Essay Writing and Research; AN 10000BA; ANL10000BA
Corrections Sheet: Titles, Introductory paragraphs, Conclusions
Read the texts below carefully and correct every single mistake you find in them
(grammatical, stylistic, structural etc.) Students are supposed to come to class with a print
out of this sheet and correct it at home as a homework (naturally, use this print-out copy for
the correction procedure, you should not write your corrections on a separate sheet).
Title:
(1) Hamlet's Gertrude in a Different Light
(2) The Symbol and Significance of The Lamb and The Tiger in William Blake’s Poems
(3) Revenge in the shadow of father-and-son relationship in Hamlet
(4) The two potential reading of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw—Is it a gothic story or a
psychoanalytic work?
(5) The “psychoanalyst” and “apparitionist” interpretations of ghosts and the nature of evil in Henry
James’s The Turn of the Screw
(6) Forster’s One of the Most Interesting Characters
Argumentation:
(1) “All in all every symbol which help them in the beginning are also the reason why they become to
live a savage life.”
(2) “Some people say that Conrad was fairly racist because how he described the black people in the
novel. According to Peter Edgerly Firchow he states that “at the time Conrad was writing his novel,
the word racism did not exist. The first use of “racism” in this sense, according the same source, does
not occur in English until 1936, twelve years after Conrad’s death” (Firchow 5). This means Conrad
did not know the word while writing his novel so he cannot be charged by those who believe him as a
racist person.”
(3) “When Jack steals the fire with the help of his hunters, as Prometheus did in the ancient myth, the
devastating power takes control over the boys.”
Introductory paragraph:
(1) Shakespeare’s female figures have been analyzed a multitude of times over the decades. Generally,
critics tend to agree when it comes to the character of Gertrude. In the following, I will examine this
character and argue for her being unlike her usual, stereotypical representation of a lustful, calculating
beast. I will do so by examining several aspects that most of the critics traditionally have failed to do
(Smith 80), that is, by studying several of her own deeds and utterances. My goal here is not, however,
to contemplate whether she is rightfully accused of adultery, incest or murder, but it is to study her
personality. After taking into consideration the aforementioned factors, it will be clear that although
we do not get to know a lot about her personality, she is only an instrument: a weak, neutral,
sometimes even mindless woman caught up in a complicated political situation and emotional
turmoil.
(2) William Blake’s poems (“The Lamb” and “The Tyger”) in the books of “Songs of Innocence” and
“Songs of Experience” are showing contrasts to each other; however, they are really bound together
indeed. Blake’s poems “The Lamb” from the book of “Songs of Innocence” and “The Tyger” from
“Songs of Experience” at first look seem like a mere piece of literature, a child’s song. However, these
question-answer based poems might mislead the reader. “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” has deeper
thoughts and wider symbols than we may think and in my essay I am going to describe these
elements and motifs in a detailed way.
(3) Shakespeare is one of the most significant writers in England and all over the world. He became
the most popular playwright in England and even today his plays are played in theatres. He received
his well deserved fame not only for his ingenious technique but also for addressing everyday
problems in a different light. One of the most famous maybe the most famous drama of Shakespeare is
Hamlet. The play is full of conflicts and hardships that the characters have to face. The protagonist of
the play is a young man who wants to take revenge on his uncle, Claudius because of his father's
death. The whole drama is about making his plan to take revenge. Obviously this revenge is very
important to him but he is not the only one who wants retaliation but Laertes and Fortinbras too. After
all we could call this drama tragedy revolving around revenge. It is called a tragedy because at the
end of the play many characters end up dead and there is no real solution to the problem, there is no
happy ending.
(4) Henry James is one of the remarkable writers in later 19th century. Studying his biography, you
must notice that his life could hardly be called as ordinary. He lived among people who were
employed in supernatural observations. His father was really keen on the several forms of
spiritualism, while his brother was researching spiritual phenomena. After all, it seems to be obvious
that James was also concerned about ghosts and the spirit as such.
One of his works could be said typically at the turn of the century is The Turn of the Screw. The story
is about ghosts, or at least the Governess thinks that those strange creatures that she sees are ghosts.
The fundamental question which arises regarding this great work is that “…how real the ghosts are?”
Is it simply a ghost story or a “psychological case study of a neurotic young woman”? The two
readings are absolutely different but both of them could make sense depending on the point of view.
(5) During and after the Victorian Age, novel became a very popular genre. Young ladies, who spent
most of their time at home, doing housework, were one of the target groups that writers wrote to. The
novels offered a great way to housewives to spend their spare time efficiently, while they could also
enjoy themselves – and the book they read. Henry James has contributed to this phenomena with his
short novel titled The Turn of the Screw. The story itself was created between the borderline of
Victorian and modernist literature in 1898 (Wikipedia). Because of that, in the work, romantic and
realist – even modernist – ideas occur. This duplicity led to two types of criticism: one is the Victorian
perspective, the other one is the early modernist. Obviously, most of the critics are interested about
the ghosts and, in connection with that, the governess’s mental status, whether she is mad or not. In
this essay, I will examine the so-called “psychoanalyst” and “apparitionist” interpretations of ghosts
(Bontly 722), how evil is depicted in the novel, and – closely related to that – the link between the
children, the ghosts, and the governess through the essay of Thomas J. Bontly’s, titled: “Henry James’s
’General Vision of Evil’ in The Turn of the Screw.
Conclusion:
(1) To sum up, the careful reader need not fall into the common trap of interpreting a character solely
on the basis of how critics have evaluated him or her. In the case of Gertrude, this is particularly
relevant not only because the critical opinion on her seems to be one-sided, but also because she is a
fascinating character to meditate on. It is paramount to read the text closely because only this way can
we understand that, as Smith emphasizes, ”Gertrude is never seen in the play inducing anyone to do
anything at all monstrous” and ”when one closely examines Gertrude’s actual speech and actions in
an attempt to understand the character, one finds little hints at hypocrisy, suppression, or
uncontrolled passion and their implied complexity” (85). Thus, examining the Hamlet's Queen
without biases, we can probably get closer to solving one of Shakespeare’s countless puzzles.
(2) In conclusion, William Blake’s question-answer childish structure covers deeper and wider symbol
systems. Which system leads us into bigger questions concerning the origin of humanity, and the
existence of God. I believe the poems can be read individually, but work best together. Blake seems to
try to explain the dual nature of man. We should strive to be like the lamb as much as possible,
however we must be aware of our capacity to be the tiger as well. The tiger is may be not evil itself. It
is also created by God...it may very well be that we need some of the tiger’s attributes to survive in the
world or experience. Blake may be trying to say that we must strike some symmetry in our life, and
reconcile the two aspects of human nature. Unlike animals, men are divine beings and have a choice in
how they will behave....a tiger can only be a tiger and a lamb can only be a lamb...humans have free
will.
(3) Despite the murders in the story we do not think that Hamlet is a negative character or the whole
play is about revenge and homicide but it is some morality play where the sons protect their fathers'
honour and try to take vengeance. This story proves that a family could hold together and there is a
strong connection between fathers and sons.
(4) The two choices had been “mutually exclusive” until 1970, when Dorothea Krook tried to unite the
different readings by separating what the author wrote consciously (ghost story), and unconsciously
(psychoanalytic reading). People realized that the literature of the “fantastic” requires abilities to read
between the lines, certain works may have several meanings if you use your imagination.
There is one thing that the conflicting parties share: The Turn of the Screw is a brilliant masterpiece.
To end my lines with Virginia Woolf’s words: “We must admit that Henry James has conquered. That
courtly, worldly, sentimental old gentleman can still make us afraid of the dark. “
(5) Through the analysis of characters, the historical background and symbolist features, we can
realize that James created an exceptional mixture of romantic, realist and early modernist elements in
a simple ghost story. His tale provided very good material to “New Criticism” (Wikipedia). He was
aware of the thinking of the society, how most people defined evil, and their myths that were attached
to sexuality. The characters’ relation towards the ghosts led to such a new type of story that it elevated
the novel to an early modernist work