Oliver Twist Essays (2313 words) - Charles Dickens, John Dickens

Oliver Twist Have you ever thought about how it would be to live in a time of poverty? How would life be if you were poor and did not know from where you would be getting your next meal? What would it be like to be forced to live in a workhouse? These are some of the questions you might ask yourself if you were living in early nineteenth century England. Dickens addresses these issues in his timeless masterpiece Oliver Twist. In the story of Oliver Twist, Dickens uses past experiences from his childhood and targets the Poor Law of 1834 which renewed the importance of the workhouse as a means of relief for the poor. Dickens' age was a period of industrial development marked by the rise of the middle class (Wagenknecht 219). In the elections brought about by the accession of William IV in 1830, the Tories lost control of the government. Assumption of power by the Whigs opened the way to an era of accelerated progress (Kaste 8). In this time period children worked just as much, if not more, than some of the adults. After 1833, an increased amount of legislation was enacted to control the hours of labor and working conditions for children and women in manufacturing plants. The Poor Law of 1834 provided that all able bodied paupers must reside in a workhouse (8). Widespread hostility was felt to the new law; many believed that life was harder in a workhouse than in prison (Rooke 22). The plan was successful from one standpoint, for within three years the cost of poor relief was reduced by more than one-third. However, this system was sharply censured. The increased prevalence of crime was attributed towards it. Inmates of the workhouses became objects of public stigma, and to further heighten the unpopularity of the institutions, living conditions were deliberately made harsh (Kaste 8). Poverty was at it's peak around this time in England. Houses were overcrowded, packed together in narrow streets and courts which were often piled deep in rotting refuse (Rooke 33). New problems of food and public health were faced by a parliamentary and economic system which was better suited to the eighteenth century. On June 20, 1837, Queen Victoria came to the throne of England as the long period of middle class ascendancy was gaining momentum (Kaste 8). The Victorian age, which this time period is often referred, comes from Queen Victoria. In 1840, it was thought that only twenty percent of the children of London had any form of schooling. The 1840s were years of crises. The character on English life was being transformed by industrial expansion and by great movements of population towards urban life. Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Portsea, on February 7, 1812. He was the second son of John Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Navy pay office. His improvidence would eventually lead to imprisonment in the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison for debt (Hardy 41). As a child Charles Dickens explored London and the fascination that he felt for this booming city remained with him throughout his life (Rooke 15). Dickens received his first instruction from his mother and later attended regular schools in Chatham. When John Dickens, his wife, and their four children went to the debtor's prison, Charles Dickens didn't go. He soon became intimate with his father's small collection of literary classics. He also revealed early signs of genius. Dickens' recollections of early life were centered in Kent and he often regarded himself as a member of that region (Kaste 9). Dickens was sent to work at the age of twelve in Worren's Blacking Warehouse. After his father's release he went back to school.. When school was complete he went to work in an attorney's office. He spent much of his time exploring the busy and varied life of London and decided to become a journalist. He mastered a difficult system of shorthand and by March 1832, at the age of twenty, he was a general and parliamentary reporter. In 1829 he met and soon fell in love with Maria Bendnell, but her parents found him socially inferior (Hardy 41). Not long after, in 1836, he fell in love with and married Catherine Hogarth. They had ten children together. In 1858 Dickens fell in love with Ellen Terron, an actress. This was soon after Dickens and his wife Catherine separated, ending a long stream of marital difficulties. In1842, Dickens traveled to the United States hoping to find

Sample Reflective Essay on Busy Lives

Sample Reflective Essay on Busy LivesTo summarize, in this article I'm going to discuss a great reflection and sampling essay on busy lives by my favorite example, The Bartleby, Jr. when Bartleby is our sample reflective essay on busy lives.This sample reflective essay on busy lives was written by Stanley Chase. There are some great stories that I love about this sample reflective essay on busy lives. I think the lessons learned in this sample reflective essay on busy lives are amazing.I first want to quickly explain what a sample reflective essay is. A sample reflective essay is one of the most valuable resources for writers to create a personal statement of purpose.In this sample reflective essay on busy lives, we learn what do we do when we're with those who don't understand or care about us. The piece tells us how we all need to have values must be reflected. Those who are wealthy, intelligent, or who are self-made will not be so concerned with the plight of those who are not.We then learn how we have to value ourselves before we can value other people. If you have values, you will never see something as good as you want to see it.One of the most wonderful part of this writing is that we're told why we should value ourselves so much. We get to learn about the value of coming together as a society to help those who are in need. We are also asked how we should feel about our world.The idea is that we're told that we should be rich, because the rich people didn'thave the same opportunities that the poor have. I'm glad that the author thinks about the advantages of rich people, and that's because it makes it easier for me to see myself in this story. For instance, I think that having a business makes me feel rich.Another great part of this reflective essay is that the writer has put together an essay that has a lot of important ideas. The essay is divided into five parts. Each part is interesting and thought provoking.

5 Core WordPress Features That You Should Use More Often

WordPress is the worlds most popular content management system, and even with its minimalist out-of-the-box functionality, it is  far more powerful  than you might think. Were  not just talking about the notion of using plugins like Jetpack to extend the platforms core functionality either there are probably  built-in core WordPress features you  are unaware of.In fact, its possible that you have functionality-boosting plugins installed on your WordPress website right now that, in reality, dont need to be there. Fortunately, all core WordPress  features are easy to find, and are ready to be used on your website right now.In this post, we reveal five core WordPress features that you probably dont know about, but should definitely make better use of.  Lets get started:Core WordPress features to use more often:1. Distraction-free writing modeResisting distractions and battling procrastination are part and parcel of a bloggers daily routine. To help you focus on your writi ng, WordPress has a handy distraction-free writing mode built right into its native editor.Where to find itThe distraction-free writing mode button can be found within the TinyMCE editor on any edit page. Simply click the icon located in the top-right hand corner of the editor, and WordPress tucks away both the meta boxes on the right,  and the dashboard  menu on the left. It even dims the bar at the top of  the page to ensure your eyes dont wander.All of this serves to  bring the editor itself to the forefront, enabling  you to focus on putting pen to paper (so to speak).2. The Theme CustomizerCustomizing your WordPress theme – especially within the context of a complete redesign –  can  quickly bog you down. There are plenty of theme developers who have noticed this and created custom dashboard editors in an attempt to relieve users of the strain.However, the often overlooked WordPress Theme Customizer still has its place, and is  a great way  to ma ke quick theme modifications without trawling through the options in a custom solution. More than that, its actually the recommended way of customizing a theme.Where to find itThe WordPress Theme Customizer can be found under  Appearance / Customize within the WordPress sidebar. From here you have access to  a number of customizations, depending on the theme youre using. At the very least, youll be able to change your websites  title and tagline, logo, menu structure, and color scheme.With  the  recent WordPress 4.5 update, WordPress Theme Customizer has seen  a number of new additions,  making it an even more viable alternative for quick customization. In fact, we love the WordPress Customizer so much weve created a comprehensive guide  on how to use it to spruce up your websites design.3. The category and tags converterThe structure of your WordPress website may change over time. As you learn more about how to  organize your website, youll discover new ways to ut ilize categories and tags to help users to  find related content.As such, you may eventually find yourself needing to convert your websites categories into tags (or vice versa). This process can help to restructure the way your blog posts and pages are served up to your readers – particularly if youre thinking about  swapping your WordPress theme for something a little more snazzy. And this is where the next one of our core WordPress features comes into play.Where to find itThe Categories and Tags Converter can be found by heading to the  Tools menu, then Import.  You can choose convert  Categories to Tags or Tags to Categories  before making your individual selections. After clicking the Convert button, WordPress will then handle the  technical stuff.4. CSS classes for menusHave you ever wanted to customize the look and feel of individual menus, submenus, and menu buttons? WordPress already has you covered!By activating custom CSS classes for your WordPress men us, you can easily add CSS code without having to exit the Menus  edit page. Its a quick and easy way to go deep on customizing the design of your menus, all from a familiar interface.Where to find itBefore you can use the CSS Classes option, youll need to activate it from the Screen Options tab at the top of the Menus screen. Click the tab, and it will open out to display several checkboxes. Click the CSS Classes box under the Show advanced menu properties section, and  youll see the field  appear within any menu items options.5. The Press This toolPress This is a bookmarklet that  can be dragged and dropped into your browsers bookmark bar. By  clicking the button whenever youre browsing an interesting web page, you can quickly post a link and a short commentary  directly to your WordPress website. Its then immediately published in the form of a blog post.Its a fantastically quick, easy, and smart way to alert  your readers to exciting content as and when you find it around the internet.Where to find itYou can  access the  Press This button by navigating  to the  Tools menu, then the  Available Tools tab. Simply drag it to your browsers bookmarks bar, and its ready to go. You can also access Press This for mobiles using the Open Press This button, adding it as you would any other bookmark on your device.ConclusionWordPress is already a powerhouse content management system, but by making use of some relatively unknown core  functionality, you can make it go the extra mile without having to resort to plugins.To recap, here are the five core WordPress features you could  make better use of:Distraction-free writing mode:  For a more focused writing experience.Theme Customizer:  To modify WordPress websites quickly within a familiar interface.The Category to Tags Converter:  For re-structuring the categories and tags that make up your WordPress website.CSS classes for menus:  For adding custom CSS code to your menus, submenus, a nd individual menu buttons.Press This:  To help you quickly share newly discovered  content with your audience, directly from your browsers bookmark bar.Are there any other core  WordPress features that dont get the props they deserve? Share them with us in the comments section below!