Atmosphere and setting in the 19th century stories Essay Example for Free

Atmosphere and setting in the 19th century stories Essay Consider atmosphere and setting in the 19th century stories you have read, and discuss how the authors have created fear and atmosphere. I am going to discuss how three Gothic stories written by authors in the19th century create fear and atmosphere. The three stories which I will be considering are The Monkeys Paw, by WW Jacobs, The Body Snatchers, by Robert Louis Stevenson and also The Signal Man, by Charles Dickens. The gothic genre was very popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries and was a very fashionable aspect of lives in that era. Almost all gothic stories included similar aspects which made the atmosphere spooky and scary. Most gothic stories included elements such as grave yards and dead bodies creating a sense of death and killing of people. The weather in gothic stories is often the kind that scares you for example thunderstorms, fog and almost all gothic stories are set in the dark of the night. Some gothic stories may include a supernatural aspect, curses, spells, wishes, ghosts , this was very popular in this era because the Victorians were very in touch with the supernatural side of their lives and believed strongly in the presence of ghosts and life after death. Gothic stories would usually include elements of surprise and realism to make the story more believable. A gothic story will always be full of suspense and tension to make the reader tenser and frightened as to what is going to come next. The setting of a gothic story was always very important, the setting would usually be in a remote, exotic or isolated setting for example the original story of Frankenstein which was written in the late 18th century by Mary Shelly was set in the Italian alps, a very remote setting which at that time was known to be haunted. Violence, bloodshed and goriness was always included in the gothic genre and was always a large aspect of the story. Gothic stories never included very many characters, this was a way of keeping the story not only short but also more frightening as it is always scarier when you are on your own or in groups of two or three rather than a large group. The Victorian era is famous for its fascination with death and the gruesome. The Victorians believed that people had a good death surrounded by their families, having made their peace with god and resigned themselves to their fate or a bad death, which was sudden. The Victorians also created a huge business around funerals. A grand funeral was a way of showing their wealth and respect. People even had jewellery made with the hair of their loved ones who had died as way of remembering them and to show that they would always be with them. In the late18th and earl 19th centuries medical science made huge advances. However, doctors in training needed corpses to learn from. Often the bodies of hanged criminals were used for this purpose. Despite hanging being a relatively frequent event, the number of bodies available was always too little and the demand for bodies was large. The resurrectionists found a way to make money here, by digging up fresh corpses and selling them to medical schools. This made the rate of bodies for medical use increase; however in 1832 the Autonomy act was passed which meant that any poor who died in the workhouses, and whose bodies remained unclaimed, could also be used for medical use. Until this act was passed people who could afford it would double or triple line their coffins or have strange devices to prevent the lid of the coffins being taken off. The 19th century saw an increase of death rate which meant that there was limited space in the graveyards particularly in the large cities. The church yards became over crowded as a result of this many people began building private walled cemeteries for their families and close friends. The Victorians were all very interested in the supernatural beings. Sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ances became very popular and mediums developed increasingly outrageous techniques to dazzle and confuse their clients. In Victorian England, alongside the developing scientific principles of research and exploration, accusations of witchcraft were still routine and still taken very seriously. As we become more able to make sense of the physical and the touchable, the supernatural and indefinable becomes even more mysterious. One of the Gothic stories I am studying is The Monkeys Paw written by W.W. Jacobs demonstrates elements of the gothic genre. The Monkeys Paw is W.W. Jacobs most famous story and is considered to be a classic of horror fiction. The story opens with the White family spending a cozy evening together around the hearth. An old friend of Mr. Whites comes to visit them. Sergeant-Major Morris, home after more than twenty years in India, entertains his hosts with exotic stories of life abroad. He also sells to Mr. White a mummified monkeys paw, said to have had a spell put on it by a holy man that will grant its owner three wishes. Morris warns the Whites not to wish on it at all-but of course they do, with horrible consequences. Jacobs uses foreshadowing, imagery and symbolism in this story to explore the consequences of tempting fate. His careful, economical creation of setting and atmosphere add suspense to the tale, while his use of dialogue and slang (one of Jacobss trademark) help reade rs to feel that the characters are genuine. The setting of the story is the type which is considered in the elements of the gothic genre. The story is set when there is bad weather and when the wind is blowing very strongly THE NIGHT was cold and wet, showing us the weather is wet and cold, one of the main elements of gothic story writing. The house in which the story is set is in the middle of nowhere of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Telling us that the story is set in a remote and isolated setting with no one else around, they are alone in the dark of the night with the wind howling, Jacobs had set the story well and with detail to the weather and setting of the story, this immediately makes the reader feel as though there is something superstitious going on or is going to happen. When the man arrives at the door, the readers wonder who it is for a while, but that thought is soon put aside when the Monkeys Paw is introduced and we wonder why the man is so unsure about passing it on to anyone, is there something bad about the Monkeys paw? Does it bring bad luck? We never know until the monkeys paw is actually used and we are kept in suspense, not knowing what to expect, the element of suspense in gothic writing is portrayed well in this story. We are told that the monkeys paw must bring something bad when the sergeant major says but I warn you of the consequences. This shows that the monkeys paw must bring some sort of bad luck, some of the suspense is taken away but we are still wondering what these consequences are and what the monkeys paw will bring. Later in the story we hear of what the consequences are and of course they all as gory as each other and all include elements of the Gothic genre which Jacobs has included, Jacobs demonstrates all of the elements of the gothic genre in his story, shows a typical horror and all its elements. The Body Snatchers and The Signal Man are two other gothic stories which also portray the gothic genre and an insight into the history of the Victorians and the way that they treated the dead. The Body snatchers, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a story which is set very much around the Victorian era, it is based on body snatching which was largely popular in the 19th Century, and was in great need for medical reasons and research. Stevenson begins by setting the seen and introducing characters. The first paragraph of the story seems very cozy and a regular evening in the pub with the usual four men sitting down having a drink, it is an ordinary occurrence and those four men would always be there every night but blow high , blow low, come rain or snow or frost, we four would each be planted in his own particular armchair Stevenson begins the story on a very ordinary point which seems to be nothing out of the ordinary and the reader doesnt feel like anything suspicious is going on. The characters are introduced in detail, especially Fettes so presumably he is a key character in the story. He is described in a lot of detail and seems to be a man who everyone knows and is a necessity to the village and the pub, everyone knows who he is however we could be superstitious of him when the story states we had no knowledge of his character and antecedents this shows that many people knew of the man but not many people knew how he thought and his history. The only facts known about fettes are random ones e.g he has doctor knowledge, however they know nothing about his history. He doesnt seem trustworthy, he drinks, vices, infidelities. His special knowledge is vague this cold be dangerous. The characters in the story know each other in strange ways- for instance what they drink and how the drink it. What was happening is the pub was a cycle- it happened everyday. The setting in the first paragraph seems too normal something is going to happen. But the beginning of paragraph two One dark winter night sets the familiar Gothic scene, cold, lonely, winter , dark , scary, this builds up tension and we can tell that the story is about to be told and things will begin to become more irregular. There is a break in the routine of the usual nights it was the first time this suggests that something out of the ordinary is going to happen , we dont know exactly what this is but we know that there is a character that the men are unsure of in the pub sick man in the George however when the mans named is mentioned Fettes, who is drunk, suddenly wakes up after hearing it but at the last word he seemed to awaken Fettes and the man are linked how? shows panic , recognition of the name, the other characters and the reader do not know why which shows that fettes will be an important character, Fettes and the man are linked how? Fettes suddenly becomes sober and has sudden movements this shows that fettes is shocked, it is unusual for him to pay so much attention, and the name must have triggered some sort of memory or feeling in him. There is such a change in Fettes character as if a man had risen from the dead this is spooky and makes a connection with the supernatural, things which should no be talked about, this introduces death and fear and is the first part of the story which links to the title. Fettes wants to meet him so he obviously has some sort of connection with him apart from the fact that they are both doctors Doctor has an unknown past this shows that there are many thing which we dont know about Fettes. Fettes knows the doctor well enough to know that he is older than himself however he has led a good life with a good conscience and digestion. Fettes says himself that he has led a life of sin which makes him sound suspicious rum and sin we wonder what life fettes has led, we dont know much about him and nor do the characters, this makes the reader want to read on and find out fettes history and how he know this doctor who has just arrived in the village. The Signal Mans beginning is similar to the beginning of the body snatchers in the way that we are very supersticous of a certain character, the character being the signal man. The story begins in a pleasant way, again with nothing out of the usual happening or anything which could be portrayed as spooky. The location of where the story is set is slightly remote but apart from that there is no other elements of the gothic genre. However the behaviour of the signal man when he is politely question is slightly mysterious. When the narrator calls to him from above the signal man looks in the opposite direction from where the shout of the narrator are coming from instead of looking up looked down the line does this mean that the signal man is expecting a call similar to that of the narrator to come from the direction of the tunnel down the line, the behaviour of the signal mad is odd and makes the reader want to read on in order to find out why. There is a very detailed description of a train which passes, would this mean that part of the story is revolved around trains, how and when they pass the signalman? When the narrator walks down towards the signal man he describes it as unusually precipitate. Clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down this suggests that it is out of the ordinary and not what was expected it creates and atmosphere of superstition and makes us question what is going to happen next. Is the path created that way for a reason? Or is it just coincidence? The setting is set well and makes the reader intrigued as to why the signal man acted so oddly in front of the narrator, why did the signal man act as thought he expected something to happen, why was he so sacred of the narrator and why did he think the narrator was going to do something to him. Did he have some kind of experience that was similar to this one before? In the Body Snatchers the narrator is a regular in the pub, he knows everyone in the story apart from doctor MacFarlane. The narrators story is one sided, he could have exaggerated the story. He is also a character in the story and has been drinking which could affect the truthfulness of the story being told. The narrator is probably an old man, an alcoholic, who has lived in Debenham most of his life. He looks up to Fettes but is very curious and claims to be good at worming out a story and is also interested in Fettes past and tries to tell the story of Fettes past himself. The narrator doesnt seem to interact with the characters much, he sits and listens attentively, the story being told could be based on his opinion and we dont know his background. He has an over reactive imagination, we assume he is a man. Suspense at the end of the story builds up rapidly until it is released on the last word, but we find that the narrator jumps to conclusions by judging characters however he is quite well educated. The narrator in The Signal man is very much a main character in the story and is found slightly mysterious as well, to the point that no one knows why he was looking down on the signal man in the first place. The narrator seems to be a very curious character, he leads us to think that he had something to find out when asking the signal man questions because he is so interested and almost intrigued into the signal mans life story. The narrator seems to have some kind of supernatural connection with the signal man especially towards the end of the book when he some how knows that the train is coming and that the signal man has to get out of the way of the incoming train. We dont know why or how the narrator gets to talk to the signal man and we dont know any of his background apart from the fact that he has studied medicines and is well educated. He is a mystery to the audience. The characters featured in the body snatchers are slightly mysterious we dont find out much about each character, especially their backgrounds, we dont know whether we can trust them. One of the most mysterious characters in the Body Snatchers would have to be Fettes. We dont find out much about fettes character arent cant be sure whether we trust him or not. We are not given any background knowledge about him, although we find that he is known in Debenham as Doctor because he had some special knowledge in medicine. We find out that he drinks a lot and is known well in the pub, mainly for the amount that he did drink, most people knew what he drank and knew that the arm chair in the corner of the George was his spot. Although we know these small things about him he is still a mystery, as the narrator says beyond these slight particulars we had no knowledge of his character and antecedents, he is a mysterious character. He becomes even more mysterious when Doctor Wolfe Macfarlane enters the scenes we begin to think that there is a lot more to know about him than he lets on ..you would think I was some good, old, decent Christian, would you not? But no, not I; this shows us that there is in fact a lot more to be known about Fettes than we think and he is a very mysterious character we are led to think that he has some kind of deep secret that is maybe very sinful. We think that the secret could be sinful because he says people think he is a good Christian, followed by But no, not I; Fettes expresses little emotion throughout the first couple of paragraphs until he hears Macfarlanes name, when he suddenly becomes sober and shocked this shows that he has obviously got some hidden facts about him. He shows us that he is full of emotion when he is shown as getting very worried and anxious when he doesnt drink his usual five glasses of rum and couldnt even finish his third he proves be very serious. Fettes also turns out to be less wicked than Macfarlane, which is unexpected, when he begins to feel guilty about people being killed for their bodies, he finds himself feeling regretful and scared. He also shows horrified and panic feelings when he sees the corpse of some one he knew, this shows to us that he does have feeling and can show his emotions and express them, he seems to be more respectable person than we first imagined when the narrator begins to make us feel sorry for him, the narrator does this by talking about how fettes didnt realise what he was doing and what was happening and when he did find out, he was horrified and shocked. He also becomes offended when Wolfe offers him money this emphasised the fact that hes a very proud person and doesnt like to be pity and also the fact of how much he disliked Wolfe. We as the readers learn to trust fettes because he doesnt seem like a particularly bad person and he reacts t o events that happen in the way that wed expect a good trustworthy person to react. The undertaker in the story is a mysterious character as not much is told about him and he isnt talked about much, only in the beginning. He shows emotion (shock) when he hears that Fettes knows the doctor do you know him doctor asked the undertaker with a gasp. we know here that the undertaker is shocked and slightly taken back because it says that the undertaker gasped, showing that he was shocked to hear this and wanted to find out how and why fettes knew this man. We cannot completely trust the undertaker as we dont know anything about him; he could be anyone with any background, good or bad. Macfarlane is also a particularly mysterious character a snot much is said about him at the start and not much is said about his past, for this reason he also seems Un- trustful and when he is described as being bald, dirty, pimpled and wearing an old cloak he doesnt seem the sort of man who you could rust him seems like a bit of a freak and is probably seen as a bit of a threat to other characters in the story. He also portrays many of the characteristics of an evil man in the gothic genre which encourages us, the readers to feel that he is a threat and has come into the story to create a spooky atmosphere and prepare for what is ahead, he obviously lets us know that Fettes secrets would soon be reviled and the mysteries haunting the characters and questioning the readers would no longer be secrets or mysteries any longer. At the beginning when Dr MacFarlane first enters the pub Fettes reaction this leads us to believe that Macfarlane is not a good person and is probably going to ring bad happenings, Fettes reaction gives us a reason not to trust him and also brings more mystery about him into the story because he is obviously here for reason and this reason is most likely to be about Fettes as Fettes is the only person in the George who actually recognises him name. The doctor shows a lot of emotion when he first sees fettes but also acts in a weird way in a startled whisper,. as though he is trying to hide from someone because he keeps whispering and checking behind his shoulder, acting as thought he doesnt want anyone to know who he is, but is also happy to see fettes I am overjoyed, overjoyed to have this opportunity. He shows that he is offended when Fettes doesnt take the money which is offered a horrible, ugly look came .. this shows he was offended and gave Fettes a dirty look which he slowly got over and made the best of the situation by almost apologising but keeping the offer of money still open to Fettes I will leave you my address however did he says this in case fettes would need money later on? Therefore still leaving the offer open. The Narrator also affects our views on Macfarlane by making the reader dislike him even more by his sneering and growling like these were evil things to do also the way in which he is described makes us think that he is evil and just around to cause trouble. When fettes says that man Macfarlane is not safe to cross; those that have done so already have repented it too late this makes the audience feel that Macfarlane is a very dangerous person and that people should stay away from him. He is not trustworthy and doesnt seem like a nice person. Gray or the stranger is a mysterious character as he is described as strange all we know as the audience is that he is one of MacFarlanes friends, we cant trust him as he is described as course, vulgar and stupid which is an affect that the narrator has on the audience view of this character. He shows his emotion by being bossy and nasty to Wolfe which encourages Wolfe to be more angry and threatening than he is originally. The narrator describes him as a very loathsome rogue, making readers think he again is not trustworthy and not a nice or good person. In the Signal man there are only two main characters, the signal man and the narrator , the signal man and the narrator are both main characters in the story and both of there characteristics can be considered. The signal man is a very mysterious man, when the narrator who is a main character, comes to see him the signal man seems very uptight and worried; he also seems very suspicious and looks as though hes feeling guilty about something. We think this because as soon as the signal man here the narrator shouting to him at the beginning he doesnt look towards the narrator but towards the tunnel on the tracks as though something is there that he needs to keep an eye or to signal to whoever or whatever it was in the tunnel to go away, someone is here. The signal mans reaction to the narrator makes I feel very suspicious and worried for the narrator as the signal man was behaving so oddly. We could also have reason to be suspicious when the narrator states .something in the man that daunted me. This is off putting to the audience as they believe the narrator, there for think that the signal man is a threat and dangerous. Although we dont find out much about the signal man we do know that he was well educated and study science, however he wasted that chance. The signal man doesnt show much emotion towards the narrator, its only when he begins to talk about what he has been through and why he looked towards the tunnel when he heard the narrator calling when he shows the emotion of being scared and confused, he doesnt know what is going on so doesnt know what to do about it. We cannot trust the signal man because we dont know who he is and whether when he tells these stories he is telling the truth or lying to try and play the narrator into some sort of trick. However because the narrator is telling the story we are forced into believing in the same views as the narrator has. The narrator is a main character in the story and so is entitled to have a one sided opinion, if he were looking at the story from our own point of view of the signal mans point of view we may see the narrator and the signal man from a new perspective and from a different angle which could change our views dramatically on whether or not the signal man is strange and mysterious and whether he is trustworthy or not. The narrator in the story is also a mystery to us; we dont know anything about his background or his life. It is also mystery as to why he went to the railway track and wanted to speak to the signal man in the first place, does it have anything to do with the story line or is it just coincidence? We are forced into trusting the narrator because he is the one telling the story so we believe that he has the answers to everything but in fact we probably shouldnt believe him because he is just as much of a mystery to us as The signal man is, we dont know anymore about the narrator than we do the signal man in fact we probably know more about the signal than the narrator. The narrator shows quite a lot of emotion, especially the end of the story when the signal man is killed, the end shows us that the narrator really did care, not only because he was upset when he found that the signal man was killed but also because even from a distance, and not being able to see what was happening he knew what was going on, it was like something supernatural was going on and he subconsciously knew that the signal man was in trouble and that those words halloa! Below there! had been said one last time and the result this time was the death of the signal man. The setting in gothic stories is a very important factor, this is because the setting in a gothic story is what gives it its atmosphere, if the story was set in the summer in the day time on a bright cheerful day, not many people would find it frightening but if the story was set in the dead of night on a long cold winters night an audience would find the atmosphere a lot more spooky. In the body snatchers we are not immediately hit with a description of the setting which creates atmosphere but one which sets the scene, once the scene is set Stevenson begins to create a spooky atmosphere. At the beginning there is a mention of rain, snow and frost which indicate s a dreary setting, the setting cant just indicate the atmosphere but also the moods of the characters, this particular setting portrays the characters as rather weary and lethargic. Stevenson makes the event seem much more normal so he can build it up further and makes it more dramatic. one dark winter night creates and atmosphere and shows us that its no ordinary night it is one dark winters night making the audience think it is out of the ordinary, it had struck nine this emphasises the fact that it is late and getting dark. This shows a sense of mystery, which builds up suspense within the audience. It creates an eerie feeling and also highlights the fact the characters are in a dreary mood, a sense of insecurity that something is going to happen. An inn gives us an idea of normality and security, the loud of an inn highlights a friendly, welcoming place. There was not much light in the George which gave us a mysterious feeling, a gloomy and dreary sense of insecurity. The presence of so many witnesses at the George shows that there was a lot of people in the inn and the fact that there was a big red fire and candles gave a sense of warmth and security and makes the audience feel that they are in a cosy, safe environment this makes the setting seem less frightening, Stevenson could of done this so that when something big and frightening did happen it would seem a lot more dramatic. At four in the morning this indicates the beginning of a new story. The time gives a feeling of mystery, darkness and suspense; it leads the audience to feel curiosity. Later on in the story when things begin to pick up and settings are describe in much more detail which creates a lot more spookiness for the audience and makes the plot more frightening. Stevenson uses the settings to create a sense of insecurity and to make the story seem more dramatic and increase tension and fear. the lights, the fire, the beating rain upon the window, the cold incongruous work that lay before them this for instance emphasises the fact that it is winter and the wind is howling, it creates a gloomy atmosphere and makes the reader tense and in fear of what is to come next. The setting in the signal man is less spooky than that of the body snatchers although it also portrays most of the gothic story characteristics. The signal man is set in a remote place in the middle of the countryside in a deep trench where little people go or visit, the signal mans only company are the trains that pass him every so often. The fact that there is a very dark tunnel lose by adds to this sense of spookiness and gives the audience ideas and superstitions as to why he keeps looking at this dark, black hole. The setting in the signal man doest change in the ay that the body snatchers does and isnt focussed so much on making the story frightening by the atmosphere, settings and surroundings but by the supernatural presence which is in the air, this is what the author uses to make the story gothic and frightening, he know that this will scar the readers because at the time when the story was written supernatural beings and happenings were very popular and believed it to a large extent, this made the setting of the signal man that bit more believable and realistic, increasing how dramatic it was therefore making it more and tense and frightening. The language used in gothic stories is always very important because it describes things happening helping to build tension, suspense and fear to the stories. In the body snatchers the language is very formal, 19th century language, sometimes Archaic language is used in places e.g. begone, where I cast it, lucre this adds to the atmosphere of the gothic century. The verbs which Stevenson uses suggest strong emotions especially of fear and wickedness staggered, startled, dashed, fled, cried, despised and desecrate, forced, torn , leaped and terrified all of these make the emotions stand out more in a gothic way. Stevenson also tended to use descriptive and nominal groups often to suggest the terrifying or evil for example disreputable vices, fleeting infidelities, sudden emotion, gasp, awful pause abdominal ruffians. The language is always used to set the scene, for example, one dark winter night. It is written in formal language and there is no slang. The language used is very descriptive and appearances are described in detail his eyes awoke; his voice became clear, loud and steady. When a character says something, the author Robert Louis Stevenson describes how they said it and often uses other verbs such as cried or repeated this brings variety into the language which he uses and keeps the audience a lot more interested in the story. He uses lots of descriptive language. Theres more adjectives and descriptive writing than dialogue which heightens the suspense, also helping to create a picture in the readers mind. Stevenson uses lots of dramatic language to increase suspense, a horrible sense of blackness and the treachery of fate seized hold upon the soul of a unhappy student the language is also very complex which adds to the effect and makes the story more spooky. Gruesome language and alliteration towards the end makes the story more dramatic e.g. despise and desecrate, world of wet. Corpses are described in many different ways tragic burden, ghastly packages this adds variety and also makes it more gruesome than it already is. Stevenson seems to like using similes they make things more realistic as if a man had risen from the dead, as two vultures may swoop upon a dying lamb all of these also makes the story more personal and makes it easier to imagine. The language in the signal man is formal and not much slang is used, this makes the story more realistic. There is lots of descriptive writing for example . A clammy stone which became oozier and wetter as I went down Dickens tends to use rather complex language which could confuse the character but does show that it is a rather complex story line which it is and questions are left unanswered e.g. precipitate, terminating, barbarous, perused, and saturnine Not so much gruesome language is used in the signal man because it is not a tale of gruesomeness but one of the supernatural beings, there is no need for gruesomeness but for using the supernatural realm to scare readers and make them feel threatened, uptight and to build tension. Dickens chooses the words he uses to describe things very carefully as to get the full effect of what is trying to say into words. This helps the audience to imagine what is going on, dickens does this well as it is very easy for the audience to imagine what is going on in the story and picture what is going on in their minds. Overall I would say that both The Body Snatchers and The Signal Man create fear and suspense: The body snatchers is a story based on true people , Berk and Hare, which make it more believable and realistic and the way that it is written helps to create fear and suspense and to fit into the gothic genre of story writing. It successfully creates fear using its gruesome similes and metaphors, the story line and how the characters are so unpredictable and mysterious; you get worried as to what the characters are going to do next and what other dark secrets they are going to pull out of their closets. The way that Stevenson opens the story is good because it is innocent and creates a more dramatic build up, suspense making the audience tenser and making them want to read on in fear of what might happen. The Signal Man is very different to The Body Snatchers; this is because it is based on a completely different aspect of gothic writing, not the gruesomeness but the supernatural side of gothic writing. This could be seen as more frightening than the body snatchers because supernatural beings were know as being evil, the devil or for having powers which could not be defeated by any human being. The Victorian period was known for having a deep interest supernaturalism which makes the story more realistic to people of that time. Suspense is create well in the story because we as the audience know that the being is going to appear three times but the narrator doesnt so the audience are sat waiting for it to happen while the characters ponder on what is going on, it creates a lot of tension on the audiences behalf and also creates fear. I preferred reading the story of The Body Snatchers because I thought it was a lot more realistic and I could relate it directly to something that happened in history, Berk and Hare, I also thought that it was easy to understand and didnt leave so many unanswered questions like The Signal Man did, I like a story that has a direct, understandable finish, in the signal man you dont actually find out who or what it was that was calling the signal man because eventually the signal man is killed of and the story is left unanswered, I think it Is much more effective to finish a story with no lose ends because then the reader can be satisfied that a conclusion has been reached. The body snatchers was also a more thrilling read and I think that it created fear more successfully than The signal man this could have been because it was set in different places which were isolated and remote and was also set at night when it was dark, the weather was bad whereas in the signal it was set in the day still in a remote place but no reference to the weather was made. Overall I thought that The Body Snatchers had a better and more interesting storyline which one could relate to more easily.

Reflecting on Religion in Literature Essay -- Religion Anthropology

I am a Religious Studies major; therefore, learning about religion is a genuine interest of mine. In addition, from my first anthropology class, Introduction to Anthropology 103, learning about different cultures and people who may or may not be different from myself became an interest. Anthropology of Religion provides me with the best of both worlds. Not only do I get the opportunity to learn about different religious practices such as Tiwah among the Ngaju but how to anthropologically examine snake handlers in the Appalachians. One issue remains concerning the definition of religion. The semester began with us using theorists and their theories to construct a definition of religion. However, due to how convoluted religion is we changed our mind. In an attempt to synthesize the work done this semester, I wish to form some sort of definition of religion base on the ethnographies we have studied. In order to create such a definition, I wish to go through the three major books that we read and make a conclusion as to the authors’ understanding of religion. In other words, in my own words, a conclusion on each authors’ take on religion. Afterwards, I wish to use all three to form an overall definition of religion based on the work we have done throughout the semester. The three books that I am referring to are Ann Schiller’s Small Sacrifices, Rane Willerslev’s Soul Hunters, and Dennis Covington’s Salvation on Sand Mountain. Ann Schiller’s Small Sacrifices explores religious change among the Ngaju in Borneo, Indonesia. She elaborates on the Indonesian government’s demand on the Ngaju to conform to one of the religions they deem acceptable. In conforming to Hinduism, however, the Ngaju lose their culture, eventually their identity,... ...the semester was how to define religion because it was so complex, but now I have come to understand that religion is better understood when we look at it from a few good books that shows the verities of religion. Therefore, at the end of this class I understand religion to be something that is difficult to define when expanded to include controversial systems of belief, but easy to understand when examined closely. Works Cited Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. 15th ed. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2009. Print. Schiller, Anne. Small Sacrifices: Religious Change and Cultural Identity among the Ngaju of Indonesia. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print. Willerslev, Rane. Soul Hunters: Hunting, Animism, and Personhood among the Siberian Yukaghirs. Berkeley [u.a.: University of California, 2007. Print.

C Language: Question Bank

Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. Favourite 50 – C Interview Question Bank for freshers and experienced IT programmers Written by Madhulika Reddy and Dhoka Ratan. Edited and Published by Sridhar Jammalamadaka Get the latest updates and news on topics Career and Education from Interview Mantra – Subscribe to Interview Mantra for free. ABOUT THIS BOOK This book comprises of Interview Questions and Answers collected from the famous career advice blog www. InterviewMantra. et The aim of this book is to help freshers and experienced programmers to quickly brush up the basic concepts of C language. This book can be used as a quick study guide before attending a job interview which requires knowledge of C programming language. The questions that appear in this book are few of the most frequently asked questions in IT Job interviews in top MNC companies. All the questions hav e been neatly answered and have been supported with example code wherever applicable. A lot of effort has been put into this book to make the answers as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The authors and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the programs accompanying it. Please send your feedback to us via email to [email  protected] net COPYRIGHT INFO C language – Interview Question Bank by Sridhar Jammalamadaka is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2. 5 India License. Based on a work at www. interviewmantra. net. In simple words, you may use this work for commercial purposes, remix the work, reproduce it by any means, provided ou keep a link to http://www. interviewmantra. net and attribute the work to the owner – Sridhar Jammalamadaka. CONTENTS AT A GLANCE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Chapter Name pg-no Variables & Control Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Operators, Constants & Structures . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Variables & Control Flow 1. What is the difference between declaring a variable and defining a variable? 2. What is a static variable? 3. What is a register variable? 4. Where is an auto variable stored? 5. What is scope & storage allocation of extern and global variables? 6. What is scope & storage allocation of register, static and local variables? 7. What are storage memory, default value, scope and life of Automatic and Register storage class? 8. What are storage memory, default value, scope and life of Static and External storage class? 9. What is the difference between ‘break' and ‘continue' statements? 0. What is the difference between ‘for' and ‘while' loops? CHAPTER 2: Operators, Constants & Structures 1. Which bitwise operator is suitable for checking whether a particular bit is ON or OFF? 2. Which bitwise operator is suitable for turning OFF a particular bit in a number? 3. What is equivalent of multiplying an unsigned int by 2: left shif t of number by 1 or right shift of number by 1? 4. What is an Enumeration Constant? 5. What is a structure? 6. What are the differences between a structure and a union? 7. What are the advantages of unions? 8. How can typedef be to define a type of structure? 9. Write a program that returns 3 numbers from a function using a structure. 10. In code snippet below: struct Date { int yr; int day; int month; } date1,date2; date1. yr = 2004; date1. day = 4; date1. month = 12; Write a function that assigns values to date2. Arguments to the function must be pointers to the structure, Date and integer variables date, month, year. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. CHAPTER 3: Functions 1. What is the purpose of main() function? 2. Explain command line arguments of main function? 3. What are header files? Are functions declared or defined in header files ? 4. What are the differences between formal arguments and actual arguments of a function? 5. What is pass by value in functions? 6. What is pass by reference in functions? 7. What are the differences between getchar() and scanf() functions for reading strings? 8. Out of the functions fgets() and gets(), which one is safer to use and why? 9. What is the difference between the functions strdup() and strcpy()? CHAPTER 4: Pointers 1. What is a pointer in C? 2. What are the advantages of using pointers? 3. What are the differences between malloc() and calloc()? 4. How to use realloc() to dynamically increase size of an already allocated array? . What is the equivalent pointer expression for referring an element a[i][j][k][l], in a four dimensional array? 6. Declare an array of three function pointers where each function receives two integers and returns float. 7. Explain the variable assignment in the declaration int *(*p[10])(char *, char *); 8. What is the value of sizeof(a) /sizeof(char *) in a code snippet: char *a[4]={â€Å"sridhar†,†raghava†,†shashi†,†srikanth†}; 9. (i) What are the differences between the C statements below: char *str = â€Å"Hello†; char arr[] = â€Å"Hello†; (ii) Whether following statements get complied or not? Explain each statement. arr++; *(arr + 1) = ‘s'; printf(â€Å"%s†,arr); CHAPTER 5: Programs 1. Write a program to find factorial of the given number. 2. Write a program to check whether the given number is even or odd. 3. Write a program to swap two numbers using a temporary variable. 4. Write a program to swap two numbers without using a temporary variable. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. 5. Write a program to swap two numbers using bitwise operators. 6. Write a program to find the greatest of three numbers. 7. Write a program to find the greatest among ten numbers. . Write a program to check whether the given number is a prime. 9. Write a program to check whether the given number is a palindromic number. 10. Write a program to check whether the given string is a palindrome. 11. Write a program to generate the Fibonacci series. 12. Write a program to print â€Å"Hello World† without using semicolon anywhere in the code. 13. Wr ite a program to print a semicolon without using a semicolon anywhere in the code. 14. Write a program to compare two strings without using strcmp() function. 15. Write a program to concatenate two strings without using strcat() function. 16. Write a program to delete a specified line from a text file. 17. Write a program to replace a specified line in a text file. 18. Write a program to find the number of lines in a text file. 19. Write a C program which asks the user for a number between 1 to 9 and shows the number. If the user inputs a number out of the specified range, the program should show an error and prompt the user for a valid input. 20. Write a program to display the multiplication table of a given number. Testimonials Anushka M says â€Å"Thank you soooo much for all these questions, along with the solutions. It’s a great compilation. Thanks a lot guys. 🙂 † Anonymous says â€Å"Awesome. Thanks a ton for uploading this pdf, your concept was crystal clear. Now I am very confident about myself. Now I'm ready to face the interview challenge. Thanks once again. † Urmi says â€Å"Thank You.. It's Nice.. It saved my valuable Time.. Thanks a lot! † Rajakumari says â€Å"Thank you so †¦ much Mr. Sridhar. No words to say , lot of thanks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Very useful to freshers & experienced. † Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. CHAPTER 1: Variables & Control Flow 1. What is the difference between declaring a variable and defining a variable? Declaration of a variable in C hints the compiler about the type and size of the variable in compile time. Similarly, declaration of a function hints about type and size of function parameters. No space is reserved in memory for any variable in case of declaration. Example: int a; Here variable ‘a' is declared of data type ‘int' Defining a variable means declaring it and also allocating space to hold it. We can say â€Å"Definition = Declaration + Space reservation†. Example: int a = 10; Here variable â€Å"a† is described as an int to the compiler and memory is allocated to hold value 10. 2. What is a static variable? A static variable is a special variable that is stored in the data segment unlike the default automatic variable that is stored in stack. A static variable can be initialized by using keyword static before variable name. Example: static int a = 5; A static variable behaves in a different manner depending upon whether it is a global variable or a local variable. A static global variable is same as an ordinary global variable except that it cannot be accessed by other files in the same program / project even with the use of keyword extern. A static local variable is different from local variable. It is initialized only once no matter how many times that function in which it resides is called. It may be used as a count variable. Example: #include //program in file f1. c void count(void) { static int count1 = 0; int count2 = 0; count1++; count2++; printf(â€Å"Value of count1 is %d, Value of count2 is %d†, count1, count2); } /*Main function*/ int main(){ count(); count(); count(); return 0; } Output: Value of count1 is 1, Value of count2 is 1 Value of count1 is 2, Value of count2 is 1 Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. Value of count1 is 3, Value of count2 is 1 3. What is a register variable? Register variables are stored in the CPU registers. Its default value is a garbage value. Scope of a register variable is local to the block in which it is defined. Lifetime is till control remains within the block in which the register variable is defined. Variable stored in a CPU register can always be accessed faster than the one that is stored in memory. Therefore, if a variable is used at many places in a program, it is better to declare its storage class as register Example: register int x=5; Variables for loop counters can be declared as register. Note that register keyword may be ignored by some compilers. . Where is an auto variables stored? Main memory and CPU registers are the two memory locations where auto variables are stored. Auto variables are defined under automatic storage class. They are stored in main memory. Memory is allocated to an automatic variable when the block which contains it is called and it is de-allocated at the completion of its block execution. Auto variables: Storage : main memory. Default value : garbage value. Scope : local to the block in which the variable is defined. Lifetime : till the control remains within the block in which the variable is defined. 5. What is scope & storage allocation of extern and global variables? Extern variables: belong to the External storage class and are stored in the main memory. extern is used when we have to refer a function or variable that is implemented in other file in the same project. The scope of the extern variables is Global. Example: /*************** Index: f1. c ****************/ #include extern int x; int main() { printf(â€Å"value of x %d†, x); return 0; } Index: f2. c ****************/ int x = 3; Here, the program written in file f1. c has the main function and reference to variable x. The file f2. c has the declaration of variable x. The compiler should know the datatype of x and this is done by extern definition. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. Global variables: are variables which are declared above the main( ) function. These variables are accessible throughout the program. They can be accessed by all the functions in the program. Their default value is zero. Example: #include int x = 0; /* Variable x is a global variable. It can be accessed throughout the program */ void increment(void) { x = x + 1; printf(† value of x: %d†, x); } int main(){ printf(† value of x: %d†, x); increment(); return 0; } 6. What is scope & storage allocation of register, static and local variables? Register variables: belong to the register storage class and are stored in the CPU registers. The scope of the register variables is local to the block in which the variables are defined. The variables which are used for more number of times in a program are declared as register variables for faster access. Example: loop counter variables. register int y=6; Static variables: Memory is allocated at the beginning of the program execution and it is reallocated only after the program terminates. The scope of the static variables is local to the block in which the variables are defined. Example: #include void decrement(){ static int a=5; a–; printf(â€Å"Value of a:%d†, a); } int main(){ decrement(); return 0; } Here ‘a' is initialized only once. Every time this function is called, ‘a' does not get initialized. so output would be 4 3 2 etc. , Local variables: are variables which are declared within any function or a block. They can be accessed only by function or block in which they are declared. Their default value is a garbage value. 7. What are storage memory, default value, scope and life of Automatic and Register storage class? . Automatic storage class: Storage : Default value : main memory. garbage value. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. Scope Lifetime Storage Default value Scope Lifetime : : : : : : local to the block in which the variable is defined. till control remains within the block. CPU registers. ga rbage value. local to the block in which the variable is defined. till control remains within the block. 2. Register storage class: 8. What are storage memory, default value, scope and life of Static and External storage class? 1. Static storage class: Storage Default value Scope Lifetime Storage Default value Scope Lifetime : : : : : : : : main memory. zero local to the block in which the variable is defined. till the value of the variable persists between different function calls. main memory zero global as long as the program execution doesn't come to an end. 2. External storage class: 9. What is the difference between ‘break' and ‘continue' statements? Differences between ‘break' and ‘continue' statements break 1. break is a keyword used to terminate the loop or exit from the block. The control jumps to next statement after the loop or block. 2. Syntax: { Statement 1; Statement 2; Statement n; break; } 3. reak can be used with for, while, do- while, and switch statements. When break is used in nested loops i. e. within the inner most loop then only the innermost loop is terminated. 4. Example: i = 1, j = 0; while(i a && b ; c) { printf(â€Å"b is Greater than a and c†); } else if (c ; a && c ; b) { printf(â€Å"c is Greater than a and b†); } else { printf(â€Å"all are equal or any two values are equal†); } return 0; } Output: Enter a,b,c: 3 5 8 c is Greater than a and b Explanation with examples: Consider three numbers a=5,b=4,c=8 if(a;b && a;c) then a is greater than b and c now check this condition for the three numbers 5,4,8 i. . if(5;4 && 5;8) /* 5>4 is true but 5>8 fails */ so the control shifts to else if condition else if(b;a && b;c) then b is greater than a and c now checking this condition for 5,4,8 i. e. else if(4;5 && 4;8) /* both the conditions fail */ now the control shifts to the next else if condition else if(c;a && c;b) then c is greater than a and b Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. now checking this condition for 5,4,8 i. e. else if(8;5 && 8;4) /* both conditions are satisfied */ Thus c is greater than a and b. 7. Write a program to find the greatest among ten numbers. Program: #include int main() { int a[10]; int i; int greatest; printf(â€Å"Enter ten values:†); //Store 10 numbers in an array for (i = 0; i ; 10; i++) { scanf(â€Å"%d†, [i]); } //Assume that a[0] is greatest greatest = a[0]; for (i = 0; i ; 10; i++) { if (a[i] ; greatest) { greatest = a[i]; } } printf(â€Å"Greatest of ten numbers is %d†, greatest); return 0; } Output: Enter ten values: 2 53 65 3 88 8 14 5 77 64 Greatest of ten numbers is 88 Explanation with example: Entered values are 2, 53, 65, 3, 88, 8, 14, 5, 77, 64 They are stored in an array of size 10. et a[] be an array holding these values. /* how the greatest among ten numbers is found */ Let us consider a variable ‘greatest'. At the beginning of the loop, variable ‘greatest' is assinged with the value of first element in the array greatest=a[0]. Here variable ‘greatest' is assigned 2 as a[0]=2. Below loop is executed until end of the array ‘a[]';. for(i=0; igreatest) { greatest= a[i]; } } For each value of ‘i', value of a[i] is compared with value of variable ‘greatest'. If any value greater than the value of ‘greatest' is encountered, it would be replaced by a[i]. After completion of ‘for' loop, the value of variable ‘greatest' holds the greatest number in the array. In this case 88 is the greatest of all the numbers. Material from Interview Mantra. Subscribe to free updates via email. 8. Write a program to check whether the given number is a prime. A prime number is a natural number that has only one and itself as factors. Examples: 2, 3, 13 are prime numbers. Program: #include main() { int n, i, c = 0; printf(â€Å"Enter any number n: â€Å"); scanf(â€Å"%d†, ); /*logic*/ for (i = 1; i

Bullying, The, And Who Might Be Affected And Why

A national concern in various communities, across the globe and has come to the forefront is the term â€Å"bullying†. It seems that everywhere on the news you see an incidence relating to bullying. There are organizations that are looking into solutions to combat this epidemic problem whether it may be through implementing training programs in schools or through the legal system. Seems like everyone is being bullied nowadays whether it be in schools, workplace, gays, lesbians, children, adult, transgender youth, LGBT community, everyone seems to be affected in some way or another. I am going to try to tackle this issue specifically â€Å"workplace bullying† and who might be affected and why? Workplace bullying by definition is and I quote â€Å"a†¦show more content†¦Bullying also involves repeated acts of attack against one creating an on-going pattern of negative behavior. Bullying can be instigated by your co-workers, supervisors, managers, friends, acquaintances etc. The source of bullying is an external problem. The bully targets how to harm individuals. (workplacebullying.org.) There have been some scientific studies and/or surveys suggest that workplace bullying is a well known epidemic problem in the American Workforce. Studies suggested that from 2007 and 2008 that more than 1,000 adults confirmed that 45 % reported that they have indeed worked for an abusive boss or co-worker. Also, in September of 2007 a poll suggested that 37% American Workers or 54 million employees reported that they have been bullied at work. Bullying affects nearly half or 49 % of full and part time employees in America or an estimated 71.5% million workers. With this in mind, there was a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management or (SHRM) and the Ethics Resource Center that a 3rd of HR professionals or 32% have reported observing some form of misconduct regarding workplace bullying. HR also indicated that this violated their company’s ethnic’s standards, policies and procedures etc. (Daniel. T. 1-30) There have been some instances and situations where there are employees have been bullied by their peers rather than their