Conditions The Poor People example essay topic

Fire, Bed and Bone By Henrietta Branford. Task 1. Point of view. a. The book 'Fire, Bed and Bone' is a story written in the first person, it's told by an "I".

This "I" is an old hunting dog. Of first person point of view we can find three different types: . first person protagonist: a character relates events that occurred to them. first person witness: the story of the main character is told by another character observing the events. first person re teller: the story is told by someone who has heard the story by someone else In this book the point of view is the first type mentioned above; first person protagonist. "I" in the story tells the reader about situations she, herself has lived through. Examples: .

'I ran over the hill to Ede and scratched at her door', page 27... 'I licked her hand and led her to the door', page 27... 'My teeth were locked around the boar's windpipe', page 108. b. When you read a story seen from the first person's point of view, you automatically will be strongly affected. You learn to know the character's feelings and thoughts, and then you will identify with the "I".

When I read the book and learned about the conditions the poor people lived under, how they were exploited, beaten and mistreated, it made me angry and at the same time I got the feeling of sadness. I sympathized with the peasants, and hoped that they would succeed in their riot against the authorities, lords and church. In a way it also made me think that this is real. The old dog revealed what she and her family lived through, and she had first-hand knowledge and information about their life.

It isn't retold, it is experienced by the main character in the book. c. In this part of the task I have picked out a passage on page 56. I have chosen the third person limited point of view". Why did she hunt for Lupus? Because she was not, nor ever would be, truly wild. Because she had known fire, bed and bone.

Because she was a hunting dog, a dog who had to work with a man. Because she wanted to live, not die with a muzzle round her jaws. Lupus took the hare from her and cut a little slit in one of its back legs. He threaded the other leg through the slit and hung the creature on his belt. He did not pat her, or praise her, as Rufus would have done, but that night he fed her.

She got the bones of the hare and some mould bread. No more. But it kept her alive. The next day, they hunted again". Task 2.

Characterisation. The old dog. Page 11. "That's the best hunting dog we " ve ever had". Page 13. "Soft yellow gold, like me".

Page 64. "I was used to running fast for a short while, and then resting". Page 135 "White hairs grow in my yellow pelt and my joints stiffen". Verb Adjective Adverb Run Best Rest Soft Yellow Gold Fast White Stiffen I think the author has succeeded very well in her characterisation of the old dog. We can imagine a strong, proud and brave dog.

She loves her family and will do everything she can to protect them. She brings the children food when they are out of it, and show responsibility to her owners. She is also a soothing and comforting mother, who loves her puppies and therefore gets furious when two of them are killed by a wild cat. Her rumour as an excellent hunter is well-known in the village. Some are willing to use nearly every means to get the dog. Rufus.

Page 8. "Rufus snores on his pallet of straw". Page 16. "Rufus liked to talk and Comfort liked to listen". Page 35. "Their faces looked blank, even Rufus's".

Page 74. "His hands shook as he smoothed my ears". Verb Adjective Adverb Snores blank Liked to talk Shook The author gives us an impression of a man who loves his family and his animals. He seems to be a strong person, one you can rely on and who will stand up for his friends and family in critical situations. In spite of poverty and bad living condition he seems to be a person who sees the positive aspects of life.

The atmosphere in the family seems to be loving and warm. I think the author has succeeded in her characterisation of Rufus as a good and honest person. Comfort. Page 32. "I wanted to run straight to Rufus, to hear his voice, to feel his hand on my head, to lick Comfort's brown hand". Page 36.

"She wept". Page 64. "Comfort's face was thin and dirty". Page 120". She was thin, painfully thin, her hair was lank and wispy and her dress was a rag". Verb Adjective Adverb Noun Wept Brown Painfully Rag Thin Dirty Lank Wispy The author characterises Comfort as a loving and hardworking woman who tries to make the situation as good as possible for her family.

She loves her husband and trusts him. She seems to be a mother who first of all is concerned about her children, then her husband and at last herself. In spite of the conditions they are living under, she tries to create a good atmosphere in their home. As a reader you have love this woman and feel pity for her. The author has described a good and positive person, who you, as a reader, would like to give a hand.

Task 3. Setting. We are in medieval England and the year is 1381, some thirty, forty years after the Black Death, which killed millions of people throughout Europe. We are somewhere outside London, in the countryside in a small village. In this village we find people from all classes of society. The majority are poor peasants with their families, but also the nobility and the church are represented.

The differences between the rich and the poor are great. We aren't told in detail how people live, but in a way we can sense the differences from short sentences and descriptions. We learn to know that in the houses of the poor people the floors are only the earth upon which the houses are built. Then we can imagine how cold and damp the conditions are.

People and animals try to keep warm by keeping close together in the night. In winter it's so cold that the water in the troughs out in the barns freeze to ice. The nobility live under quite other conditions. The Lord's house is called The Great House, with a capital G and a capital H. We can feel the distance between the to groups. The poor people had to pay taxes and mortuary to the priest, and heriot to the Great House. The poor ones also had to work long days for the Lord and the church, and afterwards they could try to work for themselves.

In addition to the nobility and the church there were also another person, or institution with a certain kind of power over the poor ones, the mill owner. If the poor people were caught graining their own flour at home they had to pay the miller a kind of compensation. Poor people's children also had to work for the miller to pay their parents' debts. They work hard and long, and were really exploited by people that were better off. The poor people weren't allowed to hunt in the forests. The animals belonged to the nobility.

They therefore had to poach, with their bow and arrows and spears. If the poor people revolted against the unjust they were taken to prison, both children, women and men. The rebels were often beheaded and their houses burnt or taken by the richer people in the village. If we can speak about any positive aspects for the poor ones it must be the ale houses. There they could go and drink some ale and talk to friends and neighbours. But you had to be very careful about who you talked to, and what topics you were discussing.

All around you there were "ears" that could tell the authorities what was going on, so you couldn't even trust your best friend or even family. You could be betrayed by nearly everyone. In the book we can also read that the social system wasn't working. If children lost their parents, they were lucky if there was someone who could take care of them. Some were lucky, but also many were exploited and mistreated.

If you got a serious disease, like lepers, you were an outcast and left to your own destiny. Nobody wanted anything to do with you. This show that the gap between the rich ones and the poor people was enormous, and it is quite easy to understand why the poor peasants revolted against this unjust system. They understood that it was a war they couldn't win, but even though they tried to make their own conditions better, at least their children's future conditions.