Hallo,
über die Ferien habe ich ein HAUFEN Aufgaben von meiner Englisch Tutorin bekommen und nun würde ich gerne wissen ob ihr im groben Sinne meine Antworten versteht? Ich weiß mein Englisch ist nicht das Beste und habe auch ziemlich Schwierigkeiten mit den Zeitformen und Übermittlungen was ich sagen will. Wäre toll wenn jemand Zeit und Geduld hat mein Essay durchzulesen. Der Text ist doch ein bisschen zu lange geraten und das ist ja erst die Hälfte von das, was ich noch aufhabe (hab 2 Kurzgeschichten bekommen je 8 Aufgabe! ~.~)
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The Murderer Ray Bradbury
Assignment 1
Outline the carious stages of Mr. Block’s case story.
Everything starts when Mr. Brock is sick and tired of being disturbed by technical devices and intercommunication system. According to him he can’t get any silence and be by himself for a single moment no matter what he does. Therefore Brock stages protests against bus radio and commercial and take the matter to court for years. But nothing works out for him because he is one of few who strive against the mainstream. In order to create his only little silent world he takes matters into his hands. He almost destroys all technical things in his house and commits crimes on someone else’s properties when they annoy him. Therefore he calls himself a murderer and these destroyed things are his victims. By his actions he is being arrested in prison for a half year. Nevertheless Mr. Brock regrets nothing he does back then and anticipate the silent time he will get in prison.
Assignment 2
List all the gadgets mentioned on the text, describe their functions and their impact ob Mr. Block.
Telephone The telephone is a useful intercommunication device which transmits und receives sound for long distance. But for Mr. Brock telephone is a Ghost Machine which he hates from childhood on. It’s just an impersonal instrument without warmth and reality. Friends of his always want to chat and bother him with matters of no importance permanently. As a result the telephone is one of his victims he wants to get rid of.
Television The television is a telecommunication medium which transmits and receives images and sound. But for Mr. Brock television is a kind of evil Medusa who captures billions of people everyday.
Office intercoms An intercom is an electronic communications system which works similar like a telephone. Therefore Mr. Block has the same hatred of intercoms.
Wrist Radio A bracelet with integrated radio which transmits and receives radio broadcasts without headphone port. It also can be used like a cell phone. In this short story it seems that everyone have one and listen to it. Accordingly a lot of these noisy musical directions mixed up. This device annoys Mr. Block actually to the point that he disturbs the signals in the public bus to get his silence for a moment.
Car Radio Transmitter A radio build-in cars which transmit and receive radio broadcast and works like a talking navigation. In order to get his hoped-for peacefulness Mr. Block spoon ice-cream in the radio to get this thing shut up.
Insinkerator An appliance to disposed kitchen garbage. Mr. Block makes use of it to shred his telephone. Through this action he broke this device and regrets it because it’s a practical thing that doesn’t annoy him.
Assignment 3
Analyze the imagery used in the text.
• “Poor thing strangled to death” (line 54)
The metaphors are stated by Mr. Block who calls himself a murderer. The way he describes how his technical victims “died” sounds exactly like a body would do.
• “Made a beautiful tinkling crash, like a dropped chandelier” (line 57-58 )
Mr. Block shots the cathode in his television set and during his metaphor one can imagine how it sounds like.
• “Sheer, animal panic” (line 152) “Squirrels chattering in cages” (line 156)
This metaphor shows how people in this short story react when there is no radio and other signals – totally lost and chaotic like animal on the run from predators.
• “(…) a practical device, which never said a word, purred like a sleepy lion most of the time, and disgusted our leftovers.” (line 199-200)
Mr. Blocks compares the way his insinkerator works to a lion. The difference is lions swallow meat and his device chops up kitchen garbage.
• “Then I went and shot the television, that insidious beast, that Medusa, which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little (…)” (201-204)
Mr. Block insults the television with metaphor. In his eyes this medium is a villain and good for nothing. In this quotation one can guess that Block is quite good at Greek mythology.
More metaphors…
• “Uncle of mine called it the Ghost Machine. Voices without bodies.” (line 62-63)
• “I felt drunk with Freedom” (line 137)
• “Like a headless turkey” (line 205)
• (…)
Assignment 4
Assess the importance of Mr. Block’s dream og “being a writer” (l. 60) for his behavior.
I think the dream of being a writer for Mr. Block is important – even if it’s just as a hobby or something else. An author needs a lot freedom and a quite place where he can think clearly. But Mr. Block cannot get these little things in his environment. Neither outside nor at home has he time for just himself. Intercommunicated devices and noisy radios always interrupt him to be alone and quiet. I think it’s a good thing that Block is being arrested in prison where he gets the silence he yearned for. There he can fully unfold himself peaceable and write down all his fancy metaphors and other amusing stories.
Assignment 5
Describe how Block and the psychologist are characterized and examine the adequacy of their ascribed roles.
The psychologist in the story is a man who writes down what Mr. Block reported in his point of view. Occasionally he asks questions and gives short comments to what he hears. Of cause he wants to show Mr. Block the consequences of what he has done wrong. I suppose that he can also understand what Block feels but he doesn’t let it affect him. All in all I think the author does a good job to create his calm character this way. Mr. Block is the villain in this story. He calls himself a murderer and seems to be violent and aggressive towards everything that’s not human. Block is someone who is quick-tempered. He blew a fuse if something annoys him and withholds him to be alone and quiet. Nevertheless I think Mr. Block is a nice man who has great sense of humor. This character is a perfect contrast to the psychologist and gives the story that certain indefinable something.
Assignment 6
Imagine you a lawyer and you have to defend Mr. Block in court. Find arguments why Mr. Block should plead “not guilty”.
• He doesn’t injure someone by disturbing radio and other signals with his portable diathermy machine in the bus.
• Why should he be arrested when he’s destroyed things in house on his own? He doesn’t hurt his wife and children by these actions, does he?
• He is of unsound mind because his environment molds him to the way he is now. Nobody tries to help or understand him.
Assignment 8
Have you got an mp3 player? If so, access how and why you use it. Compare the role music plays in the short story to the way it plays a role in your life.
I have an mp3 player and use it when I’m outside or when I’m getting bored. But I would say that I can live without it. Nevertheless music in my life is an important thing. Otherwise movies and other commercial would be half so interesting and exited. However the mp3 player plays a bigger role in the short story. It seems people are totally lost without it. I got a feeling that music is some kind of elixir of life for them and that they can’t live without it.
Herzlichen Dank in voraus! Wenn ihr Lust habt, könnt ihr auch nur einen kleinen Part korrigieren/durchlesen. Für jede Hilfe unendlich dankbar