Tma_03

TMA 03 Part 1 Faraday Michael Faraday born in 1791 was the son of a blacksmith who grew up in a close knit Christian community which was to shape much of his life. His religion was important to him and when he became a full member of the church he began applying the same methods as he did with religion with his knowledge of science. He relied on experimental facts and results and tried to understand them simply and clearly and tried to avoid getting carried away. His religion therefore played a big part in his life and his scientific discoveries. Faraday became aware of how things were presented to the public. The importance of getting things right for a particular audience. What got people interested and what did not as well as representing his findings in words and pictures. It appears that he took great care and time in researching his material so as to keep his audiences interested. His lectures were of great interest to the public.they appeared in their hundereds all crammed into a small semi circular lecture theatre all keen and eager awating for the lecture to begin.Everything was planned,his instruments were in the correct place,his speeches rehearsed and his irrestable eloquence which captivated audiences.the lectures proved to be play a huge part in his popularity with such importance that even the “Illustarted London News” portrayed him giving on of his lectures on “Magnetism and Light”. Michael Faraday was a self taught man who learnt his science in a different way from normal university studies. This led him to think differently and with his group of friends to bounce ideas from led him to experiment and make discoveries. Throughout the course of his life he wrote many papers. These were aimed at the general public and the scientific world. Faraday had the ability to write about a subject that any everyday Victorian could understand. He used simple terms and phrases and wrote on subjects that were familiar to everyone. In doing so he increased his audience and gave the world an insight to his knowledge. During his early career Faraday learnt his knowledge of presentation from attending the lectures of Humphrey Davy. His keen and eager personality was rewarded after he neatly wrote and presented one of Davy's lectures to him. Later he was rewarded with a position at the Royal Institute as Humphrey Davy's apprentice due to an early accident by Davy leaving him temporarily blind. It was this fortunate occurrence that helped contribute to his career. The Royal Institute became Faraday's home and later he was appointed Acting Superintendent of the house where he made a few changes and improvements which also made him more popular. When he finally acquired his laboratory he made several scientific breakthroughs making him even more well-known. His discoveries awarded himself many titles one of which was an honorary degree from Oxford University. The Queen also gave him a place of residence at Hampton Court Palace and he was also awarded a foreign associate of the Academy of Sciences. There were a lot of aspects that contributed to Faraday's reputation. If it wasn't for his expertise in public relations and his perseverance with his experiments then the world wouldn't have known about him. He conformed to the Victorians view of what scientists should be and they rewarded him by embracing and recognising his ideas and discoveries. His hospitable manner such as the improvements he made towards the Royal Institution were greatly received and even though he decided to retire they refused him as they knew he was very much appreciated by them. Part 2 The Horses "The Horses" by Edwin Muir is about a glimpse of the future after an imaginary nuclear holocaust, describing the experiences of survivors, the return to nature, and the new beginning brought about by the horses. This general analysis of the poem explores figures of speech and language as well as other literary techniques. It describes the experience of survivors of an imaginary nuclear war, the return to nature and the people who turn their backs on technology. It is based on ideas mainly from the First World War and the 'seven day war' that Muir writes about in his poem. It is divided into two sections, the first section is a picture of the world after the nuclear holocaust and the second section describes the coming of the horses and the return to nature. The poem is written in a traditional style of old literature. Edwin Muir takes us back to the past, both by the literary techniques and also by the poem itself. He uses biblical words used to describe what has happened. An example is shown in line four of the poem, this word is the word covenant, meaning agreement. Other examples of words from this vocabulary is found in the first line, this word is twelve month, meaning one year and the word seven days in line two meaning one week and god's will to create and man's will to destroy.A sense of spirituality and mysticism is felt when reading the poem. This is due to Muir's clever literary techniques. There are several figures of speech that are used in this poem. Firstly the use of euphemisms which giving a softer tone to the poem. An example to this figure of speech is found in line two of the poem which is: "The seven day war that put the world to sleep." This particular line tells us that the seven day war had deadened the world but it is put in a manner of a softer tone which makes it sound not too harsh. Another example of this is in the line, "The nations lying asleep curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow." The uses of these particular words "lying asleep", gives another example of the softer approach to the meaning of death. Many other different figures of speech are found in this poem by Edwin Muir. For example,the line "Old bad world that swallowed its children quick", swallowed is a human act, therefore, it is personification Also there is a line "Dead bodies piled on the deck",where the repetition of the letter D or same consonant sound is used as a form of alliteration. Also the line "Like a wild wave charging", a similes suggesting power, speed and life and at last, another figure of speech is found in the words "a distant tapping" and "deepening drumming." Muir wrote about the neglection of technology as if it had all been destroyed, "The radios dumb", "we make our oxen drag our rusty plows", "The tractors lie about our fields"-"We leave them where they are and let them rust." There is also a change from a pessimistic view of the world at the beginning of the poem to a optimistic view in the end when the horses come bringing their new beginning. It seems that the author expresses a complete turn around from the point of devastation to a new beginning and the birth of life. In conclusion, Muir's poem has expressed a very powerful idea with very clever use of literature to describe his idea and vision of what might happen if a holocaust was to occur. Bibliography Muldoon Paul. “The Faber Book of Beasts” 1997 Open university book 2 “Reputations”