Importance of British Literature essays

Importance of British Literature essays Literature has served as many functions throughout history. Writers such as Alexander Pope, Dryden and Defoe forever changed the way writing was done. Each writer in their own way has had an impact on other writings, as well as approaches to looking and judging other writings. Literature is a powerful tool which can be used to get your point across, or it can be used just for the enjoyment of the writer. In Alexander Pope's "An Essay of Criticism" the reader is taking through a series of points and opinions that Pope has on judging poems and other writings. He writes this essay because he feels that "In time good writing will be lost"(Line 474). Pope's essay serves as a proposed guideline for critics so that good writing can once again prevail. His opening line of this essay gives the reader a clear sense of what he is stressing. "Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill Appear in Writing or in Judging ill, But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' Offence,To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense". Pope's strategy is to write a guideline for critics to use when judging an essay. In this opening statement Pope claims that he doesn't know if it is harder to write or to criticize a work. Pope again uses direct statements as opposed to implying what should be done. He says "A perfect judge will read each word of wit With the same spirit that its author writ: Survey the whole, nor seek slight faults to find Where Nature moves, and rapture warms the mind . . Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. In every work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend(Line 232). Pope shows the reader and states with this quote that this point is important because too many because too many people think that what a critic does with literature is criticize it. This point is important To critique a work of literature is not to identify flaws, or even to judge the rel...

Serial Killers Ray and Faye Copeland

Serial Killers Ray and Faye Copeland Ray and Faye Copeland lust for killing came with their retirement years. Why this couple, both in their 70s, went from being loving grandparents to serial killers, who used the clothing of their victims to make winter quilts to snuggle under, is both morbid and perplexing. Here is their story. Ray Copeland Born in Oklahoma in 1914, Ray Copelands family never spent much time in the same place. When he was a child, his family was constantly moving, on the hunt for employment. The situation worsened during the Depression, and Copeland dropped out of school and began scrounging for money. Not satisfied with earning meager wages, he got involved in scamming people out of property and money. In 1939 Copeland was found guilty of stealing livestock and check forgery. He was sentenced to a year in jail. Faye Wilson Copeland Copeland met Faye Wilson not long after he was released from jail in 1940. They had a brief courtship, then married and began having children one after another. With several additional mouths to feed, Copeland quickly returned to stealing from  livestock ranchers. While this may have been his chosen profession, he wasnt very good at it.   He was constantly getting arrested and did several stints in jail. His scam was not very slick. He would buy cattle at auctions, write fraudulent checks, sell the cattle and try to leave town before the auctioneers were informed that the checks were bad. If he failed to leave town in time, he would promise to make the checks good, but never follow through, In time, he was banned from buying and selling livestock. He needed a scam that would allow him to operate despite the ban, one that he could profit from, and that the police could not trace back to him. It took him 40 years to think one up. Copeland began hiring vagrants and drifters to work on his farm. He set up checking accounts for them, then sent them to buy livestock with bad checks from their accounts. Copeland then sold the livestock and the drifters would be fired and sent on their way. This kept the police off his back for awhile, but in time he was caught and returned to jail. When he got out, he went back to the same scam, but this time he made sure the hired help would never be caught, or even heard from again. The Copeland Investigation In October 1989, Missouri police received a tip that a human skull and bones could be found on farmland owned by an elderly couple, Ray and Faye Copeland. Ray Copelands last known stint with the law involved a livestock scam, so as police questioned Ray inside his farmhouse about the scam, authorities searched the property. It did not take them long to find five decomposing bodies buried in shallow graves around the farm. The autopsy report determined that each man had been shot in the back of the head at close range. A register, with names of the transient farmhands who had worked for the Copelands, helped police identify the bodies. Twelve of the names, including the five victims found, had a crude X in Fayes handwriting, marked next to  each name. More Disturbing Evidence Authorities found a .22-calibre Marlin bolt-action rifle inside the Copeland home, which ballistics tests proved to be the same weapon as the one used in the murders. The most disturbing piece of evidence, besides the scattered bones and rifle, was a handmade quilt Faye Copeland made out of the dead victims clothing. The Copelands were quickly charged with five murders, identified as Paul Jason Cowart, John W Freeman, Jimmie Dale Harvey, Wayne Warner and Dennis Murphy. Faye Insisted Knowing Nothing About Murders Faye Copeland claimed to know nothing about the murders  and stuck to her story even after being offered a deal to change her murder charges to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for information about the remaining seven missing men listed in her register. Although a conspiracy charge would have meant her spending less than a year in prison, compared to the possibility of receiving the death sentence, Faye continued to insist she knew nothing about the murders. Ray Attempts an Insanity Plea Ray first tried to plead insanity, but eventually gave up and tried to work out a plea agreement with prosecutors. The authorities were not willing to go along and the first-degree murder charges remained intact. During Faye Copelands trial, her attorney tried to prove that Faye was another one of Rays victims and that she suffered from Battered Women Syndrome. There was little doubt that Faye had indeed been a battered wife, but that not was enough for the jury to excuse her cold murderous actions. The jury found Faye Copeland guilty of murder and she was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Soon after, Ray was also found guilty and sentenced to death. The Oldest Couple Sentenced to Death The Copelands made their mark in history for being the oldest couple to be sentenced to death, however, neither were executed. Ray died in 1993 on death row. Fayes sentence was commuted to life in prison. In 2002 Faye was compassionate release from prison because of her declining health and she died in a nursing home in December 2003, at age 83. Source The Copeland Killings by T. Miller