writing about women in his plays. In his plays, he shows women trying to redeem their social status in their said country. When I first read the play Medea, I did not have any sort of sympathy for Medea herself. Yes I may have learnt the history of Ancient Greece a long time ago, but when reading the play, the historiography was not there with me. For example, when Jason travels to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece, Medea falls in love with him and helps him. When read without any historical context in mind, it seems as if they will be a good couple, love at first sight; analyses like these come into mind. But after reviewing the historical context, we need to remember that men had not respect for women in ancient Greece times, they regarded them as worthless. While learning this information, I had an epiphany that I should have realized the bad circumstances that are about to fall upon Medea from the first couple of lines. For another example, when there was a rumour that the King of Corinth is going to ban Medea and her children, at that point, I said to myself "good for her", because at that time I put myself in the Kings feet and concluded that if a woman is making trouble in my area, then she should be removed. But then again, as a king I only want my country or area to prosper. But after I found out that

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Comparison of emma and charls in madame bovary

Madame Bovary Similarities and differences of Emma and Charles In the first part of the novel, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, there are two main characters introduced to us; Emma Rouault and Charles Bovary. These two characters marry and become the "Bovary's". They both have interesting characteristics that lead to being opposing characters. In part one, we come across several descriptions of appearance, personality, education, background, and attitudes; that help us analyze these. The novel starts off with an introduction of what type of person Charles was during his childhood at school and what his classmates thought of him. Since a very young age, Charles had always been a very educated and respectful person towards others but always showed to be very insecure. He was described as "[...] country lad [...] taller than any of us (pg15)". Therefore you can see that his class mates didn't really accept him because he was different as for his physical appearance, character and style of dressing. The narrator talks to the reader as a school mate which sat in his class and observed him very carefully, he is also described as a forgettable child which shows that his presence didn't remain in people's minds. During his school years, Charles tried his best to attain the best results he could as he had never received a primary education- They "[...] postponed sending

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The Stark effects of being absurd in society- The Outsider

The Stark effects of being absurd in society- The Outsider A long time ago, I summed up 'The Outsider in a sentence which I realise is extremely paradoxical: 'In our society any man who doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death.' Albert Camus 8th January 1955 The novel 'The Outsider' establishes a being that is a 'Nomad' or existential in a sense of the society he lives in and the wandering on the cliff beside the sea of introversion and poignancy. Meursault is commonly misunderstood and is regarded as a reject. Furthermore he refuses to lie. A lie is a statement made by someone, in the expectation that the hearers may believe it. 'In the case of the human heart saying more than one feels,' Meursault conforms to the existential presuppositions; this is regarding reality as the state of being, the truth, often unheard of in politics and society. Consequently society feels threatened, by Meursault's refusal to satisfy the feelings of others by showing little remorse for his mother's death. His indifference leads him to be condemned by a trial. In the early stages of the book Meursault is seen as an adverse individual towards society, one who speaks his consciousness. Camus creates a paradoxical character against the normality of society, which brings out stark differences through the use of Meursault's ability to state facts. This narrative effect

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Portrayal of colonisers and the colonised in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness

Portrayal of colonisers and the colonised in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness was published 1902, after first being a three-part series in magazines. This book is one of the most influential books in world literature, it has made a huge impact on other authors and some of them have even written a whole book about this book. For example the Swedish author Olof Lagercrantz has written a whole book "Färd med Mörkrets Hjärta" (eng: "Walk with Heart of Darkness"), where he analyses Conrad's work. The book has also been made in to a movie (Heart of Darkness), and inspired a making of another film, Apocalypse Now. The book is about colonisation and can be refer to any colonisation at any time. During the entire book Marlowe, the main character, is retelling the story. In short, the book is about how far the human can go for money and power and also how easily a human being can forget what is right and what is wrong when he is put in unfamiliar environment. In the beginning of the book a story is being told about a Danish man who got killed by the natives after he had attacked them. The reason was because of a misunderstanding about some hence. The Danish man is, or rather was, described as " the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs". This statement makes it even more clear how much the coloniser was marked by being

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King Lear Passage Analysis Act IV, Scene 7 (lines 26 - 69)

IOC: King Lear Act IV, Scene 7 (lines 26 - 69) Contextualisation of Extract Lear is driven to insanity by his daughters Goneril and Regan as they systematically stripped him of whatever prestige he had left, reducing his entourage from 100 to 50 to 25 to 10, 5, 1 and finally to nothing, at which point they cast him into the storm (III,2), which he in "hell-black night endured". He is then discovered by Gloucester who sends Lear, Kent and the Fool to Dover where he might be safe from his daughters. Upon reaching Dover, Lear runs from the Gentleman and two of Cordelia's attendants fearing capture. It can be inferred that Lear has been caught by the attendants as he enters this scene, "asleep in a chair carried by servants". Significance of Extract In this extract, Lear is finally reunited with his "joy" Cordelia for the first time since his banishment. Although Lear has descended completely into madness, he has finally realised his true state as a "poor, weak, infirm and despised old man" as well as gained a stronger sense of moral awareness and judgment. A touching reconciliation between Cordelia and Lear is seen. Lear is dressed in royal robes and is carried to Cordelia while asleep. I will be analysing three aspects of this extract - The characterisation of Cordelia - The portrayal of Lear's restoration (both physical and mental) - The depiction of Cordelia and

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Critical Analysis of After Apple Picking by Robert Frost

IOC: Robert Frost After Apple Picking This extract comes from North of Boston, a selection of poems from the eminent American poet Robert Frost. Like most of the other poems in the book, Frost's After Apple Picking reads like a short drama. Like The Mending Wall or the Woodpile , this poem is narrated from a first-person point of view, where the poet refers to himself as "I" and is a principal actor in the poem- continuing to describe his setting, emotions and thoughts throughout. Frost, who is renowned for his figurative use of language, is sometimes counted amongst the ranks of the transcendentalist poets. Transcendentalism often amounted to drawing upon an individual sense of consciousness whilst eschewing the intellectualism of the day. A greater spiritual appreciation was appraised for the setting that influenced the transcendentalist and, thus, North of Boston is imbued with a dreamy quality whilst still retaining a vivid appreciation of nature. It is also interesting to note that some literary critics have called the transcendentalism an "American Romanticism" movement- and indeed, many of Frost's poems have a strong inclination toward nature combined with aesthetic appreciation for emotion and feeling. After Apple Picking is, in itself, a marvelous representation of Frost's philosophy and writing style- though it is somewhat unfortunate that no definite

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