Daniel

History has been recorded throughout time in stories, books, poems and other literary works. These writings give historians and readers of the present day valuable insights into the lifestyles, beliefs, society, economics, politics and pagan religion of the time period they originate. Authors are greatly influenced by the beliefs and attitudes of their own society … Read more

Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall. In the end he committed the murder, no one had a knife to his throat forcing him, he did it out of his own free will. However it is very clear that other people influenced him into continuing. These people were mainly the witches and Lady Macbeth. The … Read more

Realization of one’s imminent death can drastically change an individual. Knowing that death is imminent can change the way we look at things, and cause us to confess our sins. In Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main characters experience this trauma. The instant that Jim jumps from the Patna, … Read more

Through contrasting family members and views in “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of ones heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not … Read more

The most important purpose for adopting a Shakespearean play to film is showing the action and the real emotion of the play. I feel the Dicaprio version fulfills this purpose better than the Zeffereli version for the following reasons. Overall it is more entertaining, more attention is paid to action scenes such as the intensity … Read more

Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, assigns certain types of images and descriptive words to Tom, Daisy and Jordan and continues to elaborate on these illustration throughout the first chapter. Nick uses contrasting approaches to arrive at these character sketches; Tom is described by his physical attributes, Daisy through her … Read more

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the aspects of relationships, religion, community, discipline and punishment in the puritan community of 17th century Boston. Relationships between men and women were very constrained and that is what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of everyone in the community. Religion seemed to govern over … Read more

In the story “The Storm”, Kate Chopin plots a situation in which two people surrender to their physical desires. Chopin wrote fiction stories in the late 19th century. She was condemned due to the immorality presented in her work. At her times, woman was considered to be very innocent, and always faithful to her husband. … Read more

England’s greatest poet and playwright was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, the son of a tradesman and Alderman of Stratford, John Shakespeare in 1564. William, the eldest son, and third child (of eight) was baptised on 26th April 1564 and probably educated at Stratford Grammar School, but little is known of his life up to his eighteenth … Read more

How does death affect the behavior of people? Although death affects everyone’s behavior differently, knowledge of one’s imminent death is a main force behind behavioral changes. This knowledge causes emotions that motivate people to act in ways that they normally would not. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” the knowledge of death and its … Read more

In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer starts his prologue with the description of twenty-nine people who are going on a pilgrimage. Each person has a different personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. He purposely makes The Wife of Bath stand out more compared to the other characters. “In the “General Prologue,’ … Read more

Anthony Burgess has been heralded as one of the greatest literary geniuses of the twentieth century. Although Burgess has over thirty works of published literature, his most famous is A Clockwork Orange. Burgesss novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government. The main character, Alex, is an ultra-violent thief who has no problem using … Read more

Living in a society with limited freedom of expression is not, in any case, enjoyable. A Totalitarian society is a good example of such a society, because although it provides control for the people, it can deny them a great deal of freedom to express themselves. The fictional society in George Orwells 1984 also stands … Read more

At the beginning of the book Telemakhos is troubled with the suitors trying to marry his mother. He tries to keep them in line but they are rampant, especially when they’re drunk. They kill Odysseus’s herd for their own feedings and disrespect the house of Odysseus. So Telemakhos is obliged to search for his father … Read more

One of the most important aspects of any gothic novel is setting. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is an innovative and disturbing work that weaves a tale of passion, misery, dread, and remorse. Shelly reveals the story of a man’s thirst for knowledge which leads to a monstrous creation that goes against the laws of nature and … Read more

The image of the green light in the novel Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a significant symbol which reflects Gatsby’s dream and other aspects beyond Gatsby’s longing. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald uses many other images or symbols. At first, it may seem very basic, but when the symbol is closely studied, one may … Read more

Macbeth In Shakespeares lifetime he wrote many plays. Many of them were critically acclaimed and others cast aside. The crowd always wanted to be more thoroughly entertained and Shakespeare always tried to keep up with the peoples needs. In 1605, Shakespeare was being hounded for another work of genius. Hamlet and King Lear had just … Read more

In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jemshed A. Khan claims that Roger Chillingworth poisoned Arthur Dimmesdale with the drug atropine in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Certainly, Chillingworth was “a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science” (Hawthorne 65) and was very knowledgeable about medicinal roots and herbs … Read more

Respect for authority plays an important role in The Iliad. Achilles is a major character in it whose views on authority change throughout the book. In Book One, he seems to have no respect for King Agamemnon. Achilles questions his judgment as well as rebelling against his authority. This is shown best when Achilles says, … Read more

In 1623, the complete works of Shakespeare were published in the First Folio. Within this Folio were the works of Shakespeare categorized by their genre. There were tragedies, histories, comedies, and the final four were romances. Prior to this time, romance was not a widespread genre in anyone’s writings. We can see by means of … Read more

Ethan Frome, the classic novel written by Edith Wharton contains a great amount of symbolism. The symbolism allows the characters to express themselves more clearly to the reader. It brings incidents and personalities together in meaning. The story’s symbolic events is what pulls characters together in time of need. Starkfield Massachusetts is a boring cold … Read more

In this book analysis, about the book The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton I will discuss character and plot development, as well as the setting, the authors style and my opinions about the book. In this part of the analysis I will give some information about the subjects of the book, and about the author. … Read more

It has been said that great works of drama have a universality about them, a timelessness all their own. Many important plays have similarities to one another regardless of the time in which they were written because of this fact. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Harvey Fierstein’s On Tidy Endings are certainly no exception … Read more

The book A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a classic about the love story of a nurse and a war ridden soldier. The story starts as Frederick Henry is serving in the Italian Army. He meets his future love in the hospital that he gets put in for various reasons. I thought … Read more

If this paper were going to be written like Slaughterhouse- Five, there would be two narratives, one personal, one impersonal. The structure would also be similar to Tralfamadorian books and Slaughterhouse- Five. I would present no beginning, no middle, and no end. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “There isn’t any particular relationship between all … Read more

T. S. Eliot once said of Blakes writings, The Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience are the poems of man with a profound interest in human emotions, and a profound knowledge of them. (Grant 507) In these books of poetry and art, written and drawn by William Blake himself, are depictions of the … Read more

Jonathan Swifts, Gullivers Travels satirically relates bodily functions and physical attributes to social issues during Englands powerful rule of Europe. Through out the story we find many relations between bodily features and British and European society. Swift uses this tone of mockery to explain to his reader the importance of many different topics during this … Read more

The narrator (later identified as Huckleberry Finn) begins Chapter One by stating that the reader may know of him from another book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mr. Mark Twain, but it ain’t t no matter if you have not. According to Huck, Twain mostly told the truth, with some stretchers thrown in, though … Read more

In the novel, My Antonia, by Willa Cather, society seems to govern the lives of many people. But for the others, who see past society’s stereotypical values, had enough strength to overcome this and allowed them to achieve their dreams. Throughout the book, everyone seems to be trying to pursue the American Dream. While they … Read more

In the cases of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the ideals of romantic love are very much the same. In both 19th century novels, women’s wants and needs are rather simplified. However, this could also be said for the roles and ideals of the male characters. While it was … Read more

Jonathan Swift is one of the best known satirists in the history of literature. When one reads his works, especially something like Gullivers Travels, it is easy for one to spot the misanthropic themes, which emerge within his characterization. Lamuel Gulliver is an excellent protagonist: a keen observer, and a good representative of his native … Read more

In the book, Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caufield, the main character is a negatively charged person, doesn’t want himself or others around him to grow up, and suffers from depression because of his brothers death. This is obviously Holden’s way of alienating the entire world and delaying the consequences of … Read more

This remarkable book was written by George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, and it is about the lives of farm animals who rebel against humans. The animals live on Manor Farm and are owned by Mr. Jones, who always seems to be drunk. The leader of the animals was an old pig named … Read more

The Iliad is a lengthy poem of some 15,693 lines, divided into 24 books (cantos) and has as its theme the anger (menis) of the Greek hero Achilles, the greatest of the heroes to sail to Troy. In the tenth year of the war, Achilles quarrels with the leader of the expedition, Agamemnon, over a … Read more

Although Emily Elizabeth Dickinson and David Herbert Lawrence lived and wrote during two different times, and in different parts of the world, their poetry contains many similarities. At the time Dickinson was being laid to rest in Massachusetts, Lawrence was born in Nottingham, England. Also, along with the likenesses, they both have many differences. These … Read more

The style and expression of Ernest Hemingway has dazzled readers for over seventy years. He has produced works such as A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, and In Our Time, which are individually inspired by Hemingways attempt to maintain sanity in an insane world. His novels and … Read more

F. Scott Fitzgerald tried to accent the point that money does not breed happiness. Money causes people to become envious, greedy, and jealous. It compels people to show a persona of arrogance and creates a haze of fog in the air of the world around them. They begin to become oblivious of the outside world … Read more

Beowulf, the first piece of Angelo Saxon literature, truly a masterpiece in itself. Beowulf unfortunately has no author, but was translated and re-written by Vinerable Bede. Beowulf was a hero much like the hero’s we have here today. Grendel on the other hand was an evil villain, like the ones in the movies. Samson a … Read more

Written between 1598 and 1600 at the peak of Shakespeare’s skill in writing comedic work, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s wittiest works. In this comedy, Shakespeare’s drama satirizes love and human courtliness between two couples who take very different paths to reach the same goal: making the connection between inward and outward … Read more

Getting Off the Welfare Carousel written by Teresa McCrary, discusses the struggle a single mother in todays world goes through trying to give their children the best they deserve. The article speaks of the stereotypical remarks, toward the women on welfare and the accusations of them so called milking the system. Teresa tells us how … Read more

Pride and Prejudice is a story about two married couples who do not respect each other. Mrs. Bennet business is to get her five daughter’s to marry the most richest man in England. She is willing to take on any obstacles that get in her way. Mr. Bennet is a very outspoken and sardonic person. … Read more

Ernest Hemingway pulled from his past present experiences to develop his own thoughts concerning death, relationships, and lies. He then mixed these ideas, along with a familiar setting, to create a masterpiece. One such masterpiece written early in Hemingway’s career is the short story, “Indian Camp. ” “Indian Camp” was originally published in the collection … Read more

Kafka uses symbolism in his short story, Metamorphosis. He uses this technique to make the reader try and figure out what was going on in his head. He brought out in this story many things about his life, including his father/family, love life, and his future. He used metaphors to show his love for people … Read more

The short story Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery OConnor tells the story of Julian, the main character and his thoughts and feelings toward his mother. Julian is a college graduate who has a fair understating of the world he lives in, and because of this finds difficulty dealing with his mother and her … Read more

In the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a character by the name of Roger Chillingworth had committed the unpardonable sin and he basically killed another character, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Everyone has been in a position where they have had the chance of manipulating or blackmailing someone. Chillingworth did exactly that and ended up … Read more

The term gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late 18th century. It can be a type of story, clothing, music or literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic … Read more

Throughout history, writers and philosophers have expressed their views about how the life of man is ultimately defined in their works. The Greeks have played their part in this quest. One of the great plays of the ancient Greek world that led the way for others was Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. In this play, Sophocles shows … Read more

The Bluest Eye (1970) is the novel that launched Toni Morrison into the spotlight as a talented African-American writer and social critic. Morrison herself says “It would be a mistake to assume that writers are disconnected from social issues” (Leflore). Because Morrison is more willing than most authors to discuss meaning in her books, a … Read more

The critical applications of the famous theory of the Oedipus complex to the tragedy of Hamlet are innumerable. It was Freud himself who, in an essay published in 1905, was the first to try and resolve in psychoanalytical terms the enigma offered by Hamlet’s behavior. According to Freud, the personal crisis undergone by Hamlet awakens … Read more

Many historians, on the other hand, have a different view of the man. For instance, in the 1956 biography Richard the Third, Paul Murray Kendall describes Richard based on contemporary writings and two well-known portraits of the King. Most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence of these portraits that Richard had no noticeable bodily deformity, … Read more