Commentary - Corkscrew, by Dashiell Hammett
English Commentary Corkscrew, by Dashiell Hammett There are many different aspects of a novel, which capture a reader's imagination and make it a good read. However undeniably the most important part of the novel has to be the opening, where the author must use certain methods and techniques to capture the readers intrigue and ultimately draw them into the story. Almost immediately after starting to read this opening I feel that Dashiell Hammet has succeeded in creating this sense of intrigue by opening her story with very striking yet extremely powerful metaphor, 'Boling like a coffeepot'. The way that she has used such an extreme state, 'Boiling', to describe how someone is feeling has an instantaneous impact upon the reader and the position of it also creates an instant sense of urgency. We know almost instantly also, that this story is written in the first person and it is this, which helps to get the reader involved with the story. When a story is written in first person the reader is instantly drawn closer to the character as they experience the story through the characters own interpretations and personal thoughts. In this particular story the reader is draw even closer to the character through empathy. There are a few short bland statements which makes the character sound as if he speaks in a distant, bleak tone, there are also several references to isolation and
Akutagawa vs. Tolstoy: The Similarities and the Differences
Akutagawa vs. Tolstoy: The Similarities and the Differences In Akutagawa's "In a Grove" and Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need" both short stories conveys a theme to the audience. Both Akutagawa and Tolstoy use symbolism as a vessel for conveying their themes, however, their usage of setting/atmosphere and point of view, differ. Akutagawa uses point of view to create shifts and conflict; whereas Tolstoy uses it to assist tone. Akutagawa uses setting/atmosphere to compliment his use of symbolism, while Tolstoy uses it delicately and vaguely, asserting the reader imaginative responsibilities to the reader. Tolstoy and Akutagawa's use of literary devices can be compared and contrasted. Their styles are very different while their usage of these devices may be different; it is irrefutable that they increase the quality of their works. Akutagawa's emphasis on symbolism encourages the reader to discover themes of his story. In the final testimony of "In a Grove", the samurai states"...only a lonely light lingered on the cedars and mountains...the light gradually grew fainter, till the cedars and bamboo were lost to view" (Akutagawa 510). There are several components of symbolism in this reference. The light is a natural symbol from nature, representing the truth and the honesty of the testimonies, but the fading of the light represents the loss of hope the investigations
Short story - I have encountered many stories in my life so far.
Kimberly Wong Short Story - Literature Coursework I have encountered many stories in my life so far. Some have been read to me, and some I have read myself. Many have been told to me, and there are few I have actually experienced. Obviously I do not remember all of them, but the ones that I do remember are in my memory because they had a strong effect on me. Either I had a strong feeling about them, or I could relate to them. Short stories are very different compared to reading a normal book or novel, because the author must condense all of his/her ideas into such few words and sentences. This brings a mixture of feelings, some very strong into a short amount of time, instead of being spread throughout hundreds of pages. To me, I felt that each of the short stories that we studied stirred up a combination of emotions in me, sometimes from very positive, to very negative, which it why I found this topic to be very interesting. The first short story, 'Just Like That,' by Michael Richards, left a negative impact on me. I found the story to be very unsettling and somewhat disturbing. First of all, the language and phrasing of the story brought a dark, depressing feeling over me. The first word of the story is 'dead.' This immediately gave me a negative feeling, and I knew that this was not going to be a cheerful, positive story. Throughout the whole story, the
Dubliners offers a comprehensive picture of what Dublin was like over a century ago. In this work, Joyce presents an especially accurate depiction of women in relation to their employment,
Michelle Gladstone ENG 114 Final Version Women's Employment in Ireland James Joyce's Dubliners explores the lives of the middle-class society of the people living in Dublin during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This collection of stories starts with tales of youthful individuals and moves to stories of older Dublin citizens and their relation to culture and society. Through the course of this book, Joyce addresses religious, ethical, social, economic, and political situations. Dubliners offers a comprehensive picture of what Dublin was like over a century ago. In this work, Joyce presents an especially accurate depiction of women in relation to their employment, and other work they did in their lives. Joyce emphasizes the role of women in several of his short stories, including The Sisters, The Boarding House, and A Mother. Each of these stories presents women in different situations, and implies different points. However, they all address the roles of women in Irish society. Women were not respected as workers during the time Dubliners was written. Women who did take jobs during this time were forced to accept extremely low wages as Mary Daly points out in an excerpt from Women in the Irish Workforce From Pre-Industrial to Modern Times (Daly, 195). By accepting meager payments, they set themselves up for exploitation by their employers. Daly
Symbolization of Dublin Life.
Symbolization of Dublin Life "Dubliners," a collection of 15 short stories, is Joyce's second work. In these stories he deals progressively with crucial episodes of childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, maturity, family life, and public life in Dublin. From the short stories in "Dubliners," it can be seen that there are similar symbolization of Dublin life appearing throughout each of the stories. We will look up what kind of symbolization of Dublin life was made and ultimately what Joyce intended to show us with this. Firstly, Dublin is a dull place to live. In "Eveline," a man from Belfast buys a field, which Eveline used to play in as a child, and builds houses on it. However, the houses he builds are unlike the "little brown houses," and they have "bright bricks with shining roofs." (20) The houses symbolize the dullness of Dublin whereas this man from Belfast is more "colorful" and "exciting," which is symbolized by the houses he builds. The boys in "An Encounter" want to escape their monotonous lives. By means of escaping, they read books about the "Wild West" and play games like "Cowboys and Indians." The summer holidays are approaching when the boys make up their minds to "break out of the weariness of school-life for one day at least." (9) The boys plan a "day's miching" to escape their dull lives and strict teachers. They go on an "adventure" across the Liffey
Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" introduces many interesting characters with many different personalities to us.
Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" introduces many interesting characters with many different personalities to us. However, out of Ginger Nut, Turkey, Nippers, and Bartleby, the narrator an elderly man, who makes his living helping rich men deal with their legal documents, is the most intruging. The narrators feelings towards Bartleby change as the story progresses making him a round character, and one of the narrator's personalty traits is him not being very assertive, having a weak will. The narrator is a round character because he goes through a change of personality from being upset at Bartleby, to being kind and caring to Bartleby. For example the narrator needed to proofread four quadruplicates of an important document, he calls in all of his employees to sit and proofread while he reads aloud from the original, and all of them come except for Bartleby. When called on specifically, Bartleby answers as usual, "I would prefer not to"(123). When the narrator tries to reason with him, Bartleby simply repeats, "I would prefer not to"(123). The narrator becomes agitated, and is so taken aback by Bartleby's refusals that he looks to his employees for support. Aside from being upset at Bartleby, the narrator's sincerity towards Bartleby is also questionable. Every time the narrator tries to assist Bartleby, he seems to do it only to gratify himself.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Debate: Be it resolved that the ending of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man should not be viewed as anything other than ironic. Pro Argument #1: It can be argued that the main character in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus, is ironically the youthful James Joyce himself. Although Stephen possesses many similarities to the author, Joyce adds some very important differences as well. - We can compare Joyce himself, a very successful artist, to Stephen, an inspiring artist that does not succeed. - It has been said that Joyce was well-liked by his classmates but Stephen is not particularly likeable; seems arrogant and self-absorbed, often refuses to socialize or to intermingle in the community (i.e. in the playground at school where Stephen watches the game instead of playing (p.7)). - Stephen possesses many characteristics which are ironically contradictory to each other: he is lonely but afraid to love, a romantic in the sense that he's a daydreamer, yet he is also a realist at home; too shy to kiss a girl he is interested in yet he seeks out prostitutes; hesitant when it comes to defending himself to his classmates yet courageous enough to confront authority figures (i.e. when he goes to see the rector after being wrongfully punished by Father Dolan (p. 45)). Pro Argument #2: It can be argued that despite the derivation and meaning of
The character of Major Paul Petkoff in the play "Arms in the Man."
The character of Major Paul Petkoff played by Christopher McGovern was the comic relief in the play "Arms in the Man." Hiding behind his extravagant fake mustache, he's dashingly silly as we follow him through his exploits from the missing coat to the electric bell installed by his wife. The character of Paul Petkoff stays relatively static throughout the play, staying the same humorous slightly confused old man. The only thing he did change on in fact was allowing his daughter Raina to be with her chocolate cream soldier, Captain Bluntschli. My original impression of Mr. Petkoff was to characterize him as a hard ass, but I soon realized I was mistaken. He's better characterized as a slightly confused but fair older man who's happy to get the war over with and return to his family. Mr. Petkoff is involved in many humorous exploits throughout the play that better develop his character into the happy easygoing man you see at the end. In the beginning of Act II, we see Mr. Petkoff enjoying lunch with his wife. Being the traditional man, he disapproves of the electric bell his wife installed to call for Nicola. Failing to see the need, he just raises his voice and hollers to his man servant, much to the dismay of his wife. He's a traditional man, and being so, doesn't need all these new fangled gadgets; Paul Petkoff would much rather stick to what he knows. I think this
Assess the role of Carr in 'Travesties' by Tom Stoppard
Assess the role of Carr in 'Travesties' by Tom Stoppard The play ">Travesties"> concerns the relationship between art and politics. The three major historical figures in the play - James Joyce, Lenin and Tristan Tzara - represent contrasting views on the issue, views that Stoppard juxtaposes with one another within the comic framework of the play. Henry Carr, a genuine historical figure, is somewhat overshadowed by the notoriety of the men around him and his opinions are often overlooked. Yet the debate occurs within Carr's memory, and the play makes it clear that the events presented are highly coloured by Carr's remembering them. Indeed, Carr's introductions of each of the other three participants in the debate emphasise their status as products of his memory: 'James Joyce As I Knew Him', 'Lenin As I Knew Him', '">Memories of Dada by a Consular Friend of the Famous in Old Zurich: A Sketch">'. Furthermore, Carr takes his own position on the aesthetic-political issue, a position that he defends against the opposing views of Tzara, Joyce and Lenin. By contrast, Joyce and Lenin never argue directly with each other in the play. Carr, then, provides a controlling perspective and actively participates in the debate embodied in ">Travesties". A careful examination of the scenes in which Carr's views conflict with those of Tzara, Joyce and Lenin will reveal both Carr's centrality to
With reference to any two short stories that you have studied in the course, compare and contrast any two characters.
NAME: FAZLIN FARIEZA YUSSUFF MATRIC NO.: 022 CLASS: FOUNDATION 1.4 QUESTION: With reference to any two short stories that you have studied in the course, compare and contrast any two characters. TITLE OF STORY: . The Lumber Room 2. The Rocking Horse Winner Characters play an important role in writing short stories. The characters often make the story more interesting thus they attract more readers. Two characters can be similar to each other but they are always differing in some other ways. I have chosen Nicholas from 'The Lumber Room' because I had fun reading the story and I noticed that his character, being curious and naughty but brilliant, really brings up the story. Paul from 'The Rocking-Horse Winner' on the other hand is also curious but he is rather innocent compared to Nicholas. Therefore I have decided to compare and contrast these two characters. Both Nicholas and Paul are young boys aged between 8 and 10 years old. Children who are in this age group are usually curious and inquisitive. Nicholas for example, is always curious about how the lumber room is because the room is always sealed from the youth and he can never enter the room under his aunt's supervision. He is also inquisitive when he asks his aunt why he is not allowed to go into the gooseberry garden. Like Nicholas, Paul is also curious and inquisitive. This happens when he keeps asking his