Prose coursework: Sherlock Holmes Essay

Study both stories and find and copy out evidence, to do with the following: 1. Sherlock Holmes Character and personality. 2. His appearance. 3. Dr Watson’s character and personality. 4. His Appearance. 5. Evidence of a relationship between the two characters. 6. Look for any evidence that the story is set in the 1800’s. 7. Find examples of uses of language, which is old fashioned. What clues are there in the language that theses stories were written over hundred years ago? Sherlock Holmes is very good at his job, he is a detective, he is better than others because he has the ability of deducing things very well, and he knows this, so he does tend to gloat now and again. He is able to look at a person and tell you what he had for breakfast, where he lives where he is going and where he works and how he gets there. Holmes enjoys drugs, such as heroin cocaine and marijuana. Dr Watson once described him as not the best human being but a very good observing machine. Sherlock Holmes is described as tall and thin, he is not look muscular but is quite strong, we know this because in the book â€Å"The Speckled Band† Dr Grimsbly Roylott (who is supposed to be quite a large man) bends a fire poker at an attempt to show Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes how powerful and dangerous he his, Holmes just bends it back just as easily. At this point we get to see another great attribute of Sherlock Holmes, his ability to remain Calm at the worst of times, Dr Grimsbly Roylott had insulted Homes quite badly, but Holmes told him to leave and when Dr Grimsbly Roylott knew that he wasn’t afraid he left. Dr Watson tells us that â€Å"homes was a master of disguises† he could not only change his look, but his manner and the way he talked, all though he appearance in general is very professional, tow distinguished features that Sherlock Holmes has his hat which is a â€Å"deer stalker† with matching overcoat and his pipe, sometimes he is also seen with his very high powered lenses. Dr Watson is an intelligent man, but is often but he doesn’t seem like it when he repeatedly says † oh you make is sound so obvious†, † but of course † and † how absurdly simple†. He is often overwhelmed by Holmes skills and because of the time they have spent together he is picking a few things up skill up himself. Dr Watson narrates all the stories so we do not know so much about he personality and can only pick up a few things we tend to know what the doctor is thinking at the time. When a story begins Dr Watson recalls things, and how Sherlock used to work and think that’s why we know Holmes’s personality better that than the doctor’s Not much is said on the doctor’s appearance either, but we do get some clues, the doctor has a beard and is shorter than Holmes, he is also bigger and has got bigger since he was married he has put on † Seven Pounds† as deduced by Holmes in † Scandal In Bohemia† There is a good relationship between the two characters the respect each other and they are quite close, Dr Watson tells us in † scandal in bohemia† that they had drifted apart a bit after he got married but when the spoke the were still great friends. As I said before the both have a great mutual respect for each other and I have found some evidence for this, in one part in â€Å"Scandal In Bohemia† Holmes refers to Dr Watson as his † Boswell â€Å". This is like saying that Dr Watson being there he feels more relaxed and comfortable knowing his friend is buy his side, I think he is also referring to â€Å"James Boswell† who wrote a biography about his hero Samuel Johnson, James Boswell wrote the biography in a hero-worshipping detailedly intimate manner. Perhaps that is how Holmes sees Watson. It is often when Holmes clients wasn’t to speak to him of a most private and confidential matter, and usually the doctor gets up to leave the room and Holmes tells him to sit down and tells the client that he is a good fiend of his and anything that they wish to discuss the can do so in front of him. There are also times where Holmes needs Dr Watson’s help to do certain tasks, like the one in â€Å"Scandal in Bohemia† where the Doctor had to throw a smoke bomb into Irene Adler’s house and shout fire. There relationship isn’t just professional Holmes calls Dr Watson â€Å"my friend† a lot and Dr Watson is often telling Holmes off for taking drugs because he understands the damage that they do he does this because he also cares about his friend well being. The story is not set in modern times, we know this because of the language that is used and some of the things that are used in the stories, such as â€Å"fire pokers† and dog carts (or that’s what Sherlock Holmes Refers to them as), and not many people wear deerstalkers, shillings and crowns are not currency we use nowadays and there are a lot of referrals to India, this is because at that time India was under British rule and a lot of British people lived their. The language is different too, one big difference is when Holmes wakes up the doctor and says † sorry to knock up you Watson†, by which he means is † sorry to wake you up† nowadays that would mean to get some pregnant in slang, to knock and girl up is to get them pregnant. 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.