book reviews
Book reviews for scholastic growth; read material from the world's top educators with our collection of novels, memoirs, biographies, philosophical texts and textbooks.
Argue this thesis: “Lord Randal” dramatizes the conflict between love and the social structure within which the lovers find themselves.
In the poem “Lord Randal”, there is a conflict between love and social structure in which the lovers find themselves in. Lord Randal goes to see his lover who poisons him either metaphorically or physically to obtain his wealth. He later dies broken-hearted at home with his mother who loves him and pays a lot of attention to him, but who also may want his wealth. Lord Randal expected love from the relationship while his lover wanted money. The interaction between Lord Randal and his mother started as loving and caring, but it slowly turned to more questions and demands from the mother. Randal’s “true love” and desires conflict with the responsibilities that society expects of him. His mother focuses on the social structure and what is expected of Randal, which is taking care of his family financially and the woman he is involved with. This may be why his true love poisoned him, to gain wealth from his death. “Lord Randal” brings to life the clash between Lord Randal’s expectations for love and the reality he faces using incremental repetition, dialogue choices, and the creation of suspense and uncertainty. The poet uses incremental repetition to capture the reader’s attention on how society is structured and how it conflicts with love. Incremental repetition is using lines that are repeated with little changes that change the meaning of the context. One example from the poem is the first line of each stanza. The first line has always been the same, but different at the beginning. There are some differences, but it ends the same way with “Lord Randal, My son?” (1)The mother started to ask her son questions using the 5Ws ( who, where, when, why, what) to give the reader an idea of the poem and the storyline. In the last four stanzas, she changes the context of the question and the poem from being more caring to being more selfish. In the first line of the poem the mother says, “O where ha’ you been,”(1) which shows the reader that she is paying attention to her son, but later on when she asks, “What d’ye leave to your mother,” it shows that she only cares about what he owns and what he would do with his money. By using incremental repetition, this shows the reader that in society, the mother and the lover are more focused on their own financial security and well-being instead of love. Therefore, the poet uses incremental repetition to focus on the conflict between social structure and love.
By Zeinab Al Hamad5 years ago in Education
ONLINE LEARNING AND DIGITAL TEXTBOOK SOLUTIONS: THE BEST DUO FOR BETTER RESULTS
What's been troubling you lately? Is it the pandemic or your studies? Is it both? These days have been troubling. Covid-19 is continually affecting people's lives. Every sector of society has suffered the wrath of the deadly virus. Starting from education to business, every field was the worst hit. But technology made it survive.
By Axel Smith5 years ago in Education
Unconventional Writing Books
Every writer is constantly looking for ways to improve, even the greats. Creatives, writers, are their own worst critics, so new technologies are always tempting. Sometimes, the best new techniques and tips come from unexpected places. Sometimes, the best advice comes when and where you least expect it, if you're willing to listen.
By Nathan J Bonassin5 years ago in Education
Can You Read, or Are You Just Memorizing Words?
Are you aware that the letter ‘c’ makes two sounds? One sound is the all too familiar /k/ sound as in ‘cat’ but did you know it also makes the /s/ sound as in ‘cent’’, or what about the letter ‘s’? Do you hear just the /s/ sound? What about when you say the word 'as' or 'has?' You hear the /z/ sound.
By Sheba Lawshea5 years ago in Education
Calypso by David Sedaris
I'm having a really hard time starting this review. I do not enjoy writing bad reviews. I love books, I love to praise authors and look for the importance of a story, even if it isn't a five-star read for me. I purchased Calypso because I had heard good things about the writing style and humor in all of David Sedaris' work. As of right now, I'm not a fan and I don't know that I will ever read another of his books.
By Emily Goswick5 years ago in Education
Intercell Virtual Mentor Network
Mentors play a significant role in shaping us as individuals. From taking our first steps in the industry to life-changing career decisions, they stay with us like a steady pillar of strength.Mentoring helps one become more empowered to make decisions, stay focused and on track in career through knowledge sharing, skills development, networking, and a plethora of other ways.
By Reena Srivastava5 years ago in Education
Inside Deep Learning Math, Algorithms, Models Using PyTorch with CoLab
This will my first in a series of computer book reviews using sample books from a site named manning.com. I am only a beginner, but I am learning a lot and want to share what I am learning. To begin with I am not a 'math' or 'computer' person, but I do understand the math vocabulary and the math symbols. As I stated I am only a beginner and always probably will be in learning about computer applications and programs.
By Mark Graham5 years ago in Education
Score High in Economics with the Textbook Solution Manuals of Economics
Economics is one of the fundamental pillars of any country. Sounds like a lot of work, isn’t it? It indeed is! Whenever we talk about economics, people always relate it to money. But, economics is more than that. In economics, you also have to weigh or choose between different alternatives.
By Axel Smith5 years ago in Education
8 Picture Books That Build Visual Literacy
Visual literacy may be a term many haven’t heard. It’s the piecing together of a story from images and data in graphic form. What are the images telling the reader? Who are the characters? Their emotions? What are they experiencing? Pictures books help develop a child’s visual literacy skills by offering a story they tell themselves through images on the page. The skill of visual literacy lends itself to a myriad of applications beyond picture books.
By Cynthia Varady5 years ago in Education
Character Analysis : Beowulf
Character Analysis of Beowulf Literature is a major part of the history of the English language. There are many different writings that philologists and linguists used and still use to decipher the happenings, cultures, values, and systems of the past. Beowulf is a very important Old English Epic which inspired J.R.R. Tolkien in his writing of The Hobbit series. Even though the Epic is traditionally an oral poem with unknown dating of its composition, it does have a written manuscript which was produced prior to 1000AD, and potentially even as early as 700AD. However, the manuscript, as well as the oral poem, was created anonymously and did not have a name, thus it was named after the protagonist of the story. The story is based in Scandinavia where Beowulf, Prince of the Geats, arrives in Heorot to aid Hrothgar, a very respected King of the Danes, in defeating the monster Grendel. Grendel has been terrorizing the Mead Hall, killing soldiers and men, for twelve years. Finally, Beowulf comes to the rescue and kills the monster with his immense brute strength. Afterwards, Grendel’s mother, filled with rage and vengeance, attacks the Mead Hall. Beowulf slays the monster. In his victory, he goes home to Geatland and becomes the King of the Geats. He lives as an honourable and noble King until his death fifty years later. He is forced in is old age to defeat a dragon and dies on the battlefield. The Geats cremate his body and build a tower in his honor. In this story, there are a few important characters, but compared to Beowulf himself, they are very minor rolls. Hrothgar and Grendel would come in as distant seconds. Accordingly, Beowulf’s character is very well developed and represented with the author’s use of appropriately integrated direct characterization, Beowulf’s relationships and interactions with other characters, and the author’s meaningful uses of language, specifically during his fight scenes.
By Alexandria Brooks5 years ago in Education
Unpacking, ‘Scoop’ by Evelyn Waugh for Modern Readers
Scoop is known as the great satire of Fleet Street, written in the 1930s. Evelyn Waugh was a writer, journalist and book reviewer, known for his comedic tone and other novels such as Brideshead Revisited. Despite all his literary success, fellow writer, James Lees-Milne, called him, “the nastiest tempered man in England.”
By Violet Daniels 5 years ago in Education
The Size of the Truth
I have always been a fan of young adult books, and, as a teacher, these are often the books that I spend a great deal of time working with. In my personal life, I generally choose to read YA fiction because I think that it often involves a more inventive quality of storytelling. Because authors are trying to engage younger, developing readers with very complex topics and themes, YA books are often much deeper than people may assume. I recently finished Andrew Smith’s “The Size of the Truth”--one of his few middle-grade books--and I was blown away. I thought that the book was thoughtful, fun, and carried many difficult, heavy themes that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find in a book geared towards a young reader.
By Kurt Mason5 years ago in Education
