BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH

BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH BÀI TẬP LỚN VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ NGÔN NGỮ ANH

Title: Assignment on English and American Literature

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Hanoi, 18th January 2022

Supervisor

signature

1 Rationale 1

2 Objectives of The Study 1

3 Research method 1

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 3

I Answering the theoretical questions on literature 3

II Working on the given literary works 8

PART 3: CONCLUSION 25

REFERENCES 26

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Literature is considered as a great treasure of a nation, providing us with considerable knowledge of the people's customs, habits, religions, rites, lifestyles and their points of view In such a treasure, Charles Dickens's works have been evaluated as a valuable one With Oliver Twist - his second novel published in 1838, Dickens sprang his fame to readers all over the world Oliver Twist is a story about the battles of good versus evil, with the evil continually trying to corrupt and exploit the good It portrays the power of Love, Hate, Greed, and Revenge and how each can affect the people involved

It goes without saying that, to achieve this success, the author had to use different kinds

of figures of speech, especially metaphors to express his ideas In Oliver Twist, it is estimated that there are about two hundred and fifty examples of metaphors, which are used to describe graphically, and symbolically physical appearances, characteristics of human beings, nonhuman living beings and lifeless objects

2 Objectives of The Study

To analyze Oliver Twist novel by Charles Dickens based on the structural element

This study analyses about Oliver Twist novel by Charles Dickens, of course the primary data is the novel entitled Oliver Twist Novel by Charles Dickens.

- Secondary data

Secondary data are taken from another sources dealing with issue and the Sociology Theory and some sources from internet

-PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

I Answering the theoretical questions on literature

What makes Hamlet one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s masterpieces?

One of the most popular works of William Shakespeare is the Hamlet This work is a masterpiece not because it is just a work of literature but because the book addressed a lot

of societal issues during the Elizabethan period, which are still being made reference to

up till today

Hamlet is a play that was written by William Shakespeare in 1599-1601, a period in England called the Elizabethan period During this period, there was a clash of interest between the protestant and the Catholics The period births the puritanism movement in England Hamlet was set in the mid to late 1500s, after the protestant reformation of 1517

Hamlet is a catholic and he attended a protestant University and English citizens were supposed to join the protestant church of England This brought about the transition of Hamlet between Catholicism and Protestantism This religious confusion, some claims it cause Hamlet’s indecision of avenging his late father’s murder

There were claims that Shakespeare used the play to warn England not to repeat what happened after the death of Henry VIII Fortunately, no fight ensued over the control of the country and James VI of Scotland became the King James II of England The play is linked to the Danish history of the ancient legend of Amleth, Prince of Denmark

The Social context of the play has to do with the features of the society that the play is set

in and the impact of the society at that time on the play There are two aspects to Social context; i) the kind of Society in which the characters live and ii) the time period that the play was produced The problems of renaissance and its fundamental themes played a major role in the play Renaissance humanism is interested in human experiences and the society learning from the experiences

This movement centres on optimism and the potential scope of human understanding Act

2, Scene 2 is directly linked to one of the texts of an Italian Humanist, Pico della

Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man The humanists aim is to create a better understanding among humans and how understanding can give birth to a better humanity.Michel de Montaigne of the sixteenth century was not interested in studying human experiences but instead emphasised on World of appearances This which is reflected in Hamlet,as Hamlet was in a dilemma as he had huge difficulty in knowing the truth about the murder of his late father

This shows that one will always have huge difficulty in knowing the real truths about people Henry the King developed religious samples, cited the book of Leviticus that no man shall take his brother’s wife and if peradventure, it happens, the brother and the brother’s wife union will not produce a child The embedded video buttresses on the relevance on the play

One of the main things that makes Hamlet relevant today is that it addresses social class and political issues There are several scenes that discusses our flawed society, especially

in relation to division and biases which still occurs in the modern society

The play also discusses the concept of life and death The protagonist contemplates on suicide and the essence of life, which brings us to the inevitability of death and the

concept of suicide in our modern society

This is how Hamlet perceived his mother’s remarriage to his Uncle, as shown in the scene when Hamlet and his father’s ghost were conversing Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in the period when some beliefs were protestant and some are catholic, a time when the people were faced with so many rulers and different Christian faiths

The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the plays of William Shakespeare that the literary device of play within the play was employed and it is a ‘metadrama’ Theplay within the play differentiates Shakespeare’s Hamlet from his other Tragedy works The play encapsulates betrayal, revenge and indecision

The play is a reflection of the society Hamlet is a play of moral instruction, as

Shakespeare as mastered the art of instructing the society through his works and

particularly the universality of his plays The play is regarded as one of the greatest works

of William Shakespeare, perhaps due to the several political undertones of the play.The play does not just instruct on good family relationship but also can be seen on a bigger societal scale, as it instructs the society as well The play captures all the aspects

of the society, from religious aspect to the politics of the society It makes us to see how things work with the upper class and the period that the play was written is that of the Renaissance period, also called the period of classical learning when there was an

outburst of knowledge

The play also centres on the themes; ‘the meaning of life’, as Hamlet ponders on the cruelty of life and the uncertainty of life as well Hamlet acts mad, Claudius murders his brother and marries his wife, this shows the level of deception and secrecy in the play The play within the play in the text sheds light and begins to unravel mysteries and make people to be themselves It was after the play within the play was presented that everyone

in the play starts playing out their true nature and character The literary device of play within the play always has a great significance in a play as it achieves a particular role in

a play

The literary device is quite technical as it has to be presented in such a way that it is not seen as the play but a play staged in a play, whereby the characters in a play are acting out a play and the other characters are the audience in the play

What accounts for Hamlet's melancholy and irresolution?

Hamlet is the center of action in the play This is a play so dominated by one character that Hamlet without the 'Prince is impossible to imagine The play deals with his

suffering and tragic death The other characters in the play serve as foils to him Hamlet's tragedy is a particular example of a universal predicament; action is necessary, but action

in a fallen world involves us in evil

To attempt to shuffle off responsibility by refusing to act, or by shuffling off this mortal coil-by 'handing god back his ticket,' as Dostoevsky puts it involves us equally in guilt.Like other tragic heroes of Shakespeare, he is also endowed with exceptional qualities like royal birth, graceful and charming personality and popularity among his own

countrymen He is essentially a scholar and a thinker, and his noble brain conceives the finest thoughts He has a high intellectual quality He is religious-minded and is very sensitive In spite of possessing all these higher qualities which rank him above the other characters, but the flaw in his character named as 'tragic flaw' by A.C Bradley, leads to his downfall and makes him a tragic hero

The tragic flaw in the character of Hamlet is that he thinks too much and feels too much

He is often disturbed by his own nature of 'self-analysis.' He is forever looking into himself, delving into his own nature to seek an explanation for every action, and giving vent to his own thoughts in soliloquies Coleridge says that his enormous intellectual activity prevents instant action and the result is delay and irresolution Bradley gives his own explanation for his delay and irresolution According to the learned critic, he suffers from melancholia, a pathological state only a step removed from insanity His thoughts are diseased thoughts What is required of Hamlet is prompt action, whereas he broods over the moral idealism which leads to his delay in action When he gets an opportunity

to kill Claudius, he puts aside the thought because he cannot strike an enemy while he is

at prayer Again he allows himself to be taken to England, although he knows well that the plan is part and parcel of Claudius's evil intent Hamlet himself is fully aware of his own irresolution

There are several causes account for Hamlet's inaction By nature he is prone to think rather than to act He is a man of morals and his moral idealism receives a shock when his mother remarries Claudius after his father's death Chance too plays an important part

in shaping his character Chance places him in such a position in which he is incapable ofdoing anything He feels sad at his position and says ''The time is out of joint 0 cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.''

He becomes inconsistent and is no longer a person who reaches a conclusion only by reasoning He cannot quite accept the role that nature has prescribed for him-that of a revenger-and thus he is unable to act quickly.

Like other tragic heroes Hamlet too has to face conflict, both internal and external The internal conflict is between his moral scruples and the act of revenge, which he is called upon to perform Love of his father, the dishonor of his mother, and the villainy of his uncle prompt him to take revenge while his nobility, his moral idealism, his principles and his religion revolt against such a brutal act The result is that, torn within himself, he suffers mental torture

The external conflict is with Claudius-'the mighty opposer'-and the murderer of Hamlet's father To Hamlet, Claudius is a smiling, damned villain, a seducer and a usurper of his rights to Denmark's throne; he is one against whom he has to take revenge The other external conflicts are with Laertes, his friend and the brother of his beloved Ophelia, withGuildenstern and Rosencrantz, his former school fellows and friends but present enemies.Indeed Hamlet succeeds in overcoming his foes, but only at a dreadful cost

Character is not the only factor that is responsible for the tragedy of Hamlet External circumstances are also responsible for making Hamlet tragic hero Shakespeare creates a heeling that there is a mysterious power in this universe, which is responsible for every small -happening The appearance of the Ghost and its revelation is a manifestation of Fate Many of the things that take place in Hamlet's life are by chance, but none of these are improbable He kills Polonius by chance The ship in which he travels is attacked by pirates, and his return to Denmark is nothing but chance Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine, by accident, and dies So fate in the shape of chance shapes the future of all

characters including Hamlet But the sense of fate is never so overwhelming as to cast character in shade; after all, it is Hamlet himself who is responsible for his tragedy

II Working on the given literary works

CHARLES DICKENS: OLIVER TWIST OR ( HARD TIMES)

Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870)

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsea, England His parents were middle-class, but they suffered financially as a result of living beyond their means When Dickens was twelve years old, his family’s dire straits forced him to quit school and work

in a blacking factory, a place where shoe polish is made Within weeks, his father was put

in debtor’s prison, where Dickens’s mother and siblings eventually joined him At this point, Dickens lived on his own and continued to work at the factory for several months The horrific conditions in the factory haunted him for the rest of his life, as did the

experience of temporary orphanhood Apparently, Dickens never forgot the day when a more senior boy in the warehouse took it upon himself to instruct Dickens in how to do his work more efficiently For Dickens, that instruction may have represented the first step toward his full integration into the misery and tedium of working-class life The more senior boy’s name was Bob Fagin Dickens’s residual resentment of him reached a fevered pitch in the characterization of the villain Fagin in Oliver Twist

After inheriting some money, Dickens’s father got out of prison and Charles returned to school As a young adult, he worked as a law clerk and later as a journalist His

experience as a journalist kept him in close contact with the darker social conditions of the Industrial Revolution, and he grew disillusioned with the attempts of lawmakers to alleviate those conditions A collection of semi-fictional sketches entitled Sketches by Boz earned him recognition as a writer Dickens became famous and began to make money from his writing when he published his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, which was serialized in 1836 and published in book form the following year

In 1837, the first installment of Oliver Twist appeared in the magazine Bentley’s

Miscellany, which Dickens was then editing It was accompanied by illustrations by

George Cruikshank, which still accompany many editions of the novel today Even at thisearly date, some critics accused Dickens of writing too quickly and too prolifically, since

he was paid by the word for his serialized novels Yet the passion behind Oliver Twist, animated in part by Dickens’s own childhood experiences and in part by his outrage at the living conditions of the poor that he had witnessed as a journalist, touched his

contemporary readers Greatly successful, the novel was a thinly veiled protest against the Poor Law of 1834, which dictated that all public charity must be channeled through workhouses

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens was well versed in the poverty of London, as he himself was a child worker after his father was sent to debtors’ prison His appreciation of the hardships endured by impoverished citizens stayed with him for the rest of his life and was evident

in his journalistic writings and novels Dickens began writing Oliver Twist after the adoption of the Poor Law of 1834, which halted government payments to the able-bodiedpoor unless they entered workhouses Thus, Oliver Twist became a vehicle for social criticism aimed directly at the problem of poverty in 19th-century London

The Poor Laws: Oliver Twist’s Social Commentary

Oliver Twist opens with a bitter invective directed at the nineteenth-century English PoorLaws These laws were a distorted manifestation of the Victorian middle class’s emphasis

on the virtues of hard work England in the 1830s was rapidly undergoing a

transformation from an agricultural, rural economy to an urban, industrial nation The growing middle class had achieved an economic influence equal to, if not greater than, that of the British aristocracy

In the 1830s, the middle class clamored for a share of political power with the landed gentry, bringing about a restructuring of the voting system Parliament passed the ReformAct, which granted the right to vote to previously disenfranchised middle-class citizens

The middle class was eager to gain social legitimacy This desire gave rise to the

Evangelical religious movement and inspired sweeping economic and political change

In the extremely stratified English class structure, the highest social class belonged to the

“gentleman,” an aristocrat who did not have to work for his living The middle class was stigmatized for having to work, and so, to alleviate the stigma attached to middle-class wealth, the middle class promoted work as a moral virtue But the resulting moral value attached to work, along with the middle class’s insecurity about its own social legitimacy,led English society to subject the poor to hatred and cruelty Many members of the

middle class were anxious to be differentiated from the lower classes, and one way to do

so was to stigmatize the lower classes as lazy good-for-nothings The middle class’s value system transformed earned wealth into a sign of moral virtue Victorian society interpreted economic success as a sign that God favored the honest, moral virtue of the successful individual’s efforts, and, thus, interpreted the condition of poverty as a sign of the weakness of the poor individual

The sentiment behind the Poor Law of 1834 reflected these beliefs The law allowed the poor to receive public assistance only if they lived and worked in established

workhouses Beggars risked imprisonment Debtors were sent to prison, often with their entire families, which virtually ensured that they could not repay their debts Workhouseswere deliberately made to be as miserable as possible in order to deter the poor from relying on public assistance The philosophy was that the miserable conditions would prevent able-bodied paupers from being lazy and idle bums

In the eyes of middle-class English society, those who could not support themselves wereconsidered immoral and evil Therefore, such individuals should enjoy no comforts or luxuries in their reliance on public assistance In order to create the misery needed to deter immoral idleness, families were split apart upon entering the workhouse Husbands were permitted no contact with their wives, lest they breed more paupers Mothers were separated from children, lest they impart their immoral ways to their children Brothers were separated from their sisters because the middle-class patrons of workhouses feared

the lower class’s “natural” inclination toward incest In short, the state undertook to become the surrogate parents of workhouse children, whether or not they were orphans Meals served to workhouse residents were deliberately inadequate, so as to encourage theresidents to find work and support themselves.

Because of the great stigma attached to workhouse relief, many poor people chose to die

in the streets rather than seek public aid The workhouse was supposed to demonstrate thevirtue of gainful employment to the poor In order to receive public assistance, they had

to pay in suffering and misery Victorian values stressed the moral virtue of suffering andprivation, and the workhouse residents were made to experience these virtues many timesover

Rather than improving what the middle class saw as the questionable morals of the bodied poor, the Poor Laws punished the most defenseless and helpless members of the lower class The old, the sick, and the very young suffered more than the able-bodied benefited from these laws Dickens meant to demonstrate this incongruity through the figure of Oliver Twist, an orphan born and raised in a workhouse for the first ten years of his life His story demonstrates the hypocrisy of the petty middle-class bureaucrats, who treat a small child cruelly while voicing their belief in the Christian virtue of giving charity to the less fortunate

able-Dickens was a lifelong champion of the poor He himself suffered the harsh abuse visited upon the poor by the English legal system In England in the 1830s, the poor truly had no voice, political or economic In Oliver Twist, Dickens presents the everyday existence of the lowest members of English society He goes far beyond the experiences of the

workhouse, extending his depiction of poverty to London’s squalid streets, dark

alehouses, and thieves’ dens He gives voice to those who had no voice, establishing a link between politics and literature with his social commentary

The related literary trends and background affecting Charles Dickens