Is Hester Swane, the protagonist from By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, a witch?

Monika Glegola Is Hester Swane, the protagonist from By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, a witch? ' Witch - a woman thought to have evil magic powers; a follower or practicioner of witchcraft; Wiccan priestess; a girl or a woman capable of enchanting or bewitching a man' ( The New Oxford Dictionary of English ). Literature has always been occupied with the subject matter concerning witches and witchcraft. Early and contemporary literature have established similar definitions of a witch although the witch herself was portrayed a little bit different. The subject of a witch has always attracted people as it brings uncertainty, suspension, curiosity and interest for the unknown. It reveals the relation between something natural, human and the undiscovered, not understood in its nature. A witch is a person perceived as being similar to christian God and its power, though witchcraft is a pagan 'religion'. She is capable of controlling others, making them behave as she wants and, furthermore, capable of making things happen according to her will. Thus, witches have become the subject of fear as the unknown but at the same time they have established a major interest reflected mostly in literature. Through legends, myths, documents of fact and literature of fiction, the reader is allowed to gain the knowledge about witches' nature and culture and to enter their world. However,

  • Word count: 1270
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Kiss by Kate Chopin.

Ö.Bugra Telemez 20300347 01.38 Tugçe Arikan The Kiss People might appear different than they really are. We have to examine them in different ways. They might mislead us. In the story, "The Kiss", Kate Chopin portrays how deceitful a character could be. She reveals that a person should not be judged only by his or her appearance. In the short story, Kate Chopin tells us a self-seeking story. Nathalie is in love with Harvey and Brantain at the same time. She choose Brantain because he is very rich, and if she marry him she thinks that her live will be better After Nathalie and Brantain's wedding ceremony, Harvy comes and says that Brantain has sent him there to kiss her. She wanted that kiss so her lips looked hungry for the kiss,but suddenly Harvy tells that he've stopped kissing women, and leave the ceremony. After that, Nathalie realize that she can't have everything in this world. The character, Brantain, is a rich man but he is very unattractive. " Brantain sat in one of these shadows; it had overtaken him and he did not mind. The obscurity lent him courage to keep his eyes fastened as ardently." This is how Brantain was first introduced to the reader. Chopin, the writer, contradicted him with darkness. She revealed that Brantain belonged to darkness, she mentioned that Brantain was not as simply as he appeared. Chopin implied that Brantain was dangerous and

  • Word count: 1085
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai; Themes and Characters

Fasting, Feasting Anita Dessai Themes Family Life Although the novel has action in two separate countries and has many characters, there is the central theme of family life that unites them all. In India, the immediate family has great importance; but the extended family also has an impact on the characters' lives. This is evidenced by the coming together of family members for securing bridegrooms and making wedding arrangements for Uma and Aruna. There is also huge family support and involvement related to times of sorrow, such as the coming together after the death of Anamika. The rituals for both these happy and sad occasions are marked with tradition and purpose. These elements seem to be sorely lacking in the Patton household in America. It is understood that the time period of Arun's stay with the Pattons encompasses only three months and does not represent a comprehensive look at the Patton family. Yet the limited window leads the reader to believe that the Pattons are devoid of any strong family ties, both within their immediate family unit and in their extended family. Arun is the character who envisions the similarities between the two families toward the end of the novel. Ironically, it is the youngest person among all the characters, Arun, who can see the differences in how his mother and Mrs. Patton direct their families. More poignantly, it is Arun who sees

  • Word count: 1047
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Great Gatsby's Green Light and American Optimism

Steve Lundell L354 The Great Gatsby’s Green Light and the Obligations of American Optimism Beneath the unrequited love thematically central to Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a ruminative indictment of American excess and its attendant dream is found, which changes the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway. America is often defined by the notion that anyone born in any set of circumstances can be anything they desire. Circumnavigating a green light referenced by Jay Gatsby in the beginning and then espied by Nick at novel’s end, Fitzgerald leaves the reader with a powerful symbol of an unobtainable dream. This dream seduces with indomitable optimism and anticipation throughout the novel’s luxuriant details of affluence and release. Whether this was the dream referenced in the Declaration of Independence is a matter of dispute. Whether the relentless “pursuit of happiness” is equated as an “unalienable” human right (Declaration of Independence) may not have been Gatsby’s concern as much as how his pursuit would finally end, if ever, in a realization of the American Dream. But Fitzgerald shows that within this pursuit and its intended attainment are corrosive spoils and consequences, which end up in Nick’s newfound awareness and Gatsby’s death. These outcomes are at the heart of the novel, in that longing for the green light causes an obligatory

  • Word count: 1443
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Feminist Consciousness in Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain".

Fang Liang Professor Ding Yanren Academic Writing for English Majors 2 December 2012 Feminist Consciousness in Cat in the Rain Cat in the Rain is one of Hemingway’s most famous short stories, depicting an American couple spends their holiday in an Italian hotel. The American wife in the story sees a cat crouched under a table in the rain and wants to bring it to her room. When she goes to search for the cat, however, it is gone. So she returns to the hotel room and has a conversation with her husband about finding out the cat and then about changing her whole life. Her husband, however, seems to be terribly annoyed by her and not interested at all. Eventually, the cat is delivered to her room by a maid at the request of the hotelkeeper. These images altogether make it easy to consider the story as an episode of marriage crisis. However, I want to argue that Hemingway conveyed in the story has much to do with the feminist consciousness. We can feel depression and isolation of the American wife from the very beginning of the story. She is in a hotel of a foreign country where they are the only Americans, having to speak an unfamiliar language, with nobody else known but her husband who turns out to be indifferent to her. Her depression mainly comes from him who neglects her needs and feelings. Thus, she is eager to be rescued and to get rid of this depressing situation.

  • Word count: 989
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Face Without a Heart - An Essay on A Picture of Dorian Gray

Randy Fox Professor Medd ENGL2109A Monday, October 1st, 2012 A Face Without A Heart The Picture of Dorian Gray, the only novel written by Oscar Wilde, discusses the superficiality of men and the consequences of negative influence. The titular character Dorian Gray, a young and beautiful man, falls victim to self gratification and Lord Henry’s influence. He loses his sense of virtue and falls into a spiral of sin, all the while maintaining his status in society due to his seemingly everlasting youth and beauty. In Chapter Ten, when Dorian comes to terms with his evil portrait, and in connection, his sin, and falls under the influence of the yellow book, his downward spiral truly begins. The constantly degenerating portrait and the “poisonous” yellow book are constant motifs in the novel that symbolize Dorian Gray’s downfall, and both enter with full force in this chapter. The actions that Dorian commits during this chapter both foreshadow and set the basis for his downward spiral throughout the remainder of the novel. Lord Henry holds art and culture in the highest regard and tells Dorian it can only be attained “by being cultured [or]...by being corrupt” (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, 238).It is quite clear that Dorian is impressionable and is influenced by Lord Henry and he begins to take culture and art in very high regard. Dorian begins to date

  • Word count: 1380
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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An Examination of Figurative and Literal Debris in J.G. Ballards "Concrete Island"

An Examination of Figurative and Literal Debris in Concrete Island J.G. Ballard’s Concrete Island tells the story of a wealthy architect, Robert Maitland, who is forced to survive on a manmade island in the middle of a motorway intersection following a car crash. As Groes points out in his paper, Ballard’s Concrete Island examines the social and cultural trends in postwar London through an extreme situation experienced by the main character Robert Maitland (2011). It is argued that Ballard’s writing depicts how changes in urban spaces are reshaping social relationships (Groes, 2011). Notably, debris forms as a result of the people and places that have been leftover from rapid societal transformations. Ballard’s Concrete Island examines the importance of literal debris (the wasteland) and figurative debris (outsiders of society) in Maitland’s experiences on the island. Despite being an architect who contributes to architectural changes, Maitland struggles to survive on the island until his encounter with Jane and Proctor. These two characters are the figurative debris in this novel. To demonstrate, Proctor is described as an “aged defective” (Ballard, Concrete, 86), while Jane is said to resemble the “prototypal drop-out” (Ballard, Concrete, 82). In particular, the presence of Jane and Proctor prevents Maitland from dying and his interactions with them allow

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Assess the extent to which Great Expectations is a realist novel

Assess the extent to which Great Expectations is a realist novel The primary aim of the realist novel is to represent real life at the time in which it is written. The author aims to create for their reader a believable world and uses a number of techniques in order to do this. In order to assess the extent to which Great Expectations can be viewed as a realist novel this paper will aim to, firstly, look at the techniques used by Dickens which contribute to creating an illusion of reality and then draw to the forefront examples of inherent features of a realist novel and examine Dickens’ use of these features in the novel. Finally it will go on to address characteristics of other genres in Great Expectations and examine how the novel may fall outside our idea of realist. One of the first key ways in which Dickens creates an illusion of reality is through his use of narrative technique. In order to tell the story he employs a first person narrative in the form of Pip. The use of such narration draws in the reader immediately which helps the reader to quickly identify with the narrator and therefore believe in him. ‘So, I called myself Pip and came to be called Pip’[1] almost suggests that the narrator is personally introducing himself to the reader and the informal ‘so’ sets a tone with which the reader can feel comfortable. Furthermore, Dickens uses a dual

  • Word count: 1815
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Two different Jamesian heroines: Daisy Miller and Catherine Sloper

Literatura Nordamericana Moderna Teacher: Aránzazu Usandizaga Student: Rebeca Esparza Lavado THE BUILDING OF TWO DIFFERENT JAMESIAN HEROINES: DAISY MILLER AND CATHERINE SLOPER The American writer Henry James wrote a great number of stories in which the role of the main character was a woman. He was very interested in the femenine world and this is the reason why he tried to explore what defines feminity in termes of genre. I have chosen two short stories about this author: Daisy Miller (1878) and Washington Square (1880). Their main characters are both heroines and they also have a lot of points in common but I have analysed the different techniques that James used to design the female characters of Daisy Miller and Catherine Sloper respectively because the different procedures meant inevitably different literary results. In a first attempt to analyse Daisy and Catherine we realise that they can be defined by opposite adjectives: Daisy is spirited, independent, well meaning, young, beautiful, flirtatious but also ignorant, shallow and provincial; on the other hand, Catherine is bad-looking, shy, plain and painfully. Consequently we could consider them highly distinct but, in fact, they are the one and the other women who have to face their reality by fighting against oppresive forces: Daisy against social conventions and Catherine against her tyrannical father.

  • Word count: 1656
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Real Final Problem.

The Real Final Problem After my friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle buy the detective story plots from Agatha Christie, it is a near scandal, imagine what if this is exposed. Anyway, this problem is solved, by using large amount of money. He writes the story according the plots, it is another popular press. He still, however, has a 10 books contract with the press, and now he is upset about finishing other stories. One day, while he was thinking about the story plots, although he was clueless, Agatha Christie came in the office, she opened the door and walked in the office elegantly. "Hi, Dr. Doyle, nice to see you again." said Christie. "Do you still remember the plots that I sold you last time? I know it was a great success; it is on the top 5 sales rank in the bookstores for weeks after it being published. Are you satisfied with the plots?" "Yes, but what do you want? I have already paid you 100 pounds for each plot!" said Doyle, and with a bad presage about what is going to happen. "Just calm down, I know you have trouble on the 10 books left for your contract with the press, let me show you something. Without any idea, you cannot write anything, here are my new plots, you want to have it?" "New plots? That is great! But wait a minute, how much for these this time?" "They are not very expensive, just 150 pounds each," she said. "150 pounds each? That is extortion! Do you

  • Word count: 497
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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