DIRECTIONS: As we’ve discussed in class, Victor Hugo (Les Miserables) states that the three main problems of the age are:

-The degradation of man by poverty
-The ruination of women by starvation
-The dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night
For this assignment you will need to pick one character who suffers from one of these problems and complete a case study on them. Since you will eventually write an essay that talks about a problem you see in today’s world and also in Les Miserables, you may want to pick a character who falls into a category of suffering close to the problem you researched for your “Initial Research Assignment.”Your case study should have the name of the character as the title and then you will answer the following questions:

Write a summary of this character’s situation and how it connects to one of the three main problems of the age. This should be 100-200 words in length.

Explain the cause of their problem. How did it start? Who or what is responsible? This should be about 50-100 words in length.

Explain the end result of this issue. What was the fate of this character, because of this issue? This should be 50-100 words in length.

Explain what you think Victor Hugo’s intention was in putting this character in the novel. What did he want to point out about this character’s situation and its connection to the three main problems of the age? What should the reader take away from this character’s situation? This response should be 100-200 words.

Do you think this character’s situation was preventable or solvable? How? Explain. Your response to this question should be 100-200 words.

Historical fiction is concerned with depicting historical figures and events in a new light. in this excerpt from arthur conan doyle's "the contest," which two sentences most clearly describe historical elements? policles sprang readily to his feet at the challenge, and the great company making way for him to pass, he found himself a minute later standing in his unkempt garb, with his frayed and weather-beaten harp in his hand, before the expectant crowd. he stood for a moment tightening a string here and slackening another there until his chords rang true. then, amid a murmur of laughter and jeers from the roman benches immediately before him, he began to sing. he had prepared no composition, but he had trained himself to improvise, singing out of his heart for the joy of the music. he told of the land of elis, beloved of jupiter, in which they were gathered that day, of the great bare mountain slopes, of the swift shadows of the clouds, of the winding blue river, of the keen air of the uplands, of the chill of the evenings, and the beauties of earth and sky. it was all simple and childlike, but it went to the hearts of the olympians, for it spoke of the land which they knew and loved. yet when he at last dropped his hand, few of them dared to applaud, and their feeble voices were drowned by a storm of hisses and groans from his opponents. he shrank back in horror from so unusual a reception, and in an instant his blue-clad rival was in his place. if he had sung badly before, his performance now was inconceivable. his screams, his grunts, his discords, and harsh jarring cacophonies were an outrage to the very name of music.