"Literature is not innocent. It is guilty and should admit itself so." What does Bataille mean by this, and is he justified?

"Literature is not innocent. It is guilty and should admit itself so." What does Bataille mean by this, and is he justified? When Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights1 was published, it was deemed by many to be a story of sinister and evil content, and this view was especially centred on the character Heathcliff. Many readers, in general terms, would see the novel as guilty as opposed to innocent (it must be remembered here that Bataille uses the words guilty and innocent not with their everyday meanings, but with meanings that he constructs for the purpose of his argument), and this is perhaps why Georges Bataille chose to include it in his study, Literature and Evil2, and also why the title quote is so relevant to the book. But what does Bataille actually mean in this quote? What is his definition of innocent and guilty? Also, how does this relate to Wuthering Heights (the text we shall concentrate on here) and is Bataille justified in the conclusions he makes? It is important then to firstly attain a good idea of the meaning of Bataille's terms, as a starting point for this essay. When we think of the word innocent, the word good also comes to mind. Innocence is the state of having done nothing wrong, and so something that commits no wrongs must then be good, and therefore free from guilt. Bataille gives this utilitarian based view of Good; it is "based on a common

  • Word count: 2425
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Love in Action," Thich Nhat Hanh and "The Monk in the lab," Tenzin Gyatso urge "The Human Family" (pg.548 Hanh) to realize the destructive way's of our society and to change the way we think about our world/nature. Both

Zachary Nichols English 1A Instructor Erin Sullivan February 9, 2006 Rough Draft 1 ( words) New Way of Thinking "Love in Action," Thich Nhat Hanh and "The Monk in the lab," Tenzin Gyatso urge "The Human Family" (pg.548 Hanh) to realize the destructive way's of our society and to change the way we think about our world/nature. Both authors argue that before we can make any changes on the big scale, we need to change the way we think individually. The writings powerfully put across the way we should individually think and act to preserve our lives, and all of nature in which we all co-exist interdependently. Hanh argues and repeats his main concepts to make sure readers fully grasp his theories. He states how the world is more and more economically driven and all the people who are separating from nature by economics are the ones that are insane and sick. "People who accumulate a house, a car, a position, and so forth, identify themselves with what they own, and they think that if they lose their house, their car, or their position, they would not be themselves," says Hahn (pg.546 Hahn). In actuality this seems to be relevant to modern times and labeling this insanity seems logical. Hahn adds to this stating argument that by "accumulating and saving, people have a false self, and in the process they have forgotten their truest and deepest self," (pg.546 Hahn). He wants

  • Word count: 844
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Soap Opera Script and Treatment

Soap Opera Script and Treatment INT . FLAT (ROOM 52) - MORNING The adolescent students Owen, Lou and Roland, clearly in over their heads with life, sit in silence with the blinds drawn staring at the centre of their table crammed with empty breakfast McDonald carton foodstuffs hastily laid out. The sound of the latch of a door being released soon breaks this momentary attentiveness causing them to turn back in their seats with eyes now fixed securely on their front door anticipating the entrance to come. Watching it open, the lust of their lives Teri Dauson is revealed. Teri Hey boys. Teri ambles inside. Roland evidently feels caught-off guard by Teri's presence as he persistently attempts to smooth out his not yet blow-dried haircut for her sake. Teri takes her place standing with folded arms to the side of the table to where they are sitting. Teri How you all doin' then? INT . STUDENT MEETING ROOM (BOTTOM FLOOR) - MORNING In the biggest arm chair to be seen sits Rick. Wearing Bermuda shorts and with his 'flock of seagulls' haircut pushed behind his ears, he looks the part to be engulfed in what appears to be a surfing magazine. Tony Jumps from behind, slapping both his palms on Rick's shoulders, making him jump. Walking to the front of Rick's chair he sits opposite him on a coffee table, dressed in his customary expensive designer clothes he stares at Rick.

  • Word count: 2422
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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In What Way Imagist Poetry Influences Modernists

Table of Contents . Introduction 2 2. The Return to Classicism 2 3. Unconventional Form: Vers Libre 5 4. Innovative Content and Language 6 5. Image and Consciousness 9 6. Conclusion 11 7. Reference List 12 In What Way Imagist Poetry Influences Modernists . Introduction The England-based Georgians had been attacked by the modernists as "unoriginal and slack in technique, shallow in feeling, slight in intellect...and weekend escapism" (David 1976, p.204). The American-based Genteel Mode, on the other hand, was also criticized as "...in its Romantic spiritual elevation it did not grapple with experience..."(David 1976, p.204). Modernist writers contended that the society had undergone enormous changes at the beginning of the twentieth century and that the carefree and relaxed attitude, which was representative of Georgian poetry and the Genteel Mode cannot present the real situation of the society and demanded that people should break away from traditions. Imagists were such a group of poets who refused to obey and challenged the traditions of poetry composition (some of these practices, though, were disapproved by some of the critics). As David put it, "imagism has been described as the grammar school of modern poetry," which means that it plays a fundamental role in influencing the way along which later modernist writers followed to create their work. Reviewing how

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"The Cask of Amontillado": Analyzed

Kimberly Gonzalez February 27, 2006 English 102 10 Short Story Essay "The Cask of Amontillado": Analyzed "The Cask of Amontillado," written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1846, is about a man named Montresor. Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato by taking him on a journey and walling him up alive. Fortunato plays an ironic role throughout the entire story. This story is also told by the main character, which makes this story untrustworthy. In "The Cask of Amontillado," Poe emphasizes a revenge theme through his representation of journey, irony, and narrative point of view. Montresor's vengeance on Fortunato is the outcome of an insult. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge" (Poe 136). In Montresor's attempt to seek revenge, he uses Fortunato's love for wine to lure him into the catacombs, where Montresor's dead family members remain. Once in the catacombs, their journey begins. Fortunato begins to cough and Montresor uses Fortunato's pride to keep him going. Montresor tells Fortunato that he will find someone else to taste the wine. Of course, since Fortunato thinks he is the best person to taste the wine and determine whether or not it is Amontillado, he agrees to continue on the journey. At the end of the dark and undesirable tunnel, which also represents hell, Fortunato is walled up and left to die.

  • Word count: 764
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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'The story I am telling is all imagination. These characters I create never existed outside my own mind.'(John Fowles). Discuss the way in which any two texts studied on the course problematise the process of storytelling and/or the role of the author.

'The story I am telling is all imagination. These characters I create never existed outside my own mind.'(John Fowles). Discuss the way in which any two texts studied on the course problematise the process of storytelling and/or the role of the author. According to Nelson Vieira, John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman: 'falls under the rubric of what is commonly known today as metafiction. Metafictional writers thus operate and function with a freedom of exposing illusion for what it is- a device used to mask narrative as a construct and a figment of one's imagination.'1 John Fowles has no qualms about admitting that literature is, in fact just an illusion. This is most noticeable in his telling the reader that 'The story I am telling is all imagination. The characters I create never existed outside my own mind'2. It seems then, that John Fowles, in destroying the reader's illusion, and also destroys the 'suspension of disbelief necessary in following a story told by an omniscient narrator'3 Fowles' destruction of this suspension of disbelief in reminding us of the fictitious nature of all characters and events taking place creates a gulf between himself, or his story, and the reader. To be drawn into the world of fiction, we must feel that it is true, and that we are a part of a real world, and not merely some illusion or magic trick. It is also impossible for the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Contrast an Elizabethan and a modern audience's understanding of Hamlet's views".

Danièle Evans 29.12.01 'Hamlet thou hast cleft my heart in twain' "Most productions present Gertrude and Ophelia as sympathetic victims of Hamlet's cruelty. As your starting point, refer to either the closet or the nunnery scene, and, paying close attention to the language, show how it reveals the interaction between Hamlet and the women characters here and throughout the play. Contrast an Elizabethan and a modern audience's understanding of Hamlet's views". As the main female characters in the play, Ophelia and Gertrude are subjected to the worst of Hamlet's madness. 'Hamlet' depicts the popular Elizabethan viewpoint and treatment of women which is palpably clear from Hamlet's contemptuous and disrespectful behaviour. This is especially obvious in both the nunnery and the closet scenes, primarily from the language and exchanges between the characters. The 'nunnery' scene, mainly focusing on the exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia, is structurally similar to the later 'closet scene' of Act 3 Scene 4. 'Soft you now', says Hamlet as he catches a glimpse of his former love, 'The fair Ophelia', a comment which is instinctively tender. Notably, it also echoes his description of Ophelia at her grave, in Act 5 Scene 1, where he openly declares his love for her, admitting that 'forty thousand brothers/Could not with all their quantity of love/Make up my sum'. It is also at

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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What are the differences between the humour in Aristophanes' "The Frogs" and "The Wasps"?

What are the differences between the humour in Aristophanes' "The Frogs" and "The Wasps"? Comedies were held on the second day of the major dramatic festival in Athens, the City Dionysia. Comedy was set in the contemporary; it was a collision of utopian dreams with the harsh political reality of the here and now, the comic characters acknowledged in the world of the audience whilst the comedy allowed all forms of transformation and escape. Aristophanic comedy is the only surviving evidence of the vibrant and vulgar humour that was Old Comedy. The two plays "The Wasps" and "The Frogs" are typical examples of Aristophanes' absurd humour in which insult was the celebratory core of classical comedy, they symbolise the freedom of speech allowed by democracy. However, although these plays both boast the comic convention of Old comedy, with its political satire and lively farcical qualities, their content and expression of the farce and satire is presented to the audience in an entirely different way. Traditionally, the costume was a central part of the slapstick comedy evident in Aristophanes' work. The actors were presented as short and fat with large and obscene padding on their front and behind. They wore masks, which portrayed exaggerated facial expressions, with large mouths and hugely distorted features. Portrait masks were also used which displayed the prominent

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Snow Falling On Cedars - Chapter 1 Essay: Plot, Setting And Character.

Snow Falling On Cedars Chapter 1 Essay: Plot, Setting And Character By Lauren Reading The novel Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson is set on the fictional small island of San Piedro. The first chapter opens in a court room in the islands only town of Amity Harbour at the murder trial of Carl Heine. In this chapter are given insight into the ways of the island and it's inhabitants including the three main characters- Kabuo, Ishmael and Hatsue. In this essay I will discuss how Guterson establishes plot, character and setting. The story opens with the accused man Kabuo. It is immediately obvious that he has a strong character: 'Kabuo showed nothing- not even a flicker of the eyes.' The stress of being accused of murder has not visibly affected him. This may be a sign of his confidence, he knows he has nothing to be guilty of. It may also be due to his high sense of pride- he doesn't like to show weakness and therefore remains detached. With the help of the narrator, however, the readers get a view into his thoughts. 'he realized now.' Through this use of focalisation the reader learns a little about his thoughts. 'furious wind-whipped flakes against the windows- struck him as infinitely beautiful.' This highlights that he can appreciate nature but there is also a slight indication at anger. The snow may also serve as a metaphor- the fact he cannot feel or touch this

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Voice of Internal Conflict.

A Voice of Internal Conflict The most insightful and interesting stanzas can be found in a lyric poem. In this type of poetry, the voice in the writing is essentially that of the poet. An accurate example of this is "A Far Cry from Africa" by Derek Walcott. The attitudes of the speaker in this poem represent the same sentiments and experiences of the author himself. Walcott is a man of African descent, raised in the Caribbean on the ex-British colony island of St. Lucia1. This history of growing up in an English environment, aware of an opposing descent, influenced the life and work of Walcott. In this poem, he expresses the theme through the speaker's attitude, perception of his environment, internal conflict, and the tone and mood that are created by these elements. The feelings of the speaker toward the subject of the poem are very clear. He openly criticizes the brutality between the Africans and the colonial settlers. The language of the poem demonstrates that the speaker is angry at the entire situation and judgmental of both parties involved. Phrases such as "Corpses are scattered through a paradise" (4) and "his wars dance.."(19) combine the presence of violence with positive concepts. The speaker is mocking the brutality by describing it using the words "paradise" and "dance", that are normally associated with celebration and bliss. He refuses to accept the motives

  • Word count: 997
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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