Lamb to the Slaughter Essay

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s style of making the reader want to read on is a world apart from Dahl’s efforts, although the actual plot hooks you immediately in any Sherlock Holmes story. Doyle focuses on the man himself to ensure the reader’s full attention to the story. He uses Holmes’ superb character, a man sharper than a knife, more cunning than a fox and an untouchable track record to reel in the readers. The way he talks, he acts and follows out investigations and eventually solving them gives the reader an air of unpredictability around Holmes. Questions roll through your mind as you advance through a story featuring the famous detective, of how he ever unveiled something so sealed from view, its beyond belief, how he cheated death in the most frightening circumstances. Sherlock Holmes’ intelligence as a detective is matched by none and it’s this that Doyle uses to keep the reader entertained and on the edge of his/her seat throughout all of his Sherlock Holmes novels. Which proves that characters in a book, not always its plot make a story memorable. The endings of the two stories were an underlining big factor in what set them apart. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ saw Mary Maloney murdering her husband spontaneously with a bizarre object, which proved much to her advantage as the story ended with the local police, who were investigating the murder, eating the only evidence to actually put Mary Maloney away for the ultimate crime. â€Å"And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle. † As I read this, my feelings towards Mrs Maloney suddenly doubled back and began moving in the opposite direction. From the point when Mr Maloney sternly gave his loving wife the cold shoulder early on in the story, I had been resentful to him and a supporter of Mrs Maloney. Even when she had murdered her cold husband and proceeded to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes with her guilty conscience, I remained faithful, but as I read that last sentence, Mary’s crime came into perspective and it repulsed me to see her get away with such a terrible crime and be smug about it. This however, in my opinion was intended by Dahl. In a clever twist he had been playing with our emotions throughout and had left it until the last moment to cease his spell over the reader. This ending was certainly unexpected and made the story twice as enjoyable and successful as it already was. ‘The Speckled Band’s ending, as mentioned earlier is immensely diverse from that of ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’s. From the outset, the result of Holmes’ investigation was clearly obvious. No case goes unsolved when Sherlock Holmes takes it by the horns. The point of reading Holmes’ stories is in order to experience Sherlock himself, as explained earlier this is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s way of making the reader want to read on. Once again, Holmes didn’t disappoint us by solving the case. He picked up on the detail much forgotten by myself, the fact that Dr Roylott, Miss Stoner’s father had a collection of animals inspired by his work in India. Once Sherlock had studied the room in which the death of Helen Stoner’s sister had taken place, he had it in mind that a venomous snake was the culprit. This was in fact the reality of the matter and Sherlock had saved the day again. The way in which Holmes solved the case, as always provided the superb story we have come to expect from Doyle. â€Å"Some of the blows of my cane came home, and roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience. † These final sentences of the story, not only demonstrate Holmes’ renowned intelligence, but wit as he printed a smile on my face with the final quip about the doctor’s death weighing on his conscience. The ending had me imagining a film adaptation of the story, Sherlock stepping from view, leaving a bemused Watson to follow, trusty notepad in hand, as credits rolled across the screen. To say what my favourite ending was would be unfair as I am evidently a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, but both stories were fantastic and worth the hour or so I spent on each. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section. Lamb to the Slaughter Essay Now that you’ve read â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† and studied the nuances of crafting a persuasive argument, pretend you are the defense attorney for Mary Maloney. You will craft your closing arguments as a persuasive speech to be delivered to the judge and jury in her murder trial. Your defense is that Mary Maloney is NOT guilty by reason of temporary insanity. If you need to look up the stipulations for such an argument, please do so. You will be held accountable for them. You must include a minimum of three quotes from the story to craft your argument. In Short: * Your Role: Defense Attorney for Mary Maloney * Your Audience: Judge and Jury * Your Job: Persuade the audience that Mary Maloney is NOT guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Requirements: * Must include a minimum of three (3) quotes from the story that help support your argument * Must include at least two (2) counterarguments * Must include at least one (1) concession * Must include at least one (1) example of polysyndeton and one (1) of asyndeton * Must include at least two (2) examples EACH of ethos, logos, and pathos * Must be organized in a manner that is coherent and supports your argument * Have a clear beginning, middle, and end to the speech * Transitions between paragraphs are effective and more advanced that â€Å"next† and â€Å"then† Notes: * Answer the following questions about your writing before delivering your speech: * Did my introduction hook my reader? * Did I divide the body of the essay into coherently organized paragraphs? * Are my transitions more interesting than words like â€Å"and† and â€Å"then†? * Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end to my essay? * Does my conclusion wrap up my argument in an effective way? * Rule of Length: Juries are easily bored, so keep your closing remarks to between 2-3 minutes in length. * SPEECHES WILL BE DELIVERED ON FRIDAY AND MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 AND 12. * 100 POINTS and 10 bonus points will be awarded to the closing argument deemed most effective by the class!