Holmes in the room Essay Example for Free

Holmes in the room Essay His ability to withdraw within himself and to detach himself is reinforced with his preference for German music; it is introspective and I want to introspect. This behaviour is shown yet again in Silver Blaze in his movement from day-dreaming and absorbed in his own thoughts to suppressed excitement. This essence of his character is also a strong reference to Victorian morality in the duality of human nature. Conan Doyles stories convey the sense of a double life led by many middle class men, in particular. Conan Doyle conveys Holmes as possessing a character that changes from the languid, dreamy, gentle sense of his inertia to his predatory qualities; Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready criminal agent. The words swing of his nature and alternately further contribute to our impression of his dual nature. There is also a symbolic representation of a duality of human nature in the contrast between the shabby, faded, weedy side of the square and the fine stately side that backs the pawnbroker and represents commerce. The gap between rich and poor widened with the growth in industry during the Victorian era. The growth in wealth is shown in the metaphor of a tide and immense stream of increasing wealth. Dual nature is also clearly identified in Silver Blaze when Silas Brown is shown to have two personalities; never have I seen such a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short time. In The Man with the Twisted Lip you will find the strongest representation of dual nature. At the beginning of the story Holmes disguises himself as a tall, thin old man so that not even Watson, his closest friend can recongise him. Conan Doyle describes the change in Holmes his form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire. Doyles language in the paragraph conveys the duality of man and as the paragraph progresses, language marks Holmes transformation from very thin; very wrinkled, bent with age to his real self. Finally he regains his ingenious disguise to doddering, loose-lipped senility. But the strongest personification of the dual nature of man lies in Neville St. Clair who is the embodiment of Victorian double personality; one life by day and another by night. The first evidence of this lies in his two distinct writing styles of which he has a different style for when he wrote hurriedly. But the main reference to duality of nature appears near the end of the story when Holmes starts scrubbing off the beggar mans, Boones, face to reveal his true persona Neville St. Clair. The description of the face peeled off and exposing the refined man beneath shows the true extent of Victorian double nature. There is also a strong metaphor for the merging of the two sides of his character; the horrid scar which had seamed it across. In The Red-Headed League Holmess appearance is compared to that of a strange bird with a hawk like nose. This draws an image of an almost predatory figure in the readers mind. This image is further reinforced in The Red-Headed League with his quick firing of questions to Jabez Wilson. These questions reflect his razor sharp ability to extract information and also his quick-thinking mind. He is also described as a bird in The Man with the Twisted Lip when Conan Doyle draws attention to his strong set aquiline features. This description could also be in reference to the publication of Darwins On the Origin of the Species and the idea that human kind were descendants of animals, beasts. There is also a reminder of Darwins theory in The Speckled Band; I have heard, Mr Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. There was a huge fear in Victorian times that men possessed a bestial quality. This also conveys the Victorian double standard because Holmes works for the good of society, but possesses something that draws him towards evil. This is reinforced again in Silver Blaze when he is described as having menace in his eyes. In the Victorian age, a certain type of novel emerged from the largely romantic literary background, the Gothic novel, which was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole who wrote The Castle of Otranto in 1764. It has been suggested, by the critic Ann B. Tracy, that the Gothic novel could be seen as a description of a fallen world. While Sherlock Holmes is certainly a hero in many senses, in that he solves crimes, repeatedly saves people from the forces of evil and restores moral values while he is at it, he could also certainly be seen as a Gothic hero. It is his strong power of perception that solves crimes, and it is his hunger for sensation that drives his crime-solving and his cocaine use. To succeed as a detective Holmes frequently must himself descend into Londons underworld, which further reinforces the theory of a fallen world. It could be said that in all of the Sherlock Holmes stories there is a Gothic element in the form of a mysterious, inexplicable situation. This could be definitely be seen in The Red-Headed League, but to really discover the more detailed elements that constitute the genre of a Gothic novel we can look no further than The Speckled Band, which is littered with references to a true Gothic novel. First of all there is the woman in distress, in this case taking the presence of Helen Stoner, who arrived in a considerable state of excitement. She is described as being in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all dawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, which certainly conforms to the Gothic element of women with highly wrought emotions. There is also a woman in high state of emotion present in Silver Blaze when Mrs. Strakers face was haggard, and stamped with the print of a recent horror. Also present in The Speckled Band which is an element of a Gothic story is the occurrence of a cruel, tyrannical male who threatens and harms a woman, which appears in the form of Dr Grimsby Roylott, whom Helen Stoner appears to be considerably afraid of when she tries to hide the marks on her arm; you have been cruelly used. Then there is the setting in a ruined building, Stoke Moran, which seems to be in a considerable state of disrepair; the building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone. windows were broken. a picture of ruin. There is also a sense of mystery and suspense as the question is posed whether or not Dr Roylott killed Helens sister. Also the fact that Helen Stoner has been effectively forced into living in her sisters room could be seen as a Gothic element, as could the eerie whistle which both the sisters heard in the dead of night. Conan Doyles literary masterpieces are been enjoyed by thousands for almost a century now and continue to capture the hearts of both young and old. So brilliant and absorbing are these stories that when Sherlock Holmes was killed in The Final Problem fans complained so forcefully that Conan Doyle was compelled to resurrect him again. Holmes fans even refer to the time in between his death and revivification as the Great Hiatus. The Guinness World Records has consistently listed him as the most portrayed movie character with over 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. A rare manuscript of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles final Sherlock Holmes stories has recently been expected to fetch a whopping i 250,000 at auction. Overall there have been 56 short stories and 4 novels, written over a decade. These accounts are littered with references to Victorian England and can help people today to understand what life was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kate Manson 10S Page 1 of 5 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.

Mom: Teacher, Counselor, Role Model, and Friend Essay -- Friendship Ess

Mom: Â  Teacher, Counselor, Role Model, and Friend When asked to identify the person who has had the most powerful influence in my life, the most obvious choice is my mom. She has been my teacher, counselor, role model, and friend for the past 17 years. For me, she has become a source of inspiration and a constant reminder of what true love really means. In considering my mother's position and influence as a role model, I am reminded of a quote from Charlotte Bronte's Villette: "In addition she gave me the originality of her character to study: the steadiness of her virtues...the power of her passions to admire, the truth of her feelings to trust. All these things she had, and for these things I clung to her." (Chap. 4) The virtues that stand out most poignantly in my mother's character are her dedication and self sacrifice. On the strength of her principles, she gave up a successful career in order to give my brother and I the strongest educational foundation possible. No obstacle seems insurmountable when it comes to our education; even when my algebra classes seemed to ha...

Sensorial

Maria Montessori described the sensorial materials as the â€Å"key to the universe† Discuss this statement and give examples to support your discussion. â€Å"The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world, they cast a light upon it which makes visible to him more things in greater detail than he could see in the dark, or uneducated state. â€Å"(1. Montessori Maria, the Absorbent page 190, chapter 17). Montessori believed that sensorial experiences began from birth to six. At this stage, children learn and develop by using their five senses which help in making mental order in their environment. These five senses are visual sense the child learns how to visually discriminate differences between similar objects and differing objects. Second is tactile sense, the child learns through his sense of touch. â€Å"Although the sense of touch is spread throughout the surface of the body, the Exercises given to the children are limited to the tips of the fingers, and particularly, to those of the right hand. (Montessori, Maria (1997) The Discovery of the Child) This allows the child to really focus on what he is feeling, through a concentration of a small part of his body. In the Stereognostic Sense Exercises, the child learns to feel objects and make recognitions based on what he feels. â€Å"When the hand and arm are moved about an object, an impression of movement is added to that touch. Such an impression is attributed to a special, sixth sense, which is called a muscular sense, and which permits many impressions to be stored in a â€Å"muscular memory†, which recalls movements that have been made. (Montessori, Maria (1997) the Discovery of the Child, Oxford, England: Clio Press) . In the Baric sense, the child learns to feel the difference of pressure or weight of different objects, this sense is heightened through the use of a blindfold or of closing your eyes . In the Thermic Sense, the child works to refine his sense of temperature. In the Olfactory and Gustatory Sense Exercises, the child is given a key to his smelling and tasting sense. Although not all smells or tastes are given to the child in these Exercises, the child does work to distinguish one smell from another or one taste from another. He can then take these senses, and apply them to other smells or tastes in his environment. In the Auditory Sense Exercises, the child discriminates between different sounds. In doing these different Exercises, the child will refine and make him more sensitive to the sounds in his environment; there are four kinds of sounds human, animal, natural and mechanical sounds. Dr. Montessori felt that this was the ideal period in the child’s life to introduce him the equipment that would sharpen his senses and facilitate his comprehension of the many impressions he receives through them. So that Sensorial lessons enable the child to learn him by using his hands and his mind. We find that Dr. Benjamin Franklin once said â€Å"tell me and I forget. Teach me and remember. Involve me and learn†. In order to serve this purpose; Dr. Maria Montessori introduced a subject called ‘Sensorial', it comes from the word sense or senses. As there are no new experiences for the child to take from the Sensorial work where the materials are specially designed to enable the child to use his senses to explore different attributes of the world†¦ he child is able to concentrate on the refinement of all his senses, from visual to stereognostic. Dr. Montessori based her method of teaching young children considering the fact that a child between two to six years passes through the ‘sensitive period' for the refinement of sense along with the others and they can be helped in the development of the senses while they are in this formative period. â€Å"It is necessary t o begin the education of the senses in the formative period, if we wish to perfect this sense development with the education which is to follow. The education of the senses should be begun methodically in infancy, and should continue during the entire period of instruction which is to prepare the individual for life in society. † (Montessori Maria, internet) Dr. Montessori describe Sensorial education as â€Å"the key to the universe† because it revealing to the children, a deeper knowledge about the outside world. All of the material is aesthetically pleasing. They attract the child’s attention to the objects and allow the child to manipulate the materials with easy way. The material must be complete. This allows the child who is working with the material to finish through the whole piece of work without having to stop and find a missing piece. All of the material is limited. The first use of the term limited refers to the fact that there is only one of each material in the environment. This calls for other students to build on their patience. The second use of the word limited is in reference to the idea that not all of one quality or piece of information is given to the child. This child is not given every color in the world, but only a select few. This gives the child the keys to the information so it peaks his curiosity and leads him to learn more out of his own interest. Most importantly, all of the material could be called â€Å"materialized abstractions†. This means that though Montessori’s Sensorial materials, abstract concepts are made into concrete materials. â€Å"The sensorial materials comprise a series of objects which are grouped together according to some physical quality which they have, such as colour, shape, size, sound, texture, weight, temperature, and so forth. Every single group of objects represents the same quality but in different degrees; there is consequently a regular gradual distinction between the various objects and, when this is possible, one that is mathematically fixed. Every series of objects is graded so that there is a maximum and a minimum, which determines its limits, or which, more properly, are fixed by the use which a child makes of them† (Montessori Maria, The Discovery of Childhood, Page. 100 chapter 6). Dr. Montessori believed in the same ideal and with her development of Sensorial teaching brought a new concept to teaching the world throughout her Sensorial materials. So that the sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom enable the child to become aware of details by revealing to him strongly contrasting sensations like black and white and progressing to various gradations of this sensation such as; the many different shades of red in the colour tablets as an example, facilitate his knowledge of colours and eventually his understanding of the abstraction of a certain colour and finally the abstraction of color itself. The sensorial equipment, worked on systematically, builds a rooted and comprehensive foundation for the child's intellectual future. This is why Montessori has appropriately named the sensorial materials as â€Å"the key to the universe†. We find that the sensorial materials related with the environment around the child, he try to discover on his own how to make things he see in the environment, he often want to make his own books and do so with tools of ruler and stapler, make his own constructive triangles, or geometric solids. He often explores different ways of making the same end product – e. g. making a cylinder with paper, and then trying with clay. The other areas of the curriculum for the children of this age are related with the ‘sensorial’ materials such as mathematics, language and culture. The sensorial materials respond to the way that the child learns at this age through the senses rather than the intellect. There are materials for the refinement of each sense, with each activity isolating one particular quality, for example; color, size, sound, taste or weight. We can take a pink tower as an example, it made up of ten pink cubes of varying sizes. In 3 year-old the child constructs a tower with the largest cube on the bottom and the smallest on top. This material isolates the concept of size. The cubes are all the same colour and texture; the only difference is their size. Other materials isolate different concepts: colour tablets for colour, geometry materials for form and so on. As the child's exploration continues, the materials interrelate and build upon each other. Later, in the primary years, new aspects of some materials unfold. When studying volume, for example, the child may return to the pink tower and discover that its cubes progress incrementally from one cubic centimeter to one cubic decimetre. At the pre-school age when the child is use the sensory information, these materials help the child to order and make sense of his world and heighten his perception and wonder of it. Through working with the different sensorial materials the child has refined his discrimination of size to the point where he wants to know how much one object is bigger than other one. The mathematic materials flow naturally from here. When a child reaches this point, he needs to introduce to concrete representations of mathematical concepts and given language to describe these, for example: large, long, thick, heavy. They are required to sort, pair, grade and sequence using all of their senses – visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory and olfactory. Through these activities they develop the ability to solve mathematical problems for example: decimal system, geometry and algebra –by compare, contrast, and make judgments. The same applies with language. The subtle preparation the child has been given in this environment such as songs, stories, poems, or the control over the movement of the hand through knobbed cylinders and geometric cabinet, they allow the child from 4 and 5 year olds to effortlessly start to write and read. Montessori education has been using a set of ‘sandpaper letters’ individual boards with the primary symbol for each of the 26 letters as the sounds in the English language. Three year-old children see and feel these symbols and make the corresponding sound, bsorbing the combination of sound and symbol through three different senses (auditory-visual and tactile sense. Finally, the cultural materials bring to the child his world and the animals, plants and people within it. Like everything offered to the child at this age, the materials are sensory-based and are introduced to the child in an orderly way; first the world, then the plants; the child is introduced to the botanical classification in plants and their parts through classified cards, and an experience of how leaves can be classified by their shape through the leaf cabinet. Through these, the child is given keys to enhance his exploration of the outdoor environment and garden, and ultimately the world. The child starts to notice shapes of leaves as he walks in the park, and this deepens his appreciation of his environment. The sensorial materials also are the extension for the world of animals, then mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish; in the same way as with the world of plants, the child is given presentations of animal classification through the classified cards. Through his exploration he finds the keys to understanding the characteristics of each family and this is applied to his locality. The sensorial materials extend to geography: The children discover how our world can be divided into land and water, and how these two can further be classified by their shape – land into islands, peninsulas, isthmuses and capes; water into lake, gulf, strait and bay. These offer a key to the young mind so attuned to order and pattern, and children start to appreciate even the lakes and islands they discover in their local parks. They also explore how our world is divided into continents, and how each continent is divided into countries, and towns and so on. In this way they get an appreciation of where their ‘place’ is in the world. The education of senses makes men observers. The child who has worked with the sensorial materials has not only acquired a greater skill in the use of senses but also guides his exploration of the outside world. The aim of sense training is not only that a child shall know the colours forms and textures but also that he refines his sense through an exercise of attention and through comparison. The Sensorial Materials have been given many names: materialized abstractions, key to universe, path to culture. The goal of sensorial is to aid a child refine his senses so they can learn more from his environment and grow spiritually and physically. This is done through manipulation with carefully designed materials and direct experience with the world around them. The Sensorial technique is a multi-faceted method of learning. Through the use of singular quality focus activities the child’s senses are awakened. The sensory revelation that is experienced by the child during this period leads to a greater intellectual capability. The sensorial practice sets the groundwork for further intellectual growth. The crucial roles the senses have in education are illustrated through the connection between the various sensorial experiences the child has and all of the activities in the Sensorial environment. Because of Montessori’s focus on sensorial exploration and the Sensitive Periods for crucial brain development, there may be no computers for children’s use in the Children’s House environment. However, through the Montessori materials the children are building strong foundations to be able to learn to use this technology when appropriate. They are learning how to think, solve problem and create. It is striking how several pioneers and highly successful individuals in this field have Montessori backgrounds (e. g. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, inventors of Google; Will Wright, inventor of The Sims). They even attribute their success in innovation to their childhood years in a Montessori classroom. BIBLOGRAPHY Montessori Maria: The secret of childhood. Montessori Maria: absorbent mind. Montessori Maria, quotes, Internet) Montessori Maria: discovery of the childhood

The Ballot Or The Bullet Essay - 2053 Words

Malcolm X’s â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet† was one of the most significant and powerful speeches delivered during the Civil Rights era. X, an advocate for civil rights, was also an influential leader who sought to end the complete and utter degradation of Black Americans. Conflicting with the peaceful and nonviolent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was another important leader at his time, X believed in using any means necessary, including violence, to accomplish his goals. Because of his controversial methods, X was seen as a radical, causing many to disagree with his tactics. Without a doubt, X was definitely a great leader and excellent orator, regardless of his disputable views. He understood the influence of language and used that to his own advantage, as he created and delivered an inspiring speech to achieve his purpose. In â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet,† X’s appeal to emotion, critical tone, and his overall consideration of his audience convinces Black Americans to hasten their fight for equality. Before becoming a well-known and influential speaker, X lived a life full of crime and little purpose. During the earlier years of his childhood, X grew up in a household where Black pride was prominent. He was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska to Earl and Louise Little, who were activists in the Universal Negro Improvement Association. His parents were active followers of Marcus Garvey, and this definitely had its part in shaping X’s views when he grew older. When X was stillShow MoreRelatedThe Ballot Or The Bullet Essay1869 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"The Ballot or The Bullet† and â€Å"Letters from Birmingham Jail† are both refutes of social, economic, and civil injustice in America. 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Through ethos, logos, and pathos Malcolm made his audience re-evaluate their existing visionRead MoreAnalysis Of The Ballot Or The Bullet1238 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"It’ll be ballots or it’ll be bullets. It’ll be liberty, or it will be death.† Malcolm X delivered â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet,† one of the most inspiring and empowering speeches to ever be spoken on American soil, on April 3, 1964. Two thousand people, including his friends as well as his enemies, came to watch the black civil rights activist speak about black nationalism during the election year. He stressed individual uplift, moral reform, and entrepreneurship. He used this speech as a call toRead MoreThe Dream and the Ballot or the Bullet1038 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The Dream and the Ballot or the Bullet In the 1950s and 1960s in America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. 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A drug dealer, street hustlerRead MoreEssay on Malcom Xs The Ballot of the Bullet1654 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1964, Malcolm X gave a speech entitled â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet† which described how African Americans should fight for civil-rights in America. Malcolm X emphasizes the importance of voting as a solution to ending discrimination against African Americans. He addresses both the poor voting decisions and also the denial of legitimate voting rights to African Americans. Because elections had been so narrowly decided in recent elections, the Black vote is the deciding factor in elections. WhitesRead MoreThe Ballot Or The Bullet By Malcolm X1151 Words   |  5 PagesMuslim minister and a human rights activist, was executed by men from the Black Muslim Movement cult that he had recently left for good. An analysis of Malcolm X’s earlier debate with Bayard Rustin (1962) in comparison to his later speech â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet† (1964) acknowledges his idol worship of Elijah Muhammad in the Black Muslim Movement and documents his transformation into an enlightened and open-minded Civil Rights Leader before his tragic assassination. The speeches allow us to follow