Dramatic devices and events used by Miller Essay Example for Free

Dramatic devices and events used by Miller Essay Youre the Devils man! When Mary finally buckles under the weight of Abigails power over her and her intelligent reaction to the situation- the accusation against Mary of witching her, she blames Proctor of witchcraft, thus condemning the whole of Salem to madness, and taking away the lives of Proctor and many other innocents. This event marks the end of any possibility of sanity in Salem, and is ruinous for the once peaceful town. The other accusation in this act is the blame placed on Abigail by Proctor that Abigail is a whore. Even though it would seem the most far-fetched and outrageous claim made in this act, it is the only truthful one. The courts justice fails to grasp this concept though, so the lies win the struggle once again. Act 3 holds the best chance Salem has had of being released from the hysteria and madness that has accumulated and multiplied, feeding upon the accusations and lies that have been propagated, but this glimmer of hope is extinguished, and the truth is once again suppressed and shunned. The truth of the girls fraud is suppressed. From the very beginning, when Proctor first speaks out against the court, Danforths questioning techniques attempt to intimidate Proctor, thus trying to suppress the truth, because his dialogue is imposing, inflexible and intimidating, thus preventing the one person who holds the key to the release of Salem, the one person who knows and can tell the truth, from doing so. If I must answer that, I will leave and not come back again. The other character key to suppressing the truth is Abigail, because she is harnessing the power of the witch trials to eliminate Elizabeth, to clear the path to her lust for Proctor, she also has an intimidating dialogue, because hers is indignant, and at times, even threatening, cleverly making out that she is innocent. She acts the part of a girl who is shocked and indignant at the charge against her, making the charge seem entirely false, when in reality it is completely accurate. She pretends to be indignant at the questions, to avoid answering the questions that Danforth poses to her, and even threatens to leave the court, showing her growing power over the adults in Salem. She also keeps looking at Mary, and uses the apparitions of the yellow bird and the icy wind, to force Mary back to her side, once again suppressing the truth from one character that could be the end of the lies. She chatters her teeth and shakes, to make the apparitions seem even more realistic. There are also events in Act 3 that also show the suppression of the truth, such as Danforth and Hathorne questioning Proctor to try to suppress the truth. In order to try to dispose of the threat that Proctor begins to pose in Act 3, Danforth and Hathorne exercise their power to invade his privacy. Even though Proctor has not yet been formally accused of witchcraft, Danforth and Hathorne, like Hale earlier, question him about his Christian morals as though he were already on trial. They hope to find in his character even the slightest deviation from Christian doctrine because they would then be able to cast him as an enemy of religion. Once thus labelled, Proctor would have virtually no chance of anyone in God-fearing Salem intervening on his behalf, therefore suppressing the truth. The court created for the witch trials was commonly believed by the villagers to be created by God. Therefore the upholding of this court becomes essential to the maintenance of social order in Salem. There is a big decision to be made by the judges in this act- to maintain social order and suppress individuals freedom, or to submit to the truth, thus condemning Salem to chaos and their reputation to breakdown. Some dramatic devices in this act are used to emphasise the issue of the decision between maintenance of social order or the truth. When Judge Danforth enters, the rest of the characters including Cheever and Parris trail him. This positioning of characters emphasises the authority that Danforth possesses. On his appearance, silence falls, again showing his power and authority as high judge of the court. He has the power to suppress the truth or to give justice, to take away the lives of innocents, or to heal Salem of the wounds it has suffered. Let you consider it then. When Hale says this sentence, the room falls silent as Proctor hands Danforth the warrant. This is a dramatic climax, when Danforth is considering Proctors evidence. This is a fulcrum, where the verdict could go either way-where social order could be maintained, or Proctors individual freedom could be granted. The silence is broken only by Marys sob, showing the importance of this moment. I have evidence for the court! we have proof for your eyes The desperate attempt by Giles, Proctor and Francis to save their respective wives exposes the extent to which the trials have become about specific individuals and institutions struggling to maintain power and authority-social order versus individual freedom. Danforth and Hathorne do not want to admit publicly that they were deceived by a group of girls, while Parris does not want the trials to end as a fraud because the scandal of having a lying daughter and niece would end his career in Salem. Because of this, Danforth react to Proctors claims by accusing him of trying to undermine the court, which, in theocratic Salem, is tantamount to undermining God himself. The issue that youre ones name is important to one, and that some are willing to die for it. There are many contextual links and quotes, from plays, books and even the bible, stating that name is important to a man. Good name in man and women, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls; who steals my purse steals trash; tis his, and has been slave to thousands; but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed This quote form the play Othello by Shakespeare shows that a name is important to a man, more important than his money or possessions. I quit this court! The stage direction of Hale slamming the door after quitting the court from which he was part of, ruins his good name and relinquishes the power he held, because he realises the injustice and lies that are holding the court up. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name shall liveth for evermore. This quote from the bible, of St Matthew, Chapter 44, verse 9 says that if someone is dead, but has not left a name behind them, it means that they have not sinned and their name shall live on forever. Giles acted upon the same principle in this act-I cannot give you his name. Giles refuses to name someone else just so he can keep his own life, and dies for the cause. Proctor in this act also does not defile his name, because he does not confess to witchcraft when prompted, so is thrown in jail with a death sentence. He instead speaks the truth-that Salem has pulled down heaven and raised up a whore. In conclusion, in Act 3 of the crucible, Miller uses dramatic devices and events to highlight the key issues of the play, and, indeed, of the time, highlighting the problems and issues with Puritanism and the way of life in those days, and highlights the paranoia and hysteria that flourished in Salem at the time. He realises the irony of the trials, that they were supposed to be Gods will, but people were in fact using religion to their own ends. By Luke Worley (9T) 2915 words. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Black Thursday Stock Market Crash Essay -- American History, Great Dep

In early 1928 the Dow Jones Average went from a low of 191 to a high of 300 in December of 1928 and peaked at 381 in September of 1929. 1929Â…) It was anticipated that the increases in earnings and dividends would continue. (1929Â…) Price to earnings ratio's rose from 10 to 12 to 20 and higher for the market's favorite stocks. (1929Â…) Observers believed that stock market prices in the first 6 months of 1929 were high, while others saw them to be cheap. (1929Â…) On October 3rd, the Dow Jones Average began to drop, declining through out the week of October 14th. (1929Â…) On the night of Monday, October 21st, 1929, margin calls were heavy and Dutch and German calls came in to sell overnight for the Tuesday morning opening. (1929Â…) On Tuesday morning, out of town banks and corporations called in $150 million of call loans, and Wall Street was in a panic before the New York Stock Exchange opened. (1929Â…) On Thursday, October 24th, 1929, people began to sell their s tocks as fast as they could., sell orders flooded market exchanges. (1929Â…) This day became known as Black Thursday. (Black ThursdayÂ…) On a normal day, only 750-800 members of the New York Stock Exchange started the exchange. (1929Â…) There were 1100 members on the floor for the morning opening. (1929Â…) Furthermore, the exchange directed all employees to be on the floor since there were numerous margin calls and sell orders placed overnight, extra telephone staff was arranged at the member's boxes around the floor. (1929Â…) The Dow Jones Average closed at 299 that day. (1929Â…) On Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, the crash began. (1929Â…) Within the first few hours , the price fell so far as to wipe out all gains that had been made the entire previous year. (1929Â…) This day the Dow Jones... ...cial reports were reliable. After the crash, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established to law down the law and to punish those who violated. (1929Â…) Also during the crash 4,000 banks failed, for the simple fact that the banks ran out of money. Four years later, congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which essentially banned any connection between commercial banks and investment banking, to ensure that is would never happen again. The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators have softened some of the Act's separation of securities and banking functions by letting banks sell certain securities through affiliated companies. (1929Â…) Bibliography 1. c Black Thursday: The 1929 Stock Market Crash. www.letsfindout.com. 2. 1929 Stock Market Crash. www.arts.unimelb.edu. 3. 1929-1931. Annals of America. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. Volume 15: 32-39

Compare the ways Harper Lee and RL Stevenson present towns of Maycomb and London in their novels Essay

Harper Lee and Robert Louis Stevenson use two very different towns to provide the setting for their novels. Harper Lee sets â€Å"To Kill A Mocking Bird† in Maycomb in the Southern states of America in the 1930s. Robert Louis Stevenson sets â€Å"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† in Victorian London. Although these are two very different social settings at two different times in history, there are both similarities and some contrasts in the way the authors use a sense of place to develop the main themes of their stories and to provide an appropriate world for the characters they create. In this essay I will explore some of the ways in which they do this. Maycomb is described in the book as † a tired old town†. There is a main square and a county court house. The main family in the book the Finches live on the main residential street. They sit out on their front porches in summer and Lee gives us a feeling of a closely-knit community where everybody knows everything about one another, or so they think.. She goes on to show later that all is not as idyllic as it seems at first on the surface. In contrast, the London that Stevenson portrays in â€Å"Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde† is seen as a big, distant and impersonal community where there seems to be a lot of conflict and discomfort between the characters and, in particular, the social classes as they go about their everyday lives. Stevenson describes the streets in London as dirty, narrow and winding and the buildings as dark and oppressive to create a depressing atmosphere and provide a backdrop of gloom and evil for Stevenson’s story. The characters in â€Å"To kill a Mocking Bird† overall seem on the surface to be good, honest hard-working people who are friendly and take everyday problems in their stride. This conceals, however, a deeply engrained hatred towards Negroes and their way of life based on prejudice. Basically, everybody in Maycomb, with a few exceptions, is racist, looks at blacks as inferior to themselves and treats them badly by giving them the hardest manual jobs with the lowest pay. This deep division in the community is reflected in the physical segregation of black from white, with the blacks living in their own poor housing apart from the whites. In Stevenson’s London, there is also a sense of social division, but this time it is between rich and poor. Colour is replaced by social class to separate out the different parts of the community. â€Å"In To Kill a Mocking Bird† The Finch Family provide some of the central characters. Atticus, father to Jem and Scout is a good lawyer and a well-respected leader of the community whom many people look up to and respect his views especially his children Jem and Scout who he tries to teach them from what is right from what is wrong by teaching them important morals. In Particular, he won’t tolerate racism and sees it as a destructive dividing line, which shouldn’t exist. An example in the book of racial discrimination is that Negroes had few educational opportunities. Calpurnia taught her son Zeebo to read from the bible and a law book. Zeebo’s job (Dustman) shows the limited job prospects for blacks but Zeebo considers his job as a good job for a Negro. This shows how far Negroes were down the social spectrum and that they accepted their lowly social position and had low expectations. The white people also do not question this social status quo as they feel superior. At the Missionary tea party all the ladies enjoy Calpurnia’s cooking but they treat Calpurnia as if she’s not even there, showing no recognition towards her. All through the book Blacks were constantly derided and insulted, referred to as â€Å"niggers† and practically viewed as immoral and potentially criminal. The tensions which arise from this relationship between black and white in Maycomb is a main theme throughout the book. There is a dividing line when it comes to social class in Maycomb, with different types of people seen as inferior to others i.e. blacks, and the poor whites. The people who are seen as poor and inferior are usually the ones that do a lot of the hard working manual jobs to satisfy and provide for other member s of the community. Another poor community in Maycomb is the Cunninghams, who are all farmers and the Euells who are really poor and live next to the dump yard. The Negroes are seen as lower down the social spectrum even than the embarrassment to the town (The Euells). What at first sight seems to be an ordinary town full of respectable moral people is gradually revealed to be full of spite and prejudice. Harper Lee uses the layout of the town and the contrast between living conditions to emphasise this point. The people in Maycomb who are well off are the people with the good jobs and the power to govern the town. There is also a theme of social division in Jekyll and Hyde with things not always as respectable as they seem. â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde.† There is an upper class of people who have good, well-paid and respectable jobs just like Jekyll who was a doctor and Utterson who was a lawyer. Both had wealth and nice houses. But, there are two sides to the matter. Although seeming respectable, Jekyll was not happy with his life, He even called upon prostitution to satisfy his needs, Even that wasn’t enough and he used his position as a doctor to make up a concoction to change his physical appearance for a short amount of time so that he could experience what it would be like to be different and poor on the murky streets of London. The weather in â€Å"To Kill a Mocking Bird† is used to reflect the mood the town is in, and where the town is positioned it is usually very hot a lot of the time. Often, when the weather is described as hot in the book there is usually some kind of confrontation going on or some sort of tension thus symbolising conflict. Lee also uses the changing seasons to emphasis some of the points she wishes to make. When the weather is described as autumn it gives the impression of a dull grey period. When it’s winter in the book it says it snows and that it doesn’t snow ever. This brings in a kind of mystical cold sensation, which is linked in with Boo Radley. When winter turns to spring it emphasis new life and a warm comfortable feeling. All these different seasons are used to represent the act of time passing and each season represents different events which occur in the novel. The weather in London is somewhat of a strange atmosphere. It is described as a lot of the time as being foggy and murky, givingus the impression of a cold and dark situation occurring, London is basically being described as depressing and dangerous which causes tension and disturbance. Stevenson perhapsused the fog to hide the surroundings or to make it hazy like it is not quite all there, â€Å"the next moment the fog settled down again upon that port† but beyond the fog shows the true picture. The fog is merely there to create a sense of duplicity, that there is more than one side to everything. By Stevenson using such dramatic atmospheric devices, he wanted to show the readers that not everything is what it seems on the outside, you have to look twice to see the reality. In â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† Maycomb the sleepy little town seems to have a very warm sense of community and friendship among the locals. The houses in Maycomb are fairly straight forward, basic and overall very adequate situated fairly close together to give a close feel of a community but they also have their privacy. Some people don’t like the insides of their houses for example, Miss Maudie who lives next door to Atticus Jem and Scout absolutely hates being cooped up inside all the time she detests it greatly and finds the great out doors more her kind of thing as she spends most of her time outside in her beautiful garden. To contrast with this, there are some people who just stay inside all day every day for example Boo Radley who doesn’t go out at all. In fact, he hadn’t been seen for many years outside he just observes and watches life past by. Lee uses this contrast between inside and outside to good effect to emphasise things about her charact ers and add depth to their characterisation. In â€Å"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† London the busy, vibrant, gloomy city has a very distant sense of community and friendship. The houses in Victorian London are described as being dark and pretty derelict on the outside but on the inside it shows a different interpretation of the interior, which is stylish, and a big contrast to the exterior. For example in the inside of Jekyll’s house Stevenson describes â€Å"a bright open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets of oak.† This gives us the impression that Jekyll is well off. The front of Jeykll’s house is really grand and elegant, and fits a successful man, whereas the back is a total contrast to the front. The back is really dingy and dirt- ridden and you would expect an unemployed tramp to live there. Stevenson uses this contrast to show us two sides to Jekyll’s house and two sides to him, the good side (the front) where Jekyll goes in and looks respectable and the bad side (the back) where Hyde comes out and represents evil. This shows that the duplicity in Jekyll/Hyde is reflected in the house, a respectable â€Å"front† conceals a sinister and dark â€Å"back†. Stevenson shows us through this device that everything is not always as it seems. This difference between what something seems to be on the surface and what it is really like is also a theme in â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird†. Maycomb seems like a tiresome little town where not much action or politics ever happens and that everybody gets on and lives in harmony. However, the outside is not always what it seems and there is a lot of hidden conflict among the townsfolk. They are very intolerant of anything or anybody who is different to what they in their small-minded way think of as â€Å"normal†. For example, Boo Radley, who never goes outside, was dubbed as a â€Å"monster† by the kids who live in the town. Also Dolphus Raymond, who lives with a black women and has â€Å"All sorts of mixed children†, people think that he drinks whisky from the bag he carries round all day and he is labelled an â€Å"evil man†. The truth is he doesn’t drink whisky all day, he gives that impression because the townsfolk of Maycomb could never understand why he lives his life like he does and he gives them a reason to hate him by pretending to be a drunkard. These two people show the harsh reality of people’s beliefs in Maycomb and how they label people because they’re different or associated with other people that are seen as immoral and wrong. For example, when Miss Gates comments on the importance of democracy and discusses Hitler’s wrong doings of persecuting the Jews as being immoral and pathetic, she later demonstrates some of the same prejudice complaining that â€Å"Negroes are getting way above themselves†. Lee illustrates Miss Gates’ hypocrisy from talking about Hitler’s wrong doings and commenting that it is wrong she later does basically the same to Negroes as Hitler did to the Jews. Lee uses examples like this to show that, basically, lots of the p eople in Maycomb were two-faced and could not see the wrong in undermining the Negroes, which shows their total hypocrisy. The true harsh reality in Maycomb was that nearly everyone was racist with a few exceptions and that the people didn’t like anything to be different from what was considered â€Å"normal† life. In this essay I have explored briefly some of the main themes running through â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde† and â€Å"To kill a Mocking Bird.† In both novels everything is not what it appears to be on the surface. The people who live in the worlds of these novels are not always what they seem. There is deep social division and tension in the two communities that leads to conflict and a clash between good and evil. Stevenson and Lee use the geography of London and Maycomb, their climates and their social settings to put over their themes. They use these places to give their novels atmosphere and to create an appropriate setting for there characters. They use their towns effectively to reinforce their main messages. Stevenson uses London to expose some of the hypocrisies of Victorian life where respectable people often exploited the poor. Lee uses Maycomb to challenge racial prejudice and intolerance of people who are different at a time when the civil rights movement in America was beginning to gather momentum.

Aristotle s Views On The Forms And Their Roles That They...

Throughout the semester thus far, this ethics class has discussed a few different texts and readings. From these readings, different ideas of form and what a thing truly is have arisen. When we read Plato, we discussed what his ideas of the forms were and that they were necessary in order to define what a thing truly is. After reading Phaedo by Plato and passages from The Republic, our class moved on to reading Book II of Physics by Aristotle. Similar to when we discussed Plato, with Aristotle we discussed his view of the forms and the purpose of having the forms. In this paper I will discuss Aristotle’s views on the forms and their roles that they play within our world. In Book II, chapter one of Physics Aristotle argues that nature is†¦show more content†¦For example. A man is in the form of a human. Also the man is considered a human when he is an infant. Therefore the form of a human must have existed before the human ever came into being. The child possesses the inner principle of what it means to be a human. Aristotle says, â€Å"Whatever things have this sort of principle have a nature. And all these are substance. For there is something underlying, and nature is in an underlying.† In order to understand what the form is to Aristotle, it is necessary to understand what nature is to Aristotle. By knowing the nature of a thing then we will be able to know the form of a thing. According to Aristotle a thing’s nature is that thing’s form. Its nature is what gives an object its purpose in this world and the reason for its making. If nature gives a thing its purpose, then nature must mean the purpose of something. And therefore, if nature is the purpose of something, it then has form. This form is given to the thing whenever it comes into being, or when it comes into existence. Going back to the previous example, a child is known as a human because that is the form it took on when it came into existence, even before it was born. A child’s nature is the form of a human. Most people would argue that a thing is what is because it is made up of different components. In this case I am in agreement with the many people who believe this. I think that things are what they are because they