...Sherlock Holmes (/ˈʃɜrlɒk ˈhoʊmz/) is a fictional character created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh Medical School. A London-based "consulting detective" whose abilities border on the fantastic, Holmes is known for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise and his use of forensic science to solve difficult cases. Holmes, who first appeared in print in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character's popularity grew with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891; additional short-story series and two novels (published in serial form) appeared from then to 1927. The events in the stories take place from about 1880 to 1914. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson. Two are narrated by Holmes himself ("The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane"), and two others are written in the third person ("The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" and "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson the story from memory, with Watson narrating the frame story. The first and fourth novels, A...
Words: 4961 - Pages: 20
...Veronica Boyle Intro to Literature Paper 3 Dr. Forsyth TH 3:00 - 4:20 The newspaper article that I chose to relate to a Sherlock Holmes short story was "Bicycle Thieves. They Are Successfully Plying Their Vocation in Cleveland--Many Wheels Stolen" from the paper, Plain Dealer on August, 4th 1899. The Sherlock Holmes short story that I chose to relate the article to, was "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Stolen Bicycle" which was by Traffic Life. These two stories obviously have the same thing to do with one another, a stolen bicycle. Bicycles are always the first things to get stolen, especially back in the populist/progressive era, and they are pretty hard to find once stolen. I remember when I was younger, my bicycle was stolen, and there was no possible way I could have ever found it since it's so easy to hide a bicycle in a house, or on someone's shed. Sherlock Homes probably realized this immediately when the main character came to him to find his bicycle, and that's probably why he just didn't even bother trying to find it, stalled a bit, and then came back to the man with a new bicycle. The thing that is weird though, is the fact that when Holmes brought the new bicycle, the bicycle itself was not at all the same as the the bicycle that was stolen. In fact, the main character states that the the new bicycle was not even the same color as the old stolen bicycle, but the man didn't seem to care. He was apparently just happy to have a way of transportation back. Maybe...
Words: 825 - Pages: 4
...Sherlock Holmes … . I propose to devote my declining years to the composition of a textbook which shal focus the whole art of detection into one volume. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Abbey Grange Sherlock Holmes is sometimes compared to a bloodhound. He smels out clues, folows them, and catches criminals. He is very good at this, and although he sometimes fails (as in The Yelow Face) his success rate is very high. Now there is an art in doing this, which Sherlock Holmes cals the art of detection, and he is an expert in this art. In fact he was planning on writing a textbook on the subject when he retired. But as far as we know he never got around to it. Sherlock Holmes is not the only one who folows clues, scientists do as wel, , and probably al of us. For it is by folowing clues that we find out things on our own, doing so without being told by those in the know. Sherlock Holmes catches criminals, and then they confess, not the other way 'round. Scientists find things out by themselves, not by asking God. Now finding out things on our own is not easy, but in ways big or smal most of us would have had this kind of experience whether we are aware of it or not. This is to say in practice we al know something about this art which here, folowing Sherlock Holmes, we are caling the art of detection. Indeed when reading Sherlock Holmes or other detectives few of us would hesitate to put in our two cents worth: we are competent to criticise their techniques...
Words: 2106 - Pages: 9
...rather than the individual, it is an ethical act. In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes is trying to help the Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein get married, so that he can become the new King of Bohemia. The issue being that Irene Adler has a picture of the Grand Duke having an affair. Adler threatened to send this picture and a note to the Duke’s bride, thus ruining his marriage and his right to the throne. The Duke not becoming king affects all of the citizens in Bohemia, thus, by following Utopian ethics, Sherlock Holmes should help the Duke. That being said, according to Utopian ethics, Sherlock Holmes would be considered an ethical human being by benefitting the masses rather than himself. Sherlock Holmes does perform many actions that we would consider today as unethical. Once Holmes is on the case, his first act of business was “watching the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler” (Doyle 16). He has spied on Adler for the entire morning to get clues and leads to further continue this case. Utopian ethics would agree with this behavior. Holmes has disguised himself as a “drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side whiskered with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes” (Doyle 16) to gather information about Adler’s doings. Holmes has benefitted all the people in Bohemia by performing this act to help the Duke get married, and thus be the King of Bohemia. In another instance, Holmes second and final attempt to figure out where Adler has kept the photograph of...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...reaction comes upon you. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed?” (Doyle) Dr. Watson pleads with his longtime friend and colleague, Sherlock Holmes. Did you know throughout all those amazing adventures of Sherlock Holmes, he is what some consider a “functioning addict”? What is a "functioning addict"? How it is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes, London's very own eccentric detective of Baker Street, is a drug addict? Addiction has many negative contexts, yet there are so many addictions made publicly famous, like Sherlock...
Words: 1279 - Pages: 6
...From the dawn of time the allure of the unknown has driven human intuition to some dangerous situations. But there are the few who stand up to the danger and challenge of facing the unknown. One of these such people is known as Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is widely regarded as one of the most famous detectives in history. Solving case to case to case to case. But time is a stranger-a wandering orphan of sorts and creates no attachments. So like all Mr. Holmes’ age caught up with him and now he is too mangled and sluggish to keep up with the line of work he so valiantly championed. Foresight was a gift that came naturally to Mr. Holmes and he knew he had to find some kind of successor. So he decided to solve this one last mystery for old times...
Words: 1676 - Pages: 7
...Have you ever kept a big secret? In this story Sherlock Holmes a crime was committed. In my opinion Sherlock Holmes was definitely wrong to let the criminals off the hook. First of all, Sherlock Holmes as a detective he broke the law himself to. It depends on how the crime was done like for example somebody had stolen a candy bar from a gas station people let them off with a warning. But if somebody stole a gem from somebody then you should send them off to jail. Secondly, Sherlock Holmes framed an innocent man that had a family to feed. He had to spend probably a few nights at least in there. I have no idea about you but near Christmas time I rather be at home with my family then in jail. It could have token a long time for people to get...
Words: 323 - Pages: 2
...Sherlock Holmes in PBS is the most successful character in the history of television Critic Victoria Thorpe said, "Freeman's dependable, capable Watson unlocks this modern Holmes, a man who now describes himself as 'a high-functioning sociopath.” (Sherlock Holmes is back… sending texts and using nicotine patches) I think it is totally right. As a contradictory person, Sherlock Holmes has many characteristics, such as: smart, has no patient and he never knows how to get along with others. Also, he is a direct person and he protects all his friends, but in the depth of his heart, he yearns for appreciate and applause. These attractive characteristics are the reason to make him become popular. First, he is very smart and he likes to reasoning. Of course, as a detective, he should be smart enough to solve the cases. However, I remember the most is in the beginning he said” Afghanistan or Iraq” (Sherlock Season I) when he first meet John Watson. This simple sentence leads to the most remarkable characteristic of Sherlock Holmes. He meets John without a minute; he can infer the background of John Watson. At that time, John’s face is like” how do you know?” also can dedicate Sherlock’s...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...Sherlock Holmes Imagine having the choice of either putting guilty criminals in prison or let them go. This is a story of a difficult decision Sherlock Holmes had to make. In my opinion, Sherlock Holmes positively made the wrong decision. In the first place, James Ryder should not have listened to Catharine Cusack. Ryder needs to think for himself and if he does not, he will be in a hole of guiltiness. They stole a carbuncle, a blue jewel, from the Countess. Ryder fed the carbuncle to a goose with a black stripe down his back. Officer Turner thought it was the plumber that stole the carbuncle in the goose, when he said he was innocent because Ryder and Cusack blamed it on the plumber. In the second place, Ryder and Cusack have broken the...
Words: 326 - Pages: 2
...SYBA ‘A’ I have taken up the brand of ‘Sherlock Holmes’, the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from its inception in the 19th century till present day. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced Sherlock Holmes to the reading public in 1887, nothing could have prepared him for the fact he had created a character who was destined to become the most famous detective in the world. This British literary idol went on to break all records and has become the most frequently portrayed fictional character of all time. Today, the brand has been invented and re-invented in so many different and exotic ways that it has the potential to keep entertaining, amusing, enlightening and keeping readers, viewers and listeners of all ages engaged for a long time to come, deviating from and strengthening the original fandom, and keeping a century-old brand as alive and as unique as it was when with the publishing of The Final Solution, Conan Doyle killed off the famous detective and had to face eight years of intense public pressure, who took to the streets wearing black arm-bands and demanding that he bring Holmes back. Few fictional characters have risen to the prominence and longevity as the Baker Street sleuth. Like any well-crafted piece of work, Sherlock Holmes has been an inspiration in his field – informing identities of later fictional characters, from Batman to Dr. Gregory House. Sherlock Holmes, according to The New York Times, is the...
Words: 4407 - Pages: 18
... Shaun P. Grech, WRTG 101, 30 November 2013 Thesis: Sherlock Holmes, a Master Detective’s Mind at Work Unquestionably, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was on to something when he created Sherlock Holmes. In Stanton O. Berg’s article, “Sherlock Holmes: Father of Scientific Crime and Detection,” the author believes that “the famous sleuth had a decided stimulating influence on the development of modern scientific crime detection” (446). Holmes was indeed a dramatic representation of the investigative curiosity of the time period. Berg cites criminologists of the era who were either inspired by Doyle’s fictional character, leading them to their own discoveries in forensic science, or who were driven to start implementing Holmesian methods within professional police forces (448). A review of Sherlock stories reveals that almost every one of the forensic techniques utilized by police forces today is touched upon in one form or another. In E.J. Wagner’s book The Science of Sherlock Holmes, such methods included the examination of dirt, cigar ashes, blood stains, fingerprints and a dabbling in ballistics among others. Part of the lure of Sherlock Holmes is that readers are captivated by the iconic nineteenth century detective’s innate abilities in solving his cases so seamlessly. In essence, he is the perfect intellectual model for analytical ability and razor edge wit. How then, is Holmes able to utilize the powers of his mind so well? One path to understand this...
Words: 2133 - Pages: 9
...How does Sherlock Holmes use the scientific method to solve this case? Well, first he is given the problem, Miss Mary Sutherland, a lady who consults Holmes. “Oh Mr. Holmes. I wish you would do as much for me. I’m not rich, but still I have hundred a year in my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Homer Angel.”(page.2) A missing man, who is married to Miss Sutherland. “Indeed, I have found that it is usually in unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the charm to an investigation.” said Holmes.(page.2) Secondly, to gather the data/information: Holmes used Miss Sutherland as the main resource by asking specific yet simple questions about herself, her parent’s history, timeline of meeting Mr. Homer, and her stepfather. The Mother of Miss Sutherland was known as Mother, the father: Mr. Windibank, {a plumber in Tottenham Court Road and later being a traveler in wines}, and others involved: Mr. Hardy, {the foreman}. By asking questions, Holmes seems like a concerned friend who wanted to help. “You will leave that question in my hands”(page.6) Also any...
Words: 480 - Pages: 2
...EL SIGNO DE LOS CUATRO Arthur Conan Doyle Capítulo Primero LA CIENCIA DE LA DEDUCCIÓN Sherlock Holmes cogió la botella del ángulo de la repisa de la chimenea, y su jeringuilla hipodérmica de su pulcro estuche de tafilete. Insertó con sus dedos largos, blancos y nerviosos, la delicada aguja, y se remangó la manga izquierda de la camisa. Por un instante sus ojos se posaron pensativos en el musculoso antebrazo y en la muñeca, cubiertos ambos de puntitos y marcas de los innumerables pinchazos. Finalmente, hundió en la carne la punta afilada, presionó hacia abajo el delicado émbolo y se dejó caer hacia atrás, hundiéndose en el sillón forrado de terciopelo y exhalando un profundo suspiro de satisfacción. Durante muchos meses había presenciado esa operación tres veces al día; pero la costumbre no había llegado a conseguir que mi alma se adaptara. Por el contrario, cada día que pasaba me sentía más irritado ante ese espectáculo, y todas las noches sentía sublevarse mi conciencia al pensar que me había faltado valor para protestar. Una y otra vez me había yo prometido que le diría todo lo que pensaba al respecto; pero había algo en las maneras frías y despreocupadas de mi compañero que lo hacían el último de los hombres con quien uno siente deseos de tomarse algo parecido a una libertad. Su gran energía, sus maneras dominadoras y la experiencia que yo había tenido de sus muchas y extraordinarias cualidades, me restaban confianza y me hacían reacio a llevarle la contraria. Sin embargo...
Words: 45460 - Pages: 182
...Dr. Worrall Name: Sam Jones English 1102 Class Period: 12:30-1:45 Fall 2015 Draft Body Paragraph Assignment (15 points) Staple the pages of the assignment, and turn in the assignment with your Revised Detective Fiction Essay on October 1. Do not delete any of the three paragraphs until we have discussed them. Part 1 – Draft Body Paragraph Delete the paragraph below. Paste a copy of your largest draft body paragraph in this space. One characteristic that a private investigator has is he/she must be emotionally detached from the case. Individuals often find their self not being able to go forward in a situation due to the emotional rollercoaster that they have been on with the person/s involved, thus creating relation hips where relationships should not be made. Choosing to become a private investigator can be a very trialing field if you are one to allow your feelings to overrule judgment at times, this occupation requires you to deal with emotional people who often look for sympathy on their behalf. Lew Archer astonishes his readers with thoughts such as, “She had a key in one hand and a handful of blood in the other…but I hated her for spoiling my morning sleep,” he is so unattached from the case that it allows him to think more clearly and stay focused on the evidence and the timeline of events rather than feel sorry for the girl and believe everything that is said to him (77). Lew Archer takes treats everyone with the same suspicion until they are proven...
Words: 785 - Pages: 4
...series which takes on the old and famous “Sherlock Holmes” story and puts a modern contemporary twist to its storyline and characters. The most noticeable change in this new series is the casting for Sherlock Holmes’s age old apprentice, and almost side-kick, Dr. Joan Watson. In the works of the original text by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Watson is a male character that acts as Sherlock’s assistant in each of their investigations. Watson was commonly portrayed as the laughingstock in the older series of Sherlock Holmes (around the 1970s to 1990s reworking) in order to reflect the brilliance of Holmes. However, in the new series “Elementary,” a new twist is put onto the character of Watson as star Lucy Liu takes up the role in this version. Throughout the entire television series, we see that this new hit series not only brings about a modern twist to an age old story, but also challenges the ideologies and assumptions of ethnicity, female power/feminism, and occupational variety/opportunity for females in our current society. Having Lucy Liu star as Dr. Joan Watson not only challenges the role of feminism in our society, but also the role of ethnicity as the director introduces Watson as an Asian woman. Throughout American history, we see that the most famous fictional detectives are mostly, if not all, men. From children’s books and cartoon series such as Inspector Gadget and Batman, to adult novels and book series such as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. The one or two famous...
Words: 860 - Pages: 4
