8/16/2019 How does Hayao Miyazaki employ various techniques to allow the audience to identify with the countless themes…

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DRAFT

Monica Deng 10 English Studies

Compare and contrast the ways Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his novel ‘The

 Hound of the Baskerville’s and Mark atiss and Steven Moffatt in the BBC 

 series ‘Sherlock’ employ literary techni!ues and filmic elements to show a

 "host story#

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Mark Gatiss and

Steven Moffat in their BBC series ‘Sherlock’, employ various literary techniques to portray a

ghost story theme. Ghost stories are stories that articulate a supernatural plot. They are

intended to create thrilling and forbidding atmospheres. Doyle’s text applies the use of 

characterisation, setting and language, by giving vivid descriptions of the narrative’s events

to create a ghost story. In contrast, Moffatt and Gatiss utilise these same techniques in their

series to produce a ghost story, but instead approach them in a more contemporary fashion by

including more modernised language, characters and settings. It is evident that both the text

and series employ characterisation as a literary technique to develop a ghost story.

The requirement of any ‘ghost story’ is the immersion of a supernatural presence. In the case

of Doyle’s text and Gatiss’ and Moffatt’s series, the supernatural spectre is represented by the

hound who is one of the most dominantly featured characters within both narratives. This is

presented in Doyle’s novel by recounting Dr Mortimer’s confrontation with the hound as a

supernatural encounter, “I find that before the terrible event occurred several people had seen

a creature upon the moor which corresponds with this Baskerville demon… [t]hey all agreed

that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral” (p. 28). Similar to the novel, thecreators of the BBC series ‘Sherlock’, describe the hound as a supernatural creature which

had… “[c]old black fur with red eyes”. Both the novel and the series depict the hound as

frightening and demonic, intensifying the supernatural atmosphere of the novel and series.

Moffatt and Gatiss, in their BBC series and Doyle, in his novel interpret a ghost story by

adopting setting as a technique. Setting is one of the most frequently used techniques in both

pieces, whether it is to establish the place or ambience, of a scene or dialogue. The moor is a

repetitively featured location within both plots. Moffat and Gatiss exhibit the moor through

visual displays. The moor is utilised to incorporate a hostile and grim atmosphere, as Henry’s

description portrays, “There's a place, it's a sort of local landmark called Dewer's Hollow.

That's an ancient name for the devil”. This statement describes the moor’s scenery, as being

disconsolate and forbidding. On the other hand, Doyle, in his novel, describes the moor as

being a peaceful and calm expanse of land. John in his first encounter, describes the moor as,

“the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a gray,

melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some

fantastic landscape in a dream” (p. 70). The directors of the BBC series portray the moor as a

dark sinister setting, whereas Doyle contrastingly depicts the moor to be lovely and inviting

but with mysterious scenery.

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8/16/2019 How does Hayao Miyazaki employ various techniques to allow the audience to identify with the countless themes…

2/2

DRAFT

Monica Deng 10 English Studies

Doyle, in his novel, and Moffatt and Gatiss, in their series, convey a ghost story by including

language as a literary technique. Language is one of the most important elements of any

narrative or film. Throughout Doyle’s text, the use of archaic language and jargon is lucidly

presented, by using it to intensify the theme of a ghost story this is evident when Sir Henry

Baskerville states, “Perhaps you will tell me, Mr Holmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that takes so much interest in my affairs?” (p. 28). The use of archaic

language in this sentence is presented in numerous ways but is especially plain when he says

“what in thunder” (p. 28). Seeing that this term lacks usage in modern times. In contrast,

Moffat and Gatiss, in their BBC series, use language in a more contemporary fashion. This is

plainly presented, when Henry initially approaches Holmes and Watson to discuss his query

about the Hound, “[I] was just a kid. It was on the moor. It was dark, but I know what I saw. I

know what killed my father”. Modernised terms are used repetitively in this statement, as

words have been simplified, for example child to kid. Both pieces utilise language as a

literary technique to convey a ghost story theme, by employing vocabularies of two separateeras.

Doyle’s text, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Moffat’s and Gatiss’ BBC series Sherlock,

employ characterisation, setting and language as literary techniques to create a ghost story.

Both pieces employ characterisation by describing the hound’s menacing features with a

supernatural approach. Setting is technique also used throughout each piece to portray a ghost

story. By Doyle, in his pleasant and inviting descriptions of the moor, and Moffatt and Gatiss

in their mysterious and forbidden portrayal of the moor. The two pieces also include the use

of language as a technique to convey a ghost story. Gatiss and Moffatt use language by

incorporating modern and suspenseful dialogue throughout the episode. In contrast, Doyle

uses archaic language to describe thrilling situations during the novel. It is clear that Doyle in

his text The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Gatiss and Moffatt in their series Sherlock 

employ literary techniques to create a ghost story.

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