George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946

Orwell’s thesis acknowledges how writers use degraded and inaccurate language to express a thought. The modern form of English writing contains unnecessary elements, ultimately degrading the quality of a written text.  Furthermore, Orwell specifically explains the pretentious diction and meaningless words used in writing. Though Orwell’s thesis is evident throughout the passage, he does not … Read more

Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene

Purpose ‘The Most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists’ V.S. Pritchett, The Times The book is a detailed story of life changing as well as moral crisis of Henry Scobie. Graham, a British Intelligence Officer working in Sierra Leone, drew from his experience while writing the novel. Although, the location was not mentioned in … Read more

Transformations: Women, Gender and Psychology – Mary Crawford

1. Meanings of Difference Throughout the text of Transformations: Women, Gender & Psychology, author Mary Crawford speaks upon the differences and similarities between women and men in many different categories. In chapter four, Crawford goes in-depth on the actual differences between men and women. Her research asserts that emotion is often gendered, meaning that women … Read more

‘Infinite Jest’ by Davis Forster (letter suggesting inclusion in syllabus)

Dear Ms Bleakley, I am writing you to in regard to the stage 6 syllabus of the potential inclusion of the novel ‘Infinite Jest’ by Davis Forster. Infinite Jest is a pronounced text that is incontrovertibly ideal to be integrated into the stage 6 syllabus. Infinite Jest is a prestigious novel, making “Time Magazine’s top … Read more

Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang and the movie Arrival

Adapted from the 1998 novel “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, the movie Arrival (2016) as the name suggests, is the story of an extraterrestrial invasion on earth. The movie follows a linguistics professor, a physicist and a team of US soldiers whose main goal is to find the reason for the aliens’ presence … Read more

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes – screen adaptation

The end of 1980 was a significant moment for the fans of Sherlock Holmes. The copyright for Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories expired. All of his works,produced before 1923, were now in the public domain. This fact was almost immediately used by Granada Television, who in 1984 produced the television series The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. … Read more

Roald Dahl – Author

Roald Dahl When I say the name Roald Dahl, I doubt many of you have any idea who i’m talking about. But I would be willing to bet every single person in this room has heard of some of his books. Roald Dahl is the author of several classic childrens’ books, including James and the … Read more

The Secret Garden

The book that I am choosing to evaluate this time around is The Secret Garden. The Secret Garden is a coming-of-age story in the Children’s Literature genre that is told in a third-person point of view. The Children’s Literature genre is one that is very specific with it’s target audience as well as the story … Read more

Heart of Darkness (social, historical and cultural context)

Question 7: Knowledge of the social, historical and cultural context of a text and its writer is often indispensable in the reader coming to grips with the central themes of a text. Discuss with reference to Heart of Darkness Literary critic Nathaniel Hawthorne statement that “in Heart of Darkness, Conrad takes his deepest look into … Read more

Dreams and illusions in the Great Gatsby,

In The Great Gatsby, dreams and illusions epitomized and personified a paralysis between two realities: between an irrevocable past and a transitory future. Arguably a blessing and a curse, such dreams and illusions are born from yearnings, pursuits, and dissatisfactions. Also part of two worlds, worlds that are mavericks to governing dualities like light and … Read more

“Mr. Lytle” – John Sullivan

In his essay “Mr. Lytle,” John Sullivan does not state a certain opinion, important from the social or public perspective, neither tries the author to teach or impose some knowledge to the audience. This particular essay is rather a reflection on the period when Sullivan, still a young man in search for calling, a university … Read more