Literature
English Coursework – Poem Analysis "Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti "The Seduction" by Eileen McAuley Compare what happens to the two girls and the attitudes they and other people have towards it. In what ways do the poems seem typical of the period they were written? The two poems focus on similar events in women's lives, even though the two poems were written approximately 125 years apart. They both seem to identify with the 'narrator' of the poem even though Christina Rossetti definitely led a comfortable middle/upper class life in a city in Victorian England. Both poems were written by women, unusual in itself, but maybe that is why the poems identify with their subject so well. The Seduction by Eileen McAuley is a poem of 'clumsy teenage angst'. The reader is informed of the events on one particular night, and then the narrator's feelings afterwards – the consequences. The narrator is a young girl in her teens, who goes to a party, dreaming of love and full of desire – to meet the 'boy-next-door'. She does meet someone, who is also still at school, and they talk and dance into the early hours of the morning. We are then taken to the docks of the River Mersey, where she is 'seduced' by the boy she met. The scene then switched to three months later. She finds out she is pregnant – 'three months gone' and she is devastated, heartbroken and feeling very regretful. The poem then goes on to explain her feelings and thoughts in more detail. She asks herself rhetorical questions, which lead to the poem's last stanza which talks about the neighbours' opinions and her most negative feelings about her pregnancy. Cousin Kate by Christina Rossetti tells the story of a young and innocent 'maiden' who is 'lured' by an older lord using...
pages: 13 (words: 3493)
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added: 12/03/2011
The play 'Blood Brothers' was written by Willy Russell, a lower class man from Liverpool. In this essay I will discuss and then conclude which was more responsible for Mickey and Edward's death's, superstition or class. In order to come to a conclusion about this I will need to explore the arguments for each and then compare them, before concluding with my opinion about their deaths. Superstition is one of the most important themes explored by the play. Mrs Lyons first brings it up when she puts the shoes on the table. This is when we realise that Mrs Johnstone is superstitious, a key part in the play. The 'shoes upon the table' song is first played here, a song to be repeated whenever a superstitious occurrence comes up in the play. The whole argument for superstition being more responsible for the deaths of Mickey and Edward can be traced back to the shoes on the table incident. The argument states that if the shoes had never been put on the table then Mrs Johnstone would never have had twins and there would have been no need for to give one away to Mrs Lyons. The Edward character would never have existed. This is not the only case of superstition in the play. It can be argued that everything in the play happens because of fate, an aspect of superstition. An example of fate causing something to happen is when Mrs Lyons moves to get away from the Johnstones, only to be followed by them. It could be argued that this happened because of another shoes on the table experience. This is when Mr Lyons puts shoes on the table just before they leave, they would then have been 'cursed' and this caused the Johnstones to get re-housed near them. The part superstition plays...
pages: 6 (words: 1569)
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added: 09/17/2011
Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' is not really about Caesar at all. It is about the contrast between two of the main characters, Brutus and Cassius. The play is called 'Julius Caesar' because he is the pivot. The play is about the events leading up to and following his assassination. There are three main characters: Marcus Brutus, Caius Cassius and Mark Antony. Brutus is the main focus of the play. He was Caesar's friend but was dragged into the plot to kill him because of his love of Rome. He believed that Caesar would become too powerful and that he had to kill him for the good of Rome. He was said to be the 'noblest Roman of them all' as he did not kill Caesar out of jealousy. Brutus 'sits high in all people's hearts' and is very loyal and honest. Some people may say that Brutus was too honest and I think that I would agree with this. When Brutus allows Antony to speak at Caesar's funeral, Antony twisted everything Brutus had just said which turned the townspeople against him and, because of this, among other things, Brutus believed that there was no way out. After the battle at Philippi, he killed himself. Brutus has been said to be naïve because of this. Brutus is a poor judge of character. This is shown when he stops the murder of Caesar becoming a massacre of his supporters, which proved fatal. Cassius wanted to kill Antony as well as Caesar but Brutus did not approve of this. Brutus was Caesar's friend. Caesar trusted Brutus. We can see this when Brutus stabs Caesar. Caesar says 'Et tu Brute?' meaning 'even you Brutus?' This shows that he was surprised that Brutus would kill him. Brutus' wife, Portia, clearly loves her husband. She wounds herself in the thigh, which shows that...
pages: 5 (words: 1299)
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added: 09/26/2011
Lions led by Donkeys?': The Portrayal of the Officer Class in Pat Barker's 'Regeneration', R.C Sherrif's Journey's End and a selection of poetry by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. 'He's young; he hated War: how should he die when cruel old campaigners win safe through?'# The First World War claimed the life of five million fighting men. Siegfried Sassoon wrote in his letter of resignation: "I have seen the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust."# This was an act of wilful defiance of military authority. Sassoon could not go on witnessing young men die violent deaths while 'cruel old campaigners win safe through.' He expressed his conviction of the brutality and waste of war in grim, forceful, realistic verse. Poems such as 'Base Details', 'Repression of War Experience' and 'The Rear Guard' will be used amongst other references to portray his feelings towards non - combatant officers, i.e those not at the front line. Sassoon was not just any disillusioned young officer: he was a war hero, with wounds and decorations to prove it. He was sent to Craiglockhart hospital after he was diagnosed to have suffered a nervous breakdown, however this was actually arranged by his friends to avoid him being court marshalled. Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' represents a fictional - historical account of Captain River's treatment of the war poet. The novel centres on the intense psychological conflict that Sassoon experienced during the war. Barker provides a horrific and vivid depiction of war through the stories told by the patients of Craiglockhart. However, it is not simply war that is depicted negatively, the officer class removed from combat are sometimes portrayed as senseless dictators. Wilfred Owen, arguably the finest war poet, also features...
pages: 17 (words: 4494)
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added: 12/12/2011
The wife of Martin Guerre is set in Artigues the early 16th Century of France. Being an isolated town, Artigues ceased to develop unlike the modernising Europe around it. Monsiuer Guerre not only sets an example of the patriachal society that was enforced but also symbolises the lack of change during this period. Individuals wishes and needs were suppressed as a result. This can be seen as Martin is beaten by his father and loses 2 of his teeth. Punishments were usually harsh to ensure that respect for the Cap d'hostel and family pride was maintained. The cap d'hostel had a lot of responsibility, and his household and all that he owned was dependent on the reverence of his house, children and wife. With great responsibility came great pride; hence no one dared to ever question his authority. Another example of the suppression of individuals is shown when Bertrande protests to the family that they are living with an imposter. As women in that period were veiwed as being mentally and physically below men; her protests were not heard as a man's word was always preferred over a woman's. Thus she had to suffer alone. 'it is only the truth for you' this was quoted by one of Martin's sisters. The family believed Bertrande was greedy for authority and property thus negliected her protests and ignored her pleas. The notion of religion also bought great concern Overall the wife of Martin Guerre depicts period in time when individuals were kept under a rigid lifestyles and had no freedom.Many suffered as a consequence and others escaped to try find liberty...
pages: 1 (words: 269)
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added: 11/13/2011
'When Sometimes She Imagined Herself Like Her Mother': The Contrasting Responses Of Cam And Mrs. Ramsay To The Role Of The Angel In The House.
Cam is a striking character because of both her resistance to her mother's promotion of the Angel in the House and her struggle to come to terms with her own identity as having been influenced by this AngelOne way this meaning makes itself apparent in To the Lighthouse is through an analysis of the individual responses of Mrs. Ramsay and Cam to the role of the Angel in the House. Enacting the Angel role requires one to relinquish her independence. Mrs. Ramsay sacrifices her independence, enacts the Angel role, and attempts to educate Cam to also relinquish her independence so as to adopt the Angel role as her own. Cam, however, is a rebellious daughter who struggles with her mother's teachings and eventually responds to them by refusing to enact the Angel role. In doing so, she envisions and takes a first crucial step towards creating a hopeful future in which a modern woman may assert her independence, pursue her individual, unique cause, and surmount those who attempt to coerce her into what she perceives as the outdated Angel role. Analyzing Cam's refusal to enact the Angel role allows meaning to surface, not just about the text and characters, but about the way enacting roles and refusing to enact roles influences one's sense and perception of her identity.
Cam also undergoes a painful process in which she, bothered and tormented by the influence of the Angel role, attempts to come to terms with this influence and to reject this role for herself. I do not propose, necessarily, to read Cam exclusively as Virginia Woolf because although the connections and similarities are too numerous to go unnoticed, they...
pages: 27 (words: 7326)
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added: 08/09/2011
I had just gotten home from my friends house when I saw that the door in my kitchen was unlocked. Once I had locked it I went into the living room to lie down and watch some television. It was only shortly after I finally found a good show on, that I heard a crunching and slurping sound behind all of the other loud sounds. I lowered the volume, listened for a few seconds and then got back to my show. When the next show had started, the sounds started again but now there was another sound that I couldn't make out. This time I got up and walked to the kitchen where I was scared to death when I saw my cousin. I hadn't seen him for 12 years and here he was eating celery, drinking ginger ale and frying sausages in my kitchen at 2 o'clock in the morning. The last time I had seen him was just before he went to his favorite Belgian food restaurant, called L'actuel at 1194 Peel Street. This time, unlike others, he went alone to L'actuel. He also took a credit card. If you know my cousin the rest falls right into place. The owner called us at around midnight to tell us that my cousin owes $500.00 to him and he had to work it off until every cent was paid back. After he worked it off he never came back until now. He is trying to explain but I can't understand a word over the noise of the celery…anyways, where were we… right. He scurried on to a plane to a desert island, which he wasn't allowed to tell me about. The reason and only reason why he went there was because they told him that he would get the return...
pages: 3 (words: 637)
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added: 12/24/2011
...Or does it Explode? In 1951 Langston Hughes wrote a poem called Harlem about dreams that never came true. Hughes lists about a half dozen effects of these "deferred dreams" in his poem "Harlem" (Abcarian and Klotz 448) The poem does not just ask what happens to and what are the results of these dreams, but by naming it "Harlem" the poem becomes a social commentary on the people and impossible dreams of Harlem, and leads to further questions about why certain dreams would be impossible for these certain people. This poem, and these questions inspired a woman named Lorraine Hansberry to write a play titled "A Raisin in the Sun" after a line in the poem, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (Abcarian Klotz 448). Hansberry wrote "A Raisin in the Sun" with such a realistic plot and low expectations, that the eventual appreciation, and effect of her work was unexpected (Corley 1). Hansberry's personal experience, inspired by so much history of a culture, expressed with impeccable characters, and flawless imagery and symbolism, presented the theme of the importance of the struggle to improve one's life (Gale 2). Hansberry was born in 1930, in south side Chicago, to a middle-class family, who later moved to a segregated white neighborhood. After breaking a "covenant law" by moving into a white neighborhood, the Hansberry's and the NAACP took the case to the Illinois Supreme Court. The court decided that the "covenant laws" were unconstitutional, and had them repealed, while the Hansberry's remained at their new home despite the harassment and threats by the neighbors (Corely 1). Experiencing her family's disregard for unjust laws, Lorraine was taught to challenge the rules. Hansberry did challenge the rules by writing the first play written by a black woman and be on Broadway, and became one of the great American dramas (Baraka 1). Villano 2 This great piece of American drama is the story of...
pages: 11 (words: 2997)
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added: 12/28/2011
The poem 10 Mary street by Peter Skryznecki changes the reader's perspective toward the migrant experience as it is written from the eyes of a young Peter looking at his parents new life in Australia and how they attempted to keep a bond with the old Poland that he himself never knew. As in the poem 'the door' by Miroslav Holub, the poet uses one metaphor to tie the entire poem together, in the case of Skryznecki's poem, this metaphor is that of the house. The house represents the old culture of the parents and their attempts to keep it alive within a distant culture. Within the house the culture, and time, is preserved through "photographs and letters" from relatives, whereas outside the house time is passing, things are aging or developing. This resistance to change, repeated several times throughout the poem is demonstrated through the family maintain routine described in the first stanza, giving them a sense of security, and use the metaphor of a "still too-narrow" bridge to symbolise the distance between Australian and European culture. Throughout the poem we, as the responder, are given examples of how much the family cares and looks after their house: "tended roses and camellias like adopted children" and in the fourth stanza "paint guaranteed for another ten years". This reinforces the idea that migrant families attempted to recreate their homeland in their homes and gained a sense of security through familiarity in a country with a completely different culture. The poet uses subtle metaphors within this poem, in particular in the first stanza; "a rusty bucket". This contrasts with the well-oiled lock two lines previous and shows how time is passing outside the house, but within the house time is frozen in that of their homeland at the time of their departure....
pages: 7 (words: 1772)
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added: 11/07/2011
It started off as a sunny afternoon on Saturday. 12 older men sitting in a small, stuffy room screaming, yelling, thinking is he guilty, or is he not. Everyone wanted to know did he really do it, was the old lady seeing things and why did he do it? The faith and life of this young boy was lying in the hands of these 12 angry men. It was said that the old lady which lived across the street, saw the young boy stab his father in the chest. When the boy was asked where he was at the time of the murder, he said he was at the movies. But he could not remember who was there, let alone what the actor's names were. Well you're probably thinking where's the murder weapon? Well yes it was found, but the boy he was found Not Guilty. But why, all the evidence was there, it was plaint to see that he was guilty without a doubt. According to the boy, he had bought the knife from shop keeper, but he had lost it on his way home, because it had feel out from his pocket. After the decision was made I had a change to chat briefly with some of the Jurors. Juror #1 said that "their was a lot of arguments in the court room". When I asked Juror #6 for a quote he told me "Half the time we thought that the boy was guilty, but towards the end we found him to not be guilty". The last Juror to give me a quote was Juror #9 he said "if he didn't think about it, then he would have found the boy to be guilty for sure"....
pages: 2 (words: 288)
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added: 12/22/2011
Having the power to decide whether a man lives or not, is a great responsibility that you cannot just decide on irrelevant material, but put a lot of thought process into the matter at hand.. This responsibility is taken by twelve men in a trial for murder in the movie Twelve Angry Men. These men are assigned to look at facts and hear witnesses to the murder and then decide if the man is guilty or not. If found guilty, they will punish him with the electric chair. Many of these men, called jurors, all of the jurors but one were convinced that the defendant was guilty, but a single man had the power, persuasion and intelligence to change their way of thinking and finally he made them realize that the man was not guilty at all. We can see that everybody in the jury had a very different way of thinking and a different way to interpret the thing said at the trial. For example juror eight thought that the defendant was guilty at first, but he wasn't ready to charge a man with murder without looking closely into the facts. Juror 4 in the contrary, he just looked into the facts as they were told. Both of these men were very intelligent, but they had a different ways of seeing things and that is why they had a different opinion on the trial.
Juror four was a stockbroker; he was very wealthy and very intelligent. He always knew how to talk and how to make his opinions very clear. "I don't see any need for arguing like this. I think we ought to be able to behave like gentlemen". Juror 4 page 186. He thought of himself as a better person than every body else in the room, this...
pages: 5 (words: 1101)
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added: 10/12/2011
Napoleon, the leader of all the animals of the Rebellion, can be compared and contrasted with Big Brother, the leader of all the people of 1984. Both Big Brother and Napoleon show the qualities of a cruel ruler. Similar to Big Brother, Napoleon is a secretive plotter who works behind the scenes rather than openly. However, unlike Napoleon, Big Brother periodically appears on the television screen. Napoleon and Big Brother both work continually to weaken their rivals, whether it is by removing Snowball or eliminate Rutherford. Both place importance on complicated ceremonies and parades to prevent their workers from thinking about their schemes. Napoleon's control over animal farm is not as powerful as Big Brother's control over the workers in 1984 (Oceania). In the service of their ruler, Squealer and Winston both revise history. Winston's task at the Ministry of Truth is to alter the past to suit the present. Squealer's duty is to amend the Seven Commandments also to suit the present. However, Squealer supports the views and beliefs of Napolean wheras Winston does not support the rules of Big Brother. Parson and Boxer are both characterized by their willingness to work, constantly volunteering for work whenever something needed to be done. Boxer worked constantly to build the windmill and Parson worked endlessly organizing marches and parades. Preparation for Hate Week was described a "Processions, meetings, military parades, lectures, film shows, screen programs all had to be organized" The most striking between Boxer and Parson is their faithfulness to their master. At the end, one is presumably vaporized. The characters in Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have similar and distinct characteristics, which put towards in the growth of theme. Big Brother and Napolean, unrelenting and sly, established a totalitarian group. Winston and Boxer are true followers of their leaders, they always thing...
pages: 2 (words: 349)
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added: 01/07/2012
In George Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith feels frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the ruling Party of London, which prohibits free thought, sex, and any expression of individuality. The people of his nation, Oceania, are watched every minute of every day by "Big Brother", an omniscient leader who can only be seen on "telescreens," but never in real life. Winston illegally purchases a diary in which to write his criminal thoughts, and becomes fixated on a powerful Party member named O'Brien, whom Winston believes is a secret member of the Brotherhood, the legendary group that works to overthrow the party. He also begins a covert affair with Julia, a co-worker, which is of course, a terrible crime. In the long run, Winston commits a form of suicide through his actions. Judging by Smith's behavior, he would rather rebel against "Big Brother" as long as possible and accept the consequences for his actions, than fall victim to the Party's control over all thoughts and individuality. Even at the beginning of the novel, Winston does not want to sacrifice his freedom for the Party. He purchases the illegal diary and begins writing several questions he has about the people suddenly involved in his life. His mind wanders off to thoughts about the dark-haired co-worker of his, and when he looks down, he sees that he has been writing the unthinkable, thoughtcrime (As it's called in newspeak, Oceania's language). His page has "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" written over and over again. He knows that this action will lead to capture and punishment, but his feelings about this Party are too overwhelming to keep to himself. He is trying to express his inner emotions without verbally rebelling against the Party. Smith also has views on sex that show his thought that freedom should be...
pages: 3 (words: 660)
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added: 02/14/2012
Outline Thesis Statement- This paper will examine how George Orwell wrote 1984 as a political statement against totalitarianism. I Introduction II Summary of 1984 III Roles of major Charters A. Big Brother B. Winston C. O'Brien D. Julia E. Shop owner IV Propaganda A. Ministry of Truth B. Ministry of Love V Orwell's thoughts on Totalitarianism A. From life experiences B. From a writers point of view VI Conclusion Introduction "Orwell observed that every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it" ("George Orwell"). George Orwell has been a major contributor to anticommunist literature around the World War II period. Orwell lived in England during World War II, a time when the totalitarianism state, Nazi Germany, was at war with England and destroyed the city of London. " I know that building' said Winston finally. Its a ruin now. It's in the middle of the street outside the Palace of Justice.' That's right. Outside the Law Courts. It was bombed in-oh many years ago'" (Orwell 83). This reflects Orwell's own life experiences as a citizen in war torn England and how he uses this in 1984. George Orwell is famous for two major novels which attack totalitarianism. The first is Animal Farm a satire describing the leaders of the Soviet Union as animals on an animal farm. The second novel is 1984 a story of dictators who are in complete control of a large part of the world after the Allies lost in World War II . The government in this novel gives no freedoms to its citizens. They live in fear because they are afraid of having bad thoughts about the government of Oceania, a crime punishable by death. This is the gem in Orwell's collection of novels against totalitarianism. This paper will show how George Orwell wrote...
pages: 22 (words: 5978)
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added: 01/18/2012
George Orwell's "1984" is most certainly a dire warning about the future. It is a polemic criticizing Stalin's regime, the government that Big Brother most resembles and that Orwell saw as a monstrous perversion of Marxist ideals. Through allusive details, we can see that this society is an allegory for Communist societies, specifically Stalin's USSR: the omnipotent, menacing, yet never-fully-explained "Party," and the reference to the "Three-Year Plan" (an allusion to Stalin's "Five-Year Plans"), are among these. George Orwell wrote 1984 as a political statement against totalitarianism, using themes such as destruction of personal freedom, a fraudulent and glorified government, and artificial truths. To understand how Orwell shaped his observations and experience into 1984, the definitions of authoritarianism and totalitarianism need to be explored. Broadly speaking, an authoritarian system is one in which society is governed by a dictator or oligarchy not constitutionally responsible to the people. Totalitarianism is something of a sub-category of authoritarianism where the ruling group has complete and total control over every aspect of life, whether personal or public, and the individual is expected to conform. Totalitarianism is a recent phenomenon, probably because of the technological advances (mostly related to surveillance and the dissemination of information) that have allowed it to develop. A totalitarian system condemns current society as corrupt and problematic, and introduces plans (like the Three-Year or Five-Year Plans) and programs to solve the problems presented. These measures demand complete conformity from the people. Party control is solidified through information control and censorship (Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth), a paramilitary secret police organization (the Thought Police pg.5), and the institution of community groups (such as youth or cultural organizations). Totalitarianism differs from dictatorship or tyranny in its mobilization of political participation, its quest for the complete restructuring of both the individual and society, and...
pages: 4 (words: 1063)
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added: 02/15/2012
The Oceania society depicted in the 1984 George Orwell novel is simply driven by propaganda. It seems as though every citizen of the "Super State" country must interact with a daily intake of propaganda create by the government so that control is maintained. Even the "non-citizen" Prolitarian community, which is the ignorant majority, is lead into a life filled with propaganda that inflicts feelings such as fear and hatred so that they can be controlled in a mental manner. Every person in Oceania is continually reintroduced to propaganda on a day to day basis so that they adore what their government does and whole heartedly hate any person who is against their ideals. The book is about control. Controlling a majority keeps the minority in place. The government in the novel knows that its citizens can be kept at an appropriate level of control if a lie is constantly told. As you know everyone in Oceania is working for the benefit of Big Brother. The Party members and inner party members are lead to believe that they are laboring for the good of the country and for their comrades, but in reality they are only working to help Big Brother and the government obtain absolute power. The government makes sure that every level of knowledge in Oceania is obscured. The book written by Goldstein explains how a party member is preferred to be slightly incompetent. The government ensures that even the smallest details of history and literature is falsified to meet the ideals of Big Brother. Winston knew that things such as the "two minutes hate", the constant announcements of winning battles, and even how much supplies the country had are all tools to get the citizens to believe that the government is doing good rather than evil. A constant flow...
pages: 2 (words: 543)
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added: 01/06/2012
Winston Smith, such an ordinary name, yet so far from an ordinary character. In George Orwell's novel, 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is a 39 year old man who works for the Ministry of Truth. His job is to help rewrite history, a very monotonous job, and it seems as though Winston's character would reflect exactly that. Nonetheless, he is a dynamic character whose actions and words not only reflect Orwell's feelings, but also create a lively character who has the ability to change, grow, and love throughout the course of the novel. Orwell also uses symbols within the novel to highlight Winston's character traits. Winston's life changes dramatically when he realizes that he hates Big Brother and wants to rebel against the party. He is forced to deal with the consequences of his actions. However, they only serve to give Winston's character more depth and scope, so that he becomes more "real". Winston Smith is very far from a flat character and, throughout the novel, he grows changes and exhibits his true personality. Orwell uses symbols to help demonstrate the true characteristics of Winston Smith. One symbol that is used to reveal Winston's character is the paperweight. The paperweight reveals that Winston has both a fascination and appreciation for the past that he pursues without regard for consequence. Knowing what the outcome of his actions might be, Winston walked into an antique store, in the prole district, and purchased the paperweight from Mr. Carrington. Winston struggles to recover his own personal memories and create for himself a more accurate picture of what has happened to the world, knowing that if caught by the Thought Police, he could be faced with severe penalties. He does this by trying to reconnect with the past, buying and admiring objects from the distant past,...
pages: 5 (words: 1291)
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added: 12/14/2011
After all this information I,ve found, I learned that in our life, privacy is not secure anymore. There are countless cameras every where, including cameras on streets, satellite, spy cams in hotel and washrooms, cameras in bank or any market store. Some of the cameras such as camera in market store and bank already exist for a long time but just we don,t realize that it,s a privacy invasion and about 50 % of people think it,s not. I think with improvement of technology, the cameras are getting smaller and more useful, it can videotape you in the dark right beside and you don,t even notice. I think it,s privacy invasion by putting camera anywhere anyhow without your agreement. It is pressured when you are doing something and know there are people watching you. When you walk on the street, the police are monitoring you, when you go to washroom, there are people watching you, when you are having a bath, there are people watching you, all these cameras is threatening you. You would afraid to do everything when you think someone is watching you. If a police officer followed you around directly behind you, you,d feel intimidated and embarrassed, and with camera you will have the same feeling. That,s say if one day a chairman of some country receive a letter from White House saying how is his hemorrhoids, and welcome him to come to US for cure some day. It might be a joke, but it is also very true, from the technology today, you can spy watching some one and find out his illness very easily. In the future years, we will get cameras maybe just as small as fly everywhere watching you. Just like the Big Brother in 1984 by George Orwell. GPS (Global Positioning System) is very general...
pages: 3 (words: 784)
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added: 01/22/2012
Big Brother Is Watching You. This single line sums up the fear of George Orwell's frightening futuristic society. 1984 provides a terrifying glimpse of an all too possible society where there is no freedom, no rights, and no hope. There is only mindless obedience and compliance. Many details contribute to this portrait, such as the four ministries that rule the super-state of Oceania, the Thought Police, and even the language of Newspeak. However, the most startling facet is the alteration of history. All of these factors culminate in a vivid portrayal of an alarming future. The main theme evident in Orwell's society is the lack of freedom and privacy. The Party assures this lack of privacy through the presence of telescreens and microphones hidden and exposed throughout the city of London. By removing almost all privacy, the Party has left neither time nor opportunity for a person to become rebellious or conspire with others. The Party not only removes freedoms of speech and actions, but also deters the freedom of thought through the presence of the Thought Police and the imposing pyramid of the Ministry of Love where rebellious citizens are broken in response to their deviant actions. A seemingly minor, yet very important element of Orwell's future is the language of Newspeak. The character of Syme correctly describes the advantage of controlling the language: Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it (83). It is almost unfathomable to think that any group or person could ever have such a complete control. Yet, if it were to happen that anyone could have the absolute power of the Party, the alteration of language would suddenly become very...
pages: 2 (words: 524)
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added: 12/29/2011
The social issues of the renaissance to romantic era are directly reflected to, and directly influence the social issues of the nineteenth century. This is evident by studying past works of English literature from important time periods.
In early renaissance times, the social issues dealt with power struggle, and class difference influenced many plays, and poems written by Shakespeare. By expressing these social issues through his plays, he was able to communicate to the public in a passive, assertive manner without outright conveying his views. Class difference and power struggle between societies unmistakably found themselves in the nineteenth century as well. This instance, however; government parties, such as the Whigs, and the Tories struggled to achieve a commanding grasp on a political standpoint. Class difference in the nineteenth century had ruled out the classic feudal system, and was progressing towards three main social classes.
During the restoration period, works written by Pope, such as a modest proposal, dealt with the poverty stricken lower class Irish families, and a simple, but drastic solution. Although Alexander Pope provides a great example of a solution moving towards a more 'classless' society, his means of doing so were fairly obscene. Using children as a source of food, and a way for the public to earn a source of income wasn't exactly a realistic solution. Nonetheless, something had to be done, and as mentioned earlier, the nineteenth century was gradually making progress. Almost ruling out the dominant boundaries of either extremely wealthy or extremely underprivileged, the middle class emerged.
Driven mainly by factory jobs, middle class citizens worked, long hard hours in dangerous environments. The middle class had now officially become the affluent class of the modern Victorian times.
William Wordsworth's views, expressed in his poem, "The World is Too Much with Us" explained how man has become out...
pages: 3 (words: 611)
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added: 10/16/2011