Pointe du Hoc

The Bluebeard Twist The crisp bite of winter air blew down the dim oil lit streets of a little called Berkenshire. As the night rolled on, frozen ice pellets were bouncing off of every thatched roof. The wind whistled eerily through this sleepy town. There was a mounting heaviness hanging in the air. The last of the freshly baked goods had been prepared for the holiday. This years crops failed and a drought was taking effect. A poor man stood looking cold and hungry. He was traveling door to…

heard the fluttering of wings; but the birds were not yet defeated, for again and again they returned to the assault, jabbing his hands, his head, their little stabbing beaks sharp as pointed forks” (Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds). This enthralling scene is an excerpt from none other than Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds, and it inserts a perfect picture in the reader’s head of the suffering Nat is undergoing. In the short story The Birds, Nat must defend his family from the invasion of birds, and…

Cri du chat Syndrome Cri du chat syndrome is an uncommon genetic condition that is caused by missing genetic material on chromosome 5. Specifically a part on the small arm (p) of chromosome 5 is absent. The disorder occurs in 1 in 20,000 to 50,000 live births according to the US National Library of Medicine. What causes this to happen is currently unknown. Cri du chat syndrome was first described in 1963 by French geneticist Jérôme Lejeune. He noticed that several of his patients…

Archibald Prize winner for 2013 is Hugo by Del Kathryn Barton. It's a watercolor, gouache and acrylic painting on canvas of the Australian actor Hugo Weaving. It's a large painting sized, 200cm x 180cm. The painting is a portrait of Weaving holding a cat with a weeping lilli pilli and a intricate and colorful background. Weavings facial expressions seem serious but natural and he gazes off to his right. Barton painted the portrait in her studio over 5 months and 4 sittings in 2013. Barton…

Gary Wills is the author of the book James Madison, which details the life of James Madison through his career as a politician. The focus of the book is Madison’s presidency, which Wills brings to the forefront as the major topic. Wills states that most other books do not focus on Madison’s presidency saying, “Madison’s very presidency is semi-forgotten. When Madison expert Jack N. Rakove published a selection of his writings in 1999, only 40 of its 864 pages came from his presidential years.”…

In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte employs birds a symbol in order to highlight important themes in her novel. While birds traditionally symbolize freedom and expression, Bronte uses them to show independence (or a lack of), freedom, and rifts in social class. Bronte also depicts some of her most prominent characters as birds such as Jane, Rochester, Adele, Bertha, and even Rochester’s guests. Through the use of bird symbolism Bronte highlights important topics in her novel, while giving the reader…

Daphne du Maurier 's novel Rebecca, is a good example of unique and intriguing writing. It has achieved critical praise inarguably due to its uniqueness in literature especially as compared to those which fall under the female gothic category. The author uses attractive themes which can easily attract the masses throughout diverse generations. This book exposes a story of a narrator who faces lots of challenges not only in her marriage but also in her social circle. There exist certain…

discovery and creation of lucrative and nourishing crops, along with ammo that increased the power and productivity of war. The Du Pont family, the civil war, the potato, and sugarcane are all examples of elements that paved the way to the modernized world. In the book Gunpowder the Du Pont family was described with great importance to the explosive industry. The Du Pont family…

Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds”, is well known for its apocalyptic plot and the idea of nature turning against humanity. It is her original work that is eventually used in the famous film, The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. Although it was a bestseller, Daphne du Maurier never got much credit for writing “The Birds” or anything in general. She “enjoyed great popular success over the years, but during her lifetime she received comparatively little critical esteem” (theguardian). Unfortunately,…

Confucius once said “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier can illustrate how the characters undergo change when they faced with conflicts. Through the use of paradox themes, Du Maurier depicts the complex characteristics of the characters of Rebecca. The strong elements of symbolism throughout the story show the complication of the characters. In the story, the flowers are used as symbols. The most important instance of this is the…