The Skull Beneath the Skin Comparative Essay

Like other Yale senior societies, Skull and Bones membership was almost exclusively limited to white Protestant males for much of its history. While Yale itself had exclusionary policies directed at particular ethnic and religious groups, the senior societies were even more exclusionary.[11][12] While some Catholics were able to join such groups, Jews were more often not.[12] Some of these excluded groups eventually entered Skull and Bones by means of sports, through the society's practice of tapping standout athletes. Star football players included the first Jewish (Al Hessberg, class of 1938) and African-American (Levi Jackson, class of 1950, who turned down the invitation for the Berzelius Society) students to be tapped for Skull and Bones.[11]

“Genres are not systems, they are a process of systematisation.”(Neale 1980). Genres are both a method of nomenclature, dividing literature according to its style, subject and context. Genre constantly re-imagines, challenges, and expands its boundaries to reflect zeitgeist of the society at the time and to become a barometer of the social and cultural concerns of the audience. Likewise, crime fiction as a genre has evolved from traditional conventions. Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and Cornell Woolrich's It had to be Murder, whilst obeying and selectively utilising a few original conventions, manifest the ideology and social concerns of the postwar 1950s society in aspects of the modus operandi of the investigation, gender roles and the shift

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window continues and expands on traditional themes of the Detective Fiction Genre. In 1841, Murder in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe broke the traditional character constraints of the Crime Fiction Genre, by introducing a new type of lead detective figure. The ideal detective figure encompassed traits of superiority, intelligence, wit and a keen sense for observation. The lead detective figure is a sophisticated character that is not bound to the constrictions and limitations of the Law and the exploration of this figure through the use of visual aid and techniques, provides contrast and variation on the common themes within the genre. Hitchcock provides an alternative approach through a new medium carving way

In order to illustrate the self-degradation in lying, Ericsson recalls a time when she lended money to a “friend.” By putting up a facade, he appeared to have “all the right looks, and the right words, and offered lots of new consciousness theories” (122), but he did not. In 6 months time, Ericsson only got a hundred dollars back. Through his lies, he not only lost the trust of many and destroyed his reputation, but was also left with “a crowded graveyard of disenchanted former friends” (Ericson 122). Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale from Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter also fell victim to his own lies. Although he will not confess publicly, he is fully aware that he is the father of Olive, Hester’s daughter. By hiding this fact,

“Genres are typical forms of texts which link kinds of producer, consumer, topic, medium, manner and occasion”(Hodge and Kress,1988.). Genre thus presents a set of expectations, to which adherence assists in retaining its identity. However it is also correct that “the boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable”(Abercrombie 1996, 45). Essentially genre is constantly redefining its boundaries in order to better reflect the historical, social and economic context of society. Likewise, the genre of crime fiction has evolved from its traditional conventions. Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and Cornell Woolrich's It Had to be Murder, whilst employing the conventions of traditional crime fiction also simultaneously subvert

Meyer’s experience with twists of classic stories and fables is highlighted by another novella, Fairest, an additional origin story about a young girl driven to the point of madness and hostility, eventually becoming the antagonist of the original series. The author’s skill with writing origin stories contribute to her need to “make sure each character received their due”, thus explaining why she has written several stories from different point of views, including antagonists.

1. Introduction The relationship between Isabella and Catherine is markedly more complex than most critics acknowledge. Critic Judith Pike, who writes a stunning defense of Isabella Linton's character, laments the fact that Isabella is often misrepresented in academia as merely, "a foil to Catherine and an instrument of revenge for Heathcliff" (352). Essential Literary Terms describes a foil as, "a character who contrasts with the protagonist in ways that bring out certain of his or her moral, emotional, or intellectual qualities" (131). By this definition one could argue that Isabella is a foil to Catherine; however, instead of highlighting Catherine's positive character traits, Isabella emphasizes the ways that Catherine languishes in arrested

Although Serena is an overall femme fatale, she does express a clear divergence away from certain characteristics that are key to the femme fatale figure. In Robert B. Ray’s The Thematic Paradigm, Ray talks about American cinema’s tradition of always finding ways to overcome dichotomies. It is typical for characters in American movies to have contrasting attributes (Ray 377). Serena embodies the desirable, mysterious, and deadly characteristics; however, she lacks unattainability, and independence from men. When George first saw Serena his sister instantly told him, “you don’t stand a chance with her.”

an extremely shy and soft spoken girl, skull hardly fits her nickname personality wise, however she does have her dark, serious moments when she is focused on her tarot cards or any other psychic stuff she'll go into. she is a mysterious sort who is into the supernatural.

Austen has set out to save the rising art form of the novel. In this address to the reader she glorifies what a novel should be: the unrestrained expression of words conveying the wide range of raw human emotion. This veneration of the novel is necessary to the development of Catherine's fiction-loving character as it justifies the narrator's right to remain fond of this flawed heroine.

Sixteen years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Lor came back from Mexico with a skull. Mr. Lor was sure the skull was cursed. When they got back home, Mrs. Lor wanted to put the skull where they kept their super glue. So, they moved the super glue and put the skull there.

The anxiety that infused film noir, born out of post-war fears about the place women had found outside of the family structure, challenged hesitant conceptions towards the role of women in family and oppressive social relationships. Film noir’s included gender politics were to alleviate male confusion over women’s roles and their sexual identity through a restoration of the patriarchy. The femme fatale represented an independent and powerful femininity, rejecting the conventional role of the devoted wife and loving mother that mainstream society had prescribed for women, but in the end her transgression of social norms led to her own destruction and the destruction of the men who were attracted to her.

Phillip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), P.I, is hired by the rich General Sternwood to out a blackmailer, but quickly finds himself tangled in the Sternwood family’s dirty laundry — it’s the classic film noir narrative. At the center of it all seems to be Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall), a Sternwood daughter, and the woman attempting to cover up the murder at the bottom of Marlowe’s case. I used Vivian’s tidy adherence to the femme fatale archetype to dig deeper into its true message about women’s nature, beyond the mysterious façade.

Yet this also, especially in the case of Graham Greene's “The End of the Affair”, demonstrates the loosening of morals in the prescribed setting, the Second World War. The uncertainty of tomorrow, lead’s people to act with only the present in mind, it is only when that fear appears to become a reality that a switch to traditional attitudes occurs. So when Bendrix appears to die in a raid and when Daisy kills Myrtle, it’s with this direct confrontation with the inevitable that they return from their “fantasy”. The fantasy being their degraded perspective of what is ethical. When Sarah perceives such a tragedy she reverts to faith, returning to the moral conservatism of catholicism. A harsh contrast to what she had been surviving in; the moral decline associated with the Second World War. A similar, if not identical, situation occurs with Daisy. It is only when she physically runs down Myrtle, when she has a direct confrontation with death itself that she finally returns to what is ‘morally acceptable’. Thereby returning her fidelity to her husband and, at least for a moment, letting go of the moral ambiguity and looseness associated with the 1920’s; the American Jazz

Often said to be the exemplification of an angel on earth, Cordelia’s character is won over by so many readers’ hearts. However there is a side to Cordelia