Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Homeless people Essay Example for Free

Homeless people Essay How has Robert Swindells made the reader sympathise with Link and the other homeless people? The novel stone cold is written by Robert Swindells. He feels sympathetic towards the poor and wants the future generations to learn from other peoples mistakes such as caring for everyone in the community, society. The following exportation of certain key points will easily indicate and give a clearer view of the way Swindells creates sympathy throughout the novel. Sympathy may easily be revealed using these points which will able me to answer the question as a full summery and get a clearer understanding of the novel than I previously knew. Swindells makes the reader sympathise with Link when he gets thrown out of his family house for example he states It wasnt even his house but he locked the door and wouldnt let mum open it this shows that he is weak and has become homeless due to other peoples actions and was forced to become homeless. He is shown as a young innocent person. The reader will think that young people are innocent and are still learning and so it is written in a childrens point of view to make the reader in the perspective of Link or with him throughout the novel. He also indicates Next morning Vince started slapping me around the head for going off a worrying mum. He uses this sentence to make people look at Vince like he is in the wrong and he should know better. Swindells uses a teenaged boy because if he had used a grown up person he would not have got that much sympathy from the reader. This would make the reader learn from Links mistakes and the reader was once Links age and might know how it felt for this to happen to them. This quote has been written in Links perspective so the reader would sympathise more with Link afterall there is only one side of the story. The techniques Swindells has used when describing this event is rhetorical questions, personal pronoun, short hand words and amotive language, these techniques makes Link sympathetic and makes the reader feel part of the novel. It is written in the terms of a diary in which Link and Shelter are writing and the reader is reading the diary. This means that the novel has been written in the past. At the end of the chapter it uses a rhetorical question to create tension and make the reader want to carry on reading to find out what happens next. The second way in which Swindells sympathies with the homeless people is through the weather. It was a raw morning with a sneaky wind which came out of side streets and went through you. The way in Swindells says it was a raw morning shows that it was freezing cold and is set in the morning which is the coldest time of the day. Also homeless people cannot afford as many clothes as people with money so they would feel colder and would want to go indoors to get out of the coldness in the winter. Weather tends to indicate mood and emotion so they would feel more depressed and angry. The reader would sympathise with Link and the other homeless people because they might know how it feels to be in this situation and would refer it to Link and the other characters. The technique Swindells uses in this chapter is speech, plurals and long sentences. These techniques make the chapter more motive and shows the reader whats going on. The third way in which Swindells makes Link sympathetic is also through dangers of homelessness Gizzit, if you dont want your face smacked in This shows that it is very dangerous being all alone with a world of people you dont know and Link is very young and vulnerable and cannot fully stand up for himself. This is how people would sympathise with homeless people. The language he uses is slang to show that these homeless or violently behaved people do not get an education or even good vocabulary. Also it seems realistic and true to make the reader thinks that that it is really happening or already happened. The techniques Swindells has used for this chapter is speech, slang and long sentences. He has used long sentences to make the novel more exciting and has used speech to make you feel like you are listening to them speak to one another. The forth and final way Swindells creates sympathy for Link is when he discovers that Gail had betrayed him when he found out she was really a reporter. Louise darling he blurbed youre a genius Gail had broken our clinch. I looked around for a Louise darling but there was only me and Gail. Then it hit me. He was talking to Gail. Therefore this shows that Link is still growing up and furthermore facing problems that you receive whilst growing up. On the other hand people make mistakes and have to deal with them. The technique he uses are short sentences to make it seem more dramatic. Throughout the novel Swindells has sympathized with Link and the homeless people in many different ways. The structure he had used is that he is miserable at the beginning, gets happier when meets Ginger, gets upset again when he loses him then he meets Gail and gets happier and later gets humiliated when Link got betrayed by Gail. Swindells makes you feel sorry for him are that he was young, vulnerable and all alone trying to survive on the streets of London. The writer does this by using different techniques like slang, speech, short and long sentences. Swindells also shows that Link is all alone facing the problems of life as he grows up, furthermore he involves the reader into the book and makes them want to read more. Nevertheless, I think that this book was satisfactory but could have had some improvements. The good points about book was that it was very interesting and made you want to carry on reading and makes you feel extremely sympathetic towards Link. The bad points about stone cold was that it was a bit obvious what would happen towards the end of the book because good always defeats bad. It has many themes and teaches the reader how it feels to be homeless. Homelessness is a major talking point in the world today and always will be. I have learnt that dramatic tension can be symbolized and shown in many different ways. There are one of the purpose of writing a novel as you get to read all these crucial points. This novel is a cyclical book and will probably never end. As you know towards the end, Link will probably have a lot more adventures throughout his life.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Willa Cathers Short Story Pauls Case Essay example -- Willa Cather P

Willa Cather's Short Story "Paul's Case"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Willa Cather’s short story Paul’s Case we learn of a young man who is fighting what he fears most: to be as common and plain as his world around him. How others perceive Paul only encourages him to fulfill his dream of escaping his monotonous lifestyle. Paul feels he is drowning in his everyday environment and his only breath of air is his savior: the theater.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paul has very little interest in his class studies. This leaves him open to distraction and eventually criticism. Although Paul’s appearance is that of a perfect gentleman, his teachers find his behavior inappropriate and unacceptable. The narrator draws particular attention to Paul’s eyes describing them as â€Å"remarkable for a certain hysterical brilliancy†(Cather 245); this is followed by the response of his teachers who find it â€Å"peculiarly offensive in a boy†(Cather 245). Paul’s meeting with the schools principal continues as each of his teachers get an opportunity to voice their disgust with Paul. The whole time Paul stands there never losing his smile. This is dubbed â€Å"irritating to the last degree† (Cather 246). For Paul this is his sign of strength. He refuses to allow his teachers, of such simple minds, to tear at his soul. They have no understanding of Paul’s behavior and do not wish to learn. A fter the meeting his teachers felt remorse for their onslaught against this mere boy. One remarked on the similarity to a â€Å"miserable street cat set at bay by a r...

Monday, January 13, 2020

Frankenstein’s story Essay

The blindness involved in Walton’s pursuit of recognition is alarming. As the leader of a dangerous expedition, he is responsible for the lives of other men. His fervent longing for glory in his scientific pursuit endangers those men as he overlooks moral and even rational perceptions of what is possible and what is not. He seems naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve of morality, and plans to succeed even at the cost of human life because he considers this discovery worth such a sacrifice:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"One man’s life or death is but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought.† I flinched at the use of the word â€Å"I.† The knowledge he seeks appears to be for his own self-gratification.  His shipmates do not agree with him:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The men, unsupported by ideas of glory and honour, can never willingly continue to endure their present hardships.†Ã‚  Walton’s egocentricity becomes apparent as he never once asks about his sister’s well being, despite the fact that he has not seen her for a number of years. Later as we hear Frankenstein’s story, we find that this element in Walton’s character is also mirrored in his own, as he disregards his family for years as he experiments with the principle of life. Once again the selfishness of the pursuit of glory is paramount, succeeding the search for knowledge. Because Walton has overcome a minor problem on his expedition (the leakage) he becomes overconfident and believes that he can overcome any obstacles of nature:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element?†Ã‚  Victor Frankenstein has too much ambition for his own good:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Wealth was an inferior object, but what glory would attend the discovery†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  The isolation that he experiences is very much self-inflicted. Frankenstein was self-taught in subjects that only he had interest in: the principles of life. The major path that he followed was influenced by this solitary learning of an unconventional topic. Fastidiously studying a topic left untouched by all before him, his ignorant ambition conquers all morals as he persists searching for recognition and immortality – as a result of man’s quest for knowledge, the ultimate isolation of a being is created. It is extremely irresponsible, and proves that man may not be strong enough to deal with the â€Å"continual food for discovery and wonder.†Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room.† The Creation is dreadfully unhappy because of this rejection and neglect, and he is even alienated from society because Victor Frankenstein blindly created him to be hideous:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God!†Ã‚  Thoughtlessly, Frankenstein continued with his task, without considering the acceptance of the Creature into civilization.  Our sympathy for the Daemon is heightened by his own obliviousness:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Alas! I did not entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity.† Also, the Daemon lives as primitive man. He does not even discover fire until he stumbles across it in the forest. As he seeks shelter near the DeLaceys’ cottage, he learns civilisation by watching and listening like a child. He learns the ways of interaction, notions of pain and joy, and the ‘Science of Words.’ I feel that this is the true wonder of discovery:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I easily perceived that, although I eagerly longed to discover myself to the cottagers, I ought not to make the attempt until I had first become master of their language.† The Daemon’s development is rapid, though it is his own father who should have taught him these things. He is totally alone with his learning. He is so grateful for his ‘friends’ (although it is a one-sided relationship), and so remorseful for stealing, that he anonymously clears the snow from their path, helps to farm the land, and collects firewood for them; thus from a hunter-gatherer he has developed into a sentient being through his solitary self-teaching. Through these discoveries he is doing good for others. He is deeply affected when they are unhappy:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I thought (foolish wretch!) that it might be in my power to restore happiness to these deserving people.†

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Peter Matthiessen, Lyrical Writer and Naturalist, Is Dead at 86

Peter Matthiessen, a popular author well-known both for his fiction and non-fiction, died on April 5 in his home in Sagaponack, N.Y., at the age of 86. The cause of death, according to his son Alex, was leukemia – he was diagnosed with it about a year ago. The admirers of his creative work can get a last taste of his writing from his final novel, â€Å"In the Paradise†, which has been published by Riverhead Books shortly afterwards. Peter Matthiessen has been known not only as a prolific fiction and non-fiction writer, but also as an enthusiastic naturalist, and indeed, the majority of his writings in this or that way were dedicated to this one passion: he at great length explored the far corners of the world untouched by civilization and often put the protagonists of his books into them. He was a man of many talents and many interests, ranging from literature and journalism to Zen Buddhism; he was even at a certain period of time an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency. But whatever were his other interests, the main passion of his life was still writing. He also travelled far and wide, visiting the most remote locations of all parts of the world, thus giving himself a lot of subject material for his books. Peter Matthiessen wrote more than 30 books, most often based on his travels, for example, to the Himalayas (â€Å"The Snow Leopard†), Peru (â€Å"At Play in the Fields of the Lord†), the Caribbean (â€Å"Far Tortuga†) to name a few. The vast majority of these books are non-fiction, but the author himself always considered them nothing more than a work of a craftsman, while thinking about his fiction to be his real accomplishments. According to Matthiessen himself, nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet, while fiction is sculpture – and as such, real art. And this estimation is made not only by him, but by a number of literary critics as well. For example, Matthiessen’s biographer, William Dowie, compares him to such literary titans as Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He started his literary endeavors pretty early in his life: as an undergraduate of Yale (where he majored in English and later taught creative writing for a little while) he won a prestigious Atlantic Prize for a short story. However, for quite some time his later work was left almost unnoticed, until he wrote â€Å"Wildlife in America†, which attracted the attention of The New Yorker editor William Shawn, who hired Matthiessen to travel around the world and write about endangered wilds, thus determining the major direction of his work throughout his later life.