The Speckled Band Essay Example for Free

The Speckled Band Essay The plot of The Speckled Band was designed in a particular format to appeal to a Victorian audience. Throughout the story Doyle builds up tension. From the distraught Miss Roylott, through to the night spent in the Roylott house, both danger and suspense are introduced. The Victorians would have liked this it was an accomplishment of the new detective fiction genre: using evil and horror to engage and sustain the readers interest. The exotic animals from around the house and the gypsies staying in the grounds help to make the whole tale extraordinary. This would have appealed to the Victorians because they had very little information about foreign animals and would have led a very protected life. Much of the information found in The Speckled Band would be new to them. The tale provided them with an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the foreign, unfamiliar and dangerous. W H Auden outlined what he believed was a standard detective fiction plot, a murder occurs; many are suspected; all but one suspect, who is the murderer, are eliminated; the murderer is arrested or dies. Doyles The Speckled Band fits this format almost perfectly. The introduction, when a murder should occur, involves a woman, Miss Stoner, with her sister recently murdered, fearing for her own life. This fits perfectly with Audens idea. Many potential suspects are included in the complication; the animals, gypsies and Dr Roylott. All of these have both opportunity and reason to have committed the murder. In Audens plan all the suspects, apart from the murderer, should now be eliminated. However, this is where, The Speckled Band differs slightly from the standard. Even though it is made clear that it is unlikely the animals attacked or the gypsies murdered Miss Roylott, by showing the doors and windows were well closed, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the shutter open. Holmes still has not completely excluded these suspects. The end, in which the murderer should be arrested or dies, is also included in The Speckled Band when Dr Roylotts scheme backfires, killing him. The story also fits in with the standard opening, complication, climax, resolution pattern. The introduction, suspects, stake out and death fit these slots. Victorians would have appreciated such a neat, orderly structure. Doyle ends the story in such a way as to provide a satisfying conclusion. All loose ends are tied up and the murderer is caught. The neat ending would have appealed to the Victorians sense of order but there is also an unmistakeable moral message. The way in which Dr. Roylott is caught shows Doyles own views coming forward. Doyle obviously believes in adhering to law and never resorting to violence. This is also shown by the line: Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent. This message of good triumphing over evil is found in all of Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories. Even though the stories may include topics that are foreign or dangerous to a Victorian audience, the righteous ending would make them feel justified in reading them. Doyle adds to the tension of The Speckled Band through his use of locations and the weather. The Roylott house would have seemed, to Victorians, to be the perfect location for a murder. The house is large, old and in need of repair work. This would make it seem spooky and more sinister. The weather also adds to this effect. Before Holmes and Watson arrive the weather is calm and warm, there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. This helps to build up an anticipation of troubles yet to come. When it comes for the time for the duo to begin the stake out, the weather reflects their mood, on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. The darkness and even the chill wind are often used to symbolise evil or a menace and help to build up a sense of impending danger. In conclusion I believe that even though Doyle wrote The Adventures Of The Speckled Band with Victorian views and preferences in mind he did not let it completely change his writing style. This is revealed by the fact that even today, years after the stories were written, they still appeal to the contemporary audience. The friendship between Holmes and Watson, the logical deductions and the triumph of good over evil still appeal in modern day. There are few things, such as the reliance on men of Miss Stoner, which do not fit in with modern society and views.

Abortion - Unwanted Pregnancies = Abused Children Essay -- Argumentati

Unwanted Pregnancies = Abused Children   Ã‚  Ã‚   Who can resist the invitation to abort an unwanted pregnancy for the child's sake primarily, and not just the "health" of the mother? Let's examine this frequently voiced contention: that aborting unwanted pregnancies is beneficial because they would later lead to abused children. And everyone, of course, is opposed to the maltreatment of kids.    The landmark study on this was done at the University of Southern California. Professor Edward Lenoski studied 674 consecutive battered children who were brought to the in- and out-patient departments of that medical center. He was the first to go to the parents and study to what extent they wanted and planned the pregnancy. To his surprise, he found that 91% were planned and wanted, compared to 63% for the control groups nationally. Further, the mothers had began wearing, on the average, pregnancy clothes at 114 days compared to 171 days in the control, and the fathers named the boys after themselves 24% of the time compared to 4% for the control groups. (Lenoski) Both parents (or... Abortion - Unwanted Pregnancies = Abused Children Essay -- Argumentati Unwanted Pregnancies = Abused Children   Ã‚  Ã‚   Who can resist the invitation to abort an unwanted pregnancy for the child's sake primarily, and not just the "health" of the mother? Let's examine this frequently voiced contention: that aborting unwanted pregnancies is beneficial because they would later lead to abused children. And everyone, of course, is opposed to the maltreatment of kids.    The landmark study on this was done at the University of Southern California. Professor Edward Lenoski studied 674 consecutive battered children who were brought to the in- and out-patient departments of that medical center. He was the first to go to the parents and study to what extent they wanted and planned the pregnancy. To his surprise, he found that 91% were planned and wanted, compared to 63% for the control groups nationally. Further, the mothers had began wearing, on the average, pregnancy clothes at 114 days compared to 171 days in the control, and the fathers named the boys after themselves 24% of the time compared to 4% for the control groups. (Lenoski) Both parents (or...

Biovail Case Essay

In the case when ownership changes hands upon receipt of the product at the distributor’s facility (FOB destination), the second condition for revenue recognition under SAB101 has not been met. In this case the company would not recognize revenue because delivery did not occur. Part 3: The shipment left Biovail on September 30, 2003, which is in the 3rd quarter. Under FOB shipping point guidelines it would be correct to recognize revenue for the shipment in the Q3 report. Assuming revenue associated with this shipment was included in Q3 earnings as originally stated, no further impact. Under the FOB destination guidelines it would be incorrect to recognize revenue. In that scenario the truck does not reach it’s destination in the 3rd quarter and thus no shipment is made and revenue should not be recorded. Assuming that this shipment would take longer than 1 day to reach the distributor, based on the fact that it is in Chicago on 10/1, this shipment shouldn’t have been planned as revenue in quarter three anyway. The accident will have an impact on Q4 revenue. Part 4: Biovail’s treatment of analysts who cover their stock is concerning. It is still unclear whether Treppel was correct or too harsh, but Biovail’s fierce retaliation against Treppel highlights their willingness to go to great lengths to suppress any negative analyst reports. This combined with, the lack of clarity around their accounting practices and conflicting arguments from their distributor lends us to question their integrity. This would create a difficult environment for an analyst to create a unbiased report and significantly discourages us to be an analyst covering this company.

Morality Of The Youth In Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five

Youth are the preeminent guiding force for change today in society. They inspire innovation, aspire to influence the world, fight for those without a voice, and are tomorrow’s legislators. Throughout all modern time, the youth of all nations believe in something larger than themselves and something which will change everything known. In the current civilization that goal is equality, both of the genders and of the races. Kurt Vonnegut writes about the youth in Slaughterhouse-Five and their mission. Yet these motivational sources differ a large amount from those of the current day. Their task, war. The youth in Vonnegut’s novel are naive children, sheep following their shepherd. Without these misguided young adults, the machinery of war†¦show more content†¦While talking he realizes â€Å"You know--we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves. We had forgotten that wars were fought by babie s. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. ‘My God, my God--’ I said to myself, ‘It’s the Children’s Crusade’† (Vonnegut, 135). In this quote, Vonnegut comes to the realization that â€Å"babies† fight wars, not the aging men he and the public believes fights them. A less common known name of Slaughterhouse-Five is The Children’s Crusade which is an unambiguous critique on the age of those who make up the war effort. Not only are these infantrymen children, they are bamboozled and scammed into enlisting. Vonnegut harkens this back to a completely different war, the Children’s Crusade. In the first chapter the reader learns of it when he writes â€Å"Mackay told us that the Children’s Crusade started in 1213 when two monks got the idea of raising armies of children in Germany and France and selling the in North Africa as slaves. Thirty thousand children volunteered, thinking they were going to P alestine† (Vonnegut, 20). This is a straightforward commentary on his part in the war he and the protagonist of his novel, Pilgrim, were involved in. Vonnegut is correlating the Childrens Crusade to WW2 and in doing so providing his assessment on the driving force behind the war efforts. In her writings on