Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One William Meek Engl 1102-028 02/15/2014 Assignment One

Description of Location: Sherlock takes place in present day London. London is a modernized city in England modeled after western culture. Automobile, subway trains, and walking are the most common forms of transportation, however, since the most of the city of London was built before automobiles were invented, traffic patterns can often times be complex and make this mode a less effective form of transportation. The streets are lined with buildings which popularly include coffee shops/cafes, apartment/flat buildings, and small shops. London includes many public service buildings including community colleges, police stations, libraries, museums, and theaters. Similar to many other large cities, London has its own China Town, a district designated for those of Asian influence, heritage, and culture to reside and practice their cultural norms within a small community. Figured World A figured world is a socially produced and culturally constructed realm of interpretation in which a particular set of characters and actors are recognized and certain beliefs and behaviors are valued above others. In Sherlock, a popular BBC television actors are expected to behave themselves similarly to the way we do in the present day United States. People are expected to have a stable job or source of income, and location of residence. Most people have friends, or other actors with which they associate themselves with frequently in a friendly manner. There is a moderate level of conformity which most actors are expected to abide by in everyday life. In particular, actors are expected to adjust their choices of clothing, language, especially slang, and the ways in which they conduct themselves. All people within this figured world are expected to obey the law, especially those which outlaw behavior that can harm other people including murder and stealing. While everyone knows they are supposed to obey these laws, they all expect particular actors to break these laws from time to time. The actors who commit serious felonies such as murder are often extremely clever and able to cover their tracks exceptionally well. Most of the actors of significance in this world are tasked with finding and catching these actors who leave such a small or complex trail of evidence to follow. These actors, usually police officers, are highly respected by most others in the figured world. Most people in the figured world are expected to own a cell phone or smart phone with which they can use to communicate with one another. Through alternative methods of communication, most actors are expected to be able to read, write, speak, and understand English. Discourse Communities Groups of actors within figured worlds which share similar beliefs are means of communication. London Police: The members of the London police share two things in common; a devotion to the law, and a particular anguish towards Sherlock Holmes. Even their boss, Detective Inspector Lestrade dislikes Sherlock as a person, yet he cant deny Sherlocks results. Despite the polices

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One irritancies with Sherlock, they allow him to help in their investigations because they recognize his brilliance even though they refuse to admit it out loud. Consulting Detectives: Sherlock Holmes and his associate Dr. John Watson are both addicted to the thrill of chasing criminal masterminds though their purposes are somewhat different. John loves the thrill of catching a criminal and being a hero whereas Sherlock mostly seeks to prove that hes smarter than the evil genius hes chasing.

The Black Lotus: A Chinese criminal organization which specializes in smuggling. Most of the Black Lotus members acquire a dependence on the organization due to a love or necessity for money. They have a branch operating in London where they sell valuable Chinese antiquities on the black market for millions. John and Sherlock gain interest in bringing the organization down after it murders three of its members and leaves Sherlock with a puzzling cipher to solve. Actors: Actors are people of significance within a figured world. Sherlock Holmes: Self-proclaimed consulting detective, Sherlock is extraordinarily gifted in observing and deducting. Sherlock cant resist showing off his superior intellectual abilities and is often resented for it. He considers himself to be of higher status relative to the rest of the world and gives no regard for others personal sensitivity. Dr. John Watson: Dr. Watson is a former British Royal Army field medic. He craves adventure and danger and this aspect of his personality causes him to find Sherlock and his life of spontaneity and peril irresistible. Sgt. Sally Donovan: An officer of the London Police Force who doesnt understand Sherlock and repeatedly calls him freak. Detective Inspector Lestrade: Lestrade is a detective inspector for the London Police. He often times calls Sherlock during investigations involving especially clever criminals. Lestrade knows involving Sherlock is illegal but cares more about catching the dangerous criminals than his job. Anderson: A forensics specialist who works for the London Police and dislikes Sherlock even more than most of the people who know him. Soo Lin Yao: A former smuggler for the Chinese criminal organization the Black Lotus, Soo Lin is an expert on ancient Chinese antiquities. Five years after leaving the organization, the Black Lotus hunts her down and kills her for her betrayal. Before she is killed, Soo Lin translates the first two words of the gangs cipher which allows Sherlock to catch the gang and the members responsible for hers and several others deaths. The Spider: The name of a deadly assassin and member of the Black Lotus. The Spider turns out to be Soo Lin Yaos brother and killer. The Spiders daring break-in to the Shad Sanderson bank is what gets Sherlock hired and begins his hunt to bring the organization down. Dr. Sarah Sawyer: When John gets tight on money and searches for a job, Sarah becomes his new employer and love interest. Sarah shows quick thinking and bravery on multiply occasions

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One and not only saves both John and Sherlocks lives, but gives them a major clue in solving the Black Lotus cipher. Artifacts Artifacts are objects both physical and theoretical inscribed by the collective attribution of meaning. Pills: The weapon the serial killer uses to execute his victims. The killer has two identical bottles with two identical pills, one in each bottle, only one pill will cause death and the other will not. The pills are significant to Sherlock because they are the ultimate form of proving superiority, an entire game of chess in one move with one winner and one loser, a temptation which he can not resist. Taxi: The urban camouflage the serial killer uses to move about the streets of London undetected. He also uses his knowledge as a cab driver to select the locations he murders his victims. This unique quality is a large part of what makes the killer so dangerous and difficult to detect and sets him apart from a murderer as a clever serial killer. Johns cane: John is suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after the war (Afghanistan) and believes he can no longer walk without the use of a cane after he was shot. In reality, his mind is playing tricks on himself and he only believes he needs the cane because he has developed a self-image as a boring man without any action in his life and sees himself as incapable of doing anything anymore.

Johns gun: John keeps a gun in the drawer of his desk because he is just waiting for some thrills to come into his life and secretly hopes he gets the chance to discharge a firearm again in a hostile scenario. Victims phone: The woman in pinks phone is what allows Sherlock and John to catch the serial killer, after they deduce that the message she scratched into the floor during her last breaths was the phones password. Horse crop: Sherlock could have beaten the stiff in the beginning of the episode with practically anything, but he chose to do so with a horse crop. It displays his character as someone with class but in an odd sort of fashion. John and Sherlocks flat: The place John and Sherlock call home. Sherlock keeps it a mess with all of his assorted experiments and compiled research for the cases he solves. John helps Sherlock organize the flat from a place to sleep into a place in which one can live. Crossbow: The Black Lotus, a Chinese criminal organization uses an antique artistic Chinese crossbow in one of their circus acts and to kill some of their victims. This elaborate killing method is both ironic and symbolic because the gangs primary source of income is from smuggling Chinese antiquities. Teapots: These 400 year-old teapots have become Soo Lins obsession; she has devoted her life to caring for and restoring these important pieces of Chinese culture. This dedication is ironic because she used to be a member of the Black Lotus, a criminal organization which illegally

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One smuggled similar artifacts and symbolizes how Soolin has given up her life of crime and wishes to devote her life to a purpose of what is considered morally correct in the figured world. Lotus tattoo: Each of the members of the black lotus, a Chinese criminal organization, are branded with a tattoo of a black lotus on their foot. The tattoos are significant because they are permanent and the Black Lotus does not tolerate its members leaving the organization. Literacy Practices Literacy practices are means of communication within figured worlds, particularly related to artifacts, social interactions, and beliefs. Traffic signs: Sherlock uses the traffic signs and patterns to map out in his head the destination of a taxi which the killer is driving. Text messages: Sherlock sends text messages to the police and reporters during the press conference, primarily to show off that he can. He also uses a text to frighten the serial killer and cause him to make a mistake which leads them closer to finding him. Many of the other characters also use text messages on a frequent basis. The note: The note the victim in pink scratches into the floor, Rache, is what allows John, Sherlock, and the police to catch the serial killer.

Hangzhou: An ancient Chinese dialect and numeral system which the Black Lotus uses as part of its secret code. London A-Z: A book that most tourists and even many residents of London own. It is significant to members of the Black Lotus Chinese criminal organization because it is the book their secret cipher is based upon. E-mail: Most residents of London use email and Sherlock Holmes is no different. One he receives, in particular, leads him to his mission of bringing down the Black Lotus, a Chinese gang who has been conducting smuggling operations in London. Observation One (Sherlock; Season 1: Ep. 1) (Flash back) 3:30 pm Dr. John Watson is serving in active combat for the British Royal Army in Afghanistan and is wounded during an intense firefight. (Oct 12) 12:30 pm An unknown woman is talking on the phone to her wealthy husband or boyfriend whom has just arrived in the airport in London. She advises him that there is not a car waiting for him and that he will need to take a taxi to come home. The man seen talking on the phone takes a pill and dies.

(Nov 26)

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One

8:00 pm Two teenage boys are walking in the rain when a taxi drives by, one of the boys tries to flag down the cab but the driver does not stop. The boy who attempts to catch the cab walks home to get an umbrella. The same boy is seen taking the same pill as the previous man and dies as well. (Jan 28) 2:00 am A woman is seen taking the keys of one of her so-called friends because her friend has been drinking. The woman is then seen taking the same pill as the previous two victims when trying to find a way home. (Jan 29) 8:00 am John is writing a blog about what happens to him but can not think of anything to write. 9:00 am John is seen inside an office attending a mental therapy session for his PTS syndrome he developed from his time serving in the war. His therapist believes writing a blog about his life will help him adjust to life as a civilian. 9:30 am Police are holding a press conference about the recent deaths. D.I. Lestrade makes a statement claiming them to be serial suicides when everyone in the room gets a text message that says wrong! Lestrade assures the media that the police have their best people investigating when everyone receives another text which also says wrong! The inspector continues by claiming everyone is as safe as they want to be when a final wrong! text is received. When the press conference is over, Lestrade receives a message which says you know where to find me. 10:00 am John is walking in a park when an old military buddy, Mike, recognizes him. John and Mike talk briefly and John tells Mike he is searching for a new roommate. Mike suggests a friend who earlier that morning also mentioned he was in need of a roommate. 10:30 am Sherlock is in the morgue examining a body to authenticate the alibi of one of his clients when John and Mike walk in. Sherlock asks Mike if he can borrow his phone but John offers his instead. Sherlock asks John Afghanistan or Iraq? John is amazed at how Sherlock could have known such a thing and Sherlock continues to boast his skills of deduction and tell John about many personal details in his life that only his closest friends would know. Sherlock invites John to come look at a flat with him and Mike confirms yeah, hes always like that. 11:00 am Woman in pink seen reaching for the same pill that killed the first three victims. 11:30 am Sherlock and John arrive at the flat on 221B Baker St, London. The apartment is a mess and John says this could be very nice, just got some old junk to clean out not realizing that Sherlock already lives there. Sherlocks only friend is an old skull and tells John that hes much better company. Lestrade arrives at Sherlocks apartment to tell him there is a fourth victim, and that this one left a note. As soon as Lestrade leaves the room, Sherlock jumps and shouts brilliant! and compares four suicides and a note to Christmas. As Sherlock is leaving to observe the crime scene of the fourth victim, Mrs. Hudson calls John the sitting down type.

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One

Outraged, John can not refuse Sherlocks offer to come with him to investigate the crime scene of the fourth victim and come see some more trouble, more referring to the initial traumatizing experiences he encountered while in the war. 12:00 pm While in a taxi on the way to the crime scene, Sherlock shows off his deductive abilities and explains how he knew all of the details about Johns life after John calls Sherlock an amateur detective. 12:30 pm John and Sherlock arrive at the crime scene. Upon arrival, Sgt. Donovan refers to Sherlock as freak and is surprised to see him with company. The murder scene is an old abandoned apartment building. The body has been found upstairs with the note; the word Rache scratched into the floor. At a quick glance, Sherlock is able to notice that the victim was left handed, the note was meant to say Rachel, the victim had an unhappy marriage which had lasted over ten years, was a serial adulterer, that the woman came from out of town, and that she had a suitcase with her (even though one wasnt found on the crime scene). John cant help blurting out how impressed he is. 1:00 pm The phone in a public booth rings just as John walks passed it. This repeats until finally John answers the phone in the third booth he passes. The man on the phone advises him of the cameras located all around him and tells John to get in the car. 1:30 pm John meets the mysterious man in an abandoned warehouse. The man asks John about Sherlock and calls himself Sherlocks arch enemy. The man bribes John to spy on Sherlock for him but John refuses. John receives a text from Sherlock telling him to come home and that it was urgent. The man notices that Johns hand has stopped twitching and informs him that he isnt haunted by the war but that he misses it. 2:00 pm John stops at his house to get his gun on the way back to the new flat. Observation Two (Sherlock; Season 1: Ep. 1 continued) 2:30 pm John arrives back at the new flat to find Sherlock wearing three nicotine patches. John tells Sherlock about the mysterious man he met and Sherlock informs him that this man is extremely dangerous. The urgent reason Sherlock called him back was to have him send a text. The text is addressed to the victims phone so that the killer would see it written as though it were from the victim in pink. When John asks why Sherlock is talking to him instead of the police, Sherlock replies Mrs. Hudson took his skull. 5:00 pm John and Sherlock go out to dinner at a caf when Sherlock realizes the serial killer must be using taxis to snatch up his victims. 7:00 pm Sherlock and John chase after the cab right in front of them and John leaves without his cane to hunt the cab down. Sherlock is able to calculate the taxis route based on the traffic patterns. After running through alleys and jumping across rooftops, Sherlock and John catch the cab they are chasing but realize the man in the back is not the serial killer. While walking home, they bond over telling each other corny yet witty jokes.

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8:00 pm When John and Sherlock get home, the police are searching the flat on a drug bust because Sherlock has been withholding the suitcase, valuable evidence. The police tell Sherlock that Rachel was the victims still born daughter. Sherlock determines that Rachel must have been the password to her e-mail/smart phone. They use this information to track the location of the victims phone and thus the location of the killer. While everyone else is distracted with this newly found information, an unordered cab arrives for Sherlock and he realizes that it must be the killer, so he goes to get in. The man waiting outside was the driver of the same cab Sherlock and John had chased down earlier that evening. Instead of running in and getting the police to arrest the man, Sherlock gets in because the serial killer tells him if he doesnt, hell never know what he said to the victims to get them to kill themselves. John traces the location of the phone but is confused when it says that the phone was at their apartment. 8:15 pm Watson realizes that Sherlock is missing and that the location of the phone has changed after tracing it a second time. He informs the police of this newly found information and they chase after Sherlock and the serial killer. 9:00 pm While on the road, the serial killer tells Sherlock that he recognizes him from Sherlocks website and that he was warned about him but he doesnt say by whom. He explains the genius and convenience of being a cab driver when killing people. 9:30 pm The killer takes Sherlock into an empty schoolhouse to show him how he convinced the others to kill themselves. 9:45 pm The killer explains his method. There are two identical bottles with identical pills, but one bottle contains a good pill, and the other contains a lethal pill. Sherlock must choose one and whichever he doesnt take, the killer will take the other. After explaining his brilliant system and feeling overconfident, the killer calls Sherlock stupid and Sherlock proves how much smarter he is. He has already figured out that the serial killer must be dying to put himself in such risky scenarios and that the killer is murdering his victims for his kids but isnt sure why. The killer informs Sherlock that he has a sponsor, the same man who warned him about Sherlock. 9:50 pm Watson and the police arrive at the location the killer has taken Sherlock. The police form a perimeter but John runs frantically to find Sherlock and save him. 10:00 pm Sherlock must choose between one of the pills or the gun, he chooses the gun, realizing that its a fake. The serial killer beaten, Sherlock begins to walk away but returns to play his game. Just as Sherlock is about to take one of the pills, John sees him from out the window of an adjacent building and shoots the killer before either of them can take a pill. As the serial killer is dying, Sherlocks first question is whether or not he chose the right pill. In the serial killers last breaths, Sherlock manages to get the name of the man who warned the killer about Sherlock, Moriarty. 10:30 pm The police are wrapping up everything that happened when Sherlocks arch enemy shows up. The man reveals himself to be Mycroft Holmes, Sherlocks brother. Mycroft is in an

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One extremely high ranking government position in charge of the British secret service among many other things. 10:45 pm John asks why Sherlock is smiling and Sherlock tells him that he is excited about Moriarty. Observation Two (Sherlock; Season 1: Ep. 2) (Feb 22)

5:00 pm Soo Lin Yao is performing a Chinese tea ceremony as a demonstration in a museum to care for and preserve the condition of beautiful antique Chinese clay teapots which are over 400 years old. 5:30 pm A boy who also works in the museum talks to Soo Lin and shows obvious romantic interest. He asks her out on a date but she declines and says I dont think you would like me all that much. 7:30 pm Soo Lin is in the museum after hours cataloging artifacts when she hears a noise and becomes alarmed. When she goes to investigate, she uncovers something which leaves her with a face of consternation. (Feb 23) 10:00 am John is shopping for groceries when the self-check-out machine malfunctions and works him into a fluster. Meanwhile, Sherlock is in their flat fending off a blade bearing assassin. During the brawl, the assassins sword makes a deep scratch in the dining room table. Sherlock eventual gains leverage over the attacker and lands a strike which knocks the assassin unconscious. 10:30 am John arrives back at the flat empty handed because his credit card was declined. When Sherlock offers John his card and sends him back to the store, John, already upset, yells at Sherlock for being so lazy; unaware of the attacker Sherlock had just fended off earlier that morning. As John is yelling at him, Sherlock receives an email from an old colleague and now a rich banker named Sebastian offering him a job. When John humbly asks Sherlock if he can borrow some money, Sherlock ironically says I need to go to the bank. 11:00 am When at the bank, Sebastian informs John and Sherlock that his bank has a security breach and offers them a five figure number to find it, but when Sherlock sees the puzzling cipher painted on the wall, he becomes less interested in the money and more fascinated with breaking the code. When Sherlock waves off the money and tells his former colleague that he doesnt need motivation, Watson is quick to inform the banker that Sherlock was only joking and collects the down-payment gasping at the amount for which it was written. 11:15 am Sherlock is observing the break-in at the bank. A symbol has been painted on the wall of the bank in yellow spray paint and next to it, in the same paint, a line has been sprayed over the eyes of a fancy portrait. The security camera shows the wall was painted at 12:34 am the night before, but the feed from the cameras has been tampered with so that no one is ever seen

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One entering or exiting the bank. After observing the bank, Sherlock determines that the paint was a warning intended for Edward Van Coon, one of the banks employees.

3:30 pm John and Sherlock go to Edward Van Coons apartment to investigate. When they find that no one is home, Sherlock gets in by dropping from the balcony above and using the back door. John is upset because Sherlock is too busy making his own observations to unlock the front door and let John in when Sherlock discovers Van Coon dead. 4:30 pm When the police arrive, there is a new detective inspector in charge. The inspector assumes Van Coon committed suicide, the way things were made to look by the assassin, but Sherlock points out that Van Coon was left handed based on observations he made around the apartment and that Van Coon was shot on the right side of his head, an unlikely scenario for a left-handed suicide. 8:00 pm Sherlock rudely interrupts Sebastians business lunch meeting to inform him that Van Coon has been murdered. Sebastian informs Sherlock about Van Coons involvement in his company. He had been working the Hong-Kong branch and made frequent and often times sudden trips there so no one suspected anything when he didnt show up for work. Sebastian also told Sherlock about a time when Van Coon had lost five million pounds in a single morning and then made it all back a week later. Observation Three (Sherlock; Season 1: Ep. 2 continued) 10:00 pm A man is holding running through the street constantly looking behind him with a look of horror as though he is being chased. (Feb 24) 10:00 am The man with the crush on Soo Lin is asking his boss about her since he hasnt seen her in a couple of days. His boss informs him that she resigned and suggests that perhaps it was because some of her fellow employees wouldnt leave her alone. 2:00 pm John is applying for a job at a medical clinic due to his lack of financial security. It is obvious that he has a crush on Sarah, the doctor interviewing him. She notices he served in the army and informs him that the job can be a bit mundane, but John accepts the job anyways. (Feb 25) 10:00 am The man who was seen running frantically through the streets has been found murdered. After begging the new detective inspector, Sherlock has been permitted five minutes in the mans flat to make observations. Within five minutes, Sherlock determines that the killer got in through the skylight and finds a book from the West Kensington Library, where he and John go to search for further clues. 10:30 am While in the library, John finds symbols identical to those found in the bank sprayed on one of the bookshelves by the same paint.

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One 12:00 pm Sherlock consults a street artist (vandal) for more information about the graffiti. While Sherlock and John are talking to the graffiti expert, two police officers arrive and arrest John for the painting of a cop with a pig nose as Sherlock and the street artist run away.

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2:00 pm When John and Sherlock go to investigate more about the two victims, they both wind up at the Lucky Cat Emporium in China town. Upon reading a price tag in the Lucky Cat, Sherlock determines that the cipher is comprised of an ancient Chinese dialect and numeral system known as Hangzhou. He realizes that the two victims must have been smugglers and that the Lucky Cat was their drop-off location. He also concludes that one of the victims must have stolen something of value to the organization and so both were threatened. 2:30 pm Sherlock breaks into an abandoned flat across the street from the caf he and John are having lunch in and adjacent to the Lucky Cat noticing that no one has been home for a couple of days. Sherlock doesnt realize, however, that the flat belongs to Soo Lin Yao and that the killer is still inside. The assassin attacks Sherlock and strangles him until he falls to the floor and places an origami black lotus in Sherlocks pocket. While John is bickering and frustrated that Sherlock did not let him into the apartment for a second time, Sherlock opens some of Soo Lins mail and uses the address to retrace some of her steps to the museum in order to search for more clues. 5:00 pm When exiting the museum, the street artist notifies Sherlock that hes found more of the symbols in the distinctive yellow paint. 6:00 pm Sherlock and John arrive at one of the underground communities of London. All of the walls are caked in graffiti and the symbols that Sherlocks consultant found have already been painted over. Sherlock and John hunt around the area in search of more of the symbols. 7:00 pm John finds an entire wall of the symbols but before he can show Sherlock, the wall is painted over entirely in black. Fortunately, John took a picture on his phone and so the pair are able to have a rosetta stone of sorts to help themselves crack the code. (Feb 26) 10:00 am When visiting the museum a second time, Sherlock notices that two of the teapots are now shining as opposed to the one that had been on their previous visit. Sherlock concludes that Soo Lin must be breaking into the museum at night to finish taking care of the pots which allows him and John to find her. (Feb 27) 2:00 am Sherlock and John wait for Soo Lin in the museum where she tells them about her past. Five years ago, she had been a smuggler for a Chinese criminal organization known as the Black Lotus. The assassin killing the victims was one of their members and known as the Spider. She also informs them that the code is based upon a book and that the gangs general in charge of the London operation is known as Shan when the three realize that the killer is in the museum. When Sherlock and John leave Soo Lin to go fend off the Spider, they foolishly leave her defenseless and she is murdered by her own brother.

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One 10:00 am Sherlock informs D.I. Dimmock of the Black Lotus operations in London but he requires proof. 11:00 am Sherlock flirts with Molly in order to gain access to the bodies of the recently deceased victims he suspects to be involved in the Black Lotus smuggling operations. 11:15 am Sherlock shows the D.I. Dimmock the tattoos on the two victims feet, he is now convinced Sherlock is telling the truth and gives him access to the books found at the victims apartments, as requested.

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12:00 pm While waiting for the books to be delivered, Sherlock ponders why Shan would need to go to Soo Lin for help and concludes that the Black Lotus must be smuggling ancient Chinese antiquities and selling them on the black market in London. Sherlock also realizes that the code is comprised of numbers and related to a book, therefore the code must refer to the page numbers of the book and a specific word on the page. 12:30 pm The books from Van Coon and Lukis apartment arrive. Sherlock begins searching through each of them with John using the picture of the wall John took to put together a sentence that makes sense. (Feb 28) 2:00 pm While Sherlock continues to decipher the script, John goes to work at his new job but falls asleep on his first day after staying up all night again attempting to break the code with Sherlock. Dr. Sawyer finds him asleep and takes all of his clients for the day. 5:00 pm When he wakes up, John apologizes and informs Sarah that he had been out late. After Sarah inquires whether he had been out late with a date, John invites her to go out with him that evening. 6:00 pm When John informs Sherlock of his plans to go to the movies with Sarah, Sherlock calls the idea dull and predictable. He suggests John take her to the Chinese circus, secretly suspecting that the circus is put on by members of the Black Lotus. 8:00 pm John ends up taking Sarah to the circus when Sherlock makes an unexpected appearance. 8:30 pm The first act of the circus is a stunt in which a tied up warrior must escape his bonds before an iron ball drops and activates the pressure plate trigger of an intricate crossbow aimed at his heart. 8:45 pm An acrobat introduced as the deadly Chinese bird spider is performing while Sherlock searches backstage. He finds a can of yellow paint, the same kind used to make the symbols when he is discovered by the warrior from the crossbow stunt. Sherlock and John are nearly killed by the warrior when Sarah swats him over the head with the bolt from the crossbow. 9:30 pm Sherlock, John, and Sarah return to Sherlock and Johns flat. While Sherlock continues his attempts to solve the code, John and Sarah try to continue their date. John is in the

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kitchen looking for something to eat after Sarah mentions shes starving. While he is off, Sherlock is treating Sarah with an attitude as though she were incompetent is she pieces together the evidence John and Sherlock have so far when she points out that Soo Lin had solved the first two words of the code from the picture John took, something Sherlock and John had previously failed to notice. Realizing that the book to translate the code must still be on Soo Lins desk, Sherlock rushes out to find it and finish translating the code in the picture. 9:45 pm On his way to the museum, Sherlock realizes that the book the code is based upon is London A-Z. He grabs a copy from a couple of German tourists and translates the original message which was left for Van Coon and Lukis, deadman. 10:00 pm Sherlock arrives back at the flat to discover John and Sarah missing and the deadman message painted on the windows. Sherlock quickly finishes translating the cipher in Johns picture in order to determine where the Black Lotus must have taken them. 10:30 pm John and Sarah are tied up in a sewer tunnel with the crossbow from the circus aimed at Sarah! General Shan is convinced that John is Sherlock Holmes after finding the check from the banker in his wallet addressed to Sherlock, the tickets to the circus reserved under Sherlocks name, and the credit card Sherlock had lent to John to buy groceries and plans to kill him. Sherlock arrives just in time to prove Gen. Shan wrong and distract the gang while Watson kicked the crossbow causing the bolt to miss Sarah and hit the Spider. During the commotion, however, Gen. Shan escapes. (Feb 29) 11:00 am Sherlock and John head over to the bank which employed them. While John is collecting the twenty thousand pound check, Sherlock takes inquires about how the secretary got her hair pin, the stolen treasure the Black Lotus had been after. He realizes that she had been in a relationship with Van Coon and he must have taken it without realizing its value and given it to her as a gift. Sherlock takes delight in informing the secretary of the value the pin is worth, nine million pounds! 3:00 pm General Shan is seen sitting in front of a computer alone in a small room partaking in a one-way video chat receiving responses via an online chat room from a user addressed as M_. She appears extremely frightened and apologizes to M_, obviously her superior, for her failures and informs M_ that Sherlock got in the way. After promising not to compromise any details about M_s location, name, or contacts, M_ replies saying that they are sure she wont and Gen. Shan is assassinated by a sniper. Interview of John Watson Q: How did you first meet Sherlock? A: Um, the day Sherlock and I first met, I was strolling about in the park when I bumped into Mike, an old mate of mine from the army and as we got talking somehow or another it came up that I needed a new flat mate. I remember being surprised when he chuckled a bit after I asked him who would ever want to share a flat with me? Apparently someone else had asked him the

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same question earlier that morning, and that man was Sherlock Holmes. So that day Mike took me to the morgue where I met Sherlock for the first time and right off the bat you could tell he was a bit different. All I did was offer him my phone before he asked whether I had been in Afghanistan or Iraq. He began inquiring about living together before we even got to talking amplifying my already impressed opinion of him. I told him that it seemed a bit odd to me, the idea of living with a person I know nothing about and Sherlock began telling me all about myself including many personal matters which I do my best to keep private. I wasnt exactly sure what to make of Sherlock or the idea of living with him for that matter, but at this point curiosity had me in its grip and I simply had to learn more about this fascinating Sherlock Holmes character. He invited me over to have a look at his flat (which I didnt realize was already his at the time) and it was just a huge bloody mess, I mean there was rubbish everywhere. Im actually somewhat amazed he managed to keep himself alive all those years before I moved in with him. The thing about Sherlock is that when he gets a case that truly fascinates him, solving it becomes his obsession. He forgets that he even has responsibilities that are unrelated to whatever case hes wrapped up in, responsibilities like cleaning. Well, either forgets or considers himself to be above boring tasks like cleaning. So anyways, while he was showing me the flat, our good friend D.I. Lestrade showed up with a case for him to solve involving a serial killer, A Study in Pink I called it in my blog. He invited me to tag along, and it wasnt quite so obvious at the time, but when he invited me, I was fairly sure he didnt actually require my help to solve the case, but rather wanted some company while doing so; or just another gloat in front of. In any case, I was desperate for some adventure at that point in my life and when he extended the invitation to help catch as serial killer I couldnt refuse. After solving that first case together, it was obvious Sherlock was an extraordinary mate, living an extraordinary life. I was desperate to be a part of all the action and he was desperate for someone who he could truly call a friend so I moved in, and weve been best mates ever since. Q: Sherlocks never had friends before you, why are you so close to him? A: Sherlock is, how should I put this properly? You could say hes very special. He treats you with utter disrespect, but thats simply because hes bloody ignorant. Once you get to know him, hes not just some freak like a lot of people call him. He wont show it because he thinks its some kind of weakness or something, but he does care about other people, myself, Molly, Mrs. Hudson, even the ones who think that he is just a freak. Throughout my life Ive met a lot of people who were falsely sincere; they say nice things to your face and then call you rubbish behind your back. Sherlock Holmes is the first, and only, person Ive ever met who is falsely insincere. Hell call you stupid and treat you as though he believes it on a daily basis, but when the cards are all on the table, he genuinely cares about all the people in his life. I think thats part of the reason hes such a boast, he wants those people whom he secretly considers close, to not only be impressed by him, but proud. Hes just finding a way to be highly thought of without a traditional friendship. Or who knows, maybe he just doesnt want to feel similar to us normal folk. So why am I friends with Sherlock? Because Im one of the few people who knows just how much he actually cares, not to mention its impossible to lead a dull life when youre around Sherlock Holmes, and I do love adventure.

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One Q: Earlier you said Sherlock was able to tell you all about yourself, even private details, before you two really spoke. Thats quite the magic trick, how do you think he does it?

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A: Its no magic trick. Sherlock notices things that someone like myself never would. Theres one thing Ive heard him say which is you see but you do not observe. That does a sums up a large part of Sherlock. He thinks about the causes of all the things he sees which allows him to observe. Say for example if Sherlock were to look at you. Most people would simply notice the big picture; youre interviewing someone. Sherlock would notice all the little things; whether youre right or left handed, what type of pen or pencil you use, the kind of paper of your notepad is made of, hed notice about a hundred little details like that just from a quick glance at you and be able to put your life story together just like that. Whats even more impressive than his ability to notice all those small details is the speed at which he puts it all together. You see, Sherlock has just a massive pool of random facts and knowledge stored in his head at any given time which he considers potentially important information, and after he makes his observations about you, he simply consults that pool to throw the rest of the dots together; its quite brilliant. It truly is incredible watching him put it all together so quickly. Q: It seems like youve got it all figured out, why cant just anyone do what Sherlock does? A: Like I said, Sherlock has a remarkable amount of information in his head. He knows more right now than most people learn in an entire lifetime. You see, the reason hes so good at solving crimes is not only because he is able to constantly observe and deduce the causes of so many little details, but also because every single thing the he observes, he stores in his head. Thats what makes him so much smarter than you or I; not his thinking method, but the limitless capacity of his mind. Most people forget things quite easily, but Sherlock, even if the information isnt at the top of his head at the current moment, its always there. Im fairly certain that its actually impossible for Sherlock to forget something. So when were solving a crime, everywhere we go Sherlock is constantly making observations, and even if they seem useless at the time, we get to those moments where we really need to figure something out, like when we were trying to break the Black Lotus code. The cipher was based upon a book but we had no idea which one. Sherlock figured it out when he inferred that lots of people would have to own the book, otherwise it would be obvious which book the code was based upon when all the gang members had the same book. So he used that information and noticed a couple from Germany walking down the street with a copy of London A-Z. He used that observation, his realization of the book being widely owned, and a memory of seeing that book in one of the victims flats from his pool of knowledge to determine that must be the book we were looking for. Thank god he did, he saved both mine and Sarahs lives that night. Q: You talk about how he shows off a lot and Ive heard he can be quite an irritating person to be around; tell me about some of the times when Sherlock gets on your nerves? A: You mean every time Im around him? Well youre spot on with the showing off, I think thats the one thing he does that bothers me the most of all the irritating habits and behaviors he has is the way he boasts his massive intellect like hes some sort of superior being. I didnt mind it at first because theres no doubt he truly is brilliant, but it does start to get old after a while. I

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One

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mean for goodness sakes, if I had a pound for every time he did something just to show off I could buy all of England by now. Dont get me wrong, Id walk to hell and back for him, hes my best mate, always will be, but he can be just a twit sometimes! I do honestly believe the man simply enjoys irritating people, its just another game for him to play when he gets bored; finding ways to get under your skin. Its almost funny when its not happening to you; watching him pick at all the corners of the mind belonging to whoever hes speaking to at the moment and doing exactly the right things to put them off. Hes become quite good at it; practice makes perfect I suppose. But then there are the times when he seems to genuinely not understand that hes being inappropriate or obnoxious. Those are usually the times when his ego allows him to be completely oblivious. Those are the times that have sparked me to take it upon myself to teach him some etiquette of proper behavior around friends. As I mentioned earlier there are people he genuinely cares about and most people dont know it, but there are people, besides me, who genuinely care about him as well. Sherlock Database Program Computer Code /************************************************************* William Meek 02/15/2014 Engl 1102-028 Ashlyn Williams Description: This program prompts the user to search key words related to the BBC television series Sherlock, and returns information stored in functions about these terms if it exists. If no information relative to the search term exists, the program prompts the user to enter a different term. After searching each term, whether information is found or not, the program offers the user the opportunity to search for a new term or terminate the program. **************************************************************/

#include <iostream>

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One #include <string> #include <stdlib.h> #include <windows.h>

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using namespace std;

void startScreen ();

//First screen displayed when opening program //Prompts user for category type and calls appropriate function for

void runSearch(string); search type void actors(); void artifacts(); void discourse(); void litPracts();

//Function which stores and displays data about actors //Function which stores and displays data about artifacts //Function which stores and displays data about discourse communities //Function which stores and displays data about literacy practices

int main() { string category;

startScreen(); while (category != "end"){ cout << "Which aspect of the figured world \"Sherlock\" would you like to research?" << endl; cout << "Enter \"actor\" \"artifact\" \"discourse community\" or \"literacy practice\" "; cout << "to search a category for information or enter \"end\" to close the program... " << endl; getline(cin, category); runSearch(category); }

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One return 0; }

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//First screen seen when initially opening program void startScreen() { cout << "\n WELCOME! " << endl << endl;

cout << "***************************************************************************** ***" << endl; cout << "* **************************************************************************** *" << endl; cout << "* * *" << endl; cout << "* * **** WILLIAM MEEK'S SHERLOCK DATABASE **** (SEASON 1: EP.I-II) * *" << endl; *

cout << "* **************************************************************************** *" << endl; cout << "***************************************************************************** ***" << endl << endl; }

//Calls appropriate function for category selected in current search void runSearch(string category) { if (category == "actor") { actors(); } else if (category == "artifact")

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One { artifacts(); } else if (category == "discourse community") { discourse(); } else if (category == "literacy practice") { litPracts(); } }

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//Function which stores data about each of the actors void actors() { int actor;

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; cout << "\nEnter the number associated with the actor\n" << "listed below which you wish to know more about:\n" << "1) Sherlock Holmes\n2) Dr. John Watson\n3) Sgt. Sally Donovan\n4) D.I. Lestrade\n" << "5) Anderson\n6) Soo Lin Yao\n7) The Spider\n8) Dr. Sarah Sawyer\n"; cin >> actor; cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n";

//Displays information about a term based on number user entered if (actor == 1)

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One { cout << "\nSherlock Holmes: Self-proclaimed \"consulting detective,\" Sherlock, is " << "extraordinarily gifted in observing and deducting. Sherlock can't resist showing " << "off his superior intellectual abilities and is often resented for it. He considers " << "himself to be of higher status relative to the rest of the world and gives no " << "regard for others' personal sensitivity." ; } else if (actor == 2) {

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cout << "\nDr. John Watson: Dr. Watson is a former British Royal Army field medic. " << "He craves adventure and danger and this aspect of his personality causes him to " << "find Sherlock and his life of spontaneity and peril irresistible."; } else if (actor == 3) { cout << "\nSgt. Sally Donovan: An officer of the London Police Force who doesn't understand Sherlock and repeatedly calls him \"freak.\""; } else if (actor == 4) { cout << "\nDetective Inspector Lestrade: Lestrade is a detective inspector for the London Police. He often times calls Sherlock during investigations involving especially clever criminals. Lestrade knows involving Sherlock is illegal but cares more about catching the dangerous criminals than his job."; } else if (actor == 5) { cout << "\nAnderson: A forensics specialist who works for the London Police and dislikes Sherlock even more than most of the people who know him."; } else if (actor == 6) { cout << "\nSoo Lin Yao: A former smuggler for the Chinese criminal organization the Black Lotus, Soo Lin is an expert on ancient Chinese antiquities. Five years after leaving the organization, the Black Lotus hunts her down and kills her for her betrayal. Before she is killed,

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One Soo Lin translates the first two words of the gang's cipher which allows Sherlock to catch the gang and the members responsible for hers and several other's deaths."; } else if (actor == 7) {

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cout << "\nThe Spider: The name of a deadly assassin and member of the Black Lotus. The Spider turns out to be Soo Lin Yao's brother and killer. The Spider's daring break-in to the Shad Sanderson bank is what gets Sherlock hired and begins his hunt to bring the organization down."; } else if (actor == 8) { cout << "\nDr. Sarah Sawyer: When John gets tight on money and searches for a job, Sarah becomes his new employer and love interest. Sarah shows quick thinking and bravery on multiply occasions and not only saves both John and Sherlock's lives, but gives them a major clue in solving the Black Lotus' cipher."; } else { cout << "ERROR: INVALID ENTRY!"; }

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; }

//Function which stores and displays data about artifacts void artifacts() { int artifact;

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n";

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One cout << "\nEnter the number associated with the artifact\n" << "listed below which you wish to know more about:\n" << "1) Pills\n2) Taxi\n3) John's cane\n4) John's gun\n5) Victim's phone\n" << "6) Horse crop\n7) John and Sherlock's flat\n8) Crossbow\n9) Teapots\n10) Lotus tattoo\n"; cin >> artifact;

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cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n";

//Displays information about a term based on number user entered if (artifact == 1) { cout << "\nPills: The \"weapon\" the serial killer uses to execute his victims. The killer has two identical bottles with two identical pills, one in each bottle, only one pill will cause death and the other will not. The pills are significant to Sherlock because they are the ultimate form of proving superiority, an entire game of chess in one move with one winner and one loser, a temptation which he can not resist." ; } else if (artifact == 2) { cout << "\nTaxi: The urban camouflage the serial killer uses to move about the streets of London undetected. He also uses his knowledge as a cab driver to select the locations he murders his victims. This unique quality is a large part of what makes the killer so dangerous and difficult to detect and sets him apart from a murderer as a clever serial killer."; } else if (artifact == 3) { cout << "\nJohn's cane: John is suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after the war (Afghanistan) and believes he can no longer walk without the use of a cane after he was shot. In reality, his mind is playing tricks on himself and he only believes he needs the cane because he has developed a self-image as a boring man without any action in his life and sees himself as incapable of doing anything anymore."; } else if (artifact == 4) {

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One

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cout << "\nJohn's gun: John keeps a gun in the drawer of his desk because he is just waiting for some thrills to come into his life and secretly hopes he gets the chance to discharge a firearm again in a hostile scenario."; } else if (artifact == 5) { cout << "\nVictim's phone: The woman in pink's phone is what allows Sherlock and John to catch the serial killer, after they deduce that the message she scratched into the floor during her last breaths was the phone's password."; } else if (artifact == 6) { cout << "\nHorse crop: Sherlock could have beaten the stiff in the beginning of the episode with practically anything, but he chose to do so with a horse crop. It displays his character as someone with class but in an odd sort of fashion."; } else if (artifact == 7) { cout << "\nJohn and Sherlock's flat: The place John and Sherlock call home. Sherlock keeps it a mess with all of his assorted experiments and compiled research for the cases he solves. John helps Sherlock organize the flat from a place to sleep into a place in which one can live."; } else if (artifact == 8) { cout << "\nCrossbow: The Black Lotus, a Chinese criminal organization uses an antique artistic Chinese crossbow in one of their circus acts and to kill some of their victims. This elaborate killing method is both ironic and symbolic because the gang's primary source of income is from smuggling Chinese antiquities."; } else if (artifact == 9) { cout << "\nTeapots: These 400 year-old teapots have become Soolins obsession; she has devoted her life to caring for and restoring these important pieces of Chinese culture. This dedication is ironic because she used to be a member of the Black Lotus, a criminal organization which illegally smuggled similar artifacts and symbolizes how Soo Lin has given up her life of crime and wishes to devote her life to a purpose of what is considered morally correct in the figured world."; } else if (artifact == 10)

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One { cout << "\nLotus tattoo: Each of the members of the black lotus, a Chinese criminal organization, are branded with a tattoo of a black lotus on their foot. The tattoos are significant because they are permanent and the Black Lotus does not tolerate its members leaving the organization."; }else { cout << "ERROR: INVALID ENTRY NUMBER!"; }

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cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; }

//Function which stores and displays data about discourse communities void discourse() { int community;

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; cout << "\nEnter the number associated with the discourse community\n" << "listed below which you wish to know more about:\n" << "1) London Police\n2) Consulting detectives\n3) The Black Lotus\n" ; cin >> community; cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n";

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One //Displays information about a term based on number user entered if (community == 1) {

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cout << "\nLondon Police: The members of the London police share two things in common; a devotion to the law, and a particular anguish towards Sherlock Holmes. Even their boss, Detective Inspector Lestrade dislikes Sherlock as a person, yet he can't deny Sherlock's results. Despite the police's irritancies with Sherlock, they allow him to help in their investigations because they recognize his brilliance even though they refuse to admit it out loud. "; } else if (community == 2) { cout << "\nConsulting Detectives: Sherlock Holmes and his associate Dr. John Watson are both addicted to the thrill of chasing criminal masterminds though their purposes are somewhat different. John loves the thrill of catching a criminal and being a hero whereas Sherlock mostly seeks to prove that he's smarter than the evil genius he's chasing."; } else if (community == 3) { cout << "\nThe Black Lotus: A Chinese criminal organization which specializes in smuggling. Most of the Black Lotus' members acquire a dependence on the organization due to a love or necessity for money. They have a branch operating in London where they sell valuable Chinese antiquities on the black market for millions. John and Sherlock gain interest in bringing the organization down after it murders three of its members and leaves Sherlock with a puzzling cipher to solve."; } else { cout << "ERROR: INVALID ENTRY!"; }

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; }

//Function which stores and displays data about literacy practices

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One void litPracts() { int practice;

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cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; cout << "\nEnter the number associated with the literacy practice\n" << "listed below which you wish to know more about:\n" << "1) Traffic signs\n2) Text messages\n3) The note\n4) Hangzhou\n" << "5) London A-Z\n6) E-mail\n" ; cin >> practice; cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n";

//Displays information about a term based on number user entered if (practice == 1) { cout << "\nTraffic signs: Sherlock uses the traffic signs and patterns to map out in his head the destination of a taxi which the killer is driving."; } else if (practice == 2) { cout << "\nText messages: Sherlock sends text messages to the police and reporters during the press conference, primarily to show off that he can. He also uses a text to frighten the serial killer and cause him to make a mistake which leads them closer to finding him. Many of the other characters also use text messages on a frequent basis."; } else if (practice == 3) { cout << "\nThe note: The note the victim in pink scratches into the floor, \"Rache,\" is what allows John, Sherlock, and the police to catch the serial killer.";

Meek, Spring 2014 Assignment One } else if (practice == 4) { cout << "\nHangzhou: An ancient Chinese dialect and numeral system which the Black Lotus uses as part of its secret code."; } else if (practice == 5) {

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cout << "\nLondon A-Z: A book that most tourists and even many residents of London own. It is significant to members of the Black Lotus Chinese criminal organization because it is the book their secret cipher is based upon."; } else if (practice == 6) { cout << "\nE-mail: Most residents of London use email and Sherlock Holmes is no different. One he receives, in particular, leads him to his mission of bringing down the Black Lotus, a Chinese gang who has been conducting smuggling operations in London."; } else { cout << "ERROR: INVALID ENTRY!"; }

cout << "\n\n************************************************************************** ******\n\n"; }