Charles Dickens Hard Times :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Charles Dickens' Hard Times When we think of hard times in today’s world, our thoughts might consist of the number of days before we get paid, an argument with our spouse, or simply that our car is not operating so great these days. Most people today can not begin to imagine what hard times were like during the Industrial Revolution. In nineteenth century England, hard times to the factory workers may have consisted of watching one’s nine-year-old child tied to a machine in the mill for fourteen hours a day. It is no wonder why the writers of this period protested society through the voices of their writings. One of the greatest of these writers was Charles Dickens, who made his voice of protest through a literary masterpiece known as Hard Times. There are many aspects of Hard Times, and Dickens manages to capture what life was like for all of the social classes of his day through each individual character with his protests against the horrible ways in which people were treating one another i n the times that truly were hard. Dickens put a great deal of thought and research into all of his works, just as he did in Hard Times. As one writer states, â€Å"He visited Preston to get material for the industrial and trade-union aspects of the novel; a few weeks latter he began to collect circus slang† (Collins 29). He latter obtained the Educational Board’s series of questions for the examination of teachers in schools. On April 1, 1854, Hard Times appeared in a weekly journal, Household Words, which Dickens edited. Some people believe that Dickens â€Å"was determined to create a means where he could communicate his ideas on social reform so in 1850 he began editing Household Words† (Ford 16). One author states that â€Å"by 1851 the twenty-four page Household Words was selling 40,000 copies a week† (Gray 2). The weekly journal included articles on politics, science and history. To increase the number of people willing to buy Household Words, it also contained short stories and humorous pieces. Dickens also used the journal to serialize novels that were concerned with social issues such as Hard Times. The scene is a factory driven English town known as Coketown. The novel begins in a classroom where we meet Mr. Gradgrind, a wealthy parliament member, to whom the school belongs. Charles Dickens' Hard Times :: GCSE English Literature Coursework Charles Dickens' Hard Times When we think of hard times in today’s world, our thoughts might consist of the number of days before we get paid, an argument with our spouse, or simply that our car is not operating so great these days. Most people today can not begin to imagine what hard times were like during the Industrial Revolution. In nineteenth century England, hard times to the factory workers may have consisted of watching one’s nine-year-old child tied to a machine in the mill for fourteen hours a day. It is no wonder why the writers of this period protested society through the voices of their writings. One of the greatest of these writers was Charles Dickens, who made his voice of protest through a literary masterpiece known as Hard Times. There are many aspects of Hard Times, and Dickens manages to capture what life was like for all of the social classes of his day through each individual character with his protests against the horrible ways in which people were treating one another i n the times that truly were hard. Dickens put a great deal of thought and research into all of his works, just as he did in Hard Times. As one writer states, â€Å"He visited Preston to get material for the industrial and trade-union aspects of the novel; a few weeks latter he began to collect circus slang† (Collins 29). He latter obtained the Educational Board’s series of questions for the examination of teachers in schools. On April 1, 1854, Hard Times appeared in a weekly journal, Household Words, which Dickens edited. Some people believe that Dickens â€Å"was determined to create a means where he could communicate his ideas on social reform so in 1850 he began editing Household Words† (Ford 16). One author states that â€Å"by 1851 the twenty-four page Household Words was selling 40,000 copies a week† (Gray 2). The weekly journal included articles on politics, science and history. To increase the number of people willing to buy Household Words, it also contained short stories and humorous pieces. Dickens also used the journal to serialize novels that were concerned with social issues such as Hard Times. The scene is a factory driven English town known as Coketown. The novel begins in a classroom where we meet Mr. Gradgrind, a wealthy parliament member, to whom the school belongs.

Angel in the House Essay -- essays research papers

Coventry Patmore believed his wife Emily was the perfect Victorian wife and wrote "The Angel in the House" about her. Though it did not receive much attention when it was first published in 1854, it became increasingly popular through the rest of the nineteenth century and continued to be influential into the twentieth century. The Little House series reflects what Patmore originally wrote and strongly believed. â€Å"The Angel in the House† theme is both introduced and intertwined throughout the series. It begins in The Little House in the Big Woods and continues to reveal itself throughout The Little House in the Prairie, thus giving to audience a view of nineteenth century culture. Patmore wrote that â€Å"Man must be pleased; but him to please is woman's pleasure.† This common concept of the nineteenth century reveals itself in this stanza. Women held one position in society, and it held constant throughout the eighteen hundreds: Please man. Ma, in The Little House series, is a prime example of the â€Å"Angel in the House.† Ma is always there for Pa. She realizes that he provides and she obeys. Ma, in The Little House in the Big Woods, had a schedule for each week. .She washed on Monday, Ironed on Tuesday, Mended on Wednesday, Churned on Thursday, Cleaned on Friday, and Baked on Saturday. On top of those chores, Ma prepared food and tended to Pa and the children. There wasn’t a day for Ma’s needs and desires. Ma presents herself as the stereotyp...

Graduation Speech: Go Where There is No Path -- Graduation Speech, Com

My fellow classmates, the magic word today is commencement. This is the big finale to a hectic, overwhelming yet no doubt unforgettable four years at County High School. Robert Frost once said: "The best way out is always through," and similarly we have also learned in our math classes that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. There will always be an infinite number of paths we can take to arrive at a desired destination. Yet, the decision we make to continue looking ahead, instead of behind or around, is ultimately what determines how quickly we will get there. As seniors, we have successfully traveled "through," and though our paths have not all been identical, they have indeed taken us to the same place, our graduation. In retrospect, high school will fondly be looked upon as a time of memories or a time of discovery. Yet, when it's a gorgeous day in June and one happens to be a student plagued with a severe case of senioritis, "Show me to the nearest exit" "Get me outta here!" is a little more accurate. Whatever you may be feeling right now, I'm sure...

The Portrayl of Women in the Media and the Effects it has on Young Girls

Young girls of today’s society are being severely negatively affected by the portrayal of women in the media. With the media playing a large role in young girl’s body images, more and more girls are having a negative image of themselves. They believe they are not sexy and attractive enough according to society’s standards. As a result of this they try to make themselves perfect and go to ridiculous extents to try and make that desire a reality. Girls will even decide to not pursue interests because they believe them to be unattractive and unsexy.The media’s blatant disregard for the real female physique needs to be dealt with quickly before it gets too far out of hand. Being exposed to the media daily through television, magazines, and advertisements, young girls base their body image largely off of media. The problem, however, is that the media displays unrealistic body images of women. Heavily photoshopped pictures in magazines are seen as the ideal body type, and women in movies and television shows are airbrushed to perfection. Along with the unrealistic beauty that women in the media hold, they are often dressed and posed in a provocative manner.On many magazine covers, women are seen with little to no clothing on, with only the lettering of the magazine title stamped across their chests to cover their exposed breasts. With these images constantly being shown in nearly every aspect of their lives, young girls create the illusion that they must look like these women in order to be considered â€Å"feminine† and â€Å"sexy.† Young girls begin to believe that their self-worth is based solely off of how they look.The inaccurate portrayal of women in the media would not be a problem if young girls were not trying to model themselves after these women. As a result of the unrealistic women in the media, young girls are often dissatisfied with their own bodies. This dissatisfaction can begin at a  surprisingly young age. A university of Central Florida poll (2006) found that fifty percent of 3 to 6 year olds worry that they are fat. Another study (2008) of 819 boys and 791 girls, ages 14 to 16, revealed that a far higher percentage of the girls were ashamed of their bodies than the boys. They revealed that they constantly monitor their weight, what they eat, and how often they eat. This constant policing of their bodies can potentially lead to unhealthy habits.Girls try to make themselves look like these â€Å"perfect† women in the media, and often times they put being â€Å"sexy† or â€Å"feminine† above their own health. They resort to strict diets as young as eight years old. Young girls with dress according to what the media portrays as â€Å"sexy† and â€Å"feminine,† even if it is clothing that is considered too provocative and mature for their age. With young girls putting their desire to be sexy above their own health, the portrayal of women it the media c an lead to serious ill effects.Often times this obsession with their body image can lead to eating disorders such as bulimia, a disorder where a girl purges her stomach immediately after eating, or anorexia, another disorder where a person will outright refuse to eat anything. They will be hospitalized for such disorders, and yet they will still find themselves to be unattractive in their own eyes. The media has drastically harmed the self-esteem of young girls.Along with needing to become â€Å"perfect,† young girls are not pursuing their own interests for the fear that it is â€Å"unsexy† and â€Å"unfeminine† according to the media. A study done by the Women’s Sports Foundation (2011) found that six girls drop out of sports for every one boy by the end of high school based on the sole reason that they feel it doesn’t make them look â€Å"sexy.† Another study done by the Women’s Sports Foundation (2011) found that twenty-three perce nt of girls between the ages of elven and seventeen don’t even attempt to play sports they may be interested in because they believe that it would be â€Å"unfeminine† of them to try.The media tells young girls that they should be into activities such as fashion design and modeling, putting emphasis on professions that show off their bodies and not their intellects. While modeling and fashion design are perfectly acceptable job professions, the problem lies in the fact that activities such as those are  the only ones being portrayed as acceptable in media. Young girls are getting the message that to pursue any typically male dominated activity would be â€Å"unfeminine,† and therefore would make them seem unattractive.Despite women making up half of the world’s population, we still live in a male dominate culture were women can be portrayed on unrealistic Barbie dolls in the media. This portrayal is having ill effects on the young girls of future genera tions. Media is playing a progressively larger role in a girl’s body image than ever before, and with the unrealistic images they are shown they being to be dissatisfied with their own bodies. Young girls begin to worry about being sexy and attractive at ages as young as eight years old, and worry about being fat as young as three. As a result of their dislike for their own bodies, young girls begin to try and make themselves â€Å"perfect.†They will starve themselves and work out, almost to an unhealthy extent. Putting this desire to be sexy above their health, some girls even develop eating disorders because of the unrealistic images they compare themselves to. Along with never finding themselves to be beautiful, girls will even deprive themselves of pursuing their interests because they believe them to be â€Å"unfeminine.† The unrealistic portrayal of women in the media needs to put to an end before the situation that young girls are put in gets any more out of hand.

Finding my father

My clothes felt like a cold, damp extension of my body, as I lay panting on the floor. Blood, water, sweat, I wasn't sure what it was. At this moment, I was just glad to be alive. As I attempted to pick myself up off the rough asphalt, I felt a warm liquid well up in the depths of my throat, as I retched onto the ground. Oddly, this wasn't how I normally felt at 11am on a Thursday morning. My name is Alex Watson. Alex was after my father, a man who I heard a great deal about, but never met. My mother was only a college girl when she met my father. He was dead before I was born. When I asked my mother about it, she got angry, or said she was tired, anything to avoid my questions. In the end, I just had to get on with my life. I moved to New York, into an apartment block which encapsulated the bleak misery of city life. You eventually learn to block out the sirens, gunshots and screaming. About a year ago, I got an urge to discover who my father was, beyond the facade of distorted facts my mother decided to disclose to me. For some reason, I needed to know. I needed to know the truth, and seeing as nobody was going to tell me, I decided to look for myself. The task turned out to be the proverbial needle in the haystack. The problem with my father was, he liked to keep a low profile. So much so that, until I was sixteen, I had no idea what he did for a living. Anything I did find out about him was on a need to know basis. Discovering my father wasn't going to be as easy as I first imagined. Home was not exactly an awe-inspiring. My roommates where cockroaches, and a stray cat who I had named Takeshi. These more than minor inconveniences allowed me some pleasures, such drowning my sorrows in â€Å"The Manhattan†, a bar so close to my apartment that I could wander out if it drunk and fall into my bed†¦or at least the floor. This was my escape, my salvation from the nine to five drudgery of my life. I was never good at working in boxes. I worked as a retail technician for a major electrical appliance company. I answered phone calls from people whose children had put jam sandwiches in their VCR's, or people phoning me asking why the cup holder on their new computer was broken. I was supposed to respond to them in a cheerful, knowledgeable manner, but most of the time I had to concentrate on not screaming and slamming the phone down. However, their phone calls did break the monotony of staring at a prefabricated cardboard wall, rules and codes of conduct staring at me in the face. I felt trapped. I felt like I needed to escape, a release from my life. It's probably normal to, at some point or other, question your existence on this planet. Why are you here? What's so special about you? In my case, I took a long hard look at myself, and found nothing. Nada. Jack shit. I could find no real reason for me to be on this earth. And to be completely honest, this didn't surprise me. I had always been decidedly average. My only sense of purpose was finding the truth about my father, but to do that I needed money, and to get money I needed to work. Unfortunately, as I've already stated, my job was like a nine to five lecture on the art of watching paint dry. What I needed was a miracle. What I got was a blessing in disguise. â€Å"Sir, you can't stay here, it's public endangerment!†. I can't say I ever heard these words, my drunken demeanour, as well the cacophony of the halted cars horns, prevented them from reaching my ears as I wandered down the middle of a road. I tripped over my own feet, and landed back first. â€Å"Back owf!† I warned, â€Å"I'm armsed!†. I swung my whiskey bottle wildly, until it flung off and hit the floor. â€Å"Crap† I murmured before passing out. Two hours later, conscious and sober, when I was informed of the events, I can't say I was surprised. My excuse? I was bored. However, when I told this to the police, they were less than impressed. I was expecting them to throw me into one of their first class, luxurious cells for the night, and maybe, if I'm luck, beaten to a pulp for saying I supported the wrong football team. But if I've learnt anything, it's that life's a bitch, and you never get what you want. Simply a clip round one ear and a â€Å"Don't do that again!† in the other. Jesus, my mother gave me better telling off than that when I was seven! Slightly disheartened at the state of the judicial and law enforcement services, I made my way towards the door, and the unbearable natural light of the afternoon. As I did this, I glanced over at the desk. She was there. The woman who arrested me last night, when I decided to take a walk on the wrong side of the road†¦figuratively and literally. Suddenly, I felt something I hadn't expected. I felt a twinge of guilt. It was a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time, not since before I started destroying my mind with drink. I felt guilty for what I had done, I felt like I needed to apologise. I crept over to the desk, unsure of what to say, but sure of what to do. â€Å"Excuse me miss. Er†¦I just..er†¦wanted to say that†¦er†¦I'm sorry about last night.† Normally I'm a little more articulate than that, but the effects of last night's binge hadn't quite worn off. â€Å"That's ok.† She said, as her face broke into a smile. It was at this point I noticed something that had escaped me last night, (possibly because my eyesight was in a less than perfect state). This woman, smiling at me from behind the desk, was beautiful, not in a catwalk super model kind-of-way, which had never appealed to me, but in a regular, every day kind of way. Her smile was kind and gentle, and her deep brown eyes sparkled in the hazy mid-day sun. She was stunning in a subtle way. I was falling for her, and I could feel it. Her smile broke as she spoke again, â€Å"Normally, I get a nasty sneer off people, and that's off the nice ones. But I could tell you were different, even when I first saw you.† Her face broke into a smile again, and I just hoped I wasn't staring at her. â€Å"I don't know†¦I just knew you where different.† I returned the smile, the first real smile I had had in months. â€Å"Thank you. Hopefully, I'll see you around.† She smiled at me, â€Å"Hopefully not under the same circumstances, but we can live in hopes otherwise.† As I walked out of the door, the painful brightness of the midday sun couldn't dampen my mood. I was no closer to finding my father, but maybe a step closer to finding myself.

Developing Yourself as an Effective Learning and Development Practitioner Essay

The knowledge that HRPs in Band 1 show or demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals of training and learning needs analysis at the organisational and individual levels but it ensures that the activities are carried out effectively and to / with the right level of knowledge. With my organisation it is imperative that I know the organisation is structured, what products and services the organisation provides to enable the understanding about the way the company works and objectives it has. This is to ensure the service provided is accurate and effective. He/she also has to have knowledge of relevant employment l and discrimination law to minimise risk within and to the organisation. The Serco HR and L&D manager must demonstrate their knowledge about how to collect and collate cost data and how to analyse feedback from training programmes in order to demonstrate a return of investment. HRPs in Band 1 must be someone who is driven to deliver as they need to actively plan, prioritise and monitor key performance (KPI) areas of each employee in order to prompt employees when training opportunities that are in line with and when their personal development arises which should be reflected within the staffs’ appraisals. They must also need to work effectively at all levels within the organisation and work closely with external training providers for example:- Chartered Management institute, Northbrook and Chichester College. Behaviours The behaviours required the L&D practitioner to deliver a successful service. The team needs to be clear, accurate and positive when communicating messages within the organisation but in a way that also motivates all staff to perform their job roles well. Also under the heading of behaviours it is very important that the L&D manager and his/her team needs to have a fair un-biased view and be non-discriminatory at all time but, be assertive, curious and have the confidence to challenge but most of all be approachable to colleagues and managers and lead by example and act as a role model to others. www.cipd.co.uk/cipd.hr.profession/hr.profession-map/example.map.aspx Activity 2 – Understand customer needs (including examples of 3 different customers and 1 need for each, and explain how you would priorities conflicting needs) Customer Needs It is important that the Serco HR practitioner provides a timely and effective service. Therefore; the he / she must understand each of their customer’s needs and how to prioritise them in accordance to urgency but, also how to manage the customer’s expectation. Table 5:- 3 examples of three customers: needs- Customer Needs Customers’ needs Customers are:- 1. Participants (Learners, Candidates or Students) of the training programme 2. The training development coordinator 3. Line Managers, supervisor of the L&D practitioner practitioners time urgent information regarding training results from training analysis 1. All three customers may need the L&D practitioners time, this need may happen where by the customers may wish to see the Practitioner at the same time. This might cause a conflict where the L&D Manager may have to prioritise which is more important and what needs are to be addressed urgently and which could be handled later 2. The L&D training coordinator and facilitator may need to see urgent information regarding the training from the Lead L&D practitioner. 3. The L&D supervisor may need to see and speak to the L&D practitioner to know whether the training has achieved its intended results from training analysis 2.2:- Effective communication (include: examples of three different communication methods and the advantages and disadvantages of each) Effective Communication The examples of 3 different communication methods together along with the advantages and disadvantages of each are listed below in Table 6:- Communication Methods: Advantages & Disadvantages

Relationships between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

The play â€Å"Macbeth† by William Shakespeare is about cruelty, greediness, and desire of undeserved power. Actually, the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both representative of the abovementioned qualities. Relationships between Macbeth and his wife are complex and tangled; moreover, they are changing over the play progress. Their relations play important role in the play as they aim at setting necessary atmosphere, creating moods, attitudes and feelings. It is seen that their relations aren’t perfect, though they stay with each other till the end: Macbeth: â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon†.  Lady Macbeth: â€Å"Was the hope drunk wherein you dress'd yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale at what it did so freely? From this time; such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor; Letting â€Å"I dare not† wait upon â€Å"I would,† Like the poor cat i' the adage?† (Act I, scene II) Apparent disagreement is seen in the family and it continues throughout the play. Lady Macbeth is horrifying in her ruthlessness and cruelty, whereas she calls her husband a coward when he decides not to kill Duncan stressing that his decision is final and shouldn’t be discussed any more. In contrast to Macbeth, his wife is decision and leads everything to the end. She always makes her mind and only then acts. Lady Macbeth is provided with the power of persuasion and we see that she is more powerful than her husband as she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan and he agrees. So, relations of the couple are based mainly on Lady’s Macbeth will as she is natural leader, whereas he husband is simply executor. Macbeth is presented to listen to his wife in such a way admitting her leadership and intellectual superiority. Nevertheless, their relations are based also on the sense of openness and mutual trust. It is hardly believable that Lady Macbeth talks her husband into murdering a person and their relationships are worsening as the mood of love is replaced by hatred. Macbeth is timid and fearful failing to go on: Macbeth: â€Å"I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not.† Lady Macbeth: â€Å"Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil. If he does bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt†. (Act II, scene II) Nevertheless, their relations are on the peak only when Macbeth becomes a king and they are filled with joy and happiness. They are shown to free of guilt and full of love and desire of more power. They are happily discussing the number of guests from Scotland to be invited to the feast. Their relations are improving and now they are loving family rather than guilty murders. However, there are pure evil, despite they are wrapped up in a luxurious exterior. Premeditated murder is the first step into darkness and Macbeth and his wife have taken in without stopping. As far as they are free of guilt, they are agreeable and happy together. They are both presentation of masculinity in the play. They think if they are happy, their evil would turn around and â€Å"nip them in the butt†. Only after Macbeth experiences a tale of woe, his attitude towards wife is changing. It is evil which comes back and haunts him. Then Lady Macbeth is visited by Banguo, the ghost, who creates the feeling of discomfort and urgency to act: Macbeth: â€Å"Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that which might appall the devil?† Lady Macbeth: â€Å"O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear: This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, led you to Duncan. O, these flaws, and starts, – Impostors to true fear,–would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all's done, you look but on a stool†. (Act III, scene IV) Lady Macbeth supports and defends her husband. When she sees that her husband is ready to reveal everything, she lies to honored guests protecting her secrets. She loves her husband and in her speech we see she is really downcast and uncomfortable, though she is still full of love. Together they are trying to fight against the sense of guilt, the rumors supporting and nourishing their love. There are shown as united and bonded couple and it may seem that evil is succeeding. It is necessary to outline that relationships between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are directly affecting their actions, decisions and behavior. In other words, they are interconnected not only by family ties, but also common secrets. Their relations are the block of the whole play. When they are getting into detailed conversation, they always find mutual decision, though it is not a good one. Macbeth loves his wife and his life is mutual; they always try to please each other. Sometimes they relations are on the peak, though sometimes they meet the flat line. Macbeth is obsessed with greediness and Lady Macbeth is overfilled with desire to make her husband a king. So, their mutual support results in catastrophe for the country of Scotland. In the end we see that Macbeth becomes obsessed with greediness more than his cruel and demon-infested wife. He even doesn’t talk to her making Lady Macbeth commit suicide. Even then the evil in Macbeth is flourishing and he simply doesn’t notice that his beloved woman has gone. Shakespeare shows that Macbeth is on his stairway to the hell collapsing the whole empire built by Duncan. Macbeth is left alone: soldiers and his trust companion abandon him. It seems that Macbeth should feel ashamed and guilty, though he is obsessed with evil. So, desire of power and money splits up their family relations. Evil and darkness appears to be more powerful than love and happiness. Works Cited Damrosch, David. Longman Anthology of World Literature. US: Longman, 2004. Greenblatt, Stephen. Renaissance Self Fashioning: From More to   Shakespeare. US: Chicago Press, 1984. Shakespeare, William. Plays and Poems. London: Spring books, 1966. Taylor, Edward. Literary Criticism of 17th Century England. London: Universe, 2000.