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how does hitchcock create suspense and shock?

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:41:52 GMT

HELLO! CAN YOU PLEASE CHECK MY ESSAY ACCORDING TO SEA PARAGRAPHS (sTATEMENT, eVIDENCE, aNALYSE)?

âHow does Hitchcock create Suspense and shock?â

Alfred Hitchcock is known as the âmaster of suspenseâ and a great innovator. He has three films in the Top Ten of the American Film Instituteâs top thrilling films. âPsychoâ, made in the year 1960, was number one. Hitchcock always uses suspense and tension to shock his audience. He does this by using cinematography very well by the way he uses the camera position, angles, movement and shots. He also uses scary music and lighting when he wants to shock his audience or create suspense.

Hitchcock misleads his audience to create shock in âPsychoâ. At the beginning of the film, we see Marion Crane and Sam Loomis in the bedroom together. By seeing this, we think this is a love and romance story. After Marion steals the money from her boss, we then believe the genre of the film is about crime. However, the genre of this film is not about romance or even crime. In fact, this movie is a thriller and the main character, Marion, dies a third way through the film. This is unexpected because she is the main character of the film and not a bad person. Another shock is when we discover that Norman Bates dresses like his âmotherâ in womenâs clothing, which the audience finds strange and weird.

False suspense makes shocks more shocking because we never know what will happen. Hitchcock creates false suspense in a number of ways. When Marion has been sleeping in the side of the road in her car, a cop comes and wakes her up. The audience feels tense and wonders if she is going to get caught with the $40,000. Marion is very nervous and we are afraid if the cop is going to search her bag. Her uneasy behaviour adds to the tension. The copâs sunglasses also add to the tension because he is staring right at Marionâs face, and Marion feels guilty and anxious.

Another moment of tension is when the cop follows Marion. We think that he realises that Marion is up to something. There is a slight low angle close up of the copâs car in the rear-view mirror of Marionâs car where she nervously watches him following her. The eyelevel medium shot of the car in the rear-view mirror, allows you to see him following, which is a reflection of the copâs car. Hitchcock builds tension by cutting between Marion and the cop.

Hitchcock also creates false suspense when Marion goes to a second-hand car dealer. The cop has an eye on Marion, but she does not know that he is there. We do see the cop so there is a moment of tension. She is doing things that you will not usually expect, such as being panicky and in a rush, which all builds to tension. While the mechanic pulls her car in to inspect it before selling her a different car, she is shocked when she spots the suspicious cop. Although she is aware that the new car she will be buying could be identified, Marion quickly and foolishly decides to buy it. Her nervous behaviour makes the surprised, car dealer wonder why she is forcing him to sell the car to her. She nearly leaves her bag behind, which is a false shock. We expect that Marion is going to be stopped by the cop, but luckily, she does not get caught with the cash.

Another false shock is when, Lila, Marionâs sister, screams when she sees her own reflection in the mirror in âmotherâsâ bedroom. She screams when she sees herself in many reflections in an opposite long mirror, but is relieved that the frightening image is only of herself.

You can only have a limited number of shocking moments to shock people because the few shocks give more impact. If there are too many shocks, then the audience gets used to it.

There are only three shocks in âPsychoâ: when Marion is killed in the shower; Milton Arbogast, the detective is stabbed by âmotherâ; and the discovery of âmotherâ by Lila. Hitchcock creates suspense and shock when Arbogast tries to interview âmotherâ. He quietly enters the front door of the house, takes off his hat, and then stands for a moment in the hallway. He begins to climb up the long steep staircase to the second floor. We feel a bit tense and afraid that something may happen to Arbogast because he is inside a sinister-looking house on top of a hill. Using a tracking shot, the camera follows him from behind to a tracking, high-angled shot in front of him as he climbs up the stairs so he looks vulnerable and small. A cut to the top landing, using an eyelevel close up shot to show a crack of light appear on the floor through the slowly opening door of a bedroom, creates tension as if âmotherâ is behind the door who will see Arbogast and attack him. When he reaches the top step, Hitchcock cuts to a birds-eye-view shot and the high-pitched, screeching music starts to create a shock when Arbogast is attacked at the top of the stairs, in a bird's-eye-view shot, by âmotherâ coming from the bedroom. He is stabbed to death in the face and blood flows out of his face when Arbogast falls backwards down the stairs to the floor. âMotherâ chases after him and gets on top of him; the knife goes up into the air for another strike before the scene fades to black. However, this is not the first shock of the film.

In the shower scene, we experience the first big shock in âPsychoâ. At the start of the shower scene the audience follows Marion into the bathroom. We see her undressing to have a shower. It is very quiet and we can just hear her taking off her gown. The shot is an eyelevel medium close up which makes us feel uncomfortable because we are close behind a naked woman and following her, which seems like we are intruding into this private space. We are looking straight at Marionâs bare back and upper body which makes us feel like Norman, when he was watching her undress through a hole in the wall. Like Norman, we are voyeurs and are intruding into this private space. Hitchcock then cuts to an eyelevel medium close up of Marion in the shower and we watch her cleansing and washing herself, like she is washing away her sins and guilt. We notice that Marion is very relaxed and happy because she is going back to Phoenix to pay back the money she has stolen. Hitchcock cuts to a low angle close up from Marionâs point of view of the water which looks like it is coming down at us, straight and sharp from the shower head which creates a moment of tension because, at the moment we cannot hear anything except for the running water, and this may distract us and Marion if someone is nearby. However, Hitchcock then cuts to an eyelevel medium close up in which we see Marion rinsing herself. This is a realistic shot because the camera is on the bathroom floor on the side of the shower watching Marion and we can see her calm facial expression, so we relax as well as Marion. We think nothing bad is going to happen to her because no one else is in her room and the bathroom and everything seems quiet except for the running water. This is also a private hotel.

Hitchcock then creates suspense by using dramatic irony. He uses an eyelevel medium long shot in which there is a dark shadow on the left, or dominant, side of the screen. Marion is in a completely private place, but in this shot we know that there is someone behind her, while Marion does not. The camera is in front of her, placed inside the wall, and Hitchcock makes us feel uncomfortable and tight as if we are trapped in the shower with Marion. As she is showering, through the translucent shower curtain, we see the door open. With her back to the shower curtain, we can spot a shadowy figure coming from behind. Marion does not hear the killer because of the water falling on her and her hair is soaked by the water so she appears to be small and vulnerable on the right side of the screen with her back to the shower curtain. We see the bathroom door open and we spot a shadowy figure coming from behind. We feel tense because the figure may harm Marion. The shock comes when the dark figure suddenly tears the shower curtain and shrill high-pitched music begins from sharp shrieking, violin strings. The shrill music plays a large part in creating absolute terror as does the silhouette of the figure that is revealed because the face is shadowed and we cannot see it. The killer is on the left or dominant side of the shot and is very dark; light can only be seen on the right side. The killer is holding a knife towards the right bottom corner of the frame where we last saw Marion, so we feel tense and terrified for her.

The shock continues with a close up of Marion screaming. The blurring of the image by the water makes Marion appear less human and everything happens fast. The close up shows her first reaction to the murderer and to intensify this Hitchcock cuts to an extreme close up of Marionâs mouth as she is screaming loudly. Next, Hitchcock uses a low angle medium shot of the killer who is dominating the centre of the screen. Hitchcock uses shadow to make the killer appear dark and horrific. The killer then starts to attack and we hear sound effects of stabbing. In reality, the sound was made by stabbing a melon. Hitchcock then cuts to a high angle medium shot of Marion to make her look weak and vulnerable. She is in one corner of the frame and the knife is in the space. The knife is blurry because it is moving very fast and Marion is in the corner backing away. The tile wall is trapping her behind and she is very exposed. The attack goes on and on and we keep hearing stabbing sounds of the knife. Hitchcock then uses a high angle close up of Marionâs feet so we can see the blood being washed away from Marionâs body, which creates the impression that Marion is dying because she is losing large amounts of blood and looking very weak. The killer leaves and Marion slowly dies. Hitchcock uses an eyelevel close up of Marionâs hand trying to hold on to the tile wall. She is trying to hold on to her life. This is the aftermath of the shock but there is still tension because there is nothing we can do and slow and low-pitched music starts to create a sad atmosphere.

Marion slowly slides down with her back against the wet, slippery shower wall, while looking up and the camera follows her slow fall. We feel guilty because we are unable to help. We then see Marion stretch her hand out to grab the shower curtain but it comes across as if she is stretching her arms towards us, for help. We want to help Marion but it is impossible so we must just watch her fall so we feel powerless. Then Hitchcock cuts to a birdâs-eye-shot where the shower pole divides the screen in half, which seems like we are directly watching what is happening down in the bathroom. Marion holds onto the shower curtain and pulls it down from its hooks one by one onto herself, which is a diegetic sound and now the slow and low music stops. Then we can just hear the water running from the shower, which tells us that the attack is over and Marion falls to the floor, dead. After that, Hitchcock cuts to a high angle extreme close up of the dark plughole, which is sucking up the water and Marionâs blood which suggests that Marion's life has gone down the drain. The shot dissolves to an extreme close up of Marionâs eye where we can see drops of water which seem like she is crying, which creates an atmosphere of sadness. There is great difference between Norman's 'peeping tom' eye and Marion's dead eye because Marionâs eye looks completely innocent, but Norman was using his peeping eye to watch her undress. Then the camera zooms out to her upper body which becomes a tracking shot where the camera turns and tilts as if we are standing up. We feel sorry and very guilty for Marionâs death as we were unable to stop this terrible attack, so when we leave the bathroom we are basically leaving Marion.

In comparison, in âThe Birdsâ, Hitchcock uses several shocks, perhaps maybe ten or more. Some of them are shocks with no suspense such as when the gull pecks Melanieâs head; the attack by the birds at the childrenâs party; and when the sparrows come down the chimney and attack Mitchâs house. There are also shocks with suspense: the school attack; when Annie is dead; the gulls peck the farmerâs eyes; the petrol station scene; the attack on Melanie in the attic and the huge number of still birds at the end of the film. He does this to shock his audience again and again.

Hitchcock also creates dramatic irony and tension in âPsychoâ when we see the shadow of âmotherâ in the shower scene. Hitchcock also creates dramatic irony in âThe Birdsâ in the climbing frame scene. Here, we see Melanie smoking outside the school, sitting on a bench in a medium long shot. She is calm. There is a long shot of the school and an establishing shot of birds in the sky. We can hear children singing, which sounds normal. There is then a cut to a medium long shot left of the climbing frame behind Melanieâs head (in the right corner of the frame) that dominates the shot to show it is empty. We see one bird land, and Hitchcock builds suspense as he cuts between Melanie looking relaxed and a shot of the climbing frame with four to five birds. Then he cuts back to Melanie before cutting to the climbing frame with fifty birds. Then again he cuts to Melanie still smoking and watching the birds. A cut to the climbing frame which is now full of birds creates shock which Hitchcock develops shock when Melanie looks behind her and sees them. Hitchcock cuts to a high angle long shot as she rushes to the school, which makes her seem vulnerable because then there is a cut to a low angle as the birds start to attack. Both of these attacks are extended and constant.

Hitchcock also uses slow suspense such as when Arbogast and Melanie climb up the stairs in âPsychoâ and âThe Birdsâ respectively. He also uses the stillness of the birds as a collective and then shock. There is the shock of sharp objects in a close up, for example, the knife in âPsychoâ and the beaks in âThe Birdsâ.

In âPsychoâ, Hitchcock creates tension by mainly using music which sounds unnatural, and also shock with the exception of the diegetic sounds in the shower scene. In contrast, he only uses diagetic sounds in âThe Birdsâ such as when the birds are squawking and making noise for tension, Hitchcock also uses silence (the absence of sound) to make the audience feel uncomfortable, for example when we see the broken cups in the farmerâs house. The sounds during the attacks in both films are sharp, harsh, strange and disturbing which build shock because they make the audienceâs heart beat.

At the end of âPsychoâ, there is a resolution. The killer, Norman, is in prison and is punished. However in âThe Birdsâ, there is a cliffhanger as the birds win and the humans flee. The film is unresolved, so it creates tension among the viewers. âPsychoâ is in black and white, which makes it more sinister and frightening for example, the blood in the shower scene looks realistic, even if it was chocolate syrup. Also lighting is used to create shock. For example, in the fruit cellar, the body of 'âmotherâ is brought to life, revealed by the dead bodyâs crazily laughing face, with its eyes moving, lively and brought back to life by the light. The eyes of the corpse that stare at Lilaâs direction appear realistic but they are indeed dead. This can only happen in black and white, as it involves shadow. In contrast, âThe Birdsâ is mostly in colour so it seems less scary and happier at first. However, the blood looks artificial to us because it is bright red. A better use of how Hitchcock used colour was the fire which looks extremely terrifying and dangerous because it is bright orange and yellow, which would not have the same effect in black and white. However, there is a change of the use of colour at the end of the film when it is mainly black and white because of the colour of the birds and also because it is night which creates tension and a sinister atmosphere.

The killers in both films were realistic but strange and unexpected. The story starts in the city, but mostly set in a small rural town where the character is unfamiliar so the audience has sympathy for them. Also the small town is supposed to be safer, but is surprisingly dangerous. The main characters in both films are blond, stylish beautiful women, both motivated by a love interest. Hitchcock uses experts for both films. In âPsychoâ, there is a psychologist who comes at the end and explains Normanâs condition, which is the resolution. The car is pulled out. There is no more tension. In âThe Birdsâ, an ornithologist woman gives information about birds and their behaviour. In âPsychoâ, Norman's hobby is stuffing dead birds and other animals. The birds are, of course, a constant image in âThe Birdsâ.

At the beginning of âThe Birdsâ, we think this is a romantic comedy, when Mitch flirts with Melanie and the lovebirds move side to side in the car, while Melanie is driving in her car. This seems funny as birds do not normally do that. âPsychoâ, however has nothing to do with comedy. In âPsychoâ Marion is serious and poor whereas Melanie is cheerful, spoilt and rich. Both films are misleading because it starts as a romance. In âPsychoâ, Sam has left his ex-wife and now wants to stay with Marion, but he cannot afford to support her economically, so they are both unhappy. In âThe Birdsâ, Mitch too had a previous lover, Annie but now lives with his mum, Lydia and younger sister, Cathy. Both films are a thriller and become dark and sinister. Hitchcock misleads us to make the shocks more shocking.

Hitchcock creates suspense and shock in the way he uses cinematography: camera position, angles, shots, colour, lighting, sound and music. For example, in âNorth by Northwestâ, Hitchcock creates a scene of suspense and shock in the plane scene. There is an extreme long shot of the sky and cornfield and Cary Grant who looks small and helpless, stands waiting. Then a plane tries to attack him. There is a long silence, and he looks for the plane engine. A truck approaches and Hitchcock uses the camera from Caryâs point-of-view of the truck coming closer until it is an extreme close up of the grill of the truck. This creates shock as the grill is coming towards Grantâs face and ours. There is a point-of-view shot of the plane. A close up of Grant shows us he is shocked and a cut to a long shot of the plane coming towards him builds tension. Grant dives under the truck and then there is a great big shock, when the plane crashes into the truck which is leaking petrol and there is a terrific explosion.

In my opinion, I believe Alfred Hitchcock was outstandingly excellent at creating suspense and shock in a number of ways especially in the shower scene, as we know âmotherâ is coming from behind, but Marion doesnât since her back is facing the shower curtain. I preferred the film âPsychoâ as it was more successful in creating suspense and shock, since the film was made in black and white. This made it seem darker, scarier and creepy.

Re: in whatever sense

Palinkasocsi — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:22:44 GMT

Well, I am writing an essay and my original sentence is this:

"Rather than attempt to develop yet another 'omnipotent' theory of verbal irony, I will make generalizations about cognitive operations underlying the representation of most discourse irony."

In my usage, 'omnipotent' has two senses:

1. covering all instances of verbal irony
2. covering all forms of irony (verbal, dramatic, etc.)

This is what I mean by 'in whatever sense' - including 1. or 2. above

P.

Nineteen eighty four - Author Techniques.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:53:36 GMT

Well, I have to write an essay based on the prompt being : Assess the contribution of 3 different techniques an author (Geroge Orwell) uses to reveal theme

I am having a difficult time creating a thesis and intro on it.

This is what I have so far...

In the Novel nineteen eighyt four, George orwell touches on many disturbing aspects of being under the control of a totalarian regime. George Orwell used various techniqus such as symbolism, irony and foreshadowing to develop the theme of the powerful control of the governement over individuals in Ocenia.

It doesn't quite sound right...Please help. I am in desperate help.

I apperciate it.

Ballad, Porphyria's Lover, To His Coy Mistress and My Last Duchess

SamW — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:51:22 GMT

Basically, I have been set a piece of coursework: to compare the aforementioned poems. I am going for an A* piece at GCSE level, there is no particular question, just to compare the four poems. I have almost completed My Last Duchess, mentioning all the themes I can think of and reading the topics on here for extra guidance. However, I could do with some guidance on how to compare the four as a whole. I'd appreciate it if someone could help me out, heres the essay I have written thus far:

Love poetry can be manipulated to affect the reader in numerous ways; the reader can empathise with the poem, the reader can be inspired by the sentiment of the poem, the reader can attempt to emulate the actions of the characters, the consequences of reading a stirring love poem persist. One aspect that all love poetry has in common is the way in which it can engross the reader in its world and engage with their emotional side. They achieve this by using a number of devices and several genres are used to conjure up vastly varying types of emotions: anger, amorousness, longing, and disgust amongst others. One of the foremost genres is that of the dramatic monologue â in which a character delivers a speech explaining their feelings, actions or motives. I will be analysing three starkly differing dramatic monologues: âMy Last Duchessâ, âTo His Coy Mistressâ and âPorphyriaâs Loverâ. Another variation of love poetry is that of the ballad; a timeless art form that is significantly popular to this day. A ballad tells a dramatic story in a direct style, focussing on a single story; repetition is a particularly commonly used convention in ballads. Ballads are traditionally anonymous, and the poem I am analysing is no different: âBalladâ. âMy Last Duchessâ is written from the perspective of a duke who is on the verge of marrying the Countâs daughter and is conversing with the Countâs servant. His previous Duchess was murdered by the Duke himself and the speech could be interpreted as self-justification by the Duke as he attempts to defend his questionable philosophies. âBalladâ is a direct story told through the perspective of a young woman. The lady has fallen in love with a shepherd; unfortunately, it transpires that the man is dishonest. This is revealed when the shepherd impregnates the young woman and flees; his promises unfulfilled. The resolution is minimal at most, the female being left to contemplate suicide. The dramatic monologue has several different forms in itself; the two remaining poems showcase this perfectly. Despite the fact that they are completely different in theme, atmosphere and tempo, they retain the conventions of a dramatic monologue. âTo His Coy Mistressâ is a classic literary piece by Andrew Marvell. The poem is written through the eyes of a male, attempting to âswoonâ his prospective lady into falling for him and consequently, into bed. The male argues, then counter-balances his argument and then concludes, concluding that, surprisingly enough, she should go to bed with him. The last of the quartet is âPorphyriaâs Loverâ, the poem is told through the perspective of a madman sitting with his lover. Porphyria, the woman he loves, comes to his cottage and tells him she loves him. The madman wants to immortalise the moment forever, so he strangles her with her own hair. From the moment âMy Last Duchessâ begins, one can tell that the Duke is an incredibly possessive man. This is reinforced by the opening line, âThatâs my last Duchess painted on the wall.â This epitomises his attitude towards possessions of any kind. One could draw parallels with the overbearing Duke and Porphyriaâs lover, both extremely domineering and possessive. This is exemplified by the quote in âPorphyriaâs Loverâ, when the lover is on the verge of killing his woman, âThat moment she was mine, mine.â This epitomises the loverâs attitude, he is so desperate to own her that he kills her. Robert Browning conveys this obsessively possessive character by using repetition of the phrase, âmineâ. The theme of obsessive and possessive love on behalf of men is clearly at the forefront of Browningâs mind, portraying similar leading men in both of the poems. The Duke is speaking formally to a social inferior, as emphasised in this quote, âWillât please you sit and look at herâ¦Strangers like youâ¦â This insinuates that he is a polite, pleasant man who treats all social classes similarly hence making the revelation of him murdering his last Duchess all the more shocking. The domineering aspect of his character is re-enforced with the quote, âsince none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I.â This embellishes the fact that he sees himself the only one worthy of certain duties. Furthermore, he is clearly happier with the portrait of his wife, âas if aliveâ than he was with the woman when she was living. He is such an authoritarian that anything that he cannot order or control, whether it is art or people, will suffer the consequences. The poem is organised into rhyming couplets, not dissimilar to âBalladâ and âTo His Coy Mistressâ. However, âPorphyriaâs Loverâ does not use rhyming couplets; this may be due to the fact that Browning was looking for an unpredictable rhythm to reflect the unpredictable storyline. The couplets are used in the relative poems to keep a steady sense of rhythm and to keep the stories moving along at a stable pace. Moreover, Iambic pentameter is used throughout the poem to keep the poem flowing as the readers discover the gradual revelation of the speakerâs true nature. As the poem proceeds, it becomes clearer that the Duke is the epitome of excessive, aristocratic pride. This is accentuated by the quote: âAs if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybodyâs gift.â He is suggesting that she is inferior to him and should cherish the fact that she was allowed to marry him. The quote also carries connotations that he is extremely proud of his heritage and the last duchess didnât respect the name; she brought shame to the family. The line also emphasises how aloof he is, which is also supported by the ensuing line; âWhoâd stoop to blame?â He uses stoop to emphasis how lower class she was in comparison to himself. âMy Last Duchessâ uses archaic language, analogously to âBalladâ, as exemplified by the use of the phrase âforsoothâ (âHer wit to yours, forsooth, and made excuse). âBalladâ possesses a multitude of examples of such language using phrases such as âtheeâ, âthyâ and âthouâdstâ. The two poems use this anachronistic language to invoke different sentiments. âBalladâ uses antiquated language to emphasise the âtypical fairytaleâ aspect of the poem and to engage with the readers by evoking the style of older speech â it is aiming to retain the original essence of a poem. âMy Last Duchessâ uses archaism to accentuate the aloof aspect of the Dukeâs character. Despite the fact that the Duke has murdered the last Duchess, he clearly does not acknowledge, or perhaps understand, the direct consequences of his actions. This is implied heavily by the final three lines in which he points out another piece of art, a statue of Neptune â âNotice Neptune, thoughâ¦cast in bronze for me!â The exclamation mark confirms the fact that he is as proud of a statue and as excited of this Roman god as his wife. This implies that he does not realise the consequences of his actions, simply negating her as part of his collection. This sentiment is echoed in âPorphyriaâs Loverâ, in which the madman does not realise the corollary of the murder he has so harshly committed. This is supported by the phrase, âI propped her head up as before.â This statement conveys the fact that he does not recognise the significance of his actions; treating his dead love exactly the same as his living love. The two males in âTo His Coy Mistressâ and âMy Last Duchessâ may have vastly differing personalities but they both view women in a similar light. The duke and the seductive lover have a certain attitude towards women; they both see women as objects, the only difference being that they view these objects through different perspective. The Duke in âMy Last Duchessâ is a supercilious, impertinent man; his status and wealth meaning more to him than love as showcased by the line âWhoâd stoop to blame this sort of trifling?â He believes that the late Duchess was of a lower class, thus tainting their love, implying that he is more perturbed with lack of status than lack of love. He is a megalomaniac, who is jealous about his ex-wife not giving only him her attention. The speaker in "To His Coy Mistress" seems like a respectful man, the speaker is articulate - an important attribute considering he is attempting to seduce the woman. He uses his way of words to flatter her, but we then learn that he only wants her for pleasure rather than love; he adopts a false persona of love as another technique to lure her. This is exemplified by the change of tone in the first to second stanza, the second stanza assumes a threatening tenor â emphasising a void-like image to win his lady â âAnd yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternityâ. This phrase epitomises the way in which the male attempts to manipulate the woman by conjuring up images on the topic of void if she was to reject his advances. The Duke patently feels that his last Duchess did not correspond with the expectations of an archetypal Duchess. An exemplary Duchess would be cold and calculating; avoiding affection like the plague. However, the Duchess did not, in the Dukeâs eyes, demonstrate these traits, as portrayed by this quote â âShe thanked men, - good! But thanked somehowâ¦as if she ranked my giftâ¦with anybodyâs gift.â The Duke is accusing the Duchess of being too affectionate, an attribute not welcome for a Duchess. Furthermore, the Duke surmises that the Duchess is too easily pleased, as showcased by this line in the poem â âToo easily impressed; she liked whateâer she looked on.â This illustrates (in the Dukeâs opinion) the fact that she is too âfriendlyâ and easy to please, particularly when dealing with males. However, it is extremely palpable that the Duchess is simply being friendly and the Duke is unable to understand his wifeâs warm nature. This attitude is reinforced when the Duke struggles to describe his wifeâs kind-hearted personality: âShe had a heart â how shall I say â too soon made glad?â This quote illustrates the fact that he cannot understand that aspect of his wifeâs personality; he expects much colder behaviour from his Duchess. Despite the fact that the Duke is, as he put it, âdisgustedâ with the Duchessâ behaviour. She is described as a lovely free being; freedom is portrayed in the quote: âshe liked whateâer she looked on, and her looks went everywhere.â This quote depicts the Duchess as an impulsive, free soul. However, the Duchessâ free spirit is juxtaposed by the restrictive nature of the Duke as rendered by âI choose never to stoop,â and âI gave commands.â This suggests that the Duke is attempting to restrict the Duchess from being her spontaneous self. It seems that he failed and due to his authoritarian nature, he decreed that she should be murdered. The Duchess is represented as a beautiful person, both physically so and by nature. She loved nature, as emphasised by her association with the imagery of a sunset, a âbough of cherriesâ and her âwhite muleâ. The Duchess is shown as physically attractive â âthe faint half-flush that dies along her throat,â â not dissimilarly to the ladies in âTo His Coy Mistressâ and âPorphyriaâs Loverâ. The woman is clearly beautiful in the seductive poem âTo His Coy Mistressâ as conveyed by the use of doting similes (âThou by the Indian Gangesâ side shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain.â) He uses this imagery to compare her to an exotic river whereas he is an uninteresting English river. The technique is used to lavish praise upon the beautiful woman, portraying her as glamorous and beautiful; akin to the Ganges. âPorphyriaâs Loverâ uses a beautiful lady to emphasise the surprising (and brutal) nature of the death and juxtapose the madman thus creating a sense of paranoia on behalf of the lover. The gracious beauty of Porphyria is emphasised by the repetition of her âyellow hairâ and her âsmooth white shoulderâ. Beauty is used in the two murderous poems to juxtapose the leading men thus creating a sense of wonder. Splendour is used in âTo His Coy Mistressâ to intensify the efforts and give further cause to the leading manâs attempt to seduce the lady. Alliteration is used in âMy Last Duchessâ (âdropping of the daylight.â, âyour masterâs known munificenceâ) to maintain a rhythm and perhaps for the Duke to flaunt his eloquent speaking ability. The poem is written in heroic couplets with almost continuous enjambment; this technique gives the poem a conversational style â essential for creating a rapport between the reader and the Duke. Browning uses dramatic irony to illustrate the dukeâs manipulative and callous character towards the end of the poem, as he refers to the girl he wants to marry as âmy objectâ (the Duke does not realise how much he is revealing about his personality throughout not only this quote, but the whole poem).

The Duke is the epitome of possessive, arrogant egotism.

...and that is as far as I have got. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the lack of paragraphs, when I copied and pasted the essay from word, it seemed to get rid of them.

Re: My last duchess

Feebs11 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 01:33:52 GMT

-First I want to describe the situation (who is speaking to whom, that the Duke is looking for a new wife, that he killed his last one)

-than I want mention that we don't just read this in our text but have to read it between the lines.

-I would say that we have to read between the lines because the poet uses all kinds of irony (verbal irony, structural irony,....)

-this irony shows the tone of the poem

-then my thesis statement: something like:
through various kinds of irony we can ~~read between the lines~~infer that the duke killed his last duchess and we can interpret him telling this on purpose as a warning towards his future wife.

Looks as though you are going in the right direction. Fine here to use idioms such as "read between the lines", but don't use them too often in your essay.

Post the essay when you have written it for more comments!

Re: "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst essay help! T.T

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:26:23 GMT

I dont know what i am doing, but I have to also do a report on how the Scarlet Ibis symbolizes Doodle, and in my introductory paragraph i have to state 2 themes that relate to my topic. I already have the theme irony and i cant think of another one. Can you please help me?

English essay - Please help!

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 02:42:34 GMT

HI!

I Have just finished a analytical essay, and i would be really glad if someone out there could help me correcting it! It would mean a lot! Thanks! ( My essay below)

The first edition of the short story âThe Tell-Tale Heartâ was first released in 1843. This was the start of a new time epoch, which took effect in appliance to creative writing world wide. The short story triggered a big debate in the US at that time and caused a great stir.

Approximately 50 years later, another astonishing short story was published in one of the USâs biggest newspapers. This was written by Charlotte Perkins Gillman 1899. Those two short stories appeared to be quite similar in several ways. Both fall under the genre of horror and include a main character suffering from psychological disorders. The authors are using different techniques as repetition, and symbolism to create suspenseful and informative content in the stories. These techniques are waking the curiosity up inside you, which makes the readers just want continue read the story to its very end. But what are really the similarity and differences in these two stories? How do they effect the impression of the readers? Well, letâs find out!

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Gilman is delivering her story through a mentally ill woman, in similarity to Edgar Allan Poeâs short story âThe Tell-Tail Heartâ. They are both using this technique to create insecurity to the readers which is a good twist in a short story. This type of twist makes the readers perplexed since they canât really trust the narrator completely.

One difference between those two stories is that in âThe Tell-Tail Heartâ it is clear from the beginning that the protagonist has some mental problems, while it is a almost impossible to tell that the protagonist, the main character, suffer from mental diseases in âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ. This has a greatly effect on both of the story since Perkins Gillmanâs story is harder to interpret in the beginning, which of course makes the whole story very interesting. Especially to experience the protagonists turn from being an ordinary woman who appear to be normal, to be a total freak, as you can se in the end of the story when she is crawling on the floor. The fact that we already from the beginning knows that the man in âThe tell ale heartâ suffer from mental disease tells us that something cruel is to be expected. One other interesting thing in Poeâs story is that he uses an excellent way of telling the story through a madmanâs perspective. It is almost as if the man is having a conversation with the reader, and as he is telling the story right then directly to the reader. That makes the readers feel involved in the story.

In the very first sentence, the madman is actually asking a question to the readers; ââ¦but why WILL you say that I am mad?â. Charlotte, on the other hand, has written the story as in a diary, which means that we just get to know what the protagonist wants us to know. She can therefore easily leave out important facts and happenings that happens somewhere between her diary entries. As a result of the diary structure of the story, âThe yellow wallpaper â encloses more detailed descriptions than âThe Tell-Tail Hartâ does, which is more focusing on the mans obsession.

Charlotte Perkins Gillman is using a lot of metaphorical language and symbolism in her short story. For example, she is using the yellow wallpaper to describe and symbolizes her own situation and the woman behinds it as herself. The wallpaper is almost like a mirror that is reflecting her own life. She is also using small metaphorical descriptions as for example when she is describing the yellow painted walls in the room she is living in. The yellow color on the wallpaper is describing minority, infancy and oppression. This metaphorical language creates suspense and gives us more information of her angle of approach of her mental condition. The fact that both authors chose to write their stories in first person perspective greatly impacted in the suspense of the story. It makes the stories more exhilarating and unexpected. The theme of those two stories is also separating from each other. The theme in âThe tell ale heartâ can be seen as âyour fear of being caught can actually lead to the direct oppositeâ, while the theme in âThe Yellow Wallpaper" discusses that the theme of the treatment of a mentally ill patients and the vision of a woman at that time, should be changed. Also that the treatment they used destroys patients instead of getting them better.

Charlotte Perkins Gillman uses irony to create a concealed moral. The insane woman in the story writes in her journal (which also is the story) âJohn laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.â. That is a perfect stereotype sentence of irony in the story. The woman uses irony to say something with a hidden message. The hidden message in this case is that a husband that laughs at his wife is not to except in a good relationship. Also her husband is not a pleasant and caring husband, even if she is telling the exact opposite in the written text. Edgar Allan Poe, on the other hand, are using repetitions to emphasize all those creepy occurrence that the protagonist committing, for example when he is talking about his nervousness as in the subsequent quote. âTRUE! Nervous, very, very dreadfully nervousâ¦â.

Poe is also using repetitions to create more tension to the story and also to show that the protagonist is definitely out of his mind since all those small repetitions are showing the readers how pretentious and accurate this man seams to be, which I already in the beginning started to suspect that something wrong with this man. Poe is also using sound patterning a several time to emphasize and to illustrate the things he is doing. An example of this is when he hears the unbearable noise in his head, âIt was A LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND -- MUCH SUCH A SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELOPED IN COTTONâ. The man really describes the sound carefully and emphasize it with writing the most important part of the sentence in capitals.

On more differences between those to stories are the time perspective. âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ occurs during a few months while âThe Tell-Tail Heartâ occurs under just a several days.

Edgar Allan Poe is even using a small piece of hyperbole in his story, for example when he found the old mans âvulture eyeâ, as a reason to take the old manâs life.

Charlotte Perkins Gillman is also using the main character, the insane woman, as a symbol for innocent and actually also as a symbol for herself. It is legible that Gillman is trying to bring out this woman as a victim for her husbands treatment, - she is just doing as he tells her, which I definitely not blame her for.

Both Charlotte Perkins Gillman and Edgar Allan Poe are accordingly using mentally ill main character, Metaphorical language, symbolism to create an anxiously and suspenseful atmosphere from the very beginning to the very end of their controversial piece of art. Even though, the stories are very individual and different from each other in many ways, as I mentioned earlier in this essay.

This are just two made up stories, (even if some people consider âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ as a story of Charlotte Perkins Gillmanâs own life and experiences) written a long time ago, but events like this could still actually take place since there has and always going to be mentally ill persons that are capable to do almost everything for actually no reason. Even if the treatment of a mentally ill persons has changed a lot since 1899 (the time when âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ was written) wrong treatment of patients still exists due to ignorance. So the relevance that this kind of happening actually could take place is terrifying big.

Re: An essay on William Shakespeare's "Spring." Any advice?

Shadowpool — Wed, 10 May 2006 07:37:26 GMT

Thank you for helping me! After realizing how incorrect my essay was, I rewrote it. Is this version any better? I'm a little unsure of the quotes, colon, and semicolon usage. If anyone has any more advice on how I might improve my essay writing I'll give you hug!

    âCuckoo, cuckoo!' O word of fear. . .â The song of the cuckoo is man's nightmare brought into the context of real life. It is a song of betrayal, a song of irony, and of lost hope to be heard in the otherwise perfect sound that is âSpringâ by William Shakespeare.

    With the onset of spring, a hiccup of life is to be experienced, and in this livelihood a darkness awaits the married men. Echoing through the images of colored flowers and peaceful meadows, whispers of unfaithfulness bring dread to the men who suffer uncertainty. âCuckoo, cuckoo!â   It's the song of a woman who makes a fool of a man. A man who unknowingly provides for his wife's illegitimate offspring. A dream of the darkest type to those unlucky men with doubts: betrayal in the highest.

    The lady cuckoo, free to roam as her eggs lay in another nest, voices her tone with relish. Her sound is pleasing to those unknowing men; a shrill cry to men who have been broken or cursed with uncertainty. When the cuckoo speaks, only the man who doesn't know is own wife is startled; however, it is the surest men who cry the hardest when their wives break their vows.

    To the broken man, betrayed by his wife but afraid of divorce, the utterance of the cuckoo is a solemn one. To him it is a reminder of the fierce nature of things. The female bird calls out to him as if it were too dominating him and mocking his situation. She brings no console or hope, only his embarrassment and uncertainty. A husband of an unfaithful wife hears no love in the words of the cuckoo.

    âWhen daisies pied and violets blue . . .â âSpringâ begins with words of life. These words send the reader to a place foreshadowing the possibilities of spring. The possibilities are naturally infinite, but the elegance of the situation is brought to attention at the introduction of the married man mocked by the cuckoo. William Shakespeare gave the foreboding tune of this bird eternal understanding in his poem âSpring.â

Help! "comparing the presentation of attitudes to Women

Rawbeef — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 14:21:07 GMT

I really need help with this assignment. I really don't understand how poetic devises refer to the presentation of attitudes towards women in Godiva.

I am pretty hopeless as english is not my first language and i need help structuring my essay as well

any help is much appreciated

1. The men, what are they like, quotations, language, their status

2. Expectations of women, touching on whether or not the envoy planned to leave

:3. Poetic devices

Here are the poems:

My Last Duchess

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf's hands

Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

Will't please you sit and look at her? I said

"Fra Pandolf" by design, for never read

Strangers like you that pictured countenance,

The depth and passion of its earnest glance,

But to myself they turned (since none puts by

The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)

And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,

How such a glance came there; so, not the first

Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not

Her husband's presence only, called that spot

Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps

Fra Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle laps

Over my lady's wrist too much," or "Paint

Must never hope to reproduce the faint

Half-flush that dies along her throat": such stuff

Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough

For calling up that spot of joy. She had

A heart---how shall I say?---too soon made glad,

Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.

Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast,

The dropping of the daylight in the West,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace---all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

Or blush, at least. She thanked men,---good! but thanked

Somehow---I know not how---as if she ranked

My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name

With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame

This sort of trifling? Even had you skill

In speech---(which I have not)---to make your will

Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this

Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,

Or there exceed the mark"---and if she let

Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set

Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,

---E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose

Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,

Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;

Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands

As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet

The company below, then. I repeat,

The Count your master's known munificence

Is ample warrant that no just pretence

Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;

Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed

At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go

Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,

Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,

Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

Godiva

I waited for the train at Coventry;
I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge,
To watch the three tall spires; and there I shaped
The city's ancient legend into this:

Not only we, the latest seed of Time,
New men, that in the flying of a wheel
Cry down the past, not only we, that prate
Of rights and wrongs, have loved the people well,
And loathed to see them overtax'd; but she
Did more, and underwent, and overcame,
The woman of a thousand summers back,
Godiva, wife to that grim Earl, who ruled
In Coventry: for when he laid a tax
Upon his town, and all the mothers brought
Their children, clamoring, "If we pay, we starve!"
She sought her lord, and found him, where he strode
About the hall, among his dogs, alone,
His beard a foot before him and his hair
A yard behind. She told him of their tears,
And pray'd him, "If they pay this tax, they starve."
Whereat he stared, replying, half-amazed,
"You would not let your little finger ache
For such as these?" -- "But I would die," said she.
He laugh'd, and swore by Peter and by Paul;
Then fillip'd at the diamond in her ear;
"Oh ay, ay, ay, you talk!" -- "Alas!" she said,
"But prove me what I would not do."
And from a heart as rough as Esau's hand,
He answer'd, "Ride you naked thro' the town,
And I repeal it;" and nodding, as in scorn,
He parted, with great strides among his dogs.

So left alone, the passions of her mind,
As winds from all the compass shift and blow,
Made war upon each other for an hour,
Till pity won. She sent a herald forth,
And bade him cry, with sound of trumpet, all
The hard condition; but that she would loose
The people: therefore, as they loved her well,
From then till noon no foot should pace the street,
No eye look down, she passing; but that all
Should keep within, door shut, and window barr'd.

Then fled she to her inmost bower, and there
Unclasp'd the wedded eagles of her belt,
The grim Earl's gift; but ever at a breath
She linger'd, looking like a summer moon
Half-dipt in cloud: anon she shook her head,
And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee;
Unclad herself in haste; adown the stair
Stole on; and, like a creeping sunbeam, slid
From pillar unto pillar, until she reach'd
The Gateway, there she found her palfrey trapt
In purple blazon'd with armorial gold.

Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
The little wide-mouth'd heads upon the spout
Had cunning eyes to see: the barking cur
Made her cheek flame; her palfrey's foot-fall shot
Light horrors thro' her pulses; the blind walls
Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead
Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: but she
Not less thro' all bore up, till, last, she saw
The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field,
Gleam thro' the Gothic archway in the wall.

Then she rode back, clothed on with chastity;
And one low churl, compact of thankless earth,
The fatal byword of all years to come,
Boring a little auger-hole in fear,
Peep'd -- but his eyes, before they had their will,
Were shrivel'd into darkness in his head,
And dropt before him. So the Powers, who wait
On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misused;
And she, that knew not, pass'd: and all at once,
With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon
Was clash'd and hammer'd from a hundred towers,
One after one: but even then she gain'd
Her bower; whence reissuing, robed and crown'd,
To meet her lord, she took the tax away
And built herself an everlasting name.

âCompare the Presentation of Attitudes to Women in âGodivaâ and âMy Last Duchessâ

These two poems were written by Lord Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning both in the 19^th century and they both share some key points about attitudes to Women. The men in both plays also are key characters in both poems because what we learn from them helps us learn a great deal about attitudes towards Women.

The husbands of both these women depict a lot about Godiva and the last duchess. The Duke criticises the Duchess as âtoo soon made glad, too easily impressed,â and does not give a thought for her feelings whatsoever. This is the same in Godiva. The âgrim earlâ laughâd, then fillipâd at the diamond in her earâ when Godiva argues to get rid of the tax. This is also an example of how the men treat the Women as objects, how the Earl can do what they want to Godiva. This is also evident in âMy Last Duchessâ. The Duke treats the Duchess as he treats his portrait. He treats the Duchess as an object to âsit and look atâ and âthe curtain I have drawn for youâ is an example of how the Duchessâs presence can be removed whenever the Duke wishes toâ and an example of the Duke treating the Duchess as an object. There is the repeated use of âsheâ and âherâ to describe the women but never by their first name unlike the men who are described as the âEarlâ and âDukeâ. The Husbands in both poems seem to have a higher status than the women. The Earl âlaughâdâ and âparted, with great strides among his dogsâ at Godiva when she suggests to remove the tax, which shows that Godiva asks upon the men for change and the Earl has no respect for her as well as his power. The Dukeâs evidence for status and established power is shown when he describes âhis gift of a nine-hundred year old nameâ. The Duke and Earl also appears to be more sophisticated and knowledgeable than the women in the poems, with the use of perfect iambic pentameter, sophisticated language and more cultural shown when he calls one of the Duchessâ acquaintance as an âofficious foolâ and the use of the word âmunificence. The Dukeâs evidence for status and established power is shown when he describes âhis gift of a nine-hundred year old nameâ All these attributes of the men seem to make women inferior apart from already being treated as inferior.

The Women in both poems are treated like sex objects. The Duchess flirts with other men, âher looks went everywhereâ and the men would âdraw from her alike the approving speechâ. Godiva is described in much detail when she undresses such an example seen when she âshowerâd the rippled ringlets to her kneeâ, Lord Alfred Tennyson seen using alliteration to emphasize ârippled ringletsâ.

Even though the Duchess is described as âA heart . . . how shall I say? . . . too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate'erâ, effectively an unfaithful, cheating wife, Browning uses irony to reveal that actually the Duchess had compassion, modesty, humility, delight in simple pleasures, and courtesy to those who served her. This is unlike in Godiva. Godiva does not have the respect of everyone, the peeping tom in the poem âhad cunning eyes to seeâ which was disrespectful when Godiva was riding around, and only after she removed the tax away she gained the respect of the peasants and âbuilt herself an everlasting nameâ.

Literary essay Advice

Meliss D — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:28:31 GMT

Hi, uh I just wanted to know if anyone read the poem "my last duchess" by robert browning, and if you did, what you think of my litterary essay, thx!

My Last Duchess

In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" there is irony which is that it really is not about the duchess, but instead about the controlling, jealous, and arrogant nature of the duke. In his monologue describing a painting of his former wife, the duke introduces us to his dark and sinister qualities.

The duke shows off his control in the beginning parts of the poem. In his speech he says, "since none puts by/The curtain I have drawn for you, but I". Here he says that nobody but him has the power to display the painting. But this is obvious and didn't need saying, since the painting is in his home and he owns it, of course he is the only one who would draw the curtain to display it. He only adds this statement to highlight his control. As the poem progresses, we find more mention of the duke's love of control and realize that it is a very important thing to him. This line also is important because it shows that the duchess (now in the painting) is under complete control of the duke and can only be seen by others when he wishes it.

It was the lack of control and jealousy that the duke felt over his wife that caused him to kill her. "She had/A heart--how shall I say?--too soon made glad,/Too easily impressed" The duke felt that his wife was too appreciative of the attention that other men paid her. He did not openly accuse her of adultery, but condemned her flirtatious behavior. He claimed, "all and each/Would draw from her alike the approving speech,/Or blush, at least" To the duke, it seemed as if every man who passed his wife obtained a special, intimate reaction. The duke wanted his wife to smile at no one but himself.

Near the end of the poem he describes what happened when his wife continued to share her affection;

Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.

The duchess' smiles to the other men brought out an anger in the duke so powerful that he gave commands to have her killed. His jealousy came from the lack of control he felt he had over his wife. Now that she was dead and existed only in the painting, he could have absolute control over her.

The arrogance of the duke was best shown by subtle comments that he made throughout his speech. He sneered at the idea that his former duchess could rank "My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/With anybody's gift".Here, the duke made it sound as if he was being generous when he agreed to marry his wife. He felt that she should have recognized more clearly what a wonderful gift he had given her. Just a moment later, he reasserts his superiority by stating that "I choose/Never to stoop".The duke feels that he is too important to even be bothered with small annoyances. He will not stoop to the lowness of asking his wife to stop a behavior that is obviously upsetting him. Instead, he orders someone else to kill her because even the act of killing her is beneath him. Even in statements that on the surface appear to be humble, the duke furthers his arrogance. He says, "Even had you skill/In speech--(which I have not)--"There is a great deal of irony in this line because the duke's claim not to have skill in speech is said in the middle of a speech expertly constructed. He chooses words that express his authority and his education along with what he was trying to say. The duke knows that he has great skill in speech and he also knows that the emissary knows this. He is only saying that he does not possess skill in speech because he knows that his audience will not believe him. His show of modesty is merely an illusion

In Conclusion, the further you read this poem the more the Duke begins to reveal his true nature. Even though the Duke speaks as though he is giving praise to his untimely departed wife, he is merely telling the emissary,as well as the readers, of her imperfections in his eyes and hints to his own behavior. Infact, everything he says about his duchess reveals more of him than it does her