Ian Mudie Essays

The short story “The Lottery” is written by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a small village where everybody knows each other. In this story all the villagers gather around town for their annual lottery. Everyone in the village is compelled to follow this tradition even if the outcome ends up with someone dying. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses conflict, theme, and irony to develop this suspenseful short story. One literary device used by Jackson is conflict. A conflict is a problem

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help develop and inform the text's major themes. One of the prominent themes in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and one of great interest to the narrator himself, would be the omnipresent theme of death. It could be argued that the novel is not only full of references to death in the literal sense, physical disappearance, but also in the metaphorical, taking the form of spiritual disappearance, something which Holden often

Identity is composed of not only self-perception but also the perception of others. Consequently, relationships are vital in the forming and expressing of one’s identity. Healthy relationships allow for the expression of oneself without fear of consequences, whereas unhealthy relationships put pressure on one to change for one’s partner. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, focusing on how each affects the expression

Tragic heroes always suffer from a tragic flaw in their character. Whether it be the refusal of help or unwavering pride, that tragic flaw always brings about the character’s downfall. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, readers witness the deterioration of both Scotland and its unjust leader. While the witches and Macbeth himself hold some responsibility for Macbeth’s downfall, Lady Macbeth holds the majority of the blame. At the beginning of the play, three witches make a plan

MOBY DICK AND SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY Moby Dick is a revenge tale about the revengeful quest of a wounded man for the powerful force of nature; Moby Dick; and the perishing memories of the questors and the wounded questor into the deep perils of the sea, who engulfs all; leaving one as the sole survivor and witness to unveil and unfold the awful revenge tragedy of stubbornness that outlived the American imagination. Richard Chase in his book describes Moby dick as “the most startling and characteristic

The Use and Abuse of Power in Measure for Measure and The Tempest William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Measure for Measure are similar in that they both raise controversial questions on the theme of power. Shakespeare displays many forms of power in different ways through Prospero in The Tempest and through the Duke in Measure for Measure. These forms of power include the power of compassion, the desire for power amongst men, the power of an authority over his subjects, and the power of magic and

Bowling for Columbine is a political documentary that was released in 2002. Directed, Produced, and narrated by Michael Moore, we follow him as he explores the causes to the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 as well as other acts of violence throughout America’s history. The film provides background information on the massacre as well as public opinions on the situation. It goes further in to compare America’s gun violence to other countries such as Canada, and poses reasons for this dramatic

Much like in Ian McEwan’s atonement, Disney’s Frozen is a story about a wrongly accused hero and the repercussions that follow. In both texts, Context and perspective dictate how the reader views any specific character at any given time, this is shown in atonement when Robbie is falsely accused of the rape of Lola, much like when at the beginning of Frozen when the reader see’s Hans as a well-meaning prince, but as the context and perspective changes it puts these characters into the spotlight in

Briony Tallis: At the start of the story Briony is a young, naive, 13 year old girl. She is the youngest of her siblings. She enjoys writing and performing stories, and plays to impress her family. At the time she is working on a play The Trials of Arabella to be performed for her eldest brother Leon when he returns home. She does not understand the feelings of others and gets very upset when people do not behave as she wishes. She does not yet understand certain things about the world and mistakes

Ian Fleming famous novel “Casino Royale” was the beginning of what I know today as the famous, unstoppable, and amazing 007 agent, James Bond. I believe even though Casino Royale was an amazing and well written book, the story’s value is just merely the cultural artifacts that inspired the famous Bond movies that everyone know of today. Casino Royale was the birth of James Bond, a great British secret agent who is a brave and hard core man who seems to love nice things like his classic Bentley

In act 5, the assigned scenes, the overall tone or mood is unexpected, dismal and relentlessly gloomy. Although, Cordelia who had just been reunited with Lear, her father, which gives the audience a sliver of hope and justice; Shakespear than rips the carpet right from under his readers, by writing that Cordelia loses the battle against her evil sisters, Goneril and Regan,who fought alongside Edmund and Albany. To make matters worse, Cordelia and Lear are then captured and have been taken as prisoners

Jurassic Park By, Michael Crichton Characters: Dr. Alan Grant- famous paleontologist, athletic, likes children, down-to-earth, professor at University of Denver, unbiased, wife died, studies baby dinosaurs Dr. Ellie Sattler- Grant’s partner, attractive, 24, paleobotanist, marrying a doctor from Chicago, blond hair John Hammond- owner of InGen, dinosaur fanatic, wants to clone dinosaurs, wants a huge profit from Jurassic Park, greedy, old, rich, annoyed by Malcolm, dies b/c of the dinosaurs, wants

With just a simple use of flattery, both Goneril and Regan’s are able to win over their father’s favor by receiving land and power as well as ignite a long and agonizing war of emotions within King Lear thus beginning the fight for the domination of King Lear’s mind. Greed is the first emotions in the play that begins as a tiny seed but continue to grow and engulf one’s heart so much so that it becomes an unstoppable force that pushes the daughters to create a battle for dominance over King Lear

In act four, Lear is finally able to reunite with Cordelia and expresses his new self in humbleness symbolizing repentance. When Cordelia addresses Lear as “royal lord" since the last time she has came in front of him, it is clear that she refers to Lear with the respect that he deserves as a king, as well with the admiration she still holds for her father. In comparison to Goneril’s and Regan’s formal “my lord”, it is evident that they do not display the same love and respect that Cordelia has

Inner Conflict The nature of an inner conflict can vary from culture to culture, but one aspect that we can all agree on, is that inner conflict is the emotional and mental battle one has with him/herself. Whether it be an ethical or moral dilemma, it is the tiresome and difficult struggle one has to face when battling his problems, queries and insecurities. The main purpose of inner conflict in the novel Catcher in the Rye, is to reveal to the audience Holden's insecurities and doubts he faces with

Everyone sees the play Hamlet as this great tragedy and a quest for revenge, and it is one, but it’s all filled with so much deception and lies. The characters lie to each other, they spy and create plans to find out information. This use of hidden yet obvious deception just shows how rotton human beings can be with each other and how easily they can turn on one another to further themselves to get what they want. It eventually shows that by using all your energy towards a plan of revenge, can cause

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to look down from heaven after you were murdered, and see the people who loved you try and figure out your murder? The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold, pulls readers in with its vivacious storyline to find out who killed the main character. The story takes place in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and it follows a teenage girl, named Susie Salmon, who watches from her heaven, as her family struggles to find out her killer. In conclusion, Alice Sebold uses many

Hugo Marsans Classic Fate & Modern Plight Ms. Fan Role of Fate Hamlet, Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead all share fate as a recurring an important theme in the developing story plot. In Hamlet, Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, the characters have no free will as they can only do what the author directs. The plays are different because in Hamlet, a sequence of events set off by fate’s force determines the character’s destiny, in Waiting for Godot

The nature of conformity and individualism in Fahrenheit 451 is different compared to each other. Conformity is how everyone is in the novel while individualism is only shown outside of society. The true nature of conformity is that everyone is created equally while individualism shows what a real person is. In the novel, Montag was a character that was affected by conformity and individualism since he was once conformed in society, but then soon became an individual himself. Conformity and Individualism

Sophocles’ Electra is a well-known Greek tragedy, set place at Mycenae after the Trojan wars. In the tragedy Electra plays one of the most important roles among the Chorus. The Chorus often sympathises with Electra and also helps the reader (or the audience considering it was written as a play) to understand the events better. The Chorus shares emotions with Electra, such as her grief and frustration, or her joy upon the return of Osteres. In my essay I will discuss the importance of the Chorus and