"Mid Term Break" by Seamus Heaney
Lianne D Haymer 16 January 2002 "Mid Term Break" by Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney was born on April 13, 1939 to Patrick and Margaret Heaney, and was the eldest of nine children. They lived on a family farm in Mossbawn, County Derry in Northern Ireland. His work; which has won many prestigious awards, reflects his life, family, and culture during his childhood years and adult life, and sells by the tens of thousands. He is undoubtedly the most popular poet writing in English today. The poem "Mid Term Break" is based on an experience, which Seamus Heaney went through as a child. He was taken from his class, and put in the schools sick bay to wait for his neighbours to arrive, as they were taking him home. The first stanza uses assonance and alliteration to emphasise the funeral sound of "counting the bells knelling classes to a close". The word knelling (portent of doom), was used to describe how Seamus Heaney felt waiting, hearing each class come to a close, as the hours passed by; for him it was a daunting experience. The poet chose the title for the poem, as it reflects his circumstances at the time of his brother's death. The poem's title is an allegory as the poem has two levels of meaning, which is not fully delivered until the last, one lined, stanza. The poet Seamus Heaney was away at
Symbolism in Lord of The Flies
Idris Lacme Prof. Dr. Adina Ciugureanu Seminar: Nicoleta Stanca British Literature 2nd year 31. May. 2007 Symbolism In Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a tropical island after their plane is shot down during a war. The boys assemble on the beach. In the election for leader, Ralph defeats Jack, who is furious when he loses. As the boys explore the island, tension grows between Jack, who is interested only in hunting, and Ralph, who believes most of the boys' efforts should go toward building shelters and maintaining a signal fire. When rumors surface that there is some sort of beast living on the island, the boys grow fearful, and the group begins to divide into two camps supporting Ralph and Jack, respectively. Ultimately, Jack forms a new tribe, fully immersing himself in the savagery of the hunt. Though the novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human evil is at least partly based on Golding's experience with the real-life violence and brutality of World War II. Free from the rules that the society of adults' formerly imposed on them, the boys struggle with the conflicting human instincts that exist within each of them-the instinct to work toward civilization and order and the instinct to descend into savagery, violence, and chaos. As the boys splinter into factions, some behave peacefully
Jack The Ripper - Source related study.
Jack The Ripper . Source A shows that the murder of Polly Nicholls was totally unprovoked and was the work of a 'demented being'. It is an article describing the murders of both Polly Nicholls and Martha Tabram which say that both of the victims 'have been of the poorest of the poor' which might have been a more polite or formal way to describe prostitutes at that time. This meant that the killer didn't really have any reasons or motives to kill them. It says that the killer used an 'excess of effort' in each murder which meant that Jack the Ripper didn't leave the body or flee straight away, he concentrated on the disfigurement of the corpse and creating carnage with the bloodbath. The source is only part of the article which could have included more gruesome details of the murder, the whereabouts, more about the victims and more about the location of east London. The source also says that the murders startled London, which shows that this was turning out to be the first serial killer case ever and brought great shock and fear to people in London. 2. Source C shows the report of the third victim, Elizabeth Stride. The report suggests that the ripper spent a long time on the corpse. I can see this from the second sentence, 'her legs were drawn up, her feet close against the wall of the right side of the passage'. It also shows the Jack the Ripper might have attempted to
Short stories
Compare and Contrast the way male characters are portrayed by Chopin and Gaskell The male characters in the stories of Chopin and Gaskell are portrayed generally in a negative light, and it is partly due to the way that the authors lived their lives. Both Kate Chopin and Elizabeth Gaskell used their stories to mirror or reflect upon parts of their society that they felt undermined the basic moral rights of women. Both author's explored ideas such as male oppression and feminism (and other such key ideas for women at the time) with much depth and sensitivity. I have chosen to look at two stories which I feel best represent the kind of ideas that both women were trying to make people more aware of. Theses are Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin, and The Half Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell. To a certain extent, I find both authors to be in some ways biased against males. In particular, Chopin sees males in quite a disturbingly sinister light, which is reflected in the strong portrayal of the leading male in Désirée's Baby, Armand, where she claims he has an "imperious and exacting nature". Gaskell's exploration of the character of William Preston as the dominant male of the tale is not quite as blunt, in that she preferred to tackle the bare facts, leaving our own opinion on William Preston to from as the events of the story unfold: "He was reckoned an old bachelor...he was long
Original Writing
Original Writing Maybe if I didn't give in too early, then it might have been different. Mum always told me to watch out. I didn't listen. I just didn't listen. As I reluctantly woke up that morning feeling extremely tired. The scent of the honeysuckle floated dreamily through the air. Beaming in through my window, the sun's rays danced like a flickering candle on the wall. It's been so long. It felt good. Outside, the birds were singing like a choir to welcome the day. Downstairs, my mother was preparing breakfast. How I wish I could have told her. Why didn't I? What could she have done? The aroma of freshly cooked bacon jolted me back to reality. Rolling over, I made an attempt to block out the inevitable. I felt uneasy. Why? Today was going to be different. Leaving smiling faces behind me, I enveloped myself in defenseless feelings. My tiresome eyes fixed to the ground in front, as I strolled unwillingly towards what the day had to bring. The smell of fresh air eased my pain, while I gazed up into the smiling sun. It was as if my life was about to change but I wasn't too sure how. Was this going to be an ordinary day? A few minutes later, I stepped through the double oak doors where I spent most of my day. The decrepit structure looked at me menacingly. Feeling as if I was passing through hell, I saw the devil himself. Peter. Well known around this part of town,
Outline how Shakespeare uses the structure and conventions of pastoral in 'As You Like It' and highlight one or more possible interpretive emphases which you think arise from this.
* Outline how Shakespeare uses the structure and conventions of pastoral in 'As You Like It' and highlight one or more possible interpretive emphases which you think arise from this. You should support your reading of the play through close reference to the text, and the inclusion of appropriate background reading. 'As You Like It' finds its origins in the pastoral tradition of the renaissance in which the rustic field and forest provides a sanctuary from urban or courtly issues. The play itself takes place in a forest where the characters are hiding from treachery at court or injustice in the family. This pastoral tradition began with theocrites in ancient Greece, whose writings explored the sorrows of love and daily injustices in a rural setting. Virgil expanded the tradition, emphasising the distinction between urban and rural lifestyles even more. The Pastoral traditions, in spite of taking many literary forms, conformed to a traditional set of rules. A typical story would involve exiles from the court or city going into the countryside and living there either with or as shepherds. While in the rural area, they would hold singing contests and philosophically discuss the various merits of both forms of life. Eventually the exiles would return to the city having resolved their particular problems. The pastoral works within Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' have most
Arthur Miller.
ARTHUR MILLER A leading American playwright, Arthur Miller, b. New York City, Oct. 17,1915, has enriched the Broadway stage for several decades. Although Miller's dramas take place in familial settings, he has made a reputation for dealing with contemporary political and moral issues. Miller began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan, where several of his dramatic efforts were rewarded with prizes. In 1937, during his senior year, one of his early plays was presented in Detroit by the Federal Theatre Project. In 1944 his The Man Who Had All the Luck won a prize offered by New York City's Theatre Guild. With his first successes--All My Sons (1947; film, 1948), winner of the Drama Critics Circle Award, and Death of a Salesman (1949; film, 1952), winner of both the Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize--Miller condemned the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises. Death of a Salesman, with its expressionistic overtones, remains Miller's most widely admired work. The keen social conscience evident in these plays has continued to manifest itself in Miller's writing. In the Tony Award-winning The Crucible (1953), for instance, he wrote of the witch-hunts in colonial Salem, Mass., and implied a parallel with the congressional investigations into subversion then in progress. The
Analyse the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem.
Analyse the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem. In the early 19th century it was not unusual to make a work of art, painting or sculpture a subject of a poem. Taken literally, the poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' is a poem about a vase, but Keats has inverted the traditional understanding of physical, tangible objects and transformed them into metaphors for abstract concepts, such as truth and time. An urn is primarily used to preserve the ashes of the dead. The theme of the Ode, accordingly, has to do with the relationship between imagination and actuality, and the supremacy and immortality of a work of art if compared to our ordinary life. With the masterful use of the device of figurative language, Keats has created a melodic, beautifully flowing poem which well serves the purpose he gives it. Keats himself can be assumed to be the speaker, the overall setting is unknown. The tone of the poem reflects the fact that Keats seems truly awed and astonished by the urn he considers. The poem is written in ten-line iambic pentameter throughout, which creates a flowing rhythmic effect. The rhyme scheme is unusual, but Keats breaks the form with this five-part poem. The rhyme pattern is A - B - A - B - C - D - E - D - C - E. There is a pattern of interwoven
Romeo and Juliet
How Does Shakespeare Portray Juliet's Relationship With Her Parents And The Nurse? What Does This Show About The Role Of Women Of Juliet's Class In The Society That Shakespeare Describes In The Play? The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare tells the story of two families, the Capulet's and the Montague's who are so similar that they have an everlasting feud. In the play Romeo (a Montague) and Juliet (a Capulet) fall in love. The play is tragedy as it ends with death and has strong themes of romance, secrets, anger and revenge. Before Romeo & Juliet a majority of Shakespeare's work had been comedy. I think he wrote it because he wanted to prove he could write more than comedy. I think the play was so successful because it shows everyday life in a very dramatic way and even now people think that it helps give them a different outlook on life. It is a landmark from medieval times, telling the modern world what life was like - socially and historically - at the time it was written. My essay will focus on the Capulet side of the feud, particularly between the relationship of Juliet, her parents and the nurse. I will also talk about how woman were treated in society at the time. At the start of the play Shakespeare shows the audience that Capulet seems to be very protective over Juliet, this is shown when he says 'My child is yet a stranger to the world'. I think this
Romantic Poetry Anthology
Nurses Song - Blake The Evening Star - Blake The Garden Of Love - Blake Frost At Midnight - Coleridge The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Coleridge This Lime Tree Bower My Prison - Coleridge Ode On A Grecian Urn - Keats Ode To A Nightingale - Keats To Autumn - Keats The World Is Too Much With Us - Wordsworth Tintern Abbey - Wordsworth She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways - Wordsworth Romanticism is not about love or romance, it is a system of attributes relating to poetic and artistic practice from the late 18th century to the 1830's. In fact the romantic era cannot be pin pointed to a particular century. Instead it is said that Romanticism started around 1789, when the French Revolution had begun, and ended when Queen Victoria took to the throne in 1836. Romanticism was a reaction against poetry of the previous period. 18th Century poetry was, amongst other things, harmonious, graceful and balanced. Romantic poetry was a revolution and an innovation. Wordsworth stated that it was the 'real language of men'. There are six key figures on Romanticism; the first generation consisted of William Blake, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The second generation, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and John Keats. As there would be in many different eras and periods, there are certain characteristics of Romantic Poetry, although not all of them would be found in a single