Running along the same lines as a daytime soap opera, Margaret Drabble’s A Natural Curiosity provides pertinent information about life in Northam, England, a small, quaint town just outside of London, during the mid to late 1900’s. Drabble narrates the novel in third person omniscient which allows her to venture into the minds of the diverse characters. Although there exists a black and white central conflict, all of the minor conflicts stem from Alix Bowen, the first, and most essential individual.
In one way or another, all of the people share some distinct connection with Alix Bowen. Drabble’s description of Alix Bowen’s obsession with a murderer named Paul Whitmore who had held her hostage in the past, allows the reader identify with Alix’s innocence. A good-hearted, well-minded person, Alix Bowen feels compelled to discover how a man of Whitmore’s intelligence could possibly commit the horrible crimes that he did. Drabble also forces the reader to sympathize with Alix Bowen, and to understand her obsession. In showing her unconditional dedication to Whitmore, Alix sets off to locate the father of the murderer. The reason this infatuation continues relies solely on the fact that Whitmore offers Alix an “intellectual and psychological stimulus of an unusually invigorating nature.”
The chain effect remains evident as individual dilemmas that arise between members of a social group ultimately affect the group as a whole, underlying the theme of the novel. Throughout the novel, when two or more people disagreed on an issue, a third party swiftly enters the picture offering either hurt or help to the issue. In one instance, Carla Davis, a deceitful woman, lays the blame of her husband’s supposed hostage situation in Baldai on Charles Headleand, a thoughtful, caring, gentleman. On another occasion, Liz Headleand begins to act odd when she discovers that her long-time friend, Alix Bowen, repeatedly visits the murderer.
Undoubtedly, Margaret Drabble’s strengths far outweigh her weaknesses in A Natural Curiosity. Drabble’s tremendous usage of descriptive adjectives truly brings her characters to life. In addition, the author’s serious, yet sometimes sarcastic tones really add to the lively effect of the novel. Drabble shows no fear in coming right out and stating her points, and this indicates the sophistication of her style. Symbolism, the most important strength in Drabble’s novel, allows the reader to enter the minds of the characters for themselves without having Drabble do it for the reader.
Academic colleagues like, David Greenburg, would have been exasperated, part from envy of McCullough’s ability in not only story telling but to sell and he would object to the approach of this book. The colleagues would tear at the lack of compelling rationale for an overused topic, as well as the scene setting, and meager analysis.
Erdich , Louise “The Red Convertible” 1984.Schalfel and Ridl 126 – 133. Schakel, Pete, and Jack Ridl. Eds. Approaching Literature Reading + Thinking + Writing. 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford/ St Martin, 2011. Sprint.
Kempe, Margery. "From The Book of Margery Kempe." The Norton Anthology of Literature By Women. 2nd ed. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 18-24.
This book has many strong characters who you are going to emphasize while there will be others who are dis-likable. The way characters in the book are given action, I never would have imagined what one has said or ever done. During my readings, I never noticed that this book Mrs. Stockett wrote was fiction due to the part that everything seemed believable during the time of the events. Even when I read from the viewpoints of the League ladies suchlike Miss Hilly, to the maids who work for them people. Though, The Help, could have veered into violent representation, Mrs. Stockett does not take it there by giving life intimacy along with inter household connections.
The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.
Literatures had always been the reflections of the world’s issues. These literatures showed the problems within society in the period of time. In the book, “The Natural”, by Bernard Malamud had developed how women were seen as an object to men that they did not have the equal rights and social status as men. Also, women in the novel were classified as the trophies to men, whom they were either gold diggers digging for massive fortunes for the future, or accomplishments for men to chase after them. The author had established several female characters to optimize these issues. In the novel, Harriet Bird, Memo Paris, and Iris Lemon were representing different figures of female in that period of time. Both Harriet and Memo were being the negative effects to the main protagonist, Roy Hobbes, while Iris was the positive hope for Roy. The author chose to use these few characters to criticize the stereotypes of women in that period, and how they affected the others around them.
Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but give significance as well. The point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack’s perception of the world is confined to an eleven foot square room.
... of tragedy and lets her be the diamond in the rough. She is the one person whose vision is unaltered from the very beginning of the book and to her the other survivors draw their own courage.
Her lionhearted clothes reflected her valiant and strong attitude. However – Elisa Allen hid her true feelings. She was deceitful in interpersonal communication. Her tongue spilled bittersweet black smut like that of industrialized coal engines. However – it was compassionate, her concern and subtle behavior. A girl screaming to escape maiden life, but only knew it was disrupt order. “Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Verily, she had the heart of a lion and the appearance of a virgin.
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
Segal, Nancy L. Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us about Human Behavior. New York: Dutton, 1999. Print.
Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.
(this bit in brown doesn’t make sence explain the point u trying to get acorss it dusnt have to be the authors exact words but it needs to make sense). In addition to this Ixer (1996) published an article to criticise: “There is no such thing as reflection” which attempted to stop the unquestioning acceptance of the concept of reflection from academics and professionals. Students are required to demonstrate their ability to reflect in practice yet reflection is ill defined therefore problematic to assess (Ixer, 1996).
Definitive criteria for judging the success or failure of a work of fiction are not easily agreed upon; individuals almost necessarily introduce bias into any such attempt. Only those who affect an exorbitantly refined artistic taste, however, would deny the importance of poignancy in literary pieces. To be sure, writings of dubious and fleeting merit frequently enchant the public, but there is too the occasional author who garners widespread acclaim and whose works remain deeply affecting despite the passage of time. The continued eminence of the fiction of Emily Bronte attests to her placement into such a category of authors: it is a recognition of her propensity to create poignant and, indeed, successful literature.
As it mentioned above this reflective essay is based on the main theory on Reflection, which is the Honey and Mumford’s learning styles that was developed from Kolb’s work. This is based on four stages of specific styles of learning: