Monday 24 October 2016

crime essay

Explore the significance of the crime elements within your chosen text

The Cardboard Box- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

‘The Cardboard box’ is a crime fiction short story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the short story comes from the well know Sherlock Holmes collection and contains the typical elements of a crime fiction. The story, told to us in the narrative voice of Dr Watson- the detectives sidekick, tells us a story in which an innocent lady receives two ears in the post. The crime fiction takes us through a journey of getting to the bottom of the case, like all good crime fictions it not as simple as it seems.

The story starts of in the simple setting of the detective’s (Sherlock Holmes) and his sidekick’s (Dr Watson) house on Baker Street described to us as an ‘oven’. This simple setting sets the story off to a nice slow start with nothing exciting happening. This allows Doyle to build the story up and create more excitement for the audience as they are able to connect to the two main characters more by getting to know them as normal people rather than just detectives. After learning about the two main characters and being made aware of Watson’s life in the army, we are introduced to the crime and the mystery, an innocent woman has received two ears in the post. The scene then changes as they start their investigation to get to the bottom of the case. We are taken to Miss Cushing’s ‘neat and prim’ house, this is the place where the seriousness of the crime really kicks in with the audience and the audience start to get excited. The description of the house contradicts what is inside, the outside of the house is describes as ‘neat’ and really gives a positive description and creates a pretty image in the reader’s mind. However, as the story goes on and we are taken in to the house and Sherlock Holmes opens a cardboard box in which two ears are kept. The description of the two ears is a complete opposite to the outside of the house ‘they have been cut off with a blunt instrument’ the gory description of the ears will intrigue the readers as they shouldn’t like hearing about it but they do.

The narrative voice is Dr Watson the sidekick/assistant of the main detective, Sherlock. By having Dr Watson as the narrative voice it gives the reader an inside view to the investigation as they will feel closer to the crime which makes it more exciting or the reader. The reader is told details about the investigation from an insider’s point of view, this will give them a clearer understanding of what is going on as they ill feel like they are actually there investigating the mystery too. This is important for a crime fiction as in most good grime fiction novels the audience will feel like they are taking part and will feel connected to the story. This is done in The Cardboard Box as we are told about the murder of Sarah and her partner, this is exciting as it involves a chase the way this is told in the story makes me as a reader feel excited as it is fast paced and makes me feel connected to the story and the investigation into the crime.

Another element of crime fiction which ‘The Cardboard box’ follows is the typical crime conventions such as an inspector, Sherlock Holmes is the main character in this short story. His role as a character is to get to the bottom of the investigation, which he does. Sherlock Holmes makes the story more exciting as he is an intriguing character. In crime fiction novels it is important to have a interesting character/detective as this will grasp the readers attention and help the follow the plot. It is also important to have a sidekick to which the audience like and can relate to, this is because as a reader when we read a crime fiction story we like to play the role of the detective’s assistant. Dr Watson is a likeable character as at the beginning we are told about his time in the war. This creates sympathy for the character and this sympathy is carried on throughout the story because we compare him to Sherlock who is a highly intelligent character at Dr Watson is not as clever.

For a crime fiction story to work there has to be a crime, the crime in this story is typical of crime fiction as it is a murder. The crime is important as this has to be grasping for the reader but also has to be easy to follow and not over complicated. The murder in the story is fairly complicated and takes a lot of working out but is exciting for the readers. One element of crime fiction, which takes place in this story is that the reader is trying to solve the crime. The reader should try to act like a detective and solve the crime and feel like they are part of the investigation. By the reader doing this they get a thrill and will want to read more.

The story flicks from past and present, this is significant to crime as it takes the reader on a journey through the investigation. This adds to the element of mystery as at times it leaves the readers in anticipation as they are waiting for the story to flick back to the past to find out more about the crime or background information on a victim or villain. This all adds to the excitement that the reader gets when they read the crime fiction. This excitement also comes from the rapid paced action described in the story ‘they were going nearly as fast I was’. Throughout the description of the murder the audience get a thrill out of it as they feel like they are there. Another important factor of crime fiction novels is a villain and a victim, in this particular story there are two victims. It is important to have a villain as they are at the core of the plot and story line. In this story we feel slightly sorry for the villain as his partner was cheating on him and this is what vents is anger and why he kills her and the man she was having an affair with. This novel makes us, the reader question if the murderer is actually a victim rather than a villain and if the people who were murdered were actually villains for betraying somebodys trust.

To conclude, ‘The Cardboard Box’ has all the significant elements needed to make it a successful crime fiction. It has a crime, a victim and a villain. All of these are significant to the story and make the reader want to read more as they become more involved with the crime. All these elements, make the reader want to read more and get to the bottom of the investigation. I believe this is important to a crime novel and all of these factors are relevant.


Friday 30 September 2016

homework questions

How does Greene present Brighton to the reader? Does it seem, already, to have any close or necessary association with the events narrated? (We know the novel is called Brighton Rock but do not yet know if this has any significance other than what is obvious, i.e. that Brighton, as a famous seaside resort, is associated with sticks of rock in the popular imagination.)




What have we learned about the characters of Pinkie and of Ida in this part of the novel?

So far in the novel we have learnt that Ida is secular and has loose morals. She doesn’t believe in god and sleeps around with lots of different men. It is evident that Ida has an optimistic view of life, this could be due to the fact that she isn’t catholic and is likely to sin and cant ask for forgiveness.



The novel is narrated in the third person but the narrative viewpoint is not neutral or objective; we see things usually as they appear to Pinkie or Ida, although the first chapter is narrated very much as events appear to Hale. In what ways does Greene achieve this?






I have attempted to answer these questions however i didn't understand how some of the were worded 

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Misunderstanding in Othello

According to the article, where does the texts tragedy spring from?
acts of misunderstanding.


How does Iago manipulate Othello?
Iago manipulates Othello’s latent insecurities about his new marriage to Desdemona, 



The handkerchief

What two things does the article believe the handkerchief represents?
truth and pure intention or faithful duplication

What does the pattern on the handkerchief represent?
implies the loss of virginity.

The Venetian ‘state of mind’

How does the play Othello characterise Venice?
as an immensely sensationalist society

What did the Venetians have an appetite for?
for the scandalous as opposed to more nuanced thought 

How did John Leo view Africans and why is this a significant difference to Venetian's?
most honest’ and ‘high minded’.

War
Why does this section believe misunderstanding is inevitable?

Gender

In the play, what do Venetian men have little grasp of?

What is Emilia's function?

Summarise this section from a feminist perspective.

critical approaches to Othello

What does Cinthio's collection of short stories explore?
Explores the pros and cons of different kinds of love, especially within marriage.

How does Shakespeare adapt Cinthio's tale in Othello?

  • Shakespeare’s Ensign, Iago is not driven by lust for Desdemona, so his motives are more ambiguous.
  • Shakespeare introduces new characters, the credulous Roderigo and Desdemona’s father Brabantio.
  • He also refers directly to the war between the Muslim Turks and the Christian Venetians, giving the play more political resonance for an early modern audience.



Post colonialism

What is post colonialism?

Postcolonialism or postcolonial studies is an academic discipline that analyzes, explains, and responds to the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Postcolonialism speaks about the human consequences of external control and economic exploitation of a native people and its lands.

What do post colonial readings focus on in the play?
Postcolonial readings focus on the play’s representation of Ottoman Turks.

What real life event was the inspiration for the plays rising action?
the context of Venice’s struggle during the 1570s with the Ottoman Empire for control of Cyprus

How does the play undercut the Christian/Turkish binary?

by making the play’s most villainous character a Venetian and its hero an outsider.

What are Brabantio and Desdemona fascinated by and why?

by his strange stories of cannibals and anthropophagi



New historicist reading: ‘far more fair than black’


What debate are new historicist critics currently having?

whether or not race was a factor in early modern representations of non-English peoples.


What evidence is there that Othello was held in high esteem by other characters?

‘far more fair than black’ and Montano’s claim that ‘the man commands / Like a full soldier’ (2.1.36–37)


What references establish his liminal position in society?
references to Othello as black and a Moor, as well as his lack of understanding of Venetian customs, establish his liminal position in Venetian society.


Feminist reading: ‘a maiden never bold’


What is endogamous marriage?
the practice of marrying within a local community or ethnic group


What has changed in the audiences reading of the character of Desdemona since the plays original performances and the 20th century?

From the play’s earliest performances, audiences responded sympathetically to Desdemona’s plight. After a 1610 production at Oxford, Henry Jackson recalled that Desdemona ‘entreated the pity of the spectators by her very countenance’. That changed in the late 20th century 

What is the current feminist perspective on the play?
early modern England’s preoccupation with cuckoldry demonstrates a basic male insecurity about women’s sexuality.


Marxist reading: ‘’Tis the curse of service’


what are the marxist critics concerned with?

Marxist critics are concerned with the economic and psychological impact of early modern England’s hierarchical social system. 

What is the hierarchy in the play?

The Duke and aristocratic members of the Venetian Senate give orders to Othello, who in turn commands his Lieutenant Cassio. Ensign Iago is subordinate to both. All three ostensibly serve out of loyalty to the state and for the status their military position brings, but they can be dismissed at the pleasure of their superiors. Iago resents Cassio, a man with ‘a daily beauty in his life’ (5.1.19), hates being tied to Othello’s service and yearns for preferment.

what have feudal obligations of service been replaced with?

a new economic model