Emma by Jane Austen Summary

Here I am again to post my summary of Jane Austen's Emma.

          "Emma Woodhouse, who was aged 20, lived with her widowed father Mr. Henry Woodhouse in the estate of Hartfield. Emma’s close friend, and only critic George Knightley, also lived in the adjacent estate of Donwell. Mr. Knightley was also the brother of the husband of Emma’s elder sister, Isabella.

            At the opening of the story, Emma’s best friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, had just married Mr. Weston. Emma takes credit for their marriage, and decided that she rather liked match making.

            Against the advice of Mr. Knightley, Emma forged ahead with her new interest by trying to match her new friend Harriet Smith, to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. Emma was convinced that Mr. Elton was attracted and in love with Harriet.

            But beforehand, Emma must first persuade Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Mr. Martin, a respectable young farmer. Emma snobbishly decided that he wasn’t good enough for Harriet. Harriet, though beyond her will, rejected Mr. Martin, as Emma told her.  

            Emma’s schemes went awry when Mr. Elton proposed to Emma herself, instead of Harriet. Emma, rather shocked, told Mr. Elton that she had thought of him attached to Harriet. But Elton was outraged at the idea of marrying the socially inferior Harriet.

            After Emma rejected Elton, he left for a while for a hiatus in Bath. Harriet felt heartbroken, but on the other hand, Emma tried to convince her that Mr. Elton was still beneath her after all.

            One day, a new man arrived. He was Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston’s son from his first marriage. Emma had never met him, but was interested to do so.

            The arrival of Jane Fairfax, the reserved but beautiful and elegant niece of Miss Bates was also awaited. Miss Bates was Emma’s talkative neighbor and was already a spinster. Jane, being musically inclined, was Miss Bates’ pride and joy. Emma envied her talent and disliked her for her coldness.

            In her eagerness to find fault with Jane, and also to find something to amuse her in her dull village, Emma indulged that Jane was an object of admiration for Miss Campbell’s husband, Mr. Dixon. This suspicion was further fueled by the arrival of a piano for Jane from a mysterious benefactor.

            Emma tried to make herself fall in love with Frank because everyone said they make a handsome couple. But Emma ultimately decided, however, that Frank would suit Harriet better after Frank saved Harriet from a band of gypsies.

            At this time, Mrs. Weston wondered if Emma’s old friend Mr. Knightley, might have taken a fancy to Jane. Emma then decided that she didn’t want Mr. Knightley to marry anyone. She claimed that because she wanted her little nephew, Henry, to inherit the family property.

            Meanwhile, Jane reportedly became ill but refused to see Emma, or even accept her gifts. Emma thought Jane’s behavior was due to Emma’s coldness towards Jane.

            Soon, Emma learned why Jane had behaved strangely. It’s because Jane and Frank had been secretly engaged for almost a year.

            When Harriet divulged that she thought Mr. Knightley was in love with her, jealousy made Emma realized that she loved him herself. Mr. Knightley, on the other had, had been in love with Emma all along. After Jane and Frank’s engagement was revealed, he then proposed to Emma, that she joyfully accepted.

            Shortly thereafter, Harriet reconciled with the young farmer, Mr. Martin, and they married. Jane and Emma also reconciled before Jane and Frank went to live in Yorkshire. Finally, Emma and Mr. Knightley decided that after their marriage, they would live with Emma’s father at Hartfield, instead of settling at Donwell."

I personally don't like this story, but if you like it, then it's better.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

So here's a summary I made for my home reading report last school year. It's not that good, but at least it's understandable.

          "One evening, while Pip, an orphan aged 7, sat along the graveyard of his parents, he encountered a convict who threatened him not to tell anyone about their meeting and give him some food and a file to grind away his leg shackles. Frightened, Pip quickly went home. He lived with his older sister, Mrs. Joe, who was married to a blacksmith named Joe Gargery. His sister was cruel to Pip and Joe, while Joe Gargery was very close to Pip.

            The next morning, Pip stole food and a file, and sneaked out to the graveyard. But instead of meeting the same old convict he met the other night, Pip saw another one, but with the same clothes and appearance with his convict. After which, he went home, guilty of what he has done. During the Christmas dinner with the minister, Mr. Wopsle, Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, and Uncle Pumblechook, Pip felt really nervous that the missing food would be discovered. When Mrs. Joe got up and went to the kitchen for the pie, Pip bolted to the door where he was blocked to exit by police officers. They asked Joe to repair their handcuffs and they then invited Joe, Pip and Mr. Wopsle to come with them to hunt for the criminals. While they went to capture the criminals, Pip saw his convict fighting with the other convict he had seen before.

            After that incident, Pip’s life returned to normal. He went to school and became friends with Biddy, an orphan that was adopted by Mr. Wopsle. Pip’s uncle, Mr. Pumblchook, got Pip to be invited to the house of a rich old woman named Miss Havisham, who lived in the village in Satis House. Miss Havisham was a spinster who wore an old wedding dress with one shoe on. She hadn’t seen the sunlight and had a broken heart. The clocks of her mansion was also stopped 20 minutes before 9. She said that she just wanted to see Pip play cards with her adopted daughter named Estella.

            After their first meeting, Pip was asked to frequently visit Miss Havisham and Estella. He later on felt that he was attracted to Estella, though she treated him ugly. Pip is trying hard to be worthy of her love.

One day, when Pip goes to the town pub to pick up Joe, they are approached by Pip's convict in disguise. He mixes his drink with the stolen file and gives Pip two pounds before leaving.

Several months later, Miss Havisham crushes Pip's dream of becoming a gentleman when she agrees to help with the papers that would make Pip's apprenticeship to Joe official. Joe comes to the house and Pip is embarrassed by his common appearance and talk. Miss Havisham gives them 25 pounds as a gift, and the apprenticeship is finalized.

Pip worked as Joe’s apprentice for few years. In an agreement with Joe, he visited Miss Havisham on his birthday. He and Joe worked with a man named Orlick, who didn’t like Pip because he felt that Joe gave Pip a special treatment. One dat, Orlick and Mrs. Joe began to fight. Later that day, when Pip visited Satis House, he discovered that Estella had been sent abroad to study. When he returned home, he discovered that Mrs. Joe had been attacked by a strange man at the back. Pip felt guilty again when the police said that the escaped criminals were the one who attacked his sister. Mrs. Joe spent her days calling for Orlick and drew a hammer. Biddy, who volunteered on taking care of Mrs. Joe, thought that it meant that Orlick was the suspect.

When Pip and Joe were listening to Mr. Wopsle reading a murder trial from a newspaper, a London lawyer, Jaggers, approached Pip and revealed a very startling news. He said that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from an anonymous benefactor. He was to set off to London immediately, buy some clothes, and become a gentleman. Pip, dreaming of becoming a gentleman, readily accepted the offer. In the days before the move, Pip began to act haughtily and took advantage of Joe and Biddy. Before he left, he visited Miss Havisham, and became confident that she was her benefactor. When he left for London, he felt guilty for the way he treated the people that love him but not enough to come back and make things right.

In London, Pip was amazed by the different environment. There, he met Mr. Jaggers’s clerk Wemmick. He was introduced to his tutor, Matthew Pocket, and his son Herbert Pocket. Herbert was the pale child that Pip beat in the courtyard before. Herbert quickly named Pip as Handel because he remembers Handel’s The Harmonious Blacksmith. He told Pip the story of Miss Havisham. He said that Miss Havisham was engaged to a poor man, who was Compeyson. The man convinced her to buy her half-brother’s share of the family brewery for him to manage. On the wedding day, she received a note at 20 minutes to nine about how he won’t marry her and never to marry again.

One night, Pip learned the true identity of his benefactor. It was not Miss Havisham, as what he had thought, but a petty criminal named Abel Magwitch who had been transported to New South Wales. Magwitch was the convict that Pip helped in the churchyard a few years ago, and the man that he was fighting with was Compeyson. He left all his money to Pip in gratitude for his kindness and also because Pip reminded him of his own child, whom he thought was dead. Pip was ashamed of Magwitch, but on the other hand, Magwitch wanted to spend the rest of his life with Pip. Reluctant, Pip let Magwitch stay with him. There was a warrant out for Magwitch’s arrest in England, and would be hanged if he’s caught. Eventually, because Magwitch was on the run from the law, a plan was hatched by Herbert and Pip.

Meanwhile, Estella married Bentley Drummle, whom Pip considered as his greatest rival. Before Pip escaped with Magwitch, he made one last visit to Miss Havisham. Havisham realized that she had created the monster out of Estella who broke Pip’s heart and asked him for forgiveness. After saying this, Miss Havisham caught a fire with her dress. Pip heroically saved her, however, she later died from her injuries of third degree burns.

Upon hearing a story from a friend of Jaggers, Pip discovered that Estella was actually the lost daughter of Magwitch. Magwitch once had a romance with Molly, the maidservant of Jaggers. But it was too late for Pip since Estella already got married.

Pip, Herbert, and another friend named Startop, made a gallant attempt to help Magwitch escape, but instead, because of an incident, he was captured and was sent to jail. By that time, Pip was devoted to Magwitch and recognized him as a good and noble man. Pip tried to have Magwitch released but Magwitch died shortly before he’s slated to be executed.

After an extended period of sickness during which he was looked after by Joe, Pip went into a business overseas with Herbert. After several years of success abroad, Pip went back to visit Joe and the rest of his family. When he went back, he was surprised upon discovering the marriage of Joe and Biddy. But since it was over, he wasn’t able to do anything and just concealed his developed feeling with Biddy.

Finally, Pip made one last visit to Miss Havisham’s house, where he found Estella wandering. Her marriage was over, and Pip was willing to accept her as a friend. "

Books: The Little Prince

The Little Prince

If you haven't read this book yet, I insist. This book is really great, very inspiring. It is authored by Antoine de-Saint Exupery.

Plot:

The narrator's point of view is interwoven in the first nine chapters and changes from third person to first person. In the first eight days of the narrator being straned in the desert, the prince has been telling these stories to the narrator.

The prince asks the narrator to draw a sheep. Not knowing how to draw a sheep, the narrator shows the prince a picture that he had previously drawn; a boa with an elephant in its stomach, a drawing which previous viewers mistook for a hat. "No! No!" exclaims the prince. "I don't want a boa constrictor from the inside or outside. I want a sheep!" He tries a few sheep drawings, which the prince rejects. Finally he draws a box, which he explains has the sheep inside. The prince, who can see the sheep inside the box just as well as he can see the elephant in the boa, says "That's perfect."

The home asteroid or "planet" of the little prince is introduced. His asteroid (planet) is house-sized and named B612, which has three volcanoes (two active, and one dormant) and a rose among various other objects. The actual naming of the asteroid B612 is an important concept in the book that illustrates the fact that adults will only believe a scientist who is dressed or acts the same way as they do. According to the book, the asteroid was sighted by a Turkish astronomer in 1909 who had then made a formal demonstration of asteroid B612 to the International Astronomical Congress. "No one had believed him on account of the way he was dressed." Then, he and his people dressed like Europeans and went again to present asteroid B612 to the International Astronomical Congress and they fully believed him and this time credited him with the work.

The prince spends his days caring for his "planet", pulling out the baobab trees that are constantly trying to take root there. The trees will make his little planet turn to dust if they are not removed. Throughout the book he is taught to be patient and to do hard work to keep his "planet" in order. The prince falls in love with a rose that takes root in his planet, who returns his love but is unable to express it due to her own pettiness.

The prince leaves to see what the rest of the universe is like, and visits six other asteroids (numbered from 325 to 330) each of which is inhabited by an adult who is foolish in his own way:

• The King who can "control" the stars, but only by ordering them to do what they would do anyway. He then relates this to his human subjects; it is the citizens' duty to obey, but only if the king's demands are reasonable. He orders the prince to leave as his ambassador.

• The Conceited Man who wants to be admired by everyone, but lives alone on his planet. He cannot hear anything that is not a compliment.

• The Drunkard/Tippler who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking.

The Businessman, chapter 13

• The Businessman who is constantly busy counting the stars he thinks he owns. He wishes to use them to buy more stars. The prince then goes on to define property. The prince owns the flower and volcanoes on his planet because he cares for them and they care for him, but because one cannot maintain the stars or be of use to them, he argues, the Businessman cannot own them.

• The Lamplighter who lives on an asteroid which rotates once a minute. Long ago, he was charged with the task of lighting the lamp at night and extinguishing it in the morning. At that point, the asteroid revolved at a reasonable rate, and he had time to rest. As time went on, the rotation sped up. Refusing to turn his back on his work, he now lights and extinguishes the lamp once a minute, getting no rest. The prince empathizes with the Lamplighter, the only adult he has met who cares about something other than himself.

• The Geographer who spends all of his time making maps, but never leaves his desk to examine anywhere (even his own planet), considering that is the job of an explorer. The Geographer is in any case very doubting of any explorer's character and would most likely disregard the report. He does not trust things he has not seen with his own eyes, yet will not leave his desk. Out of professional interest, the geographer asks the prince to describe his asteroid. The prince describes the volcanoes and the rose. "We don't record flowers," says the geographer, "because they are only ephemeral". The prince is shocked and hurt to learn that his flower will someday be gone. The geographer then recommends that he visit the Earth.

The Visit to Earth

Chapter 16 begins: "So then the seventh planet was the Earth." On the Earth, he starts out in the desert and meets a snake that claims to have the power to return him to his home planet (A clever way to say that he can kill people, thus "Sending anyone he wishes back to the land from whence he came.") The prince meets a desert-flower, who, having seen a caravan pass by, tells him that there are only a handful of men on Earth and that they have no roots, which lets the wind blow them around making life hard on them. The little prince climbs the highest mountain he has ever seen. From the top of the mountain, he hopes he will see the whole planet and find people, but he sees only a desolate, craggy landscape. When the prince calls out, his echo answers him, and he mistakes it for the voices of humans. He thinks Earth is unnecessarily sharp and hard, and he finds it odd that the people of Earth only repeat what he says to them.

Eventually, the prince comes upon a whole row of rosebushes, and is downcast because he thought that his rose was the only one in the whole universe. He begins to feel that he is not a great prince at all, as his planet contains only three tiny volcanoes and a flower he now thinks of as common. He lies down in the grass and weeps.

Chapter 21: is the author's statement about humanlove in that the prince then meets and tames a fox, who explains to the prince that his rose is unique and special, because she is the one that he loves. He also explains that in a way he has tamed the flower, as she has tamed him, and that this is why he now feels responsible for her.

Chapter 22–23: The prince then meets a railway switchman and a merchant who provide further comments on the ridiculousness and absurdity of much of the human condition. The switchman tells the prince how passengers constantly rush from one place to another aboard trains, never satisfied with where they are and not knowing what they are after, only the children amongst them bothering to look out of the windows. The merchant tells the prince about his product, a pill which eliminates thirst and is therefore very popular, saving people fifty-three minutes a week; the prince replies that he would use the time to walk and find fresh water.

Chapter 24: the narrator's point of view changes again from third person to first person. The narrator is dying of thirst, but then he and the prince find a well. After some thought, the prince bids an emotional farewell to the narrator, explaining to him that while it will look as though he has died, he has not, but rather that his body is too heavy to take with him to his planet. He tells the narrator that it was wrong of the narrator to come and watch, as it will make him sad. The prince allows the snake to bite him and the next morning, when the narrator looks for the prince, he finds the boy's body has disappeared. The story ends with a portrait of the landscape where the meeting of the prince and the narrator took place and where the snake took the prince's life. The picture is deliberately vague but the narrator also makes a plea that anyone encountering a strange child in that area who refuses to answer questions should contact the narrator immediately.

The little prince is represented as having been on Earth for one year, and the narrator ends the story six years after he is rescued from the desert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince#Plot

Succesful Writing Advice And Help - How To Author A Horror Story

When writing a horror story it is important to consider several things as it is quite different to a standard novel. It is essential that you are able to draw the reader into another world and ensure that they are able to engross themselves fully into the story and stimulate their imagination.

To that end, the writing should render itself invisible; the words you use should be carefully chosen in order to generate strong images so that the reader sees only the world you have created. Your proofreader or editor should tell you if there is any clumsy writing; sentences that need reading twice; phrases that take the reader in the wrong direction. These passages should be reconsidered and rewritten until they are perfect.

When writing a horror story suspense is vital. Think about all those horror films you have seen, it is the suspense that makes the film, the feeling of waiting for something to happen. You know that something is coming but are unsure as to when or how.  The reader needs to be able to sense this and therefore building up the tension for the reader is imperative to ensure that they will want to continue reading.

To build the suspense, you need to develop the crises and complications that affect the characters. You should also plant some more clues as to what might be coming later but that needs to be done really carefully in order to avoid giving away the whole plot. You could also add further threats or potential danger to the main or subsidiary characters, which will also help with this aspect of the story, novella or novel.

In addition, most horror stories will contain an element of shock, something that takes the readers breath away and is not at all expected. Again, think of all those horror films you have seen, something always happens that makes you jump up from your seat. The same needs to happen in your story, something that surprises the reader.

The ending is vital, it needs to be believable yet also leave the reader feeling satisfied. A twist is good to use, something that the reader is not expecting. A good ending will leave one question still to be answered to tease the reader's imagination.

Another vital ingredient is the characters in the novel; they need to be developed to be believable and someone that the reader can relate to. It is particularly important in a horror novel that the characters are real, as emotions in horror stories are particularly intense.

All these elements will make for a good read!

Discover The Ways To Improve Eyesight Naturally

Many eye exercises and techniques can be used daily to improve eyesight naturally. Watching the foods you eat and your diet will also have an impact on your vision. If you've been doing research on the subject you may have found quite a bit of information about improving your eyesight. Some of the information is valuable and some is practically useless.

When you first start to notice that your vision is starting to get blurry and can not see as clearly, you will most likely go to the eye doctor to see what the problem is right? Most often, you will end up wearing a pair of glasses or contact lenses without even thinking of other alternatives that could of saved you money. Now it is good to get regular eye examinations but relying on glasses or contact lenses before thinking about other alternatives is something to think about.

Usually people that wear glasses will end up having to keep going back year after year to get stronger prescriptions. It is said that our vision will slowly get worse as we get older but if you take care of your eyes, you can maintain normal vision than if you just rely on a pair of glasses.

There are many people that believe that glasses or contact lenses can actually do more harm for your eyes than good. In a way it does make sense. Artificial lenses are not a cure and are really only a temporary fix. Your eyes will just become adjusted to the new lenses which will end up making the eyes more dependent as well as lazy.

Your eyes are muscles and need exercise just like all other muscles in your body. There are plenty of exercises for various eye conditions that can be practiced daily to improve eyesight naturally. Many of these exercises don't even take long to implement.

Even though your eyes are muscles and need to be exercised, they also need to relax as well. Your eyes are constantly moving. Although it's impossible to make them stop moving, you can make them move more slowly by implementing techniques that focus on relaxing your eyes.

Have you ever noticed that if you stare at a computer screen or the television your eyes will start burning? Your eyes are becoming strained and need to relax. One technique that people use to improve eyesight naturally is called palming.

Palming is when you cover your eyes with your hands but you don't put any pressure on them. You also want to prevent any light from entering your eyes. This technique will help your mind, body and eyes relax. Palming can be done sitting with your elbow leaning on a table or laying down. You can do this for however long you want too. Usually people will do this for about 5-20 minutes. But the whole idea is for your eyes to move slowly than they normally do and make them relax.

Your diet and daily exercise will also help not only your overall health but your eyes as well. You eyes just like your body, need vitamins and minerals in order to be healthy. By eating healthier, you will give your body all the proper nutrients it needs. When you exercise you increase blood flow that carries the nutrients throughout the body including the eyes.

Whatever Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer?

Three British scientists shocked the world when they revealed on May 16th, 1985 — 25 years ago — that aerosol chemicals, among other factors, had torn a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging solar radiation, became an overnight sensation. And the hole in the ozone layer became the poster-child for mankind’s impact on the planet.

Today, the ozone hole — actually a region of thinned ozone, not actually a pure hole — doesn’t make headlines like it used to. The size of the hole has stabilized, thanks to decades of aerosol-banning legislation. But, scientists warn, some danger still remains.

First, the good news: Since the 1989 Montreal Protocol banned the use of ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide, the ozone hole has stopped growing. Additionally, the ozone layer is blocking more cancer-causing radiation than any time in a decade because its average thickness has increased, according to a 2006 United Nations report. Atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting chemicals have reached their lowest levels since peaking in the 1990s, and the hole has begun to shrink.

Now the bad news: The ozone layer has also thinned over the North Pole. This thinning is predicted to continue for the next 15 years due to weather-related phenomena that scientists still cannot fully explain, according to the same UN report . And, repairing the ozone hole over the South Pole will take longer than previously expected, and won’t finish until between 2060 and 2075. Scientists now understand that the size of the ozone hole varies dramatically from year to year, which complicates attempts to accurately predict the hole's future size.

Interestingly, recent studies have shown that the size of the ozone hole affects the global temperature. Closing the ozone hole actually speeds up the melting of the polar ice caps, according to a 2009 study from Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

So even though environmentally friendly laws have successfully reversed the trend of ozone depletion, the lingering effects of aerosol use, and the link between the ozone hole and global warming, virtually ensure that this problem will persist until the end of the century.

• What's the Deadliest Natural Phenomenon?
• North vs. South Poles: 10 Wild Differences
• Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming

http://www.livescience.com/environment/Whatever-Happened-to-the-Hole-in-the-Ozone-Layer-100505.html

Top 10 Things You Drink Guaranteed To Get You Fat

         If you have loads of excess body fat and have no clue why, then this will be a very important letter.

Here's why.

        I'm going to reveal to you the top ten things you drink guaranteed to get you fat.

       Most people don't know that what they drink can make them gain far more weight than what they eat. Reason is, you can drink a lot more calories than you can eat. So go through the list and find your fat producing culprit and then do your best to eliminate it.

If you do then you're chances of losing weight can exponentially increase!

1. Soda

It is loaded with refined sugar.

Key word here is refined. This man made substance is the #1 fat producing culprit on the planet.

2. Beer

Causes insane spikes in your blood sugar levels leading to abnormal fat storage and a protruding "beer belly".

3. Milk

Milk is one the the most poisonous chemical carrying things you drink around.

This results from extreme refinement which includes homogenization, pasteurization and the adding of eons of chemicals.

It can flat out destroy your metabolism and get you fat.

4. Fruit Juice

Here's a real "devil in disguise".

Most people believe that fruit juice is healthy. And it is... provided that it contains no additives.

Problem with all those fruit juices you buy at the convenience store is that they're loaded with sugar and other "taste enhancers" that will get you fat.

5. Energy Drink 

Due to heavy amounts of sugar and caffeine... most energy drinks can quickly boost your energy.

Only problem is they will soon leave you feeling flat.

This is because they cause sporadic metabolic spikes that zap your energy and leave you susceptible to fat.

6. Diet shakes

Perhaps the most misleading of all.

Diet shakes and other supplements come disguised as weight loss "godsends"... but they are usually nothing more than a concoction of fat producing chemicals.

7. Tap Water

The hidden killer.

It's not the water itself, it's the chlorine and other poisonous chemicals consumed when drinking tap water. These chemical will destroy your health if consumed daily... period!

I suspect we will soon find out that tap water is responsible for more disease and abnormal fat than anything else!

8. Hard Liquor

Basically, this form of alcohol has very similar effects on your body as refined sugar.

It causes extreme spikes in your blood sugar levels leading to abnormal fat deposits.

9. Sports Drinks

If you are drinking sports drinks during your workouts then you are defeating the purpose.

These "hydraters" are packed with sugar and if you drink them while you exercise, then your body will have a hard time tapping into your fat deposit.

10. Coffee

Coffee in moderation does have health benefits.

Problem is most people gulp down four, five and six cups per day.

Once again, like energy drinks, this causes erratic blood-sugar spikes that leave you feeling tired and storing more fat. Especially if you add sugar.

           So there was the list of the top ten things you drink guaranteed to get you fat.