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Thread: Crime and Punishment

  1. #1
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    Crime and Punishment

    Hello!

    I'm not very familiar with this text and I am being forced to "write" and essay on the topic of dual nature.

    I was hoping that someone would know of any textual references that I could use of some contradictory actions that Raskolnikov takes? Or possibly of a website where I could search for some?

    Any helps/hints are appreciated!

  2. #2
    unidentified hit record blp's Avatar
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    Have you thought of reading the book? You might just find what you're looking for that way.
    Last edited by blp; 03-16-2006 at 10:52 PM.

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    Good idea except that this was given to me as a last minute assignment.
    I only got past the first part before I ran out of time. I must say that I found the book very dull.

    By the way, I really appreciate the help that you gave me. It was very insightful. The best yet.

  4. #4
    unidentified hit record blp's Avatar
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    If you're telling the truth, then I want to change my advice. Tell you're teacher that he or she is insane. You can't give a book like that as a 'last minute assignment'. It's huge.

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    My thoughts exactly.

    Is it any wonder that I quickly learned to hate the book? Hm, maybe hate is too strong of a word, or maybe not strong enough.

  6. #6
    unidentified hit record blp's Avatar
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    It's really good.

    Seriously, tell your teacher this makes no sense and you want to write about something shorter like a Camus novel or something. The Outsider could probably be squashed into an essay on dual nature and you can read it in about a day.

  7. #7
    unidentified hit record blp's Avatar
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    Sorry, that's probably not practical at all. I shouldn't waste your time. I read C&P too long ago to be of any help. I'm sorry it's being used as an instrument of torture on you as I'm fairly sure that's not its purpose. Best of luck.

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    Thankfully it is an easy prompt so I can just b.s. my way through it because it's fairly straightforward. With a little help from sparknotes it's not too bad.

    "In great literature no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit (Crime and Punishment) that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work."

    Really, the hardest part is just finding specific textual examples.
    It could be a lot worse.

  9. #9
    unidentified hit record blp's Avatar
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    I love the way the assignment specifies that your essay should be 'well organized'. That would be to make a distinction from the essays you're expected to write with very poor, chaotic structures presumably.

  10. #10
    dreamer genoveva's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by liveoutloud
    Hello!

    I'm not very familiar with this text and I am being forced to "write" and essay on the topic of dual nature.
    Can you define dual nature?
    "I have so often dreamed of you that you become unreal." ~ Robert Desnos

  11. #11
    dreamer genoveva's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by liveoutloud
    "In great literature no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit (Crime and Punishment) that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work."

    Really, the hardest part is just finding specific textual examples.
    If this is the assignment, I don't see anything that says you have to write on "dual nature". You just have to write on a scene of violence.
    "I have so often dreamed of you that you become unreal." ~ Robert Desnos

  12. #12
    freaky geeky emily655321's Avatar
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    Wait, wait, wait. Doesn't the assignment say "Choose a work"? Did your teacher "choose" it for you? If you chose it yourself, shouldn't you have a) given yourself longer to read it, b) chosen a shorter book? Most books out there are about dual nature. Practically all of the violent ones are. A Clockwork Orange is a good one. I just read The Island of Dr. Moreau for the Forum book club, and the theme would most certainly apply there. As BLP suggested, The Outsider is another short one.
    If you had to live with this you'd rather lie than fall.
    You think I can't fly? Well, you just watch me!

    ~The Dresden Dolls

  13. #13
    Registered User Anna Seis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by liveoutloud
    Hello!

    I'm not very familiar with this text and I am being forced to "write" and essay on the topic of dual nature.

    I was hoping that someone would know of any textual references that I could use of some contradictory actions that Raskolnikov takes? Or possibly of a website where I could search for some?

    Any helps/hints are appreciated!
    Look for some text that makes reference to Mikhail Bakhtine and Poliphonic novel. The complex and contradictory nature of the characters is deeply studied for that russian author.
    ... no person could be less liable than myself to be led away from the severe precincts of truth by the ignes fatui of superstition.
    Edgar Allan Poe
    Man doth not yield himself to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will.
    Joseph Glanvill

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