Charles Dickenss Biography

Charles Dickens's Biography â€Å"Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.† quote by one of the most influential author of English Victorian era, English novelist, Charles Dickens, who wrote numerous highly acclaimed novels. Dickens lived a life filled with happiness and sadness and everything in between. He left such amazing work which is the finest part of Victorian Era literature. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. His full name was Charles John Huffam Dickens. He was the second child of John and Elizabeth Dickens. As a child he always liked to put on plays in a family kitchen, and singing songs, standing on the table in the local pub. After that, John and Elizabeth moved to London. And the family moves there. John was a congenial man, he got into big debt. Charles Dickens started going to school at the age 9. His father was sent to prison because of bad debt. After that, Charles had to work in Warrens blacking factory and endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. This was a factory that handled blacking, or shoe polish. The conditions were really bad. Meanwhile, his family was sent to Marshalsea, to live near his father’s prison, and Charles was left alone. After three years, Dickens was sent back to school but his working experience was never forgotten and that experienced inspired the writing of two well-known novels, â€Å"David Copperfield† and â€Å"Great Expectations†. His father was able to pay the debt. Things turned around again, Dickens at the age of fifteen had to leave school again because he had to work in an office. In the following year, he became a freelance reporter and stenographer at the law courts of London. By 1832 he was a reported for two magazines. Dickens believed that writings can play a big role in fixing the problems of the world. Dickens became a journalist and began with the journals The Mirror of Parliament and The True Sun. After that, he became a journalist for The Morning Chronicle. He published his first book in 1836, â€Å"Sketches by Boz†. In April 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth who edited Sketches by Boz. In the same month, Dickens published â€Å"Pickwick Papers† whi ch was really successful. Catherine and Charles had 10 children. In 1836 Dickens began to publish The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. This method of writing was really popular in the Victorian Era. After this, he began publishing â€Å"Oliver Twist†. He was also now editor of Bentleys Miscellany, a new monthly magazine. He continued publishing his novel in his later magazines, Household Words, and All the Year Round. Olive Twist kind of expressed Dickens life because this book is about a boy, an orphan, in London. Overall Dickens’s career was really successful but not in his first decade when he published work like Nicholas Nickleby (1838–1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840–1841), and Barnaby Rudge (1841). Dickens was also famous in America. He went on a five-month lecture tour of the United States. He spoke out strongly against slavery and in support of other reforms. When he returned from the United States he wrote the book â€Å"American Notes†, a book that criticizes American life as being culturally backward and materialistic. He also wrote another novel, Martin Chuzzlewit, which was about a hero finding that survival on the American frontiers is more difficult than in England. He also wrote, â€Å"A Christmas Carol and The Chimes†. Later on, he went abroad to Italy. Italy’s beauty inspired him to write â€Å"Pictures from Italy†. He also started to publish installments of â€Å"Dombey and Son†. Its full title was â€Å"Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son†. This completed the novel and boosted Dickens success. Dickens next novel was â€Å"David Copperfield†. This is an autobiographical novel fictionalized elements of Dickenss c hildhood, his father was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Micawber, his pursuit of a journalism career and his love life. This was Dickens favorite book. In 1850, he began a new magazine, Household Words. His editorials and articles touched upon English politics, social institutions, and family life. The 1850s were a gloomy time for Dickens. In 1851, he lost his father and one daughter within 1 week. After e few years, he fell in love with an actress so he separated from his wife. In response to his sadness, Dickens’s next novels were called his â€Å"dark† novels. These novels are considered the greatest triumphs of the art of fiction. He wrote the â€Å"Bleak House† which is considered to have the most complicated plot of any English novel, the narrative created a relation of all segments of English society. He wrote other novels such as â€Å"Hard Times† and â€Å"Little Dorrit†. Some consider the â€Å"Bleak House† to be the best novel he has written and others consider â€Å"Little Dorrit† since it portrays the conditions of England as he saw it and the conflict between the world’s harshness and all of these were expressed in a really impressive artistic form. In 1859 Dickens published a historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, which was about the French Revolution. Dickens also published seventeen articles which later on appeared as a book entitled â€Å"The Uncommercial Traveller†. Next, he wrote â€Å"Great Expectations† which is sometimes also considered as his best work. It is a story of a young mans moral development from childhood to adult life. His last finished work was â€Å"Our Mutual Friend† which is about how he viewed London. Before death, Dickens started writing â€Å"The Mystery of Edwin Drood†, but he never finished it. For several years Dickens was sick. He had a railroad accident in 1865 from which he never recovered entirely. Dickens died of a fatal stroke on June 9, 1870.

Snyder v. Phelps Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Snyder v. Phelps - Assignment Example Therefore, the congregation picketed in military funerals to demonstrate their beliefs. On this occasion, Phelps led his flock to picket at Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder’s funeral. He died while in battle in Iraq in 2006. Through the event, protesters displayed placards with thematic messages like, acknowledging God for 9/11 event, thanking God for the death of the soldier and asking the public not to pray for America. Furthermore, church members recounted Bible verses and resonated hymns. Snyder later sued Phelps and the church on the basis that their actions caused him severe emotional distress. However, Phelps defended and sought protection of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Bhakhama (2012) affirms that the case took an interesting twist as jury in Maryland settled the claims and awarded Snyder a reasonable compensation. However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision in favor of the church because the protestors addressed Americans fate, homosexuality, and moral conduct. In justification of the decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that First Amendment offered exceptional shield for speech on civic issues. Hence, the court maintained that Westboro Baptist Church members who picketed adjacent to the funeral site expressed legal acts. Thus, the demonstrators’ engaged in accordance with provisions of state-law. On the contrary, the church never committed purposeful cause of emotional misery, meddling, and civil intrigue. Fighting words doctrine comprised of speeches with a possibility to make a recipient commit an act of violence. However, First Amendment never prohibits expression of similar speeches especially when addressing common concerns, yet opposes subset of abusive words and violence. Thus, this is a personal analysis and thoughts about application of the doctrine in relation Chaplinsky versus New Hampshire. Generally, the Supreme Court’s verdict presented a major dilemma. Critics still argue

Reach Out and Touch Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reach Out and Touch - Coursework Example She does this in attempts to describe the color of her skin and declares it magical as the child seems never to have seen someone of her color before. In addition, the child’s expectations of the neck to come off by touching it indicate a wonder from the child’s perspective. The difference in skin color between the children and the narrator is what drives the children into reaching out to her out of wonder as it seems as though they have never seen such before. From the narrator’s perspective, it seems her skin color has attracted more attention towards her as she appears to be used to it and even sees it okay for the children to touch her. In respect to age, the children’s reaction to the colored woman is with wonder and innocence while the grown women react differently. The mother’s child disciplines her children by slapping their hands and hushing them off, while the narrator smiles at them and even wishes she was seated next to them to assure them that their reactions were okay. When I was about five years, my family was hosting my aunts and uncles for a Thanks Giving ceremony. One of my uncles, however, didn’t look like the rest, according to my judgment. He looked scary and I did not not want to be anywhere near him. The rest of the family seemed not to be worried and actually behaved as though he was normal. I however came to learn that he had survived third degree burns on his body after arsonists burned down his