... John Ernst Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, on February 27, 1902. His father's family, originally called Grossteinbeck, had come from Wuppertal, about twenty miles east of the German city of Düsseldorf. During summers he worked as a hired hand on nearby ranches, "nourishing" his impression of the California countryside and its people (Lisca 32). He made occasional exciting trips to San Francisco with his family and more frequent trips to the Monterey peninsula (Fontenrose 2). In 1918, he became ill with pneumonia and almost died, but he was able to recover. After graduating from Salinas High School in 1919, Steinbeck enrolled at Stanfor ...
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... stations and burning the homes of whites. The Smales needed to get out quickly. Their servant July, whom they had always treated well and had a very uncommon relationship with, offered to guide the family to his village. The Smales, having no other options, accepted July’s offer and ran in haste and confusion to the dearth village. They knew little of the drastic adjustments they would have to make in order to survive in July’s rustic village. These adjustments would soon threaten their relationships with one another and their family’s structure. The three Smales children, Victor, Royce and Gina, had not experienced, and therefore had not expected to live ...
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... Secondary characters are the families of Bolkonsky and Kuragin, Anna Pavolvna, a famous St. Petersburg socialite and Kutuzof, the military leader of the Russian forces. The basic conflict is the effects of the changes to the protagonists through the Napoleonic wars. One important event occurs when Prince Andrei is wounded during the battle of Austerlitz, and he is given a chance to recollect on his wartime experiences. Another important event occurs when Pierre is take prisoner by the French, (this is where he has the chance to look into his feelings and come to a peace with himself.) The climax of Pierre’s story occurs when he is held before a firing squa ...
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... Oliver Twist also experienced a great amount of abuse. For example, while suffering from starvation and malnutrition for a long period of time, Oliver was chosen by the other boys at the orphanage to request more gruel at dinner one night. After making this simple request, "the master (at the orphanage) aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arms; and shrieked aloud for the beadle."3 The whole beginning of Oliver Twist's story was created from memories which related to Charles Dickens' childhood in a blacking factory ( which was overshadowed by the Marshalsea Prison ).4 While working in the blacking factory, Dickens suffered tremendous hum ...
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... definitely holds true today. Americans are spoiled by technological advantages. Children used to go to school to learn how to perform simple mathematical equations. However, due to man's past achievements, a child can perform the most complex problems on a calculator without the hours of straining. As I write, I am using a technological advance that I have become dependent on: the computer. If not for this piece of machinery, I would be stuck for minutes setting margins with the traditional typewriter, and looking up the spellings of various words in a dictionary! Man has made living too easy. We have only solved problems with solutions that lead to an ...
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... suffers under his reign, this turns Lady Macbeth mad, and she eventually commits suicide. Macduff, eventually goes to England to ask for the help of the noble king Edward, who is highly respected for help to overthrow the leadership of Macbeth, and so the Anglo-Scottish revolt sees Macbeth to his death and Malcolm the son of Duncan is proclaimed king of Scotland. Macbeth is the main character in the play and starts the play as a very hard fighting, loyal soldier whose bravery had just led the way to a victory over the Norwegians. It could be an essay in its own right to talk about how the character of Macbeth develops and changes, at the beginning he is a god-l ...
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... me good sir For again, I know not what I do Inside the tomb of Capulet Romeo O Fair Juliet why must thou torture me so For even in death thy beauty is paralleled only by the stars in the sky. O Lord what great injustice hast thou done to thee For my love is gone And no greater crime against me can thou think of. Tis our familes’ to blame Not us. For they are blinded by tradition and driven by hatred. O but it matters not. Soon shall I be with thee and soon shall I once again be merry, For to live forth be not true life but hell. Only is life with thee heaven. And alas, A choice have I, Heaven, or Hell? Ha! you must be jest, a question for the foo ...
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... plate on the car. My mom's friend then found a slip of paper from the valet at the hotel that they were staying at that said there wasn't one when they had parked it. It was at this point in time that they discovered that it was illegal to take a rental car into Mexico. When I was in high school, I was in the band. We lost a competition last year because we had won it the year before, and were cocky enough to think that we could just go down and win it again. We didn't even work that hard in practice for this reason. When we got to the competition, we lost it. We didn't only loose it, but we lost it by a large point margin. If we had prepared ourselves better, w ...
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... activities that they once took for granted, such as using the restroom, are taken from them – granted only when told to do so. As time progresses, they come to accept prison’s daily routine. The prisoners grow accustomed to being told what to do, then doing it. When enough time passes, prison life is all the life that they know. Acceptance of their controlled life becomes dependence as they are no longer able to function on their own, but rely on being told what to do. In the final stages, the prisoners loose their individual wills. Red understood the dynamics of prison all too well and labeled the process as being institutionalized. "These walls ...
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... to really imagine the royal courts of England and France, and to really imagine the battle scenes with all the horses and men. The prologue to the beginning of this play calls upon the "Muse" to help present the play. The chorus explains to the audience of the difficulties faced in presenting this play. It is difficult to transform a small stage to represent the English or French Courts, or the battlefield in France. They apologize, telling the audience, "But pardon, gentles all, the flat unraised spirits that hath dared on this unworthy scaffold to bring forth so great an object" (li 8-11). It is difficult to depict the life of King with all the honor and ...
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