A Story Of The Tell Tale Heart

A Story Of The Tell Tale Heart Everybody loves a good story! We have been told stories since a young age; also as we grow up; we continue to be surrounded by them. However, what makes a good and interesting story? For me in order to answer this question, I have chosen three short stories to evaluate them, which are The Tell Tale Heart, The Monkeys Paw and The Landlady. The main ingredients of the three stories mentioned above are the genre, characters and the setting. The genre of the story doesnt have to be very sophisticated, but it should tell us about the aim of the story such as is the story aimed to make us laugh or cry? The Tell Tale Heart: The Tell Tale Heart is a short story is written by Edger Allan Poe in 1843. The interesting part of the story is the guilt of a mad man who hears the heart of the old man he has killed still beating. Although the readers are given a rare insight into the mind of a mad man, but what is specially of interest is that this mad man is in obvious denial of his insanity and he acts like a child who has done something wrong and knows that the readers know it. In fact it is within the first two sentences of the story that the narrator feels he must convince to the readers of his sanity but not madness Very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but what will you say that I am mad. Another interesting point was made by the author the way in which the narrator talks fluctuate rapidly. When the narrator first defends his sanity, he seems calm, relaxed, and even intelligent. Then later like the above passage he seems to be rambling like a crazed lunatic. It is the time when he is calm in his manner of speech, which he is in his deepest state of a denial, to the time where he almost convinced of his sanity. It is interesting to note beside the obvious fact that it is impossible to hear everything in the heaven and earth, the symbolism that can be found in his speech I heard many things in hell. This statement is the narrators subconscious. After the narrator committed the murder of the old man, he started speaking about the precautions he took; precautions that he believed only a sane man could have taken. Where things really get interesting is when the narrator lunges in to kill the old man. He shrieked once-only once. The scream of the old man something that could easily be audible to the neighbours causes the narrator no anxiety. In fact the narrator almost immediately shifts its attention back to the heart. He hears the old mans heart beating furiously, terrified for his life. It is however not the old mans heart which the narrator is hearing but it is his own heart. The author does something very clever in the above part, he further portrays the narrators warped sense of reality by describing the sense of anxiety that the narrator receives from the loudness of the old mans heart, fearing that it will wake the neighbours. The greatest symbolism between a heart, the narrators super hearing and a conscience comes at the end of the story. Where the narrator manages to convince the police officers that there is nothing suspicious at the house but then the heart comes into play once again. Clearly the narrator is not hearing an actual noise, but is suffering from the manifestations of his maddened mind. Villains! I shirked, dissemble no more! I admit the deed!tear up the planks!here, here!it is the beating of his hideous heart. The narrators insanity gives him away to the police, he cant take it any longer and he cries out his guilty confession. Through the guise of the narrators madness, Poe portrays the mans consciousness as the beating of his heart. In essence the narrator is hearing a physical representation of his own guilt. The fascinating, but convoluted, point of view through which the story is portrayed is masterfully done to the point where Poe has his readers picking through the madness to separate what is actually going on, from how the narrator perceives things are going on. Poe uses symbolism and point of view as his greatest assets, and expertly portrays the order to madness. In its genius simplicity, Poe uses the narrators continuous denial to convince the reader of his undoubted insanity. The Monkeys Paw: The Monkeys Paw is a short story is written by W. W. Jacobs. The interesting part of the story begins when tragedy strikes the White Family, when Sergeant Major Morris brings a Monkeys Paw into their lives which is said to grant three wishes. This story had three main parts. These parts were the first wish, the first wish granted and the second and the third wishes. The way author has used day, night and the weather at the beginning of the story immediately captures the readers interest by explain that it is a bad day with nothing to look forward, when he says the night was cold and wet in the small parlour of laburnum villaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The majority of the storys scenes happen at night, leaving only a few scenes in daylight. During the night, the weather is never pleasant and often unsettling, but during the day the weather is decent. The author purposely sets the suspenseful scenes during the nighttime leaving the reader to expect something horrible to happen. The scenes that take place during the day are not as scary and do not have the same effect as those at night. The authors main reason for setting these scenes at night is to target the readers fears. For example, the scene where Mr. White wishes for his son to come back to life is set at night to make it fearful and suspenseful. When their wish came true, it was a stormy night. There was heavy rain, thunder and lightning. If it had been set in the daylight it would not have had the same effect. The setting had been in the middle of nowhere it provides a feeling of isolation from civilization, and also when it at night it establishes the expectation that something could go wrong and therefore helps to build suspense. This makes the story better and interesting. Jacobs has made this story interesting because the reader attention got drawn into by listening to Sergeant Major Morris travels in India and the mysterious tale of The Monkeys Paw Well, its just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps as the Sergeant Major said. Jacobs makes the tale even more intriguing by the way the Sergeant Major tells the tale about The Monkeys Paw but then goes on to being reserved about it. Another interesting part is that all the previous owners of The Monkeys Paw remain unknown, and the only thing that is revealed is that something horrible happened to them. The Sergeant Major only mentioned about one of them, as he talked about his wishes I dont know what the first two were, but the third was for death. The three wishes are also spaced just right, so that the events in the story can take place the way they do. The first wishs horrible results are enough to create more tension in the plot, but leave enough wishes for there to be hope of fixing it. The second wish serves to complicate the plot further, yet leaves the third wish as an option to fix it. The author adds depth and more excitement to the story by injecting suspense and mystery at almost every turn. From the beginning, he uses somewhat vague dialogue and intriguing character reactions to create tension. For example when Mr. White questioned the Sergeant Major about The Monkeys Paw, he replied Leastways, nothing worth hearing. This shows the Sergeant Major Morris discomfort while speaking of The Monkeys Paw draws the reader in and keeps them hooked. The audience can understand the uncomfortable history surrounding the strange talisman. This tension exponentially has increased when Morris suddenly threw The Monkeys Paw at the fire and he said Better let it burn. At this moment, the military mans true fear and hatred of The Monkeys Paw reveal themselves. The entire climax of the story also radiates pulse pounding suspense. The author controls the readers perspective and interest through the story by other methods as well. The previous owners of The Monkeys Paw are a great example of irony. Something bad happened to them, when the Sergeant Major reveals. This creates a fearful image to the readers mind and the reader is looking for something similar to happen to the Whites family. Even though the Whites expected their magical money to come falling from the sky, when Herbert said Might drop on his head from the sky. At second and third parts of the story the readers attention focuses on Mr. and Mrs. White, and not the events that take place outside their house. The reader never really sees how the wish on the paw caused their sons fatal accident, or whether or not he was brought back to life. It could all be a coincidence but because of the perspective the reader is forced to take, the story seems more sinister and powerful than it might have otherwise. This effect is used to its fullest extent when the lost son is apparently brought back to life. The knocking on the door was believed to be him, even though Mr. White didnt believe to be him, as he said to his wife For Gods sake, dont let it in, but the last wish was made before the door was opened. Its possible that he was never there at all, despite what the characters in the story believe. The author never really reveal what was the last wish but one can assume that he wished he had never made his second wish. The end of the story is open and leaves us to come up with an end of our own. Conclusion: the author has managed to use a good connection between each part of the story, which captures the readers interesting by explaining how the Whites in the beginning of the story are content, yet skeptical of the magical properties of The Monkeys Paw. Through the events of the story, their world has turned upside down, and in the end they are wrestling on the floor for control of the same Monkeys Paw. Their previous happiness is converted to despair and sorrow in just ten days. The Landlady: The Landlady is a short story which has an unexpected ending by Roald Dahl. The writer uses clever structure and effective characterization to create such a surprising and satisfactory ending. I think the author has set the time and weather in condition, which creates an atmosphere of suspense and a sinister in the story. Billy arrived in Bath at 9pm and it is a time when darkness takes over light, as dark represents evil. The moon was coming up out of a clear starry sky. This quote is associated with strong things happening creating evil as the atmosphere changes and it shows the start of a supernatural suspense. The air was deadly cold and the wind was like flat blades of ice on his cheeks. Roald Dahls word choice is excellent and chillingly describes the opening scene. By the use of words, such as: cold, deadly and blade the author gives us clues, hinting at Billys, the main character and his fate. The weather was not pleasant because the wind was sharp and deadly cold. Flat blade is associated with knife which is related to evil because it causes people to bleed when cut. Billy is seventeen; this is another good reason, which is given by the writer in the story. Why? Because it is evident from the story that Billy is mature since he is making his own sensible decisions and is starting a good job but in reality he is young and vulnerable boy. He is also sociable, handsome and generally a likable person. There are several suggestions in the paragraph to back this up. He enjoys darts, likes going out. The writer introduces him the perfect teenage boy to readers. The problem is he catches the eye of the landlady, an original and unusual character to commit murder. Roald Dahl uses the setting to the condition that without it the story wouldnt work. If it was set in the modern day we would have the problem of communication via internet or mobile phones. In the modern day Billys mum or the people receiving him in his new job would have phoned the next day when they didnt hear from him but at the time when the story is set there was a lot less communication between people and it is likely that he would not have been missed for a long while after his disappearance. Instead he is stuck, unknowingly, at a strange BED AND BREAKFAST with a psychopathic old lady but no form of communication with the outside world. That is what makes it interesting. Therefore Billys mood is unpleasant in Bath because He didnt know anyone who lived here. This shows that Billy is a lonely person in the strong city called Bath so he would have nobody to turn to for help or assistance, therefore he is not happy. Roald Dahl manages to keep us interested the whole way through. By starting with the ice-cold weather and going on to talk about the perfect, good looking teenage boy. He draws us in with enticing clues put in here and there throughout the story like little hints of horror or spookiness. Billy comes across a swanky residence with porches and pillars but the white facades were all blotchy and cracked. A slight twist, not everything is as it seems in the fancy place and all of a sudden he comes across an illuminated sign. When he looks closer in the window he sees cosy furnishings and a beautifully designed, welcoming, window. And now a queer thing happened to him, this is where the story takes and important turn when the strange and supernatural that has been building up declares itself out in the open. We think that whatever happens now cant be right. The sign BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST stops him from going away, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was. Before he knew what was happening he had rung the bell and then at once the door was opened and he was being welcomed, almost simultaneously into a warm and comfortable house by an elderly woman, unsuspecting. In the story she is described as looking like your best friends mother. Roald Dahl also says, with good use of parenthesis, She was not only harmless there was no question about that but she was obviously a kind and generous soul. Billy obviously has complete trust in the landlady and it is clear that he doesnt expect that she is going to turn out to be mentally deranged. Gradually we get tantalizing hints as to how Billy is undoubtedly going to die (even though it is never actually said). The landlady looks Billy up and down as if she fancies him but when we look at other clues the cheap accommodation, she doesnt want to break any laws at this stage in the proceedings it seems to be something else and we want to know what. At last we see the picture coming together from all the clues we have pieced together. Billy is sure when he reads the guest book that hes heard the names before somewhere and when he thinks he is positive that they were linked in some way. When he mentions this to the landlady she changes the subject and seems unnaturally anxious to persuade him to drink his tea. Billy looks at the names and notices that the dates are over a year apart and the latest two years ago! This is very suspicious and warrants closer inspection. He asks the landlady herself about this but she says she is very choosy. What gives her plan away to the reader is when she tells Billy that they are still in the house both together. When she says, about Mr Mulholland, and there wasnt a blemish on his body, even Billy is surprised. We are finally relieved of the burden of guesswork when she tells us that both of her extremely lifelike pets are stuffed. We know that the landlady has probably been preparing to stuff Billy because of all the clues we have had and she smells funny, a mix between old leather (preserved or dried skin) and vinegar(used to preserve food by pickling), the tea tastes like almonds, a type of poison. We know whats going to happen to him and it seems as though the landlady has been waiting for the chance for some time because the bed covers were tucked back for him and a warm hot water bottle had been laid inside the bed before he arrived even though she had had no guests for two years. Roald Dahl never has to say any of this but we understand it all by the end anyway, this is what makes the story so interesting.

Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Tu Do Street” and “Camouflaging the Chimera”

Both â€Å"Tu Do Street† and â€Å"Camouflaging the Chimera† express the negotiation of racial boundaries in a new, unfamiliar environment where barriers are at once more rigid and flexible. While the speaker addresses the boundaries that exist between black and white soldiers, particularly in Tu Do Street, he also explores the relationship between himself and the Viet Cong.As an African-American soldier, the speaker feels isolated from his white counterparts, even in times of leisure. The music that â€Å"divides the evening,† (Tu Do Street, 1) is sung by white singers (Hank Snow, 7, and Hank Williams, 12) and the speaker is passed over at the bar in favor of â€Å"white face[s],† (12). While interactions between black and white take place in a more illicit realm (black & white/soldiers touch the same lovers/minutes apart,† 28-30), the speaker also probes the hidden connections between the soldiers and their enemies: â€Å"Back in the bush at Dak T o/& Khe Sanh, we fought/the brothers of these women/we now hold in our arms,† (23-26).By exploring the dichotomy between loving and killing, to disparate concepts in both action and feeling, the speaker calls into question the human nature behind war and labeling the enemy by the color of his flesh.  In â€Å"Camouflaging the Chimera,† the connections between the Americans and the VC are further established. While the distinctions between black and white are largely abandoned, as Drew and Tyler mentioned (the narrator is â€Å"We,† not â€Å"I†), the speaker focuses on the similarities between the American soldiers and their Vietnamese enemies. While â€Å"painting our faces & rifles/with mud† (2-3) functions to equalize the American soldiers in skin color, it also serves as an equalizing force between the Americans and the VC.Through the poem, the VC are described with terms of darkness, literally as â€Å"dark-hearted songbirds,† (14), â €Å"rock apes,† (16) and â€Å"black silk† (24). This imagery works, on one level, to paint the enemy in a dark, negative light. On another level, however, it aligns the VC with the speaker, a black soldier. The final lines of the poem (â€Å"as a world revolved/under each man’s eyelid,† 30-31) distills the speaker’s understanding of the human aspect of war, as he acknowledges that each man, black or white or Vietnamese, has his own experience and history, and that each man is as much an individual as part of an army.In agreeing with Kris’s assertion that the speaker, at times, tries to cross the boundary of race between black and white soldiers, I think the speaker is more broadly concerned with narrowing the division between all who fight against each other in any arena—black and white in matters of race, American and Vietnamese in matters of war—in order to shed light on their shared humanity.

Biological Pest Control Case Study – the cassava mealybug

The Cassava plant was brought to Africa from South America in the 16th century. The next four years the starchy thickened roots became the main source of food for millions of Africans, providing up to 70% of the recommended daily intake. The cassava plant is the habitat of the cassava mealybug and is damaged by the insect. The problem – The cassava mealybug- eating cassava plant- biological control of mealybug by using wasps. When the cassava plant was introduced to Africa most of its predators for example mites and plant diseases, were not also introduced therefore leaving the plant free of most of its predators but in the 1970’s a pest called the cassava mealybug was accidently introduced from Latin America(2) The pest is a rare insect but it quickly spread across the entire cassava plant growing area and due to the lack of natural predators within 10 years it became the most important pest insect on cassava causing a loss of up 80% of crop. The mealybug(5) shown on left hand side of text has damaged the cassava plants by sucking sap from roots, tender leaves; petioles and fruit form the plant. The severely infested leaves of the cassava plant will turn yellow (3) and gradually dry out a severe attack on the cassava plant can result in shredding of leaves. On the right is a picture (4) of a cassava plant which has been infested by the mealybug. Another problem with the mealybugs is that some will inject a toxic substance while feeding causing deformation of the cassava plant and therefore there was less food to be harvest. Although timing is not regular, depending on biological events and conditions such as area under cultivation and climatic factors, it seems that major new diseases or strains of cassava disease tend to appear every 7–10 years. Table below shows the disease problem in Arica. Biological methods/ processes- biological control of invasive species. Cassava mosaic and mealybug control programs were introduced in the 1970s (2) to combat these two problems, the decline in crop because of the mealybug eating the plant and further decline because of the spread of disease. The Institute of Biological Control (CIBC) based in Trinidad and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) researched into how the mealybug was kept under control in South America. They eventually found that a tiny wasp (smaller than the head of a pin) called the Leptomastix, which laid its eggs on the mealybug was keeping the mealy bugs under control therefore protecting the cassava plant. The picture on the right shows the small wasp on the mealybug larvae. You can read also Costco Case Study The picture on the left shows an infected cassava tuber dug from the field and sliced open. The wasps were able to control the cassava eating the cassava crops by the wasp laying eggs on the mealybug they grew on the mealybug, the wasp larvae then killing the mealybug this would have a huge effect on the population as seen in South America, of the mealybug and therefore restoring the natural balance. This could be the breakthrough that they were looking for and could control the mealybug. Meeting the challenge Tests were run on the wasp by the CABI Bioscience in the UK. There the mealybug was tested to see how highly specific they are to the cassava mealybug host because if they were not then they could also affect other insects in the continent and therefore would be too dangerous to introduce to the area. The results showed that the wasp was highly specific to the insect (mealybug) so were given the okay to be shipped to Africa so they then can be reared and then the distributed to other areas around Africa. This was a huge breakthrough as without this research it had the ability to cause huge damage on the environment and the economy because of further damage to other crops. Appropriateness.-Has been successful with the mealybug. The mealybug feeds on the cassava stem, petiole, and leaf near the growing point of the cassava plant. During feeding, the mealybug injects a toxin that causes leaf curling, slowing of shoot growth, and eventual leaf withering. This is the effect the cassava mealybug has on the plant resulting in a huge loss of crop due to infested plant crop. The yield loss in infested plants is estimated to be up to 60 percent of root and 100 percent of the leaves the root is the main source of food so this causes a huge problem for the crop yield. The results were a reduction in mealybug damage was seen in the first season following release in both the leaf and the root, and full control was typically achieved within 2–4 years (6) after and now after a decade (10 years) the cassava mealybug and the wasps lived in natural balance with the mealybug population down to a maximum of 10% of what they were 10 years ago at a peak of the infestation.(1) Now the cassava can grow with no or little dam age from the mealybug as the wasp has stopped the 60% root damage and the 100% of leaf destruction. Yield losses as reported by farmers are averaged at about 80% during the 1983 cassava mealybug outbreak but were reduced to 43% in 1979 pre infestation levels. (7) Implications Environmental- An environmental implication is that when the wasps are introduced to south America there was a risk that it could have a huge impact on the food chain as by taking away one organism or gaining one can have a knock on effect on others for example of the wasp was then hunted by a predator this could leave its normal pray to multiply therefore having an over population which in turn can then have knock on effects to their pray and so on and so on until extinction of a food source. Causing problems for South America in the economy and for the environment also. This environmental implication causes an imbalance of the natural balance of wildlife; this may have a knock on effect of the overall environmental surrounding and the effect on the human population. Economic For the farmers of Africa the economic impact has been useful and successful by increasing dramatically there yield percentage therefore increasing the money income. Every pound of investment in the mealybug project control work has returned between 200 and 500 pounds. These benefits to the environment from this environmental solution with no costs but a huge increase in crop harvest, obviously is a clear advantage economically to the farmers. By introducing the wasps there will be a series of tests that need to be run before can be realised for example testing the wasps to see if they were highly specific to the mealybug and whether they would cause destruction on other pests in the environment. The cost of setting up the project is costly especially as it is a longitudinal study so will have a large amount of money spent which will be spent over the years as has to be monitored over the years. Benefits to the humans There was a desperate need for something that could stop the crop destruction on the cassava plant and by finding the wasp that ate the mealybug which was destroying the crop made the crop loss decrease dramatically There was 80% of crop lost so with the help of the cassava mealybug project has gone down to 43 % (7) this a huge benefit for the locals economically it brings in more income for them and also more food, As is a large food source for the local people. The cassava plant is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropic area. The cassava is a major food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for around 500 million people. Cassava is one of the most drought-tolerant crops, capable of growing on marginal soils. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava. The cassava is a great source of carbohydrate for the people although it lacks in protein. Risks to the environment Although there is many reasons why there was a need for this biological control of the cassava mealybug, but there was also a huge risk of the environment being destroyed for example, if the wasp was not highly specific to the mealybug and caused a different crop to grow out of control this could also affect the natural balance of the environment resulting in and upset of the natural predators food source leading to disruption of habitat and extinction of some insects which will have a large effect on predators higher up the food chain. The wasp being introduced to the environment could have caused further damage on the environment destroying the local agriculture if it had effected another plant in the environment with could have caused further damage on the local economy and their food source. The food chain on the right shows how a small animal’s decrease of extinction would affect along the food chain resulting in effecting the highest food predator and can easily lead to extinction of this animal. Alternative solutions Pesticides can be used to control out breaks of mealybugs. It is not very easy to control, as the cassava mealybug is covered in hydrophobic wax which repels water-based insecticides therefore making it very difficult ton successfully irradiate the mealybug using this method of biological control. Also unless mealybugs are sprayed with the insecticide at certain times the treatment will not be effective. Firstly because mealybugs are protected from aqueous sprays by their wax coat and seek sheltered sites at certain points in which to feed, insecticides must be applied when mealybugs have least wax and are most exposed. This time is in early spring as the mealybugs will feed on the foliage and at this point the mealybugs are young and have not had enough time to produce the full thick layer of wax coating. And therefore this leaves the mealybug unprotected from the insecticide. There are also fewest leaves at this point so is harder for the, mealybug to hide from the insecticide resulting in a higher success rate. Insecticides applied after Christmas has limited effect, Once mealybugs have established there position on the plant (usually from mid-January onwards), they are virtually impossible to remove or control with insecticides at this stage therefore this means that there has to be a lot of research gone into discovering the perfect time to use the pesticide therefore costing a lot as is a longitudinal study and may vary from year to year. Genetic modification. Another possibility that is being looked into it genetic modification of plants, this was done by Dr Stanford. He was looking into crop improvement and saw the power of genetic selection and how there was limited changed possible using just selective breeding. He then became involved in plant genetic engineering research and showed that there were numerous genes which were potentially useful in crop plants but they were struggling to find a method for delivering these genes into the plant genome, there was no transformation technology(8) . Further research showed that shooting DNA into cells thereby penetrating cell walls and membranes. This was called the gene gun and it was able to transform early transgenic crops. This gene gun would be able to in theory change the genetic makeup of the cassava plant so that it could offer some sort of protection against predators. This would also have risks as you do not know how the modification will affect all of its predators and could therefo re have an effect on them so may cause harm in some way. Although there is less risk in destroying the natural environment as it is not causing other insects a problem. Conclusion In conclusion the biological control of the mealybug has had a huge effect and has caused the problem of the economy and environment to be resolved therefore keeping harmony between the organisms and the human population by keeping a natural balance between the small wasp and the mealybug.

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