Henry James referred to TTOTS as a potboiler Essay Example for Free

Henry James referred to TTOTS as a potboiler Essay Henry James referred to ‘TTOTS’ as a potboiler. In light of this comment, explore the establishment of a simple ghost story in the prologue and first five chapters. Henry James stated that ‘TTOTS’ was a potboiler, meant only to be perceived as a simple ghost story which in the Victorian era was how it was originally accepted. However a more modern audience ay interpret the novella as something more. Relating back to the idea of a simple ghost story, the novella starts with a typical ghost story setting – ‘The story had held us, round the fire’ emphasised by the description of the house being ‘gruesome’ and it being ‘Christmas Eve’ informing us that it is night time. All are contributing factors to an ideal ghost story and all of these points start to build the tension and suspense up already within the first few lines. ‘Held us, round the fire’ tells us how they are clinging to this materialistic substance for comfort and warmth, typical connotations of fire. Use of language such as ‘dreadful’ and ‘terror’ increases this sense of a greater impending ghost story – that of which we hear about the Governess. Moreover this sets the mood and creates the atmosphere for the audience to fully appreciate the ‘horror’ of this ghost story. In addition, the idea of them telling ghost stories gives us an immediate impression that there is a ghost story awaiting the audience. The use of more dramatic language such as ‘for sheer terror?’ and ‘for dreadful – dreadfulness’ start the steep incline of suspense and tension we will feel throughout the story. The idea of authenticity throughout this novella is key for the audience to focus on. To increase this idea of the story being real, James uses a framed narrative to draw the reader in to believe that the tale is true. Overall the story could succeed without the prologue but with it, the audience is a lot more likely to proceed through the book with an idea or reality. The main character in the prologue, Douglas, tells the unnamed narrator and the rest of the group of a ghost story much worse than any that have been told. ‘If the child gives the effect of another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children ?’ Obviously hinting that his tale contains two children, increasing the horror the audience are now sure that they are reading a simple ghost story. However this idea can be argued as we continue throughout the prologue and the first chapter. We learn that about the Governess, moreover, we learn Douglas’ opinion of her. ‘Is in old faded ink and in the most beautiful hand’. From this we can interpret that Douglas’ may be fond or possibly in love with the Governess making his opinion biased thus taking away from the reliability of the story. The use of characters in the prologue almost acts as a metaphor for the reader. ‘Everybody will stay!’ and ‘I will – and I will!’ could be used to represent how James wants the reader to react to reading the actual ghost story. Straight away in the first chapter we learn about how the governess suffered ‘a succession of flights and drops’. Already we start to suspect the volatility of her and the reliability of her tale which obviously argues against the idea of it being a simple ghost story and starts to lay down the foundation for the idea that there may be undercurrents of something more suspect. However her description of Bly is incredibly positive. ‘A lovely day’, ‘summer sweetness’ and ‘a friendly surprise’ are all used in one sentence and all are incredibly optimistic, giving us the idea that the governess is a very positive person. However she does seem to be very hyperbolic, describing the first child, Flora, as ‘one of Raphael’s holy infants’. Obviously this is taking it to extremes, which hints that this might not be the only thing that she is exaggerating throughout the novella. Towards the end of chapter one, she describes parts of the house with language such as ‘empty chambers’, ‘dull corridors’ and ‘crooked staircase’ al of which are very negative descriptions, however she immediately starts to describe the house as ‘a castle of romance’ and something from a ‘story book’. Moreover, as she is peppering her negative quotes with positive and vice versa massively showing her incredible volatility. This is a major idea that the rest of the story may be exaggerated or maybe not even true. This could also foreshadow her personality later on into the novella. Throughout the chapters the language of Mrs Grose becomes increasingly questionable. As an audience we are constantly told that she is ‘simple-minded’ however she sees to know a lot more than she is letting on. ‘Are you afraid he’ll corrupt you?’ This is odd as she is talking about Miles, a ten year old boy. This make the audience think, how can a young child corrupt a fully grown woman? Leading us on to thin she may be talking about somebody else. As we progress through the story we learn about the Governess’s sexual frustration toward the master. Accompanying this idea is that she sees the apparition of Peter Quint upon the tower. This is could imply that she is projecting her sexual frustration onto an imaginary figure as a release to wanting to see the master. ‘A charming story suddenly to meet someone’ and later ‘He did stand there!’ She only sees this figure stood there when she is imagining the master, a suspicious idea that the reader may look into. ‘The man who met my eyes was not the person I precipitately supposed’. This quote backs up my previous point of the projecting this idea of meeting the master on her walks. During these first few chapters we experience a reasonable amount of religious language, ‘Raphael’s holy infants’, ‘divine’ and ‘he has red hair’ these all imply ideas of how the plot is affected by the religious aspects of the Victorian era and their views on ghosts. As they did believe in ghosts and were mainly very religious, these ideas were accepted avidly and only increased any emotions felt within the Victorian reader as they progressed through the story. Overall, my personal views are that there are underlying psychological ideas in ‘TTOTS’ and that although it can be read as a straight ghost story, to fully appreciate the novella the reader must delve deeper and retrieve any obvious ideas that suggest more than just a typical ghost story. James uses a variety of techniques which make his characters seem a lot more emotional deeper than just a person who is afraid in a big house. However the idea of authenticity throughout does back up the point of it being a straight ghost story. I do believe that it is a mazed reader and can be open to a variety of interpretations.

Character Analysis of Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour Essay

In the short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself. Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f... ... her true feelings with her sister, or talking to her husband or reaching out to other sources of help to address her marital repressed life, she would not have to dread living with her husband. â€Å"It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long† (Chopin 262). Her meaning for life would not have to mean death to her husband. In conclusion, her lack of self assertion, courage and strong will to address her repressed life made her look at life and death in a different perspective. When in fact there is no need to die to experience liberation while she could have lived a full life to experience it with her husband by her side. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. 261-263. Print.

Physical Fitness Worksheet

Associate Level Material Physical Fitness Worksheet Being physically fit is an important aspect of obtaining optimal health. Becoming knowledgeable about what it means to be physically fit may greatly increase your ability to improve your health and wellness. In this worksheet, you identify the five components of health related fitness. Completing this assignment is a step towards gaining the knowledge needed to better manage your physical fitness. Five Components of Health Related Fitness Table Complete the table below. The first row has been filled in for you as an example. |Components of Physical Fitness |Description |How to Incorporate in Your |Benefit(s) | | | |Life | | |Cardiorespiratory Fitness |Being able to exercise at a |Walk 2 miles at a brisk |Reduced the risk of heart | | |moderate to high intensity for a|pace every day. disease, hypertension, and high | | |long period of time | |cholesterol. | |Muscular Strength | | | | | |is the amount of force that your|Use your muscles regularly |The ability to lift heavier | | |muscles can exert against |such and weight training or|objects or carry things longer. | |resistance |push ups | | | | | | | |Muscular Endurance | | | | | |Is the ability of a muscle or |Participate in sports such |The ability to perform tasks | | |group of muscles to sustain |as hockey or football. |longer, good posture. Fewer | | |repeated contractions against a |Swimming or running helps |injuries, increased metabolism, | | |resistance for an extended |too. | | |period of time | | | | | | | | |Flexibility | | | | | |A person's flexibility refers to|Practice yoga, stretch |relief from pain | | |the ability of your joints to |regularly |increased energy levels | | |move through a full range of | |increased flexibility | | |motion | |better range of motion of the | | | | |joints | |Body Composition |In physical fitness, body | | | | |composition is used to describe |Regular exercise healthy |Increase in energy, | | |the percentages of fat, bone and|eating |helps to maintain cognitive | | |muscle in human bodies | |function and decrease stress. | | | | | |

A Critical Textual Analysis Feminine Identity And The...

This critical textual analysis will examine feminine identity and the essentialistic ideas of the late nineteenth century between men and women as elaborated by Kaplan and Rogers in â€Å"Essentialisms, Determinisms. It will include an analysis of theories regarding dichotomies of biological determinism and cranial classification. Essentialism argues that there are categories of objects and genres that have essential characteristics, notwithstanding individual variation, and that these essential characteristics define the objects and genres to an extent that they reveal truth (Kaplan and Rogers 27). Determinism is a theory or in some cases a doctrine. â€Å"Nature† has been the historical burden women have faced. It is not the only such burden, but it has been the largest and the heaviest. Psychological and social implications of essentialist beliefs create gender segregation, inequality, and is often used to excuse gender-based biases in society. These types of ideas are often used as a justification for misogynistic and essentialistic systems in society. Kaplan and Rogers examine how determinism takes essentialism a bit further in the way it looks at the natural world. Dichotomy provides a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different, in this case it is the sexes. Kaplan and Rogers state, â€Å"Two related paradigms underscore all such thinking: reductionism and division into dichotomous categories – black versus