Sherlock Holmes: Explore the reasons behind the enduring popularity.
One of the main reasons for the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes
from the time it was written to the present day was the way that all
the stories were told through the eyes of Dr. Watson. This showed how
incredible Sherlock Holmes was when his own powers of deduction could
see a lot more clues and evidence from the same hat as we the reader
could see. Also with Watson being the narrator, we are kept in
suspense as to what the final outcome is, Holmes can often know this
from a very early stage but Watson and the reader still needs him to
explain it to us. This leads to a great final scene that often
involves conflict between Watson, Holmes and the villain. From
Watson's accounts of the mysteries, we can try and interpret the
evidence in our own ways and like Watson try to be an amateur
detective; this just builds up adoration for Holmes' great work. When
these stories were being written, there was a massive increase in the
population of London, which caused a great increase in crime in the
city, as the small police force couldn't deal with them. This
encouraged a renewed interest in the detective genre that successfully
showed the two different sides of London. In several mysteries there
is a great aspect of humour, this is shown in two major ways. One of
them is the story lines, some of them are totally ridiculous, and the
other is the incompetence of the police force.
When the original Sherlock Holmes stories were published, each mystery
was split into several issues and then released in "The Strand
Magazine" this increased the suspense as people had to wait for the
next part of the story. All the stories already have a signif...
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...t strange things will happen in
the next story. The amount of suspense that is caused will always make
the reader want to read on. In the way Holmes describes his cases to
Watson at the very end of each case, this entices the reader to keep
reading until the very end so they know how the mystery happened. When
the reader first reads the story, they feel like they have to read on
because of the story structure, hearing about the distressed victim
and what has happened tempts them but they know they will have to wait
to see the results. This makes the reader want to carry on reading the
book and not just put it down. I think that the Sherlock Holmes
stories will continue in their great success as the key points to the
story will never become less important and they will always stay
intriguing to the reader, who simply can't resist to read on with the
story.
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
Holmes and Holmes developed this typology based on various characteristics of the crime scenes and the victims themselves of 110 interviews of selected offenders and serial murders (Canter & Wentink, 2004). David Canter and Natalia Wentink conducted an empirical test of this typology and developed several criticisms to their work. Their empirical test concluded that the features described for each category tend to co-occur within each other. For example, the characteristics of a lust killer include a controlled crime scene, evidence of torture, the body being moved, a specific type of victim, no weapon left at the crime scene, and rape; all of these features are also included for the thrill killer. This makes it difficult to categorize these
As if molded directly from the depths of nightmares, both fascinating and terrifying. Serial killers hide behind bland and normal existences. They are often able to escape being caught for years, decades and sometimes an eternity. These are America’s Serial Killers (America’s Serial Killers). “Even when some of them do get caught, we may not recognize what they are because they don’t [sic] match the distorted image we have of serial killers” (Brown). What is that distorted image? That killers live among everyday life, they are the ones who creep into someone’s life unknowingly to torture and kill them. The serial killers that are in the movies, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, and the evil master mind of SAW, these characters are just that characters. They have been made up as exaggerated fictional characters from the Hollywood imagination.
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” This quote by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from “The Hound of Baskerville” shows that people are generally oblivious to things in their surroundings, except for Sherlock Holmes. Both The Great Mouse Detective (GMD) and Sherlock Holmes (SH) have characters, Sir Basil of Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes, who are good at conducting observations.
In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs.
so many levels to it some of the humour is subtle and some of it is
and at the circus is one of humour. We are led to believe that they
These two devises would be high-subject low-treatment and absurdity. I believe that these two forms of humor resonate with me because when I am watching television, I would like to escape reality. I often want to escape reality because the world is truly a dark and heavy place. Everywhere I turn people have truly selfish reasons for what the actions they commit. I believe that when watching one of these shows it, in its pure stupidity takes my mind off how dark the world I live in is.
Comedy differs in the mood it approaches and addresses life. It presents situations which deal with common ground of man’s social experience rather than limits of his behaviour – it is not life in the tragic mode, lived at the difficult and perilous limits of the human condition.
Australian humour is very unique to Australia, and many other cultures find it quite unusual. It can be described as dry, anti-authoritarian, self-mocking, very ironic and as to stretch the boundaries of what is acceptable. Our humour is seen through our use of slang, print cartoons, radio sketches, comedy series’ on television, films, everyday life and in Australian literature. According to the Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus , humour means, “The quality of being funny; the ability to appreciate or express that which is humorous; situations, speech or writings that are humorous”. Due to its unique qualities, it will become apparent that Australian humour is quiet different to that of America and England and other nations. To highlight the importance of humour through the development of Australian identity, five main elements have been identified. These are, the part Australian humour plays in Australian identity, its unique qualities, its integral part in the Australian identity, the role of humour in times of great hardship and other nation’s perceptions of Australian humour. It is through these elements that it will become evident that humour is an important part of the development of the Australian identity.
An examination of Sherlock Holmes' abilities and techniques. allied to his personal characteristics, enable him to solve crimes. There are many reasons to explain why Sherlock Holmes is one of the world's most famous fictional detectives. However, the main reason for This is that not only are the stories complex, but the actual character of Sherlock Holmes has extreme depth, with some subtle. elements of his character only becoming apparent when he is in certain situations.
In What Way Is Sherlock Holmes The Embodiment Of Victorian Ideas? Progress? What is the difference between “I had no keener pleasure than following Holmes in his professional life.
The word honor parallels words like loyal and respect. War heroes and judges are associated with being honorable. A man who considers himself to be extremely antisocial and lacking a conscience does not mirror these traits. However, Sherlock Holmes’ ability to solve the most baffling crimes brings justice to many who would otherwise get away with their crimes. Just as war heroes sometimes give their lives for a greater cause like keeping their countrymen safe, Sherlock sacrifices himself to save others. Trust, fighting for justice, and self-sacrifice are all characteristics associated with honor, too. Sherlock Holmes is an honorable man in Sherlock, despite what most of the other characters think and say about him.
These examples then reinforce the type of conversational humour (of taunts and name-calling) both men used towards each
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and