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Subject Need help a.s.a.p., please!

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Publication 611 By JustMe on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 at 14:10   
Location: Unavailable   Registered: Tuesday, March 23, 2004  Posts: 4    Search for other posts by JustMe Search   Quote
Hi

I am in High School and I am to write 400-500 word book analysis on the book, David Copperfield. I was looking around Online for a forum that related to him, so I hope I have come to the right place to find help. If I have not, would someone please direct me somewhere where I can receive some opinions/help?

There are some guidelines, and I generally have a good idea of the direction I'm taking my analysis in (answers, wording, and whatnot). However, I just want other opinions on these thinking questions that make up my analysis.

1). What is David's personality? Does he change? If so, what motivated the change? Discuss at least three traits, providing examples from the book of each trait discussed in two to three paragraphs.

2). Discuss the MAIN conflict in two or three paragraphs, in specific terms. Also state the category of the conflict (example: man versus man - interior conflict; man versus forces of nature, etc.).

3). Show how the one MAIN conflict (struggle) develops throughout the book by giving exact examples of the conflict from the book.

4). Finally, state clearly the climax (point of which conflict is most directly addressed) and resolution (ties up loose ends or leads story into the future) of the book.

I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate any and all the help I can get. I really need to do well with this as it counts for a big part of my grade!

Thanks so much!

Publication 613 By JustMe on Friday, April 2, 2004 at 04:32   
Location: Unavailable   Registered: Tuesday, March 23, 2004  Posts: 4    Search for other posts by JustMe Search   Quote
Me again. Well, I've completed half of my analysis, so I just need a little "shove" in wording my second half properly. If someone could PLEASE, PLEASE provide me with some help with my last paragraph for my book analysis, I would appreciate it. I need to word these questions into two, well-constructed paragraphs. I have a set deadline, and this is due soon. Thank you in advance!

1). What is the main conflict?
2). How does the conflict develop throughout the story (giving examples from the book)?
3). Clearly stated, what is the climax of the book?
4). Clearly stated, what is the resolution of the book?

Publication 614 By absent-minded on Friday, April 2, 2004 at 17:47   
Location: Greece   Registered: Friday, June 29, 2001  Posts: -166    Search for other posts by absent-minded Search   Quote
Why don't you give us the first half and whatever you know of the (probable) second half, to have an idea of what your ending could be?

Publication 615 By JustMe on Friday, April 2, 2004 at 19:33   
Location: Unavailable   Registered: Tuesday, March 23, 2004  Posts: 4    Search for other posts by JustMe Search   Quote
This is what I've written so far. Sure, it's not the best, but I will definitely be "polishing" it, trust me. I think I'm just about finished with part A; all I have to do is break it down, add and/or edit here and there. Part B, it seriously needs help. My guidelines are in the above posts. I've written a bit, but there's still some things that need to be added...

Any suggestions?!

A:

David Copperfield has a heroic, comprehensive personality. He is a thoroughly decent man, illustrated in his love and commitment to those he cherishes, and further exemplified in his honesty and kindness. He lives up to the promise he made to his first wife, Dora, that he would work as hard as he can to make their lives together possible. Despite Dora being a wretched housewife - very incapable of managing household chores - David still loves her without fail. David cannot bear to displease her; permitting her to maintain her spoiled habits. David, being the honest soul that he is, is disgusted by falsehoods and dishonesty. This fires his hatred of Heep, who, along with Murdstone, is the arch-villain of the story. Heep's deceit towards Agnes's father angers David to the point of violence. However, his true kindness and dislike for cruelty stems from the abuse he suffered as a child. Hence, he looks down on and even feels sorry for the Murdstone's as an adult. Similarly, he feels great sadness at what his friend Steerforth has done to Ham and Mr. Peggorty. David did change - fully maturing as an adult - after Dora's passing. It is then that he truly grows up, with a more mature outlook on life; searching for a someone to love that who will challenge and help him grow. He reaches this stage of maturity and truly changes when he expresses the sentiment that he values his true love, Agnes' calm tranquility over all else in his life. Despite his maturity changing him, one thing remained the same. Life was not always kind to him, yet he remained a moral, committed, and honest man, triumphing over a tragic childhood. David Copperfield is a decent man with human failings.

B:

David faces both interior conflict - struggling with himself - and exterior conflict - the struggle of becoming a man in a callous world, with little money and few people to guide him on his journey. David, as a boy, suffered abuse at the hand of his stepfather, and, as a young man, fell into alcohol abuse and infatuation, as chronicled in his dinner party with Steerforth and his obsession over Dora. Before David could obtain true love, he had to learn to curb these excesses and become the victor of his own emotions. As he brings his heart under the control of his mind, David finally realizes his love for Agnes. By firmly believing in this love, even though he does not believe that she loves him, he ultimately wins her.

Publication 616 By absent-minded on Saturday, April 3, 2004 at 10:38   
Location: Greece   Registered: Friday, June 29, 2001  Posts: -166    Search for other posts by absent-minded Search   Quote
Hi just you. You're right, your second half needs work. In my opinion, which may be wrong, clearly stated, as your directions say, the climax of the book is at David's trip to Europe, after Dora's death. There he faced all the conflicts and experience of his life so far, and he discovered his true feelings about Agnes.
The second part of your essay tends to biased conclusions, you haven't really thought. Drinking a couple of nights with Steerforth is not 'alcohol abuse', neither this or other abuses made him lose control. His 'undisciplined' heart as he says, is not a heart that hasn't learned to obey, but an immature heart, namely a heart that has not yet learned from the experiences that have happened. It is not a matter of control, but of self-knowledge.
This self-knowledge David obtains in Europe where he faces the reality of death. The resolution of his conflicts starts with his discovering of the love for Agnes and is realised when Agnes confesses her own love for him - in my opinion.
I hope I helped a little

Publication 617 By JustMe on Saturday, April 3, 2004 at 20:22   
Location: Unavailable   Registered: Tuesday, March 23, 2004  Posts: 4    Search for other posts by JustMe Search   Quote
Thank you so much! You have helped me and I really appreciate it. I'll be back if I need any more help. Thanks again!!

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