Dramatic device Essays

Dramatic device Essays Dramatic device Paper Dramatic device Paper Another dramatic device is were Mrs Birling is telling the inspector about a young girl (Eva Smith) who had used her family name, Mrs Birling, in the charity organisation were she is chairwomen. Mrs Birling tells the inspector how she turned this desperate girl away when she was pregnant with Erics baby. Mrs Birling does not know this but the audience do (dramatic irony). Priestley does this deliberately so we, the audience, dislike her. This shows how Mrs Birling played a part in Evas death. Mrs Birling sets herself up for a huge downfall which the audience know will happen but they do not know when. This is a dramatic device which creates interest for the audience who then realise that this is a recurring pattern of the play, were characters speak one by one in dramatic irony and they let themselves in for a major collapse. The Inspector questions them individually building them up so they reveal how that particular character was involved in Evas death. The writer uses many dramatic devices, apart from the play being set only in the dining room, Priestley uses lighting to create an atmosphere and change in mood. At the beginning of the play a pink cosy intimate lighting is used in the dining room when the family are happy and chattering. The mood changes when the inspector enters the room and it becomes unpleasant and uneasy, the lighting becomes brighter and harsher. Here Priestley lets the audience know that there is to be a change in the drama which will create more entertainment and suspense. The stage directions show this: The lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, then it should be brighter and harsher. Stage directions for the characters make the play more appealing for the audience. Birling and Mrs Birling exchange bewildering and rather frightened glances. Priestley shows us here that the Birlings are worried and scared abut losing their reputation if people find out that they are involved in Eva Smiths death. They are not concerned at all about the suicide of Eva but they are just concerned about themselves. By doing this Priestly ensures that the audience continue to dislike the Birlings. Stage directions are a useful dramatic device as Priestley uses this to his advantage by manipulating the audience into forming a bad relationship with these particular characters. At the end of each act Priestley uses a cliff-hanger ending. At the end of act one Sheila and Gerald are trying to cover up that they are involved in Evas death, when suddenly the inspector enters interrupting them, Well. By using cliff-hanger endings he creates tension, interest and suspense. Priestley teases the audience towards the next act so they continue to be interested in the play and carry on to enjoy the drama. At the start of the next act the audience will be eager and excited to find out the next part of the story. This is why An Inspector Calls has a strong appeal to audiences today. One theatrical device which is used throughout the play to create interest for both the audiences and characters is the photograph of Eva Smith. This dramatic device is used by the Inspector to create a more tense drama. The photograph of Eva Smith is shown to each character individually by the inspector. This makes the audience and characters curious as to what the girl may look like. During An Inspector Calls both the family and audience find that Eva Smith has been using different names including Mrs Birling and Daisy Renton. Different family members show the audience their involvement with the young girl but under different identities after the inspector shows them the photograph. At the end of the play after the inspector has left, the characters wonder if it was the same photograph they had each been shown, or whether it was two different photographs of two different girls. This information only comes about after the family think the inspector is a fake and it was just a joke. Priestley does this purposely for the audience and to make them think. This heightens the sense of drama for the audience. And how do we know she was really Eva Smith or Daisy Renton? This is a hope by Gerald and the family as they do not want to lose their reputation and their aspiring upper class respect. This frustrates the audience as they want the photograph to be the same one so the family will then get the comeuppance that they deserve for being a part of Evas suicide. The audience also want their reputation to be destroyed. This is why the audience enjoys the play as it is a dramatic thriller which involves them in a tense and entertaining way. An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestley is still one of the most frequently performed plays ranging from 1945-2002 and it has a strong appeal to a wide age range of people. It is a dramatic drama which involves the audience throughout by using dramatic and theatrical methods to portray the plays strong message. J.B Priestley wants people to stop being so complacent and start thinking about others more than themselves. He wants his audience to learn from his play that I is not always more important then We and that we should work as a community. The Inspector important speech shows this, We are responsible for each other. The play is still relevant to audiences today because people still have not learnt Priestleys message as war and disastrous events still are happening today. This is not the right way to live. Priestley wants people to understand his message and act on it, and not just listen. If the whole would work together and not against each other as enemies, we would live in a more peaceful and happier world. The playwright says the younger generation learn quicker than the older generation were change occurs slower, but if people of all ages, all cultures, and all religions can understand the message of An Inspector Calls we can all learn to change for the better and care for each other.

The Uses and Advantages of Corrugated Plastic

The Uses and Advantages of Corrugated Plastic There are two main types of corrugated plastic. Corrugated plastic sheet usually comprises what appear to be three layers - two flat sheets with a ribbed center layer. In fact, they are really two layers, often referred to as twinwall plastic. Corrugated plastic can also mean sheets of plastic which are wave-like in profile and may be reinforced with chopped glass fiber. They are a single layer and used mainly for roofing of garages and outhouses, but gardeners also use them to build sheds. Here we will focus on the twinwall version, also known as a corrugated plastic board or fluted plastic board. How Corrugated Plastic Sheets Are Made The materials used include polypropylene and polyethylene, widely used and versatile thermoplastics. Polypropylene has a neutral ph and is resistant to many chemicals at normal temperatures, but can be dosed with additives to provide a variety of other resistance such as UV, anti-static and fire resistance, for example. Polycarbonate is also used, but this is a much less versatile material, particularly in respect of its relatively poor impact resistance and brittleness, although it is stiffer. PVC and PET are also used. In the basic manufacturing process, the sheet is extruded - that is the molten plastic is pumped (typically with a screw mechanism) through a die which provides the profile. Dies are typical 1 - 3 meters wide, delivering a product of thickness up to 25 mm. Mono- and co-extrusion techniques are used depending on the precise profile required. Advantages and Uses In buildings: Suppliers claim it is an ideal material for storm shutters and that it is 200 times stronger than glass, 5 times lighter than plywood. It does not require painting and maintains its color, it is translucent and does not rot. Clear polycarbonate corrugated sheet is used for roofing sunrooms where its rigidity, lightweight and insulating properties are ideal, and low impact resistance is less of an issue. It is also used for small structures such as greenhouses where its air core provides a useful insulating layer. Humanitarian Relief: The material is ideal for temporary shelters need after flood, earthquake and other disasters. The lightweight sheets are easily transported by air. Easy to handle and fix to wooden frames their waterproof and insulating properties offer rapid shelter solutions when compared to traditional materials such as tarpaulins and corrugated steel sheets. Packaging: Versatile, flexible and impact resistant, polypropylene board is ideal for packaging components (and agricultural produce too). It is more eco-friendly than some molded packaging which cannot be recycled. It can be stapled, stitched and easily cut to shape with a hobby knife. Signage: It is available in a wide variety of colors, is readily printed on (typically using UV printing) and can easily be fixed using a wide variety of methods - its light weight being an important factor. Pet enclosures: It is such a versatile material that rabbit hutches and other domestic pet enclosures are built with it. Fittings such as hinges can be bolted to it; being non-absorbent and easy to clean it offers a very low maintenance finish. Hobby Applications: Modellers are using it to build airplanes, where its light weight combined with rigidity in one dimension and flexibility at right angles provides properties ideal for wing and fuselage construction. Medical: In an emergency, a section of a sheet can be rolled around a broken limb and taped into place as a splint, also providing impact protection and body heat retention. Corrugated Plastic: the Future The uses that this category of board are put to demonstrate its fantastic versatility. New uses are being identified almost every day.  For example, a patent has recently been filed to use layered sheets (alternate layers fused at right angles) in air-to-air heat exchangers. Demand for corrugated plastic is sure to grow, but as many of the plastics used are dependent on crude oil, the raw material costs are subject to the fluctuations (and inevitable growth) of oil prices. This may prove to be a controlling factor.

Vulnerable Population Homeless Mothers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Vulnerable Population Homeless Mothers - Essay Example Because of mental disorders, homeless mothers are at increased disadvantage as they are less likely to utilize public support resources, are estranged from family and other support networks, have increased rates of imprisonment, and experience disproportionate health problems. Simultaneously, mental disorders among homeless mothers in conjunction with history of childhood sexual abuse, the experience of adult partner violence, and a PTSD diagnosis make this population group being extremely vulnerable to substance abuse. With the identification of two health related problems of homeless mothers, this paper analyses these problems from the public health perspective and from the perspective of national Healthy People 2010 program. Paper also indicates various intervention programs as well as national supporting strategies aiming to assist homeless mothers and increase their quality of life and health. Today, homelessness is everywhere and has many different faces. Social efforts addressing homelessness range from relief to rehabilitation with organizations aiming to provide support services to enhance the quality of life of homeless persons, provide services that alter the course of homelessness resulting in self-sufficiency and long-term independent living, or are intent on ending homelessness altogether (US Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2008). From the practical perspective, it is very difficult to develop generalizable statistical information regarding the prevalence and demographic characteristics of homelessness. Essentially, the only way to estimate the number of homeless individuals is to make a cross-sectional assessment in a specific location during a specific period of time. Thus information about who is homeless varies depending on the month of assessment, the geographic location assessed, and participant recruitment and data collection methodologies (Burt, 2001 ). Still, it is known that families constitute a dominant social group found among the temporarily homeless. Close to half a million families are estimated to be homeless each year making up approximately one-third of the homeless population (HUD, 2007). The vast majority of these families are African American or other minority group (Whaley, 2002). The vast majority of homeless families include a 20+ years old single mother with children typically younger than six years of age (HUD, 2007; Weinreb et al, 2006). Barrow & Zimmer (1999) refer to this as the "feminization of poverty" (p. 51) which is reflective of gendered disparities in employment, education, and family responsibilities. The women who find themselves homeless often have depleted their last lifeline, be it a family member, a friend, or a financial resource (Rog & Buckner, 2007). Focusing on homeless mothers is not a dismissal of the plight of homeless single fathers; however, the percentage of fathers raising children in shelters, transitional facilities, on the street, or other nonconventional housing situation is strikingly lower than that of homeless mothers (16% father-headed homeless families vs. 84% mother-headed (HUD, 2007; Schindler & Coley, 2007)). Therefore, while the experiences and needs of homeless fathers are important, the vast majority of families ex periencing homelessness are headed by single mothers, thus homeless mothers' health issues, challenges and educational strategies

Strategic Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Strategic Managment - Essay Example Lack of a specific strategy is a "surefire ticket for organizational drift, competitive mediocrity, internal wheel-spinning, and lackluster results (Thomson 2002)." Second, Thomson argues that business entities need to devise and implement strategies, as the efforts of all the functional areas in the company should be molded into a "coordinated, compatible whole." A comprehensive strategy takes all the business units into account making each action mutually supportive. Without a well-laid out strategic plan, there will be no basis for uniting the efforts of all the functional areas, no clear direction on the business decisions and plans that the business takes, and no conscious business model for profit generation. Strategic management is therefore one of the most crucial areas in management. Coming up with a specific strategy, which will be the basis of company's actions, processes and decisions is a must. A well-crafted strategy is indispensable to the company's long-term success. It is therefore important that a business entity comes up with a unique strategy tailored for the achievement of its goals and objectives. Devising a purposeful and efficient strategy is a tedious task and managers should be armed with different techniques in diagnosing the company in order to prescribe the "right" strategy. Different models are employed to aid managers in this strategy making process. This paper will look at the two models, which are typically employed by managers in order to ascertain the needed strategy for the company namely, value chain and SWOT analysis. In order to fully look at the strengths and limitations of these models, they will be utilized to assess the performance of Dell Incorporated, one of the leading computer manufacturers and distributors. I. COMPANY PROFILE: DELL, INCORPORATED Michael Dell, who is also regarded as the computer industry's longest tenured chief executive officer, founded Dell Computer Corporation in 1984. Later in 2003, the company changed its name to Dell, Incorporated. The company is one of the most famous manufacturers of computer worldwide, which caters to the needs of individual and corporate clients with a very unique business concept (About Dell 2004). Dell Incorporated is headquartered in Rock Round, Texas. Dell, Inc. and its subsidiaries are actively involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and support of a range of computer systems and services worldwide. The main business activity of Dell is in the provision of products and services to customers, which enables them to establish their information technology and Internet infrastructures. Dell offers a wide array of products and services to its clients. The company's broad product line incorporates enterprise systems which includes servers, storage, workstations, and networking products; client systems, such as notebook and desktop computer systems; printing and imaging systems; and software and peripherals, including titles, monitors, plasma and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) televisions, MP3 players, handhelds, and notebook accessories (Dell Inc. 2005). Aside from these products, Dell also offers a wide range of services, including information techn

The Peasant’s Changing Face in Chinese Literature Essay Example for Free

The Peasant’s Changing Face in Chinese Literature Essay The peasant has figured in modern Chinese fiction as a central character, through which point of view the political and social atmosphere in China can be seen. The peasant has been used a vehicle to communicate the concerns of modern China: the lack of food and supplies, the inaccessibility of education, the poverty, the uncertainty of the future. The peasant in China was regarded as the means towards progression; yet they were mere workers, insignificant compared to the grand dream. In the selection of Chinese fiction however, the peasant figures prominently as the heart and soul of its society. Even though the peasant has become the subject of Chinese fiction, it is important to understand that the peasant is a general term, and it is composed of great number of people characterized by their station in life; thus, peasants all over have similar qualities: they are uneducated, poverty-stricken, and largely overworked-underpaid. Further, it is equally important to see that the peasant is not singular and all-encompassing; there are different depictions of the peasant, to capture their different facets. In this paper I will discuss the changes in the image of the peasant in modern Chinese fiction. In Lu Xun’s â€Å"My Old Home†, the peasant was presented as a person who first saw the world as a human being just like his master; in Gao Xiaosheng’s â€Å"Li Shunda Builds a House†, we see a persevering and ambitious albeit a naà ¯ve peasant; in Qiao Dianyun’s â€Å"A Wordless Monument† the peasants were shown as self-interested, lazy and short-sighted individuals; in Mo Yan’s â€Å"The Cure† the peasants were too superstitious for their own good; and in Li Rui’s â€Å"Electing a Thief† we saw that peasants were dependent and passive. In this paper, I would like to show that although the peasant in modern Chinese fiction remains largely as an uneducated and subservient class, these manifest in more ways than one. In Lu Xun’s â€Å"My Old Home†, the peasant was introduced through the eye of Master Xu going home. The master saw the peasant, Jun Tu, from memory. They were young, and although Jun Tu was the son of their servant that automatically makes him his servant, they became friends. From the text it was clear that the young Master Xu looked up at Jun Tu because he knew how to catch birds, have seen many different colored seashells, and knew so many stories outside the young master’s experience. For the brief time that they were together, the boundaries of master-servant collapsed and they were simply children who knew friendship. It is through this that we see an image of the peasant as equally human as any – first and foremost, before he is a servant he is an individual, he has dreams and aspirations, he was once a child. Jun Tu the child saw the world as brightly as his young master, if not more so. He had seen more of the world and loved it. However, as Master Xu realized when he saw the grown up Jun Tu, the child was no longer there. The harsh realities of life have forced the wonder out of his eyes, and in its place set eyes who have known suffering intimately. In â€Å"Li Shunda Builds a House†, we see a different kind of peasant – Li Shunda was naà ¯ve and almost childlike in his simplicity, but he is persevering and ambitious, and although he believes in being a follower, he learns to think for himself in small ways. The family willingly sacrificed to build their dream of a house, starving themselves to save money to but the materials only to be duped into contributing the fruits of their sacrifice to the commune. In this story we see a cast of peasants – Li Shunda, his sister, his wife, his son. The wife showed more sense than Li Shunda, despite her being a beggar before, when she saved and hid a number of belongings from being donated to the commune by her husband. Even with her sensibilities, she kept silent because of the political atmosphere during that time which was hostile to objections, and because in Chinese culture women are submissive to their husbands. His sister Shunzen stayed with him despite wealthy suitors so she can help him pursue his cause; after all, Li Shundan had taken care of her since she was small. She grew old and ended up with an utterly destitute man, which did not bother her since she was used to hard work. In Li Shunda’s sister we see a peasant who values paying back the family more than seeking better opportunities. Clearly, this behavior is borne out of culture and lack of education – in her case, she did not realize that by marrying into a wealthy family she would be in a better position to help her brother. All she knew how to do was manual labor, and that what was she was going to pay him back with. Li Shunda was a loyal follower – he believed the leaders and he followed what was said even though he did not quite understand it. He worked hard and never lost sight of his dreams (although from the two-storey house he eventually conceded to building just a one-storey), despite having lost his money and investments one way or another through a cunning official or a failed revolution. Still, not losing faith in the power of an honest work, he kept on despite his disappointment in the leaders he loyally followed. In Li Shundan we see an image of a hard-working peasant who does not get the appropriate compensation for all his work. In the end of the story he manages to build his house, but the questions begs whether it was all worth it. If he was in a different place and time, if he knew what the ideology of socialism and communism meant, if he understood what was happening in his country at that time, maybe he could have built his house sooner, all the sacrifices and failures he had to endure were unnecessary. Perhaps what separates Li Shundan from the other peasants in the collection is that he has a dream he was willing to give up anything just to reach it. In this story, the image of the peasant is one who never gives up irrespective of the hardships he has to endure. On the other hand, in Qiao Dianyun’s â€Å"A Wordless Monument†, we saw the events unfold through the eyes and voice of a peasant. The peasants lived blissfully in their village going about their and followed what was handed down to them even if they did not understand what it was about. They worked to survive and feed themselves, and although they have an idea of what will be a more efficient system for them, they did not do it because their old ways are working just fine for them. In this attitude we the peasant as having no ambition or desire towards progress – they are content and comfortable with their lives. They dislike hard work – they knew that no matter how hard they worked the fruits of their labor will not be for them anyway, so they find excuses not to toil. Also, they dislike those who do not conform, who they do not understand. As a peasant village generally unsatisfied with their lives and yet unwilling to work hard because it offers them no incentives, they are naturally miserable. They passed their days not thinking and analyzing their actions, not knowing why they do the things they do. To vent out their misery they picked on the things they do not understand, like the monument which they turned into a bridge, and later on picked on the old school master Xu Shuge. They were particularly angered with Xu Shuge who will not bend according to their ways, who will not walk on the bridge, who will not even speak despite torture. They cannot understand why Xu Shuge chooses to suffer when he can easily opt out and join their protests. It reflects their behavior – they dislike suffering. They want money and better lives without working hard for it. They get easily jealous of somebody else’s good fortune, and gossips and fights ensue. In a nutshell, the peasants were depicted as self-interested, lazy individuals who cannot comprehend the value of working together as a group to build their community, and they have no desire to learn; for them, what they need is food and money, not education or learning about the past or future. Mo Yan depicted a more sympathetic peasant in his â€Å"The Cure†. Although it is tempting to credit the peasant’s overly superstitious nature as rooted also in the lack of education, it could be that the violent and vicious atmosphere at that time has forced people to search for and turn to anything that could offer them hope. In this story, we see a peasant and his son driven by desperation and out of love for the grandmother to take out the gall bladder of his masters. He reasoned that the master is not bound to live because of the gunshots, but nevertheless he asks for forgiveness even before he takes out the gall bladder, sending his master to his already certain death. The feudal system of servants and masters, and of children and parents have trapped the peasant to do what is only available for him to perform his duties, if not as a servant then at least as a son, no matter how absurd these are, since no other alternative is possible. The fallacy of superstition then becomes the only way for the peasants, the only truth they can grasp. Lastly, in Li Rui’s â€Å"Electing a Thief†, we are faced with a dependent and passive image of the peasant. First, we saw the peasant as getting even with the team leader by electing him as the most possible thief, and it seemed like a victory for them to finally take over their lives and their production of grain. And yet, when the team leader resigns in disgust, the peasants find themselves lost and unable to lead themselves. The peasant have been used to being subservient that they cannot imagine being responsible for themselves; even if being a peasant meant hard work and measly pay, it is better than being burdened with responsibility such as securing grain. After all, they have grown accustomed and comfortable with that kind of feudal system, that they can no longer imagine how they could survive outside of it. We see here that even though the peasants were given the opportunity to be free, they would probably seek the old limitations that hindered their growth and industry because they have been trained to look down at themselves as incapable of handling such a huge task of leadership, and they see themselves as workers of the community not as producers or providers for themselves. From the selections, we have gleaned that although the recurring problem of the peasants stem from their lack of education and their subservient mentality, there are varying depictions of the peasant’s life. Also, we saw how the peasant tries to cope with the challenges of his time. The image of the peasant might be the poverty-stricken and desperate peasant, but let us remember that the peasant wears different faces, has different images. That for every lazy peasant who disliked work there is also the peasant who persevered and gained the respect of men despite his simple-mindedness, that the peasant was once a child and owned the world, and that there is always the peasant who was handed freedom and refused to drink from it.

Platon le Professeur: Une Interprétation Pédagogique du Théétète de Pla

Platon le Professeur: Une Interprà ©tation Pà ©dagogique du Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te de Platon ABSTRACT: The author argues that the true unity of the Theaetetus is to be found in its purpose as an example of philosophical teaching to the students of the academy. Le lecteur du Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te peut difficelement à ©viter de se poser des questions sur son caractà ¨re gà ©nà ©ral, sur sa fonction, son intention et sur sa place au sein de l'actività © philosophique de Platon pendant la pà ©riode à   laquelle il appartient; ces questions sont lià ©Ãƒ ©s à   une autre, celle de l'unità © de l'oeuvre. I. Commenà §ons par cette dernià ¨re: dans quelle mesure peut-on dire que le Thà ©Ãƒ ©tà ¨te jouit d'une certaine "unità ©"? Selon le dialogue lui-mà ªme la question: qu'est-ce que le savoir? reà §oit successivement trois rà ©ponses et toutes les trois sont rejetà ©es, à   la suite de quoi Socrate rappelle le thà ¨me de la maà ®eutique qu'on a rencontrà © au dà ©but de la discussion. Il y a donc apparemment deux permanances: la question de la dà ©finition du savoir et l'intention maà ®eutique du dialogue. Mais cette "unità ©" est bien extà ©rieure. L'actività © maà ®eutique porte à ©videmment sur les trois dà ©finitions successives du savoir. Or, il y a lieu de douter de l'existence d'un lien và ©ritable entre les trois, en particulier entre la premià ¨re et la seconde. D'autre part, on peut montrer que le sens d'epistà ªmà ª change d'une partie à   l'autre du dialogue, et l'on ne voit pas trà ¨s clairement si la discussion porte sur l'epistà ªmà ª (le savoir) ou sur l'epistasthai (savoir) ou encore sur la pensà ©e (ce qui est le cas effectivement dans la plus grande partie du dia logue). L'unità © du sujet peut à ªtre donc sà ©rieusement mise en doute. Mà ªme la permanence des interlocuteurs n'est pas aussi à ©vidente qu'il paraà ®t. En effet, il ... ...l'ignorance, c'est l'opinion fausse (comme dit le dialogue d'ailleurs à   un certain moment); nous pouvons penser aussi à   Isocrate. Les traductions seront celles de Dià ¨s. (2) La discussion sur l'erreur a, aux yeux de Socrate lui-mà ªme, la valeur d'une digression: il reconnaà ®t en effet (200 c-d) son tort d'avoir entrepris cette discussion avant d'arriver à   une dà ©finition de la science, ce qui est une volte-face (de toute à ©vidence feinte) pouvant avoir comme signification que toute cette discussion est, par rapport au sujet du dialogue, une parenthà ¨se qui pouvait à ªtre à ©vità ©e; cf. encore 187 d oà ¹ Socrate hà ©site à   soulever ce problà ¨me. (3) Le sens "pensà ©e", pour doxa, est cependant dominant dans la digression sur l'erreur (187 d-200 b). (4) Rappelons que la solution du Sophiste ne passe pas par la dà ©finition de la science. (5) Cità © par Dià ¨s, Notice, p. 141.

Explore Owen’s Use of Metaphor in Mental Cases Essay

Mental Cases, written in 1918 by Wilfred Owen, explores the damage and deterioration of the minds of soldiers as a direct result of the First World War. Owen’s determination to make known the horror of war mentally is evident throughout; his use of facts increases his ability to shock – it is his tactic almost. He describes in absolute detail the horrendous, physical symptoms of mental torment and emphasises that it was not only physical injury that left its mark, but that memories made such an impact that it could reduce men to wrecks. The use of metaphor; a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, will be explored further throughout Owen’s poem ‘Mental Cases.’ Whilst it is clear almost immediately that Owen intends to shock the reader, it also becomes evident that his aim is at once more refined and more complicated than that simple desire to shock. It is through his use of metaphor that he achieves this; if he simply intended to alarm the reader he could state in simple terms the psychological effect on these soldiers, but by using metaphor he explores their psyche in a much more visceral, provoking and sensory manner. The reader is taken aback by the words that Owen uses, but the real shock is essentially confirmed through his use of metaphor. The reader feels a deeper sense of just how horrific the situation is for these soldiers. The use of the words ‘flying muscles’ create images of fragility and gore but the use of ‘shatter’ as a metaphorical description of these muscles has a deeper impact; it is the external imagery that generates the primary shock. But it is through the use of metaphors such as ‘These are men whose minds the dead have ravished’ that we perceive a much stronger sense of their suffering. The idea that the dead can inflict so much agony and fear into the lives of these ‘set-smiling corpses’ is a horrific one. And yet through this one metaphor we can appreciate the pain of their suffering so much more than through the actual, numerous images that scar their minds. One gets the impression, while reading this poem that ‘these’ men are directly in front us. They lose their individuality and identity but through Owen’s use of direct speech to the reader we feel their presence strongly. Through Owen’s use of intense imagery and metaphors we are able to feel a nuance of what ‘they’ must feel in their unstable, traumatised predicament. â€Å"Sunlight seems a blood – smear; night comes blood black; Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh.† These connotations of death, injury and loss surround their every waking and sleeping moment. It is not possible for these men to now know any different than the explosion of bombs, the raining of gunfire and the screaming of the dying, the smell of the dead, ‘Always they must see these things and hear them.’ The personification of pain, misery, memory and the dead all add to the sense of personality loss of these men. Misery ‘swelters,’ they are men that the ‘Dead have ravished,’ ‘memory fingers in their hair of murder.’ These men are not their own; they are conflated into mere ‘things’ through the metaphorical personification of abstract nouns. The form of the poem could be seen as a metaphor in conjunction with these men’s loss of identity; there are instances throughout the poem that could be related to anything but war but are then drawn back to the idea of battle. â€Å"Ever from their hair and through their hands’ palms / Misery swelters. Surely we have perished/ Sleeping, and walk hell; but who these hellish? It is the ambiguity of these ideas that connects with the ambiguity of the men. Mental Cases could also be seen as an extended metaphor of purgatory. Purgatory, as believed in the Roman Catholic Church, is a state in which the souls who have died in grace must expiate their sins, a place or condition of suffering, expiation or remorse.[1] Perhaps it is Owen’s way of emphasising the injustice of their sufferings; they have done nothing but good for their country and are now being ‘rewarded’ with the same handling of those souls in purgatory. Those souls who have sinned and now, only subsequent to their deaths are learning to be truly good again in order to save themselves from an infinity in Hell. Another argument could be that it creates feelings of liminality – these men are locked in something entirely different to anything we know, another world. The archaic use of the word ‘wherefore’ provides a certain biblical weight to the moral insinuations of their conditions. These ‘purgatorial shadows’ sit in a metaphorical hellish existence, the tortured gesticulations of their ‘drooping tongues,’ ‘jaws that slob their relish’ and their ‘baring teeth’ create an image of dehumanisation for the reader and through the effective use of metaphor we can relate these images of disability to the shell-shocked men, enabling us to conjure up an easier image, one that we are more accustomed to. The images of the disabled are a part of our daily life whereas those of the shell-shocked have probably been witnessed never by the reader. Owen’s employment of androgynous characters in the first stanza with the use of ‘these,’ ‘they’ and ‘their’ could be metaphorically symbolic of the Harlequin, first introduced in Dante’s Inferno. The Harlequin, a clown-like figure with hardly recognisable human qualities, is a genderless being who is tormented with a mental incapacity in Dante’s purgatorial ‘land.’ The ‘drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish’ and the Harlequin share those inadequacies of the mind and are linked by a ‘human’ form that is somewhat distorted – the Harlequin through the use of cosmetics, reversible and without them, recognisable, these others by the perpetration of war and trapped with them forever. Dante’s Inferno and Mental Cases do also bear other resemblances through the use of metaphors; in part one of Dante’s Inferno, creative punishments are used to inflict a mental an d psychological pain on the protagonist. It is a pain which is purely vindictive and designed to inflict an emotional agony. This is one of two types of punishment that Dante uses. The first he borrows from forms of medieval torture and is physically agonising to the victims, the second is the punishment for sins committed. The ‘multitudinous murders that they once witnessed’ are the torturous punishments that are bestowed on these ‘purgatorial shadows,’ but it is the punishment for sins committed where the similarities must come to an end. Yes, like Dante, these men appear to be living in a limbo, a purgatorial existence, but because we know nothing of their previous sins, we cannot pass any judgement on whether they deserve to be where they are or not. The use of this metaphor continues to create these feelings of loss and opacity. Owen’s ability to make his words physical is achieved through the use of metaphor. While some would argue that it is his intense imagery that feeds our imagination, others would say it is his capacity to connect catholic ideas with the torment of these men to create metaphors that allow us to comprehend their situation. While he manages to convey this sense of loss, agony and torment, he does so in a way that screams detachment to an almost harsh level. Throughout the poem, his sympathy is essentially non-existent; it is important to note that he does not sympathise with these men as such but states why they are as they are. We see this ‘tactic’ to shock after his use of the metaphor in the third stanza, lines 3-4; â€Å"Sunlight seems a blood – smear; night comes blood black; Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh.† This is then justified, almost as if even the poet himself cannot quite comprehend the extremity of their situation; as though he must write it down in its most brutal form in order to understand fully the extent of these men’s perdition. The whole poem, it could be argued, is in this way a metaphor in itself. The poet’s inability to comprehend fully the post-war effects on these men, results in a wording that reflects the mental capacity of the disabled; brutally honest, forthright and with no sparing of emotion. We witness his ‘explanation’ post metaphor; ‘Thus their heads wear this hilarious, hideous, awful falseness of set-smiling corpses.’ It could, however, be argued that Owen is simply using this approach to present to the reader the stigma of shell-shock. Throughout WW1, shell-shock was considered to be a neurological illness and, as a result of the war, something that should be pitied, apologised for and something that should not lead to the social outcast of its victims. This did not, however alter the treatment of these victims. It was easy to pity them from afar but when confronted by them, people would have been uncomfortable, uneasy and awkward. This would arise from the inability to converse with the afflicted, the appearance of their ‘fretted sockets’ and ‘’hideous awful falseness.’ Owen, it must be understood is not like these healthy but distanced people; he embraces the soldiers pain and converts it into a metaphor so vivid, enabling us to understand more their predicament. In conclusion, Owen’s use of metaphor is used to such a successful extent, that it allows the reader to imagine a type of person inflicted with the horrors of war in a way that would not be possible otherwise. It is, I feel, important to re-iterate the significant difference between imagery and metaphor. Yes, Owen’s use of powerful imagery is used effectively, but it is through his use of unrelenting metaphor that we receive an insight into the broken, dishevelled minds and bodies of the shell-shocked soldiers of World War One.