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Post by Ashley on Dec 5, 2005 6:34:54 GMT -5
I am on my school's Academic Team, and I was wondering if I could get a little bit of help, mainly from the Brits of the board....
I need some random facts about Britain that are well known to you, but maybe not to people outside of Britain. We also seem to get stuck in a rut on Brit Lit (British Literature, sorry, it sounded funny), so if you could name famous British novels and give a small summary that would be great, ESPECIALLY Charles Dickens novels.
If you do this for me I'll loff you all forever.
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Post by goblingirl on Dec 5, 2005 13:10:39 GMT -5
Um..erm....um......gah.....feh.....meh......tch....um....er.
Harry Potter? Boy goes to Wizarding School, learns Magic, etc.
Serious, helpful answer later
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Post by Ashley on Dec 5, 2005 16:01:30 GMT -5
Okay, thank yous. *waits*
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Post by goblingirl on Dec 6, 2005 12:01:28 GMT -5
*is finding British Classics to summarise*
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Post by gio on Dec 6, 2005 12:45:50 GMT -5
christmas carol - good example of dickens' socialist beliefs. in this novel, scrooge, a mean, miserly old man, is wealthy yet cold, bitter and friendless (bah, humbug). he sees profit as his sole goal, money the sole measure of importance and if a person is poor, its their own fault. this cost him his love, his happiness, and his friends. however, on christmas eve, he is visited by the ghost of his dead partner marley, who had been of similar character, and is offered a chance to change his ways. he is told he will be visited by 3 ghosts, one for christmas past, present and yet to come. they each show him scenes to warn him - past shows him his lonely childhood, his fondest times as a young man, and how his greed cost him the woman he loved. present showed him the undaunted jubilence of man, as the poor, sick and lonely still felt christmas cheer, and even his overworked, underpaid employee bill showed him no ill will, despite his familys poor home and his crippled son tim. christmas yet to come showed him visions of the future where he had died, alone and unloved, with the very sheets from his bed taken to be sold. from these three visions he found a sense of compassion and empathy, saw the joy in friends and family and saw how he could make life better.
not bad summary considering i havnt read it since gcse
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Post by Ashley on Dec 6, 2005 16:37:31 GMT -5
Thanks. Good thing for me I know about a Christmas Carol because I've read it in multiple versions, seen the play about 30 times in different styles and studied it in 5 grades.
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Post by gio on Dec 7, 2005 13:48:53 GMT -5
i did it for 2 years for gcse. read it hundreds of time, line by line. had it read out by members of the class, had it acted by members of the class, watched the movie (patrick stewart is great)
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Post by Paranoid Android on Dec 7, 2005 14:36:21 GMT -5
Here's a synopsis of Oliver Twist:
Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse in a provincial town. His mother has been found very sick in the street, and she gives birth to Oliver just before she dies. Oliver is raised under the care of Mrs. Mann and the beadle Mr. Bumble in the workhouse. When it falls to Oliver’s lot to ask for more food on behalf of all the starving children in the workhouse, he is trashed, and then apprenticed to an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. Another apprentice of Mr. Sowerberry’s, Noah Claypole insults Oliver’s dead mother and the small and frail Oliver attacks him. However, Oliver is punished severely, and he runs away to London. Here he is picked up by Jack Dawkins or the Artful Dodger as he is called. The Artful Dodger is a member of the Jew Fagin’s gang of boys. Fagin has trained the boys to become pickpockets. The Artful Dodger takes Oliver to Fagin’s den in the London slums, and Oliver, who innocently does not understand that he is among criminals, becomes one of Fagin’s boys. When Oliver is sent out with The Artful Dodger and another boy on a pickpocket expedition Oliver is so shocked when he realizes what is going on that he and not the two other boys are caught. Fortunately, the victim of the thieves, the old benevolent gentleman, Mr. Brownlow rescues Oliver from arrest and brings him to his house, where the housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin nurses him back to life after he had fallen sick, and for the first time in his life he is happy. However, with the help of the brutal murderer Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy Fagin kidnaps Oliver. Fagin is prompted to do this by the mysterious Mr. Monks. Oliver is taken along on a burglary expedition in the country. The thieves are discovered in the house of Mrs. Maylie and her adopted niece, Rose, and Oliver is shot and wounded. Sikes escapes. Rose and Mrs. Maylie nurse the wounded Oliver. When he tells them his story they believe him, and he settles with them. While living with Rose and Mrs. Maylie Oliver one day sees Fagin and Monks looking at him in through a window. Nancy discovers that Monks is plotting against Oliver for some reason, bribing Fagin to corrupt his innocence. Nancy also learns that there is some kind of connection between Rose and Oliver; but after having told Rose’s adviser and friend Dr. Losberne about it on the steps of London Bridge, she is discovered by Noah Claypole, who in the meantime has become a member of Fagin’s gang, and Sykes murders her. On his frantic flight away from the crime Sykes accidentally and dramatically hangs himself. Fagin and the rest of the gang are arrested. Fagin is executed after Oliver has visited him in the condemned cell in Newgate Prison. The Artful Dodger is transported after a court scene in which he eloquently defends himself and his class. Monks’ plot against Oliver is disclosed by Mr. Brownlow. Monks is Oliver’s half-brother seeking all of the inheritance for himself. Oliver’s father’s will states that he will leave money to Oliver on the condition that his reputation is clean. Oliver’s dead mother and Rose were sisters. Monks receives his share of the inheritance and goes away to America. He dies in prison there, and Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow.
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Post by Ashley on Dec 8, 2005 15:50:32 GMT -5
Heh...I've been forced to read that one too.
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Post by gio on Dec 8, 2005 16:36:18 GMT -5
what about alternative cult british sci fi/ fantasy comics? i have 3 2000AD annuals (judge dredd counts as literature)
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Post by Becky on Dec 9, 2005 1:02:31 GMT -5
Chekhov's Three Sisters - three sisters talk about going to Moscow but don't.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Dec 9, 2005 8:54:01 GMT -5
That's not British though.
Shakespeare - abandoned his wife and went to London and became a famous playwright. Died on his birthday. Buried in a grave with a curse on it. May or may not be Christopher Marlowe.
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Post by goblingirl on Dec 9, 2005 9:53:37 GMT -5
Alice in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carol
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Dec 9, 2005 10:04:47 GMT -5
Alice does get into some tricky places...
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Post by goblingirl on Dec 9, 2005 10:10:06 GMT -5
Yup. Curiosity killed the cat/the curious girl
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