1.
David Copperfield
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David Copperfield is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens. The novels full title is, The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and it was first published as a serial in 1849–50, and as a book in 1850. Many elements of the novel follow events in Dickens own life and it was Dickens favorite among his own novels. In the preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens wrote, like many fond parents, and his name is David Copperfield. The story follows the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity, David was born in Blunderstone, Suffolk, England, six months after the death of his father. David spends his years in relative happiness with his loving, childish mother and their kindly housekeeper. When he is seven years old his mother marries Edward Murdstone, during the marriage, partly to get him out of the way and partly because he strongly objects to the whole proceeding, David is sent to lodge with Peggottys family in Yarmouth. Her brother, fisherman Mr Peggotty, lives in a built in an upturned boat on the beach, with his adopted relatives Emily and Ham. Little Emly is somewhat spoilt by her foster father. On his return, David is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has feelings for Murdstones sister Jane. David bites him and soon afterwards is sent away to a school, Salem House, under a ruthless headmaster. There he befriends a boy, James Steerforth, and Tommy Traddles. He develops an admiration for Steerforth, perceiving him as something noble. David goes home for the holidays to learn that his mother has given birth to a baby boy, shortly after David returns to Salem House, his mother and her baby die, and David returns home immediately. Peggotty marries the local carrier, Mr Barkis, Murdstone sends David to work for a wine merchant in London – a business of which Murdstone is a joint owner. Davids landlord, Wilkins Micawber, is arrested for debt and sent to the Kings Bench Prison, no one remains to care for David in London, so he decides to run away. He walks from London to Dover, to his only relative and she had come to Blunderstone at his birth, only to depart in ire upon learning that he was not a girl. Davids great-aunt renames him Trotwood Copperfield and addresses him as Trot, Davids aunt sends him to a far better school than the last he attended
2.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
3.
Hugh Laurie
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James Hugh Calum Laurie OBE is an English actor, writer, director, musician, singer and comedian. From 2004 to 2012, he played Dr. Gregory House, Laurie was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 per episode in House. Laurie has portrayed Senator Tom James in HBO political satire Veep since 2015, in 2016 Laurie appeared in the BBC / AMC miniseries The Night Manager, and received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, his third overall. The youngest of four children, he has a brother named Charles Alexander Lyon Mundell Laurie. He had a relationship with his mother, Patricia. He notes that his mother was Presbyterian by character, by mood and his father, William George Ranald Mundell Laurie, was a doctor who won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs at the 1948 London Games. Lauries parents, who were of Scottish descent, attended St. Columbas Presbyterian Church of England in Oxford and he notes that belief in God didnt play a large role in my home, but a certain attitude to life and the living of it did. He followed this by stating, pleasure was something that was treated with great suspicion, I was going to say it had to be earned but even the earning of it didnt really work. It was something to this day, I mean, I carry that with me, I find pleasure a difficult thing, I dont know what you do with it, I dont know where to put it. He has stated, I dont believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted hed take it away. Laurie was brought up in Oxford and attended the Dragon School from ages seven to 13 and notes that he was, in truth, Not much given to things of a bookey nature, spent a large part of youth smoking Number Six and cheating in French vocabulary tests. Laurie went on to Eton College, which he describes as the most private of private schools and he attributes his attending Selwyn College, Cambridge, as a result of family tradition as his father went to Cambridge and I applied to the same college. Laurie notes his father had a bout as an oarsman at Cambridge. He studied for a degree in archaeology and anthropology, specialising in social anthropology, in 1980, Laurie and his rowing partner, J. S. Palmer, were runners-up in the Silver Goblets coxless pairs for Eton Vikings rowing club, later, Laurie also achieved a Blue while taking part in the 1980 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Cambridge lost that year by five feet, during this time, Laurie was training for up to eight hours a day and was on course to become an Olympic-standard rower. Laurie is a member of Leander Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world and he was also a member of the Hermes Club and the Hawks Club. Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of fever, Laurie joined the Cambridge Footlights
4.
Wilkins Micawber
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Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickenss 1850 novel, David Copperfield. He was modelled on Dickens father, John Dickens, who like Micawber was incarcerated in prison after failing to meet his creditors demands. Micawbers long-suffering wife, Emma, stands by him despite his financial exigencies that force her to all of her familys heirlooms. She lives by the maxims, I will never desert Mr. Micawber. Micawber is hired as a clerk by the scheming Uriah Heep, who assumes wrongly that Micawbers debts arise from dishonesty. But working for Heep allows Micawber to expose his boss as a forger, to start anew, Micawber and his family emigrate to Australia with Daniel Peggotty and Little Emly, where Micawber becomes manager of the Port Middlebay Bank and a successful government magistrate. In Hablot Knight Brownes illustrations for the first edition, Micawber is shown wearing knee-breeches, a top hat, Micawber is known for asserting his faith that something will turn up. His name has become synonymous with someone who lives in hopeful expectation and this has formed the basis for the Micawber Principle, based upon his observation, Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, - The character was played by W. C. Fields in the 1935 screen classic, Personal History, Adventures, Experience, bob Hoskins took the role in a 1999 BBC serial. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones named one of his guitars Micawber, Richards is known to be a fan of Dickens. Of the unusual moniker attached to the instrument, Richards said, Theres no reason for my guitar being called Micawber, Theres no one around me called Micawber, so when I scream for Micawber everyone knows what Im talking about. In addition, the formed the basis of Micawber, a 2001 ITV drama series written by John Sullivan. The character of Wilkins Micawber has given rise to the English noun Micawber, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a Micawber as one who is poor but lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune. Judge David Halpern described Craig Whytes legal arguments in a case heard in 2013 as pure Micawberism. If, in the progress of revolving years, I could persuade myself that my blighted destiny had been a warning to you, remaining always, &c, &c, Wilkins Micawber. Welcome poverty. Welcome misery, welcome houselessness, welcome hunger, rags, tempest, mutual confidence will sustain us to the end. Boy, as I have frequently had occasion to observe, When the stomach is empty, I could not depart this metropolis without paying a valedictory visit to my dear friend Copperfield, in whose debt I shall forever remain Bloom, Harold. Mr. Micawber and the redefinition of experience, information, Illustrations, Analysis, Select Resources on the novel
5.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
6.
Kingston upon Hull
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Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber estuary,25 miles inland from the North Sea, the town of Hull was founded late in the 12th century. The monks of Meaux Abbey needed a port where the wool from their estates could be exported and they chose a place at the confluence of the rivers Hull and Humber to build a quay. The exact year the town was founded is not known but it was first mentioned in 1193, renamed Kings-town upon Hull by King Edward I in 1299, Hull has been a market town, military supply port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre, and industrial metropolis. Hull was a theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the trade in Britain. The city is unique in the UK in having had a municipally owned telephone system from 1902, sporting cream, not red, telephone boxes. After suffering heavy damage in the Second World War, Hull weathered a period of decline, gaining unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education. In the early 21st-century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing, tourist attractions include the historic Old Town and Museum Quarter, Hull Marina and The Deep, a city landmark. The redevelopment of one of Hulls main thoroughfares, Ferensway, included the opening of St Stephens Hull, spectator sports include Premier League football and Super League Rugby. The KCOM Stadium houses Hull City football club and Hull F. C. rugby club, Hull is also home to the English Premier Ice Hockey League Hull Pirates. The University of Hull was founded in 1927 and now more than 16,000 students. It is ranked among the best in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and located in the leafy Newland suburb, in 2013, it was announced that Hull would be the 2017 UK City of Culture. In 2015 it was announced that the Ferens Art Gallery will be hosting the annual art prize, The Turner Prize. The prize is held outside London every other year, Kingston upon Hull stands on the north bank of the Humber estuary at the mouth of its tributary, the River Hull. The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period, the area was attractive to people because it gave access to a prosperous hinterland and navigable rivers but the site was poor, being remote, low-lying and with no fresh water. It was originally a part of the hamlet of Myton. The name is thought to either from a Scandinavian word Vik meaning inlet or from the Saxon Wic meaning dwelling place or refuge
