Analysing 4 Short Horror Story Openings Essays

Analysing 4 Short Horror Story Openings Essays Analysing 4 Short Horror Story Openings Essay Analysing 4 Short Horror Story Openings Essay Essay Topic: Literature In this piece of coursework, I am going to analyse 4 Horror Story openings. The first is The Signalman by Charles Dickens. It tells the story of a man who comes across a seemingly normal railway cutting with a mysterious story to tell. The second is The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. The main character, who is seemingly mad, has a grudge against an old man because of his vulture eye and this drives him to take drastic action. For the third story, there is The Landlady by Roald Dahl in which the main character is taken victim by a seemingly harmless Landlady of a small guesthouse. Lastly, there is All But Empty by Graham Greene. In this story the writer finds a man in a cinema with a puzzling and inexplicable tale. The settings for all of the stories openings have something in common to link them together. The Signalman uses very atmospheric words to describe the cutting, its surroundings and the time of day. The actual cutting is described as extremely deep and unusually precipitate. These words give the reader the feeling that the cutting is forbidding and uninviting to the narrator/writer. The time of day that the opening is set is mid-evening, just as the sun is setting. This also has its part to play in the mood of the opening. The writer describes the cutting steeped in the glow of an angry sunset. The word angry brings up the colour red which is associated with danger. When the writer is making his way down to the cutting he gives vivid descriptions like clammy stone, zigzag path and oozier and wetter. These words as well as adding to the feeling of unwelcomeness, paint a picture of wetness and cold. Upon reaching the cutting, he describes the tunnel. He uses word like gloomier and massive architecture. Its greatness is made to make the writer feel small and insignificant. He also describes the tunnel by saying, there was a barbarous, depressing and forbidding air. So little sunlight ever found its way to this spot, that it had an earthy deadly smell; so much cold wind rushed through it, that it struck chill to me, as if I had left the natural world. Again the word forbidding shows the unwelcome feeling. The cutting is described as a Great Dungeon with a dripping wet wall of jagged stone excluding all view but a strip of sky. This shows that the cutting is secluded from all view. This adds to the effect that the cutting is a dark place, which has secrets to hide from the outside world. The first setting that is portrayed in The Tell-Tale Heart is when the writer is planning the murder of the old man and his vulture eye. The beginning is set at midnight, which is thought of as dark and quiet which makes it mysterious and secretive. The old mans room is described as being black as pitch with the thick darkness. It also says that the shutters were shut through fear of robbers. This shows that the old man is afraid. The darkness gives a feeling of seclusion. The Tell-Tale Heart links with The Signalman in this respect. After the old man hears the writer sneaking around the door of his room, he lets out a groan of mortal terror. The description of this moan adds to the scary atmosphere of the opening, which is building up to the murder. When he opens the lantern to look at the old mans eye, he does it ever so cautiously so a single dim ray, like the thread of a spider shot from out the crevice and fell upon the vulture eye. This shows with how much care he carried out all the deeds leading up to the murder. Then the writer says, Their came a low dull quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. This shows that the writers senses are more alert than usual and he is on edge about the whole venture. Roald Dahl first sets the scene in The landlady by describing the time and the weather. He says that it was about nine oclock in the evening and the moon was coming out of a clear starry sky. This indicates that it was dark and we associate darkness with eeriness and it gives the reader and unwelcome feeling. It also says that the air was deadly cold and it was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks. The word blade suggests sharp and hurtful. Cold gives a feeling of isolation to the reader and adds to the feeling of mysteriousness. The street is described as wide with only a tall line of houses on each side, all of them identical. The Landlady here links with The Signalman and the massive architecture of the tunnel. The tallness of the houses is included to make the character look and feel small. The houses are described as being once upon a time, very swanky residences. The houses are obviously now old and neglected. This is hinted at when it says but now, even in the darkness, he could see that the paint was peeling from the woodwork on their doors and windows, and that the handsome white facades were cracked and blotchy from neglect. It also says that all houses are identical. This means that nothing stands out or is appealing in anyway. This tells the reader that the area is dull and drab and makes it seem it has been neglected. When he first catches a glimpse of the bed and breakfast it says, Suddenly, in a downstairs window brilliantly illuminated by a street light not 6 yards away This means that the house appealed to him and stood out in one way or another and this add to the mystery of the opening. The inside of the house is described as being warm and welcoming. This contrasts with the other stories in which the place was unwelcoming and unfriendly. The writer of All But Empty portrays the cinema as an empty place. He says it had almost invariable, total emptiness. This links with The Signalman and The Landlady in this respect because it makes the reader think of the isolation the main character must be feeling. The music that is playing in the film he describes as blurred metallic music. This makes the film seem as if it is of no consequence and he is not really watching it. This shows that the mans mind is somewhere else. He also describes the air as being stale which adds to the old feeling that we get right from the beginning. We tend to think of old things as being mysterious and this adds to the opening. In The Signalman, a lot of questions are raised as to the secretive nature of the main character. One of the questions raised is why doesnt the signalman answer when the writer, stood on top of the cliff, talks to him? It is obvious for the reader that he is confused in some way but it still leaves the question as to why and what is confused or worried about? This is shown when the writer writes instead of looking up to where I stood on top of the steep cutting nearly over his head, he turned himself about and looked down the line. This makes the reader question what the signalman is unsure about. When the writer finally gets down into the cutting and he starts to talk to the signalman, the signalman just looks straight past him and looks at the mouth of the tunnel instead. It is clear that there is something about the man that is puzzling him in someway although it is unclear until further on in the story when he says I am troubled. This makes the reader want to read on to find out what he is troubled about. Throughout the time that the signalman and writer are talking, the signalman keeps looking at the warning bell as though expecting it to ring: -he twice broke off with a fallen colour, turned his face towards the little bell when it did not ring, opened the door of the hut, and looked out towards the red light near the mouth of the tunnel. This shows that he appears to be waiting for something to happen, but what? As the writer is about to leave, the signalman tells him that he is troubled but feels unable to talk about those troubles to him at that moment. He tells him to come back tomorrow night and he will tell him then. It is plain that he is feeling slightly pressured then and this gives the reader an insight into his thoughts at that time. In the story of The Tell-Tale Heart questions are asked about a lot of the aspects of the opening. Firstly, why does the writer deny being mad? This story depicts a man who is obviously mad because of the way he acts. What is so annoying about the old mans eye that drives him to kill him? He describes the eye as resembling that of a vulture-a pale blue eye, with a film over it. He then goes on to say that whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold. The eye obviously made him uneasy in some way because the phrase my blood ran cold we usually associate with terror or horror. When he is preparing for the murder, why does it take him so long to enter the bedroom and open the lamp to see inside? Why does he carry out all the procedures with such care and for such a long time? He says he did this for eight nights before killing the old man. He also says it took me an hour to place my head within the opening. This makes the reader feel that he obviously feels very strongly about his cause otherwise he would not be so patient towards it and encourages them to wonder why the old mans eye could be driving him to eventually kill him. The landlady raises many questions in the opening. One of the first is why does the Bed and Breakfast sign appear three times to Billy as he looks in the window of the boarding house? Dahl includes this to show how attractive the bed and breakfast is against the coldness of the outside and the other apparently derelict houses. When Billy Weaver rings the bell on the front door of the house, it is said by Dahl that, This dame was like a jack-in-a-box. He pressed the bell and out she popped! This makes the reader wonder why she was so eager and make them immediately aware that there is something strange about the house. In the fourth story, All but empty, the writer, Graham Greene, raises lots of questions concerned with the old man and the cinema. The writer says he very often visits an old cinema but why? He describes the cinema as having almost invariable, almost total emptiness but why would someone want to visit a desolate old cinema? When the Old Man enters the cinema he chooses to sit next to the man but why as there were plenty of other seats available? The writer says, He tried to get past me, though he had the whole cinema to choose from. This encourages the reader to think that the old man has a secret that he would like to share with someone. Each of the stories shares some common aspect that makes a successful horror story opening. Every story uses night or darkness to show that they have a dark meaning. The Signalman is set around sunset that has an angry glow. This acts, as a warning as to what is about to happen to the unfortunate Signalman. The bedroom in The Tell-Tale Heart, while the writer is looking in on the old man as he sleeps, is described as being black as pitch with the thick darkness, and this shows the reader that the old man is completely innocent and unable to see what is about to happen to him. Another similarity between all of the stories is the way in which the writers have described the victims. They are portrayed as someone who is innocent and unaware of their fate. Billy Weaver in The Landlady is described as 17 and that it is his first time in Bath. This makes him sound innocent and vulnerable. Sounds also play a large part in the stories. The Signalman has a part where the train comes from out of the tunnel: Just then there came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation. This perhaps is a forewarning to the sudden death that the signalman is about to meet. The way in which the stories are written is perhaps the biggest impact on how the stories make the reader feel. Charles Dickens has written the story so that there is not much dialogue in the beginning maybe showing that the two characters find it hard to communicate with each other. Edgar Allen-Poe uses a dramatic amount of punctuation in The Tell-Tale Heart to make the reader realise how the killer is talking. The sentences are disjointed with lots of exclamation marks e. g. True! -nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous. This is added to make the reader know how he is feeling.

Poverty and Inequality in the United States

Poverty and Inequality in the United States Americans are proud of their economic system, believing it provides opportunities for all citizens to have good lives. Their faith is clouded, however, by the fact that poverty persists in many parts of the country. Government anti-poverty efforts have made some progress but have not eradicated the problem. Similarly, periods of strong economic growth, which bring more jobs and higher wages, have helped reduce poverty but have not eliminated it entirely. The federal government defines a minimum amount of income necessary for the basic maintenance of a family of four. This amount may fluctuate depending on the cost of living and the location of the family. In 1998, a family of four with an annual income below $16,530 was classified as living in poverty. The percentage of people living below the poverty level dropped from 22.4 percent in 1959 to 11.4 percent in 1978. But since then, it has fluctuated in a fairly narrow range. In 1998, it stood at 12.7 percent. What is more, the overall figures mask much more severe pockets of poverty. In 1998, more than one-quarter of all African-Americans (26.1 percent) lived in poverty; though distressingly high, that figure did represent an improvement from 1979, when 31 percent of blacks were officially classified as poor, and it was the lowest poverty rate for this group since 1959. Families headed by single mothers are particularly susceptible to poverty. Partly as a result of this phenomenon, almost one in five children (18.9 percent) was poor in 1997. The poverty rate was 36.7 percent among African-American children and 34.4 percent of Hispanic children. Some analysts have suggested that the official poverty figures overstate the real extent of poverty because they measure only cash income and exclude certain government assistance programs such as Food Stamps, health care, and public housing. Others point out, however, that these programs rarely cover all of a familys food or health care needs and that there is a shortage of public housing. Some argue that even families whose incomes are above the official poverty level sometimes go hungry, skimping on food to pay for such things as housing, medical care, and clothing. Still, others point out that people at the poverty level sometimes receive cash income from casual work and in the underground sector of the economy, which is never recorded in official statistics. In any event, it is clear that the American economic system does not apportion its rewards equally. In 1997, the wealthiest one-fifth of American families accounted for 47.2 percent of the nations income, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based research organization. In contrast, the poorest one-fifth earned just 4.2 percent of the nations income, and the poorest 40 percent accounted for only 14 percent of income. Despite the generally prosperous American economy as a whole, concerns about inequality continued during the 1980s and 1990s. Increasing global competition threatened workers in many traditional manufacturing industries, and their wages stagnated. At the same time, the federal government edged away from tax policies that sought to favor lower-income families at the expense of wealthier ones, and it also cut spending on a number of domestic social programs intended to help the disadvantaged. Meanwhile, wealthier families reaped most of the gains from the booming stock market. In the late 1990s, there were some signs these patterns were reversing, as wage gains accelerated especially among poorer workers. But at the end of the decade, it was still too early to determine whether this trend would continue. - Next Article: The Growth of Government in the United States This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Community Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Community Service - Essay Example These programs test their patience and resilience on difficult tasks that they are likely to encounter in their college or work life. With a whole year’s worth of patience and resilience, these teenagers are better able to handle themselves without any supervision and avoid getting into trouble. They can handle the challenges they will encounter in trying to figure out how to be on their own (Kenny and Gallagher, 2003). They are also taught on projects such as disaster services and being environmental stewards. This is therefore a learning opportunity for them that teach them to be responsible individuals on issues to do with the environment as well as on how to manage disasters as they try to become better citizens (Kenny and Gallagher, 2003). 18 year olds are still yet to define themselves as adults even though some of their actions are childish. Taking this confusion in identity development to work or in adults is not good as things are likely to go

Supreme Court Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supreme Court Justice - Essay Example He joined his father's law practice before entering politics. John Marshall Harlan vigorously defended slavery and thought the government should not interfere, but at the same time, he believed that the Union must be preserved and even enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. His family background played a part in his racial attitudes. John Marshall Harlan was confirmed by the Senate in December, 1877, and was the 45th justice of the Supreme Court. 'John Marshall Harlan II' (May 20, 1899 - December 29, 1971) was an American jurist. He served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. He was the grandson of another Associate Justice, John Marshall Harlan, who served from 1877 to 1911. Harlan is often characterized as a member of the conservative wing of the Warren Court. He advocated a limited role for the judiciary, remarking that the Supreme Court should not be considered "a general haven for reform movements." In general, Harlan adhered more closely to precedent, and was more reluctant to overturn legislation, than many of his colleagues on the Court. He strongly disagreed with the doctrine of incorporation, which held that the guarantees of the federal Bill of Rights were applicable at the state level. At the same time, he advocated a broad interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, arguing that it protected a wide range of rights not expressly mentioned in the Constitution. Harlan is sometimes called the "great dissenter" of the Warren Court, and is often regarded as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the twentieth century.( Yarborough,1992) John Marshall Harlan II was born on May 20, 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of John Maynard Harlan (a Chicago lawyer and politician) and Elizabeth Flagg. Harlan's family had, historically, been a politically active one. His father, George Harlan, served as Governor of Delaware during the seventeenth century; his great-grandfather, James Harlan, was a congressman during the 1830s; and his grandfather, John Marshall Harlan, was a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. In his younger years, Harlan attended The Latin School of Chicago. Harlan later attended two boarding high schools in Canada, Upper Canada College in Toronto, and Appleby College also near Toronto. Upon graduation from Appleby, Harlan returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Princeton University. There, he was a member of the Ivy Club, served as an editor of "The Daily Princetonian", (Yarborough ,1992) and was class president during his junior and senior years. After graduating from the university in 1920, he received a Rhodes Scholarship, which he used to attend Balliol College, Oxford.(Leitch,1978) He studied jurisprudence at Oxford for three years, returning from England in 1923. Upon his return to the United States, he began work with the law firm of Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland (now known as Dewey Ballantine), one of the leading law firms in the country, while studying law at New York Law School. He received his law degree in 1924 and earned admission to the bar in 1925. In 1928, he married Ethel Andrews, with whom he had one daughter, Eva Dillingham.(Ariens) Between 1925 and 1927, Harlan served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of

The Shichi Go San and the Marimo Matsuri Festivals Essay -- pray, autum

Fall is the time for letting go of the old ways and bringing in the new life. Autumn is also the period where one harvests their desire to learn. Autumn is the time for departure but having already fulfilled in wisdom and maturity. Fall is also the time to be thankful for all the things that occurred in your life. In Japan, the fall festivals are a way for the people to pray and be thankful for the harvests. Some festivals that occur in Japan during this time of the year are: Marimo Matsuri, Nada no Kenka Matsuri, Sichi-Go-San, Tori no Ichi, and the Kawagoe Matsuri. To begin with, the Kawagoe Matsuri in the Saitama prefecture occurs on the third Saturday and Sunday in October. The main attraction of this festival is the floats that are pulled around the city. The largest highlight of this festival is the Hikkawase. This is a musical competition between different festival floats. The people perform a hayasi performance, which is a traditional Japanese orchestra of different instruments, such as the flute and drums. The floats that you might observe at this festival are called Edo-kei Kawagoe-gata, and they were usually built by the craftsmen in Edo and Kawagoe. These floats are about two stories high with a doll place on top. The Kawagoe Festival usually takes root from the Jinkosai festival, where elaborately decorated shrines are carried throughout the neighborhood. Next, the Marimo Matsuri occurs in Hokkaido around early October. This festival’s intention is to provide others with knowledge about the spherical algae and other creatures of the sea. Also, you can also learn about the history of the Ainu and their traditions. Marimo Matsuri was initially developed to shelter the endangered species of the marimo algae. The marimo... ...a. 3 Mar. 2014. . "Shichi-go-san." Go Japan Go. 2013. 3 Mar. 2014. . "Tori no Ichi (The Festival of the Rooster)." Kids Web Japan. 2014. 3 Mar. 2014. . "Tori no Ichi." ASAKUSA Torinoichi. 2002. 3 Mar. 2014. . "Tori-no-Ichi (Day of the Rooster): a guide to Tokyo's lucky festival." Lonely Planet. 2014. 3 Mar. 2014. . "Tori-no-Ichi." Japan: The Official Guide. 2014. 3 Mar. 2014. . â€Å"Tori no Ichi Fair.†Photograph. 2014. Tori-no-Ichi (Day of the Rooster): a guide to Tokyo’s lucky festival. Lonely Planet. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

Marcionism & God Essay

Marcionism is a dual belief system that originated from Marcion of Sinope in Rome teachings in the year 144. It affirmed that Jesus was a savior who was sent by God and Paul was his principal apostle but Marcion himself rejected Yahweh and the Hebrew Bible. It was referred to as heresy by those who opposed it and wrote a five book treatise against it. Marcionism teachings affirmed that Christianity was different from and opposition Judaism. It opposed the whole of the Hebrew Bible, and declared Hebrews Bible God was a minor demiurge, who created the earth and was the source of evil. The principles of Marcionism are that many teachings of Jesus Christ are incompatible with those of the god of the Jewish Religion. Referring to Pauline traditions in the Gospel, Marcionism believed that the Gospel, opposed to teachings from the old testament that were believed to be misleading from the truth. Paul’s arguments in respect to the gospel and law, grace and wrath, faith and works, spirit and flesh, righteousness and sin, life and death were the base of religious truth. Marcionites holds maltheistic perception of the God of Hebrew Bible as (Yaltabaoth) inconsistent, wrathful, jealous and genocidal, and created a defective world, a site of suffering and term such a God as a malicious demiurge whom they refer to as Yaltabaoth. Montanus was the founder of Montanism, an early Christian sector founded in the mid 2nd century AD in Phrygia region and its followers are referred to as Cataphrygians. Tertullian was the most widely known Montanist. Montanus claimed to have received a number of revelations from the Holy Ghost beside and strolled in the settlement in Asia where he preached what he claimed to be the Words of God but those who opposed him especially the Orthodox claimed his teaching as but those who opposed him especially the Orthodox claimed his teaching as hearsay. He traveled along with two women who claimed to have received some revelations too, and they urged their follower to pray and fast so that they could receive revelations too. The teachings of Montanism spread from Phrygia, to Africa, Gaul and the rest of the world. Christians also agree with the some teachings of Marcionism like the opposition of murder and genocide that were employed in the Old Testament. Marcionism imposed a high degree of morality to its followers and those who were immoral were some times persecuted. The early encouraged the positive teachings of Montanism and Marcionism; however there existed clear differences in the teachings between different sects Donatism was an unorthodox sect of the early Christianity that was founded by Donatus Magnus and believed that holiness was a mandatory for church members and essential in administration of sacraments. Donatists lived originally in Roman Africa and attained their biggest number in the 4th to 5th centuries. One of the central issues in the Donatists controversy is that at some levels, the church is normally called into the communion with God and that is not breakable from human being point of view given by the grace of God in Christ therefore, leaving the church is like leaving grace and questioning Gods power and adding a semi Pelagian realization of the salvation. The Council of Arles in the A. D. 314 criticized the Donatists although the Donatists flourished. The Donatists and Orthodox Catholics in Africa were against each other as a result in 393 A. D, St. Augustine codified the Catholic teachings concerning baptism founded on controversy between Orthodox Catholics and Donatists. His diplomatic efforts and teachings didn’t terminate the fighting and bickering, the government powers were called upon and in 411 A. D. an imperial commission banned Donatism by making its practices illegal (Robert E. Van Voorst (Readings in Christianity, US, Wadsworth/Thomson publishers, 2000) p 136-136. Constantine’s conversion to Christianity lead to the Edict of Milan and Christianity became legalized; he became a committed member of the church and set precedence for the post of the Christian Emperors in the Church that would be pursued for centuries. This was a turning point for Christianity because he supported the church with all available resources and that marked the beginning of Christendom Diocletian was one of the four documents of Constantine that brought to an end may decades of anarchy and crisis when Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus became the Roman emperor in 284, other documents include licinius, Maxentius and Maximianus Herculius. Arius beliefs that became part of Arianism included the fact that he believed that god was not the father all the time and gods words were not eternal but were merely made out of nothing, he also believed that god made all the creatures including himself hence he was also susceptible to change like other creatures he had created and there was the belief that the Son was created on other creatures accounts and does not understand his nature and could other creature not have been created, the son would not have been created too. the result of the Nicaea- Constantinople council was that the, after reading of several Arius documents, they were termed as blasphemous and the end result was that Arius were sent to exile along with some of his followers. ( Jane M. McCabe, The Single Story of Divine Prophecy to Abraham, (US, Xlibris,2001Corporation publishers, 2001) p182-211) REFERENCES Robert E. Van Voorst, Readings in Christianity, US, Wadsworth/Thomson publishers, 2000 Jane M. McCabe, The Single Story of Divine Prophecy to Abraham, US, Xlibris,2001Corporation publishers, 2001

We Want Clean Water - 1550 Words

We want clean water In America, many practices take place that the majority of people are not aware of, and corporations who do promote their latest adventures to the public do not reveal the whole truth about their objectives, positive and negative. The American people get confused and wonder why they must investigate American companies in order to separate the lies from the truth. The Oil and Gas Industry have been fracking, a process that has been met with controversy, to obtain natural gas and with this process comes profit and harm done to others by way of polluting the air, contamination in water, using large amounts of fresh water per well and damaging land. These industries are exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act by†¦show more content†¦Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking is a way to fracture rocks by injecting pressurized fluids followed by sand to keep the fractures open, in order to extract natural gas (methane), coal seam gas (methane), or petroleum (Oxford Dictionary). Fracking requires a large amount of freshwater, which causes environmental problems. There is a Halliburton loophole that allows companies to do what they want because it exempts fracking from state water use regulations. Fracking in this manner has given the Oil and Gas industries some advantages, such as increased accessibility, greater efficiency and it costs less. As this process increases energy production, the energy becomes cheaper to access, which lowers manufacturing costs and in the end the profits rise for companies (CNN,Richard Quest). Environmentalists argue that fracking can cause earthquakes, contaminates water, pollutes the air and is a problem for Americans using freshwater. In the last ten years of fracking, America’s economy has been progressive with the oil and gas industry contributing to billions of dollars put into it as well as providing jobs for workers. There are many states that allow and use fracking wells, such as Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, Louisi ana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and many more. Each state relates to one another because fracking is happening near families who live near these drilling sites, and they have all experienced health issues that they did not have