Tobias Smollett Biography Essays (563 words) - Picaresque Novels

Tobias Smollett Biography Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771), Scottish novelist, was born in Dalquhurn, Dumbarton County Scotland. Smollett was born beneath a plane tree at Dalquharn House on the family estate of Bon hill in the Vale of Leven, near the village of Renton, Dumbartonshire. At fourteen Smollett was apprenticed to a Glasgow doctor. He studied medicine at Glasgow University and moved to London in 1740. He was a ship's surgeon in the Carragena expedition against the Spanish in the West Indies, and lived in Jamaica until 1744 when he returned to London and renewed his earlier attempts to stage a play he had written The Regicide, but still met with no success. He also failed to set up his own medical practice. His first novel, the partly autobiographical Roderick Random (1748), was an immediate success. His best novel, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), has become a classic. It is a story, told in a series of letters, about the travels of a family through England and Scotland. Smollett was troubled by lack of money. He spent his last years in poor health, and died in Livorno, Italy, on October 21, 1771. Two years later, Johnson and Boswell stayed at Cameron House with Smollett's cousin James, who was preparing to erect a Tuscan column in Smollett's memory at Renton. Johnson helped compose the Latin obituary on the plinth, and the column stood in what subsequently became the playground of a school. Some of Tobias Smollett's work consists of The Tears of Scotland (1746). Poem on the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Culloden. The Adventures of Roderick Random ( 1748 ). Gil Blas. Translation of LeSage's novel. ( 1749 ). The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle ( 1751 ). The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom ( 1753 ). Don Quixote. Translation of Cervantes' novel. ( 1755). The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Greaves ( 1760 ). Travels through France and Italy ( 1766 ). The History and Adventures of an Atom ( 1769 ). The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker ( 1771 ). Some critics regard Tobias Smollet as more satirist meaning that a work of literature or art that, by inspiring laughter, contempt, or horror, seeks to correct the follies and abuses it uncovers. I don't know what that means though. This is a paragraph from Tobias Smollett's book The Adventures of Roderick Random. Roderick Random is the orphaned, unwanted grandson of a severe old Scots magistrate, exposed by his grandfather's known neglect to the malice of the community. His principal enemies are the schoolmaster and the young heir. It is not long before a deus ex machina appears in the form of a sailor uncle: He was a strongly built man, somewhat bandy-legged, with a neck like that of a bull, and a face which had withstood the most obstinate assaults of the weather. His dress consisted of a soldier's coat, altered for him by the ship's tailor, a striped flannel jacket, a pair of red breeches japanned with pitch, clean grey worsted stockings, large silver buckles that covered theree-fourths of his shoues, a silver laced hat whosecrown overlooked the brim about an inch and a half, a black bob wig in buckle, a check shirt, a silk hankerchief, a henger with a brass handle girded on his thigh by a tarnished laced belt, and a good oak plant under his arm. I picked this paragraph because here Smollett is describing the hero of the story Roderick Random. I believe it is important to have a brief if not full description of characters, so that you can imagine seeing them maybe even being there, in your mind, while they are doing what is described in the book.

Nevada State Legislature essays

Nevada State Legislature essays Regular sessions of the Legislature begin the first Monday in February of odd-numbered years. Nevada is one of only six states that have true biennial sessions. From 1961 through 1997, the length of the legislature sessions in Nevada depended upon the time required to process propsed legislation, review the spending proposals of state agencies, and adopt a biennial state budget. At the 1998 General Election, Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting future regular biennial sessions to 120 days. The amendment also requires the governor to submit the executive budget to the Legislature two weeks before the start of the session. Both the 1999 and 2001 regular sessions ran for the full 120 days. A special session of the Legislature may also be called by the governor. In 2001 a 1-day special session was only the 17th special session in the past 138 years. The Legislative Counsel Bureau is the legislature's ongoing staff agency. It provide support for the Legislature and is comprised of the Fiscal, Legal, and Research Divisions. It also includes the Audit Division whose job consists of auditing the accounts of state agencies, and an Administrative Division, which provides accounting, security and vrious "housekeeping" functions. The Legislative Commission is a body of 12 legislators, six from each house and supervises over the Legislative Counsel Bureau.When the full Legislature is not in session, the commission takes actions on behalf of the legislative branch of government. They provide guidance to staff of the Legislative Counsel Bureau and deals with other interim matters. This body meets every few months between sessions. The Interim Finance Committte endeavors to maintain an adequate fund balance to meet unforeseen financial emergencies. It is composed of the members of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Assembly Committee on Ways an ...

The Disappeared Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Disappeared - Essay Example The author employs comparison when Anders tries to compare his home country (Sweden) with America. Such comparison creates suspense as the reader becomes intrigued and reads on in an attempt to figure out the origin and cause of the pungent smell. Baxter employs dialogue to amplify the suspense as the reader tries to figure out the cause of the smell. Anders and the cab driver engage in dialogue as he [Anders] attempts to understand the environment. Baxter portrays Anders as naà ¯ve and the cab driver as the resident used to the environment. The cab driver explains to Anders that the pungent smell represents Detroit. Baxter employs a metaphor by linking the smell to Detroit. In addition, it is evident that Anders is in a dilemma between understanding what the driver said and his thoughts that the smell came from a fire. The reader is forced to read on to establish why Detroit is associated with such a smell and how Anders will cope maneuvering the city with such