Compare H.G. Wells The Red Room and Farthing House by Susan Hill Essay

Compare H.G. Wells' The Red Room and Farthing House by Susan Hill "There was no mistake about it. The flame vanished, as if the wick had been suddenly nipped between a finger and thumb, leaving the wick neither glowing or smoking, but black." Ghost stories use dark and fear of it as a key element, and most occurrences happen in the night, and/or in the dark. The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast the two short stories - The Red Room by H.G. Wells and Farthing House by Susan Hill. The Red Room was written pre twentieth century and Farthing house was written post twentieth century. I will mainly look at the formulaic structure of the stories and the tension that is built up throughout them by the authors. A good ghost story involves a mixture of tension and an interesting plot or storyline. The formulaic elements - e.g. old houses/graveyards/other sinister settings, threatening housekeepers/guests/noises, staying overnight, dark/night, threatening weather (e.g. storms, thunder) and a death/previous ghostly history all help to create the genre and entice the reader to continue reading. There should be twists in the story, to help make it more interesting, and less predictable. There is also often a lot of mystery involved - mysterious key characters, unknown noises and people etc. The Red Room is a pre-20th century story, written by H.G. Wells in 1896. It is about a room that is allegedly haunted and the story is told by a young man who is spending the night there. He starts off extremely confidently but as the story goes on he becomes more and more frightened and the tension increases. The Red Room is about the personal experience of the young man whilst in the room, and his own fear o... ...ing plots. Some elements of the first formula have stuck, which is why 'The Red Room' and 'Farthing House' are so similar, although written years apart. I think that they have stuck because they are a winning combination that attracts readers. Over time ghost stories have become more popular and some stories have also been shown as films or television programmes. This shows that they are still a popular part of culture and probably will continue to be in the future. Films and television programmes still often stick to the formula - setting and history, for example. However the visual images and plots differ. Farthing House is testimony to this, the setting is similar but the plot and purpose differs. "I was not afraid anymore, not now that I knew who she was and why she had been there, getting out of her bed in Cedar room, to go in search of her baby.

John Keats’ “Lamia” and The Romantic Era Essay

The Romantic era, which was the period of time following the Enlightenment, existed to eradicate the idea that innovation, produced from research and reason, was the basis for truth. Writers of the Romantic era, such as John Keats, believed that imagination, not rationalization, was the foundation truth was built upon. Of this Keats says, â€Å"The Imagination may be compared to Adam’s dream–He awoke and found it truth† (Rodriguez, Keats, 49). Even though the duration of his life was lacking, Keats must have recognized that some deductions and philosophies had a profound affect on the world. In one of his later poems, Lamia, Keats addresses this question of truth and its application to his concept of Negative Capability. It is from Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy that Keats forms the plot of Lamia (Stillinger, 359). A young man Lycius falls in love with the beautiful Lamia, whose body has been transformed from that of a serpent to that of a woman. Lamia, with little effort, convinces Lycius to flee with her to an enchanted palace, where they live and love happily until they decide to marry. At their marriage banquet Lamia withers and dies, as Apollonius, Lycius’ â€Å"sage† and â€Å"trusty guide† (II-375), is able to see through her illusion. Lycius also dies, his â€Å"arms were empty of delight† (II-307), as his dream is also shattered. Keats multifaceted concept of Negative Capability is best understood as the following: â€Å"that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.† (Rodriguez, Keats, 40) Directed to a colleague, and perhaps an extension of the previous idea Keats says: â€Å"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of Imagination–What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth–whether it existed before or not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rodriguez, Keats, 48) If imagination is as Adam awoke to find the truth, and beauty is truth and truth is beauty, then Lamia is both beautiful and true. Although the narrator describes her attractive physical qualities as both a serpent and a maid, Lamia is as she imagines herself, which is how she’d like Lycius to imagine her. Regarding Lycius, Lamia â€Å"won his heart More pleasantly by playing woman’s part† (I-336-337). Toward the end of the poem, when Apollonius accuses Lamia of being a serpent, her human body starts to deteriorate, as she acknowledges his view. Apollonius, the â€Å"good instructor,† â€Å"robed in philosophic gown† (I-365), embodies all that Keats’ Negative Capability is working against–the things â€Å"known for truth by consequitive reasoning† (Rodriguez, Keats, 51) instead of imagination. Lycius also, in questioning Lamia, â€Å"Sure some sweet name thou hast† (II-85), â€Å"Hast any mortal name† (II-88), prov es his own susceptibility to the narrow truth of rationale. Although Lamia begins to wither under Apollonius’ stare, it is only when Lycius considers his teacher’s thoughts as truth, that she is actually destroyed. In attempting to define and confine Lamia’s nature to their record of common things, they destroy her imagination–her own perceptions on beauty and truth, â€Å"Do not all charms fly at the mere touch of cold philosophy† (II-229-230)? The dream that was Lamia’s, the reason for her to become a woman, was Lycius, the young Corinthian she was in love with. When Apollonius inflicts his philosophy on Lamia, her dream is destroyed, and with it Lycius.

Properly Using Je Suis Plein in French

Its common for non-native French speakers to make mistakes in conversation, especially if theyre using a phrase like  je suis  plein.  Imagine this scenario: Youre at a bistro and have just had a delicious, filling meal. The waiter comes by to ask if youd care for dessert. Youre stuffed, so you politely decline by saying youre full. The waiter smiles awkwardly. What did you just say? Understanding Je Suis  Plein The French translation of full is plein, except when it comes to your stomach.  Correct ways to say Im full include jai  trop  mangà ©Ã‚  (literally, I ate too much), je  suis rassasià ©Ã‚  (Im satisfied), and je  nen  peux  plus  (I cant [take] anymore). But if youre new to the language, you may not be aware of this subtle nuance. Although it may seem logical to use je suis plein to mean Im full, most people in France interpret the phrase as meaning Im pregnant.Its not a very nice way to say it,  either, because the phrase à ªtre pleine is used to talk about pregnant animals, not people. Many visitors to France have anecdotes involving the misuse of this expression. Whats interesting is that if a woman actually says je suis pleine to a native French speaker, he or she will probably understand that to mean shes pregnant. And yet if you talk about this expression in the abstract with a native speaker, s/hes likely to tell you that no one would ever take it to mean youre pregnant  because its only used for animals.Note: Je suis plein is also a familiar way of saying Im drunk. In Quebec and Belgium, unlike France, its perfectly acceptable to use this phrase to mean Im full.