Horror and Suspense

Horror and Suspense Discuss how horror and suspense are created in two short stories. In this essay I am going to look at how horror and suspense are created by the authors Charles Dickens and his gothic short story ‘The Signalman and Thomas Hardy and his mysterious story ‘The Three Strangers. In Charles Dickens ‘The Signalman, Dickens creates and maintains a sense of horror and suspense throughout the story. There are numerous ways in which he composes this sense to infiltrate the readers mind into the atmosphere present throughout the story. The presentation of the characters help to create this atmosphere throughout the story. The author creates a sense of mystery with the main character as he does not introduce or describe the appearance of the character, but yet sets the story through this characters first person perspective, acting as the narrator of the story. This allows the reader an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character. Dickens also introduces the signalman as dark and sinister. He describes his appearance in a gothic fashion, using repetition of the word ‘dark when describing his features; â€Å"he was a dark sallow man with a dark beard†. Dickens also presents the signalman to be a disturbed man who â€Å"had run wild, misused his opportunities, gone down, and never risen again.† The setting in which the story takes place also creates horror and suspense. Dickens gives a description of the railway cutting with intricate detail and encompasses it with a cloud of gloomy and a depressive mood. He associates places and objects with certain impressions which produce this large image of negative and horrifying vibes and feelings. When the narrating character has his first impression of the railway cutting, he compliments it as â€Å"extremely deep, and unusually precipitate†. When Dickens describes the signalmans box, Dickens bombards the reader with adjectives of a morphed and â€Å"depressing† atmosphere. He called it a â€Å"dungeon† which implies a sense of torture and a horrid nature. The description of the signalmans box creates a feeling of suffocation and being trapped. â€Å"On either side, a dripping-wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky; the perspective one only a crooked prolongation of this great dungeon. † The emphasis on the gloominess and â€Å"forbidding† â€Å"deadly† environment conveys the relevance to death. The mouth of the tunnel is also described as having â€Å"a barbarous, depressing and forbidding air.† These details combined with the cold wind and loneliness of the place; add up to a feeling of dread and foreboding. This all adds to the horror of the story and creates uneasiness and suspense for the reader. The language used in ‘The Signalman creates an atmosphere of horror and suspense and also draws the attention of the reader. The language used is of a Victorian context as the story was written and set in a Victorian setting. This creates an element of being in the Victorian times. Dickens also uses long sentences to create an element of suspense. Dickens uses the language of the story to create the atmosphere of horror and suspense through many methods. For instance, â€Å"Halloa! Below there!† is a small expression that is used several times throughout the story and was repeated by several characters. This strikes the reader with alarm and fear as Dickens creates a paradox for the reader; is it a coincidence or is it involved with the idea of the supernatural? The imagery used in ‘The Signalman also creates horror and suspense in the story. Dickens describes the place as a repugnant and disturbing place to illustrate the unnatural and gothic vibe of the place. The narrator describes the place as a â€Å"dungeon† and analysiss the cutting as â€Å"†¦extremely deep, unusually precipitous. It was made through a clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down.† Dickens emphasizes the gloomy and unpleasant elements of the cutting to engulf the reader into this unnatural world so the reader can endow the â€Å"depressing† feelings which the narrator has; â€Å"For these reasons, I found the way long enough to give me time to recall a singular air of reluctance or compulsion†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Note the use of the words â€Å"reluctant† and â€Å"impulsive† which again adds to the suspense of the story. The conclusion of the story also creates horror and suspense. Horror is created in the tragic death of the signalman. The narrator begins to see the specter in the ghostly tunnel, and begins to realize that the death of the signalman had occurred just as he had imagined; â€Å"that only in my mind, to the gesticulation he had imitated†. Suspense is created in this conclusion as it links with the idea of the supernatural and the story concludes with no resolved ending, leaving a mystery to what can happen next. The story gives the impression that it is about the effect of technology and industrialization on the human soul. The signalman is driven â€Å"mad† by the monotony and, at the same time, the awful responsibility involved in his work. He is â€Å"alienated† from his environment; with little to occupy his mind and always knowing the smallest mistake will lead to terrible loss of life. The supernatural element reflects the Victorian fascination with the paranormal as a reaction against the advances in science and the technology during the 19th century that seemed to deny the existence of a spiritual dimension to life. The story is a true mystery; it can have no solution as it is about the impossibility of ever knowing what is real. In Thomas Hardys story ‘The Three Strangers, Hardy creates and maintains a sense of horror and suspense throughout the story. There are numerous ways in which he composes this atmosphere of horror and suspense. Unlike the narrator in ‘The Signalman, the narrator in ‘The Three Strangers does not have the roll of a character in the story. This allows the reader to see the story from a third person perspective which allows the readers to endure the atmosphere of the story. The characters in ‘The Three Strangers appear to have similarities to the characters of ‘The Signalman. One similarity is that the characters present mystery as well in Hardys story. Not much is revealed about the characters at the start of the story which creates a sense of suspense for the reader. The three strangers are the main object of the story and as the story proceeds, so does the readers knowledge of the three strangers. This creates suspense as the readers knowledge of the three strangers is the plot of the story, the strangers being the twist in the tale. Although Hardy describes the other characters in the story with warmth and, the three strangers are the only people who present horror and suspense. Hardy describes the first stranger to be thin â€Å"a man of supple frame† and tall â€Å"He appeared tall†, and considers him to be a dark and mysterious character by saying â€Å"he naturally belonged to the black-coated tribes of men.† Hardy also makes the stranger seem mysterious through some of his reactions such as when â€Å"At the sound of the same the man in the chimney-corner took up the poker†¦ as if doing it thoroughly were the one aim of his existence†. The second stranger also seems to present suspense as when he arrives, he causes the first stranger to do abnormal things, such as the example above. The third stranger also creates suspense as he alarms the people at the party into believing that he is the sheep stealer in which the authorities were after through his reactions of â€Å"his k nees trembling, his hands shaking violently†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Unlike the unnatural world created by Dickens in ‘The Signalman, Hardy sets a very natural scene in agricultural England, complimenting the place with â€Å"grassy and furzy downs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Yet Hardy also uses this natural scene to build horror and suspense throughout the story. Hardy creates a balance of good and evil in the setting. He presents the party inside the cottage as a warm, comfortable, and cosy environment while on the outside of the cottage, he presents the weather as â€Å"boisterous†, with violent winds and heavy rain. This outside environment creates horror and suspense as it encloses the comfort and cosiness of the inside environment with its euphoric atmosphere. As in The Signalman the language again adds to horror and suspense. Hardys short story employs Victorian context as it too was written in Victorian times. This creates a Victorian atmosphere and engulfs the reader into the old culture of England. Hardy uses language to create an atmosphere of horror and suspense in various methods. For instance, the author maintains the mysterious identities of the strangers by referring to the strangers by their appearance or position, such as the first stranger being referred to as â€Å"the man in the chimney-corner† and the second stranger being â€Å"the stranger in cinder-grey†. This mystery about the strangers identities creates suspense as the reader does not know how the strangers interact with the plot of the story or even who they are. Hardy also uses long sentences in contrast to Dickens to create an element of suspense. The imagery used in Hardys short story is the opposite of Dickens as his imagery is more natural than gloomy and gothic. In the story, Hardy uses imagery to create horror and suspense. Hardy gives an image of a natural countryside in the south of England describing its features as â€Å"grassy and furzy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  An image of a storm is created in the story which compliments the suspense of the story and creates an uneasy atmosphere for the reader. Unlike the conclusion of ‘The Signalman, ‘The Three Strangers concludes in a more vivid tone. The story ends with the reader knowing that the first stranger got away with his crime however, creates a vibe of suspense as nothing is known about the whereabouts of the first stranger. Although ‘The Three Strangers concludes, it has a similarity to ‘The Signalman as nothing is known about what can happen next. We know that the first stranger got away with his crime but we dont know where he had gone to, while in ‘The Signalman we know that the death of the signalman may be partly the fault of the narrator, but we dont know what fate is in store for the narrator. All in all, it is evident that horror and suspense are created in the two short stories; ‘The Signalman and ‘The Three Strangers both writers use character setting, language and plot as a means of creating the desired atmosphere, and both succeed in achieving their aim. However there are differences in which this creation of horror and suspense are orchestrated within these stories. In conclusion, both stories provide a horrifying and suspense experience through different methods and techniques.

Did Charlemagne deserve the title “Great”? Essay

A great ruler is a different concept for different people. It can include great skill in battle, or great administration strategy. www.dictionary.com Explains Great as:1.Powerful; influential: one of the great nations of the West. 2.Eminent; distinguished: a great leader. 3.Grand; aristocratic. Charlemagne was a ruler who ruled over the Frankish Empire in the middle-dark ages. Many historians regard him as great, for he did many things for the Christian Religion. We do not specifically know when Charlemagne was called great. Charlemagne was an accomplished conqueror and good with bribes. In one sense, Charlemagne did more than just restore the empire. He added to it which Roman arms never reached (64, The Times: Illustrated History of Medieval Europe, Felipe Fernandez-Armando). From this source, we can tell that Charlemagne was an accomplished conqueror, which could be considered as great. Charlemagne conquered many new lands, and he took over Saxony, a huge piece of land, with tough, strong people. This would make Charlemagnes court admire him, for the far-reaches of his empire would bring them riches and wealth. He could then use this new-found wealth to shower the Catholic Church with money and riches. Einhard wrote: He provided [it] with a great number of vessels of gold and silver. It seems (for we do not know for certain when this title was given) as though the title great was given by the Catholic Church for they admired Charlemagne as he had helped defend and spread Christianity. This would lead the Catholic Church to think that he was great. Charlemagne tried to revive the old Roman ways of Law, standardization, learning and hygiene. Charlemagne was also the creator of the Carolingian Renaissance. He revitalised learning in the courts, took interest in books and made sure that all the books of earlier generations were kept for the future. This would give the scholars a reason to call Charlemagne great, for  he had revived learning from a period of Darkness where learning was forgotten and thrown away. Charlemagnes rule marked the end of the Dark ages, and the middle ages had begun. With this, Charlemagne also standardised currency using silver, while earlier there were many different types making the country run amok in confusion. He could have been called great from historians later on, who would consider this a great feat. Charlemagne could be a cruel and harsh ruler. He had many Saxons massacred in his campaign for Saxony, and he did not see it as either cruel or harsh. The Catholic Church approved of this, for the massacred Saxons were not Christian, and the Catholic Church had been earlier bribed. This was not a great thing from Charlemagne, in the Saxons eyes, for it was an unnecessary and costly move to massacre them. In summary, Charlemagne did deserve the title great, for he revived (to an extent) learning, standardization and law. He had also conquered many different lands for the Frankish empire. To many people, Charlemagne was a bad ruler, but even though he had been cruel and harsh, his good achievements overshadow his cruel times. Therefore, Charlemagne deserved the title great. Bibliography McGrath, F. (n.d.). The Longevity of The Saxon Wars [Adobe PDF]. RetrievedNovember 18, 2008, from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/history/studentlife/e-journal/McGrath.pdfReference Source Armesto, F. F. (Ed.). (n.d.). Illustrated History of Europe. Times Books. great. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved November 17, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greatFearns, J. (2008, November 17). Year 8 History. Lecture presented at ChineseInternational School, 2406. Economic and Legal Reforms. (2008, November 2). Carolingian Renaissance. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from Wikipedia Web site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_RenaissanceMacMullen, R. (1997). Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to EighthCenturies. Yale University Press. (Original work published 1997)

Generational Poverty Paper Essay

There are several issues that I have learned about this week. There are several factors that are involved in overcoming generational poverty such as education and relationships. Migrant and seasonal farm workers work very hard but yet live in generational poverty. They face several challenges when working and their families also are at risk in repeating the pattern. I also learned about the challenges that older people face when there is a lack of access to employment. Women also face unique challenges through the different life stages. Generational poverty families are often times large families. The reason why they are so large is because the more people in the family, the more money and the more people there are to take care of aging parents. The parents of these families are usually uneducated and they become intimidated that if their children get educated then they will move away. The fear of their children becoming educated means that they tend to hold their children back from breaking the cycle. When these children get to a certain age, they will drop out and get jobs with low pay. Many children stay with their families and are more prone to getting addicted to drugs. In order to prevent the cycle from continuing it is important that the children of these families become educated. The schools need to develop positive relationships with these children in order for them to be encouraged in continuing their education. In single parent households, the parent most likely will have a low paying job and often work several jobs or hours which impact their ability to provide adequate structure for their children. Many single parents have significant stress just to make ends meet. Generational poverty is also seen in migrant and seasonal workers. Migrant and seasonal workers face several challenges when working out in the fields. Migrant and seasonal farm workers travel throughout the country, they live in temporary housing. The places these workers live in are in areas that they are needed to plant, maintain, and harvest crops. Migrant and seasonal farm workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. They are  overworked and are often in inclement weather. The ethnicity of the farm workers are mostly Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Central Americans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans. More than half of the farm workers earn less than $7,500 per year. Because these farm workers must travel, their families travel with them. The ways farm workers impact their children are that because of travel from school to school, it negatively impacts their stability and education. The job of the farm worker is very important of American society because the farm workers are responsible to providing society with food. If it were not for the farm workers, America would not have anything to eat. Although the farm workers job is very important, they do not get the respect that they deserve. Farm workers have many dangers when it comes to working in the fields. Not only do they have dangers when working in the field but their families are also at risk for being exposed to some of the dangers of the farm workers job. Farm workers are exposed to the pesticides that are used to protect the crops from damage. The pesticides poison the farm workers and cause the farm worker to suffer from headaches, skin and eye irritations, nausea, and breathing problems. The farm workers families are also at risk from being exposed to pesticides because the worker carries the pesticides on their clothing. An injury that occurs when working as a migrant and seasonal farm worker is that they get injuries such as musculoskeletal injuries. They are prone to injuries because they are required to do repetitive movements and uncomfortable body positioning. They get carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and back pain. Most of these workers do not seek help right away because they try home remedies and over the counter treatments first because many are undocumented and fear being deported. The ones that do seek medical help often wait until the injury gets worse, which makes it harder to help them feel better. Many of these workers are uneducated and will use their children to help with translating information they need. Sometimes their children will quit school to help their parents financially and will drop out of school to work in the fields. Women face several unique challenges. Two choices that women are faced with are when they get married both they marry men who provide lifetime financial support, and they will be able to prevent destitution at the latter part of their lives. Another choice is that if a woman decides that she wants to get a higher education and establish lifetime careers, along with deciding to get  married and have children, she will be able to prevent lifetime destitution. When women decide to have a career, be a wife, and have children, they often times struggle with balancing family and work. If a woman decides to marry a man who provides lifetime financial support then she must focus on her family and take care of all responsibilities for the family. The aged face several challenges when there is lack of access to employment. In order for a person to retire they must work until they are 67 years old. When they are able to retire the aged my receive Social Security and Medicare. Many of these older people that work for companies have been there many years and tend to be paid higher than a younger person. There is a history of companies that lay off their higher paid workers that are over the age of 50 or they will force these workers to retire early so that they can hire someone younger and pay them less. The majority of the workers that are laid off or forced to retire early, leave companies with no health insurance and must use their savings early. When the aged are laid off and go to find a new job they face active age discrimination from other companies. Many companies see the aged as people who do not have the same energy or the ability to perform the job duties that a younger person can do. When the aged is unable to find a job over 50 years old, they are forced to use their life savings before they expected to and some do not have any savings because they have to support their families. I have changed my perspective on several of the topics that where discussed. I work with older staff and I now understand that ageism happens and it is better to understand what they go through than to discriminate against them. Instead of complaining how slow an older person is, it is important to help them. When an aged person loses their job it becomes extremely difficult for them to find another job because companies discriminate against the aged. Generational poverty is an issue that can be reduced by educating families and building relationships with them in order to encourage these families to continue their education. The reason why some generational poverty families are big is so that the more people there are in the family the more money and the more people there are to take care of the aged. I have also learned about the many unique challenges that women have when it comes to living their life. A woman can chose to get married and let the man support her financially or chose a higher education and a career and raise a family. References Anthony, M. J. (2011). Caring for Migrant Farm Workers on Medical-Surgical Units. MEDSURG Nursing, 20(3), 123-126. Understanding the Depth of Challenges People Face Power Point Presentation Hatch, L. (2005). Gender and Ageism. Generations, 29(3), 19-24

Sir Gawain in Transition Essay - 1379 Words

Sir Gawain in Transition Sir Gawain has played a significant role in Arthurian legends since the Middle Ages. His first major appearance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight depicts Gawain as a warrior rather than a womanizing knight like others from King Arthurs court. Even in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain focuses on his battle with the green knight rather than the advances of Bercilaks wife. During Gawains visit to Bercilaks castle, his wife makes three specific advances to entice Gawain into an adulteress relationship. Although Gawain faces certain death with the Green Knight, he declines any sexual involvement with Bercilaks wife. Gawains character remains faithful to his†¦show more content†¦Initially the woman saves Arthurs life by giving him the correct answer to a riddle posed by Sir Gromer Somer. Somer says Fyest thow shalt swere upon my sword broun, Toshewe me attthy comyng whate wemen love best in feld and town. (Wilhelm 470) Because King Arthur offers Gawains hand in marriage in exchange for the correct answer, Gawain is forced to marry the loathly lady. After Arthur explains the promise that he has made to the woman, Gawain answers Ys this alle? then sayd Gawen. I shall wed her and wed her again, Thoughe she were a fend: Thoughe she were as foulle as Belsabub, Her shalle I wed, by the rood; Or elles were not your frende, For ye ar my kyng with honor, (476). Gawain maintains the loyalty he is well-known for when he agrees to marry Dame Ragnell to preserve Arthurs life and honor. After Gawain marries Dame Ragnell, she asks him to shew me your cortesy in bed.. Gawain says I wolle do more /Than for to kysse, and God before (482). As Gawain turns toward his new bride she transforms into a beautiful woman who says thus shalle ye me have; Chese of the one, so God save me (My beauty will not hold): Wheder ye wolle have me fayrw on days, And as foulle on days to alle men sightes, or els to haveme fayre on days, and on nyghtes on the fowlyst wyfw; Chese the one or the oder, (482). Gawain puts the decision in her hand and lets her decide.Show MoreRelatedSocial Tension and the Pantheistic Call back to Nature As illustrated in â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight†945 Words   |  4 Pagesdefined pre-Christian England since man first inhabited the island. These ideas contrast strongly with the Christian â€Å"justifications for dominating nature† (Kline 3). â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† highlights this social/religious transition and conflict through the Green Knight and his juxtapositions throughout the tale with Sir Gawain. 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