I love the anticipation of starting a new book. It's like entering a new world. Will it educate me or entertain me, or make me laugh or cry? Literature can inform, inspire and motivate us. Novels like Brave New World and 1984 spark the imagination, as do The Lord of the Rings and Animal Farm. Some literature has a significant social impact. After the publicity Nabokov's Lolita received, the use of this girl's name dramatically declined. This book helped fuel a debate about child abuse. I believe that literature can influence the way we think and that authors can make us look at things from different perspectives. Literature also raises issues that society finds difficult to discuss openly. In the early part of the twentieth century, D.H. Lawrence's work was perceived as unacceptable and obscene, yet in the latter part of the century he was acclaimed as a literary master. I like the critical analysis that is involved in the study of literature. Animal Farm is a good example of a book that can be read as an entertaining children's book or as a political critique of Russian communism. Good historical novels allow us to relive important events that influenced our ancestors and which in turn influence us and the way we live today. Bird Song vividly brings to life the trauma of war in the trenches. Having visited the trenches in Belgium, the experience has had a major impact on the way I view wars. Some of Nikos Kazantzakis' novels, such as Freedom and Death, tell the story of the bitter struggle for Greek independence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Kazantzakis weaves stories of bloodshed, hardship, and the fight for freedom, but within the big picture it has subplots of friendship and love between the Ottomans and the Greeks. I am fascinated by the way Beckett explores the relationship between language and thought. It's interesting how it allows us to glean the workings of an individual's mind. Waiting for Godot also highlights his ability to use humor. After reading the book, I enjoyed seeing it performed in the West End. The production did well in accentuating the comedic aspects of Beckett's work. Trips to the theater are always a special treat and something I try to do as much as possible. My growing fascination with Beckett led me to write my EPQ thesis on the main influences on his writing. I'm particularly interested in the way he borrows from canonical writers like Dante to create new forms. A level English offers the opportunity to discuss and analyze points raised in books we have read. This is something I particularly like; Verbalizing my ideas often helps me clarify my understanding of a text. I am also part of the school debating society and appreciate the opportunity to challenge and be challenged. I also enjoy writing, both creative work, where I have to use language in an imaginative way, while coming up with a story that is intriguing and original, but also more concrete writing, where I have to be analytical and be able to argue in a way balanced manner and draw relevant conclusions. These are useful skills when writing for the school magazine and editing others who write. As Captain of the House, I have to be organized and also help organize others. Playing netball for school helps me practice and play an important role within a team. I am also an avid movie watcher and regularly go to the cinema with friends. I use some of my free time to assist in junior English lessons. ANDIt is gratifying to be able to assist children who find this topic difficult. After graduation I hope to work in some context that involves maintaining my interest in literature. Ideally I would like to be a literary agent and have the opportunity to both discover and bring interesting literature to the public. The relationship between the outside and the inside is a theme that fascinates me. I have really enjoyed delving into this topic in my study of Shakespeare and exploring the ways in which beautiful, flawed women are represented through characters like Chaucer's May in The Merchant's Tale and Thackeray's Becky Sharp. I find Catherine Earnshaw an interesting character in the way her beauty seems, paradoxically, to both empower and trap her. Another aspect of poetry that interests me is the way sound can be charged with meaning, which is what makes Louis MacNeice, with his haunting rhymes and metaphysical imagery, one of my favorite poets of the 20th century. Attending a philosophical debate club and volunteering weekly as a teaching assistant for a GCSE English course have improved my ability to formulate and express ideas clearly. It helped me develop my teaching skills and, more significantly, opened my eyes to the importance of learning from others. I hope to continue the rewarding teaching and learning experience by continuing my studies at postgraduate level and possibly pursuing a career in academia. But most of all I want to study English for the unparalleled sense of emotion I feel when opening a book, and it is this passion that I believe will help me grow as a critic and as a writer. Everyday life as a topic and ordinary people as protagonists are an integral part of the nature of literature. Wordsworth moved away from the pomp and senseless phraseology of modern writers to everyday situations, combining accessible poetry with a moral center. This is a progression from Shakespeare's plays (plays for common men), although heroes like King Lear fit Aristotle's tragic archetype of an imitation of people above the common level Becoming no better than "Tom O'Bedlam" , Lear's fall from nature's prejudice evokes the desired tragic effect through his loss of position and sanity. However, I agree that the common man and ordinary life can be appropriate subjects for both tragedy and literature. McCrum's idea that motifs drawn from ordinary (enthral) life echoes Arthur Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man." Feste's statement in "Twelfth Night" that A sentence is/ nothing but a cheveril glove for a good wit: how quickly the/ wrong part can be turned outward. Embody the main themes through an everyday object; both the gauntlet and the world are reversed, as if the traditional Lord of Misrule were present in the plot. My EPQ further explored the ambitions of Wordsworth and Shelley in their poetry, in relation to what poetry should achieve and the role of the poet. “To A Skylark” exemplifies Shelley's desire to allow the viewer to experience beauty, with illustrations of clear celestial images of bodily joy, a parallel to his desire as a poet; to provide joy, but remain aloof. In contrast, Wordsworth's didactic purpose is evident in "Simon Lee," in his choice of the subject of common humanity, which instructs the reader to regard such acts of compassion as insignificant. A similar "exemplum" of moral ideals is obtained in Chaucer's "Franklin's Tale", which analyzes the existence of providence and the necessity of "trouthe" both.