The Sherlock Holmes stories Essay Example for Free

The Sherlock Holmes stories Essay Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a famous author notably known for his series of Sherlock Holmes detective narratives. He wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and the stories were much loved by the public in the era of which they were written. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Scotland on the 22nd of May 1859. He went to a boarding school at the age of nine and so no longer lived at home. After graduating he left to study medicine in Edinburgh. Doyle ended up working with a doctor called Joseph Bell. Some say he was Doyles biggest influence as he seemed to share many characteristics with Doyles most famous fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. Bell was said to be observational, logical and able to diagnose a patient without them even speaking. These characteristics are later evident in Sherlock Holmes; thus creating the basis of his character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the writer of arguably the most famous fictional detective ever, Sherlock Holmes. He wrote his Sherlock Holmes stories in the Victorian era. The Victorian audience was fear-stricken and lived in constant terror of crime. Holmes surfaced at a time when crime was commonplace and the corrupted Police forces were incapable of protecting the public. An infamous example was Jack the Ripper renowned for mercilessly murdering prostitutes throughout London. To taunt the authorities, anonymous packages were sent containing mutilated body parts of his victims. The Victorian setting is portrayed in the story The Cooper Beeches as letters, telegrams and notes are used to develop the plot. Sherlock Holmes provided solace to the public as he captured the hearts with his talent of solving what were deemed to be the most unsolvable of cases. Sherlock Holmes not only became a hugely popular character in his stories, but he became an inspiration to many Victorians who were forever fearful for their lives. Doyle actually killed off Sherlock Holmes to end his antics not once but twice, however both times he did this, he received so many death threats that he was forced to continue writing more adventures for Sherlock Holmes. You can see why Sherlock Holmes was such a success in his day and not just because of the creativity of the stories he was in, but he also acted as a hope to the people of the era. However the question still remains as to why Sir Arthur Conan Doyles stories are still popular as ever nowadays? Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories are still read world-wide because of many factors. Each story is original. Conan Doyle manages to persuade the readers mind into being captivated by all the clues and red herrings and lays down a mystery that makes the reader want to solve it before Sherlock Holmes does. This all adds up to a very exciting and unforgettable series of books.

Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Forever Essay -- Movie Film comparison comp

Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Forever Francis Ford Coppola's magnum opus Apocalypse Now was ladened with problems and difficulties before and after filming. These problems ranged from those having to do with the cast and crew, to those having to do with the circumstances surrounding the filming, to those having to do with the script, to those dealing in direct regard to the very sanity of all of those involved with Apocalypse Now. Despite the myriad of problems that contributed to this acclaimed film's failure, Apocalypse Now still became a success in its own right, and a true classic by any director's standards. Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel Heart Of Darkness is the striking story of Captain Marlow, an English ship captain who is sent into Africa to track down and collect the debts of an ivory trader identified as Mister Kurtz, a man who may or may not have gone insane along his eventful journey (Conrad). In this novel Marlow is faced with treachery from the Company, hostile as well as friendly natives, and the impending meeting with Kurtz himself. Marlow becomes obsessed with meeting Kurtz and communicating with him after reading the personal history of the man, and hearing all the remarkable stories about Kurtz told by Englishmen and Africans alike (Conrad). This fascinating story is the one that inspired original screenwriter John Milius to write the first drafts of Apocalypse Now in 1969 (Behr). Orson Welles originally planned to write, direct, and star in his own version of Heart Of Darkness back in 1939 (Behr). The problem arose when the Mercury movie company pulled out of the project cit ing Welles' inability to keep the film to be within their strict budget (Virtanen). Welles decided to give up on the project and decid... ... all signs pointed to Apocalypse Now's sure failure, that failure never came. Francis Ford Coppola not only did not receive the "F" he assured himself that he would, he created a film that is uniquely his, and that remains loyal to its many parents, but also reflects Coppola's inner self unlike any other artists mirror. Works Cited Behr, Fax (Writer, Director), & Hickenlooper, George (Writer, Director). 1992. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse [Film]. Showtime/ Paramount. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer. 1986. Buccaneer Books, inc. Cutchogue, NY. Coppola, Francis Ford (Director, Co-author). 1979. Apocalypse Now [Film]. American Zoetrope/ United Artists. Virtanen, Panu S. (1997). Apocalypse Now Tribute Page. Retrieved July 2nd, 1997 from the World Wide Web: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9067/apocal.html.

Paradise Lost: Censorship and Hypocrisy Essay

I love movies. I especially adore those films with an artistic, literary quality that is timeless and classical. In my experience, Italian movies seldom fail to evoke such feelings in me, and Cinema Paradiso was no disappointment. This heartwarming story about a little boy’s love affair with movies, and his subsequent coming-of-age in the repressive environment of ecclesiastical censorship and hypocrisy stirred great emotion in me, as I expected it would. The young Toto made me feel his awe as he attempted to see the forbidden film images hidden from him by his friend Alfredo at the behest of the town priest. The issue of censorship ran deep throughout the film. I believe censorship can actually provide a valid function in a community in some circumstances and situations, such as the protection of children from harmful imagery, literature or speech. Pornography, for example, can and should have its availability limited only to consenting adults. Falsely holding oneself out to be someone else, fraud, is also certainly not a protected form of free speech and should be censored. As a staunch civil libertarian, I have always believed that communities should set their own standards on censorship as much as possible. However as Rosenblatt (2002) points out in his persuasive essay about Cinema Paradiso, without the neutral and objective oversight of outsiders – such as the United States Supreme Court – even well-intentioned censorship can become repressive. Even in the movie, little Toto’s friend Alfredo felt that the local priest’s strictures were repressive. He told Toto, â€Å"You leave [the village] or you will never find your life in so narrow-minded a place. † The priest’s attempts to protect the town from movies’ love scenes were presented in a comical manner in the film, and certainly they were ridiculous, but not only for the way the scenes were produced. The censorship struck me as hypocritical and nonsensical if viewed as necessary to protect the morality of the community. For example, very early in the film we see young Toto stealing peeks into Alfredo’s projection booth. The boy sees many of the very scenes he is not supposed to be seeing. Later, he views by candlelight some of the frames the censor/priest demanded Alfredo remove from the films. But Toto does this in full view of his mother who seems more concerned with the fire hazard Toto creates than in his viewing of forbidden imagery. Clearly the priest’s attempts to protect Toto from the sordid scenes were ineffective. In at least one place in Cinema Paradiso, the omitted kiss scene was followed immediately by violent slapstick comedy. The teacher at Toto’s school severely beat and emotionally abused a young man named Boccia because he was poor at math. Toto’s mother physically abused Toto when she discovered he had spent the milk money on movies. In both cases, it seemed that no one had any problem with physical violence, even against children. Frequently in the movie several men in the audience laughed and jeered at the missing love scenes in the movies they were watching, knowing exactly what was missing from the film. It struck me as hypocritical that a community would see fit to strike scenes of love – kissing – from movies (even though everyone knew exactly what was being struck) while having no problem with actual physical violence. Lastly, I found it hypocritical that this town’s people would publicly vilify a family for being nominally â€Å"Stalinist† or â€Å"Communist† while ignoring the actual Stalin-esque repression in their midst. The scene in which the people wanted very much to see the movie playing at the Cinema Paradiso, but were turned away, was a good example of this. The filmmakers clearly wanted to portray the inappropriateness of the town’s hypocritical censorship and repression because they gave us such powerfully symbolic clues. As a result of Alfredo’s defiant act of projecting the movie into the street for the people, he inadvertently started a fire that burned down the old theater and cost him his sight. The man who defied the censorship of the town, symbolized by the refusal of the cinema’s owners to allow people in the street to see the film, and who provided them the vision of the movie (and Toto’s vision of becoming a filmmaker) – lost his vision. And his vision he lost in a fire, an intense symbol of purging, repression, or censorship.

Functions of a Job Description Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Duties and Responsibilities The duties of this position are as follows: The primary focus for this position will be the designing, planning, organizing and directing the information systems and electronic data processing for the company. The position will be responsible for developing and implementing policies that will underpin the function of the information systems and electronic data processing. The position will meet with all managers in the company to discuss their needs, the cost of their needs and the system requirements and specifications that are needed to fit the newly developed system. The position will be responsible for the budgets and expenditures for the IT department. Performance Requirements This position will be able to perform all duties within the aspects of IT management and control. To this end, the position will: Design and implement an orientation program for all company employees who will use the IT system. This will include all current employees and new employees. Troubleshoot network including all software, hardware, or networking problems. Stay familiar with all software and hardware needs including new versions of the programs. Trains staff how to use current and future computer technology within the company. Provide individual support to employees where necessary. Maintain an inventory that is both accurate and current for software, hardware and any resources. A particularly important area for the IT manager will be to maintain a policy on e-mail communications as it applies to the workplace. We will write a custom essay sample on Functions of a Job Description or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page