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Nathaniel Hawthorne, a master of American fiction, often utilizes dreams within the annals of his writings to penetrate, explore and express his perceptions of the complex moral and spiritual conflicts that plague mankind. His clever, yet crucial purpose for using dreams is to represent, through symbolism, the human divergence conflict manifested in the souls of … Read more

The presentation of the black characters in To kill a Mockingbird’ is an important role of the text. In To Kill a Mockingbird’ Harper Lee shows the black community as an honest, kind group of people, with very positive attitudes. Lula is the only black character in the novel with a negative attitude, her attitude … Read more

There are two ways to talk about setting in The Scarlet Letter. One way is to look at the meaning or emotional overtones of specific places. A second and broader way is to examine the whole Puritan world in which Hawthorne has set his novel. Not just the time and place, Boston in the 1640s, … Read more

William Shakespeare created Prince Hamlet of Denmark to be the epitome of the moral man in the play Hamlet. This flawless morality can be envisioned to act both jointly and independently as a perfection and imperfection of the Princes character. This dually unblemished and tainted trait of Hamlets is revealed to the reader through the … Read more

William Shakespeare used his remarkable talent to delight his audiences for over 400 years. Of his many splendid plays, perhaps none is more popular than “Romeo and Juliet”, the timeless tale of a pair of star- crossed lovers and their family strife. There have been many movie adaptations of this world’s most tragic love affair, … Read more

Well anywise Willy Loman was played by Dustin Hoffman and well he did a great job portraying his charter. And he did very well. The move well little slow to the start but after it introduced all the charts and the things starting falling in place then that is when everything came clear. But I … Read more

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. After his graduation from Bowdoin College in Maine, he quickly became a well-known author of literary tales concerning early American life. Between 1825 and 1850, he developed his talent by writing short fiction, and he gained international fame for his fictional novel The Scarlet Letter in … Read more

In the play “Macbeth,” there were many interesting sectionswhich could be concentrated on due to the suspense and the involvement of the supernatural. The use of the supernatural in the witches, the visions, the ghost, and the apparitions is a key element in making the concept of the play work and in making the play … Read more

The stories “Barn Burning” written by William Faulkner and “Pauls Case” written by Willa Cather both have two separate characters with very similar troubles. Each has a uniquely sad narrative. “Barn Burning” is a sad story because it not only shows the classical struggle between the underprivileged and the privileged classes, but also the struggle … Read more

The playwright, Tennessee Williams, allows the main characters in the plays A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie to live miserable lives which they try to deny and later change. The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays. The characters, Blanche from A. S. N. D. and … Read more

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s plays about tragedy. It is about two lovers who commit suicide when their feuding famillies prevent them from being together. The play has many characters, each with its own role in keeping the plot line. Some characters have very little to do with the plot but some have … Read more

These themes are evident in the personality of the main character, usually the hero, of each novel. These themes include loss of a close friendship and great displays of violence. However, one prominent theme in most of the novels is that the hero waits until the moment when he most needed to become a leader. … Read more

Death of a Salesman – Willy Lomans tragedy is due more to his own flawed character than to societies flaws. Advancements in science throughout this century have led to tremendous advancements in industry. Advancements in industry, however, have not always led to advancements in living. For some, society has created mass wealth. For most mass … Read more

In William Shakespeares Hamlet, Hamlets tragic flaw is his procrastination. From the first time Hamlet was acted until now, critics have fought over the reason for Hamlets procrastination. Some say that the cause is due to Sigmund Freuds theory that Hamlet has an “Oedipal Complex,” which is his love for his mother. Others argue that … Read more

The overall tone of the book is much different than that of The Sun Also Rises. The characters in the book are propelled by outside forces, in this case WWI, where the characters in SAR seemed to have no direction. Frederick’s actions are determined by his position until he deserts the army. Floating down the … Read more

In literature, the tragic heroes Oedipus and Othello allow the pride they have to cause their own demise by putting too much emphasis on the lives they have created for themselves. Oedipus, who blinds himself after finding out he has killed his birth father and married his birth mother, refuses to believe he has truly … Read more

Life is fickle and most people will be a victim of circumstance and the times. Some people choose not to let circumstance rule them and, as they say, time waits for no man. Faulkner’s Emily did not have the individual confidence, or maybe self-esteem and self-worth, to believe that she could stand alone and succeed … Read more

Black Like Me is a non-fiction book written by John Howard Griffin about what a black, middle-aged man has to go through every day in the Deep South. To find out what it is like to be a Negro, Griffin changes his skin color to that of a black. During his experiences, Griffin keeps a … Read more

In the two books Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Margaret Laurence’s The Fire Dweller’s, the protagonists are very different in character. However, both of these women lost their identity due to an outside influence. In each of the books we see the nature of the lost identity, the circumstances which led to this lost … Read more

Identifying a person can be a real dilemma. Sometimes it is hard to tell who a person really is because of circumstantial events and factors that other people use to identify a person. Sometimes a person has very little control over how he or she is identified because identity can depend less on whom or … Read more

Legalization of Marijuana (Cannabis) is highly logical in a day where alcohol and tobacco products, (although restricted by age) are available to millions of people every day. Someone has to wonder why there is such controversy about the proposal to legalize marijuana. Cannabis would benefit the economy enabling new jobs in the U. S. The … Read more

John Keegan, the author of The Face of Battle is allowing the reader to view different perspective of history, from the eyes of the soldier. Although by his own account, Keegan acknowledges, I have never been in a battle. And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can … Read more

Al Joad is a fairly skinny guy of medium built who starts out being a cocky, self-conceited character. His only justifiable reason for acting cocky is that his brother, Tom, killed a man and went to jail. Al respects his brother and thinks of him as a man for having killed another man. The fact … Read more

Sin is the main theme in the Scarlet Letter. All of the characters in the book were somehow affected by the main sin, which was adultery. The three main characters were the most widely affected, and their whole lives were molded by the way they dealt with the sin. The sin surrounds, encloses, and strangles … Read more

Throughout his plays and poetry Shakespeare imbeds numerous and diverse themes, many of them relating to love, sexuality, life, death, religion and countless others. In his poem Venus and Adonis Shakespeare tackles the theme of sexuality as a representation of love, and a function of Nature. The characters of Venus and Adonis, often times reminiscent … Read more

I chose to review John Updike’s Review It Was Sad from the October 14th issue of The New Yorker. In the review, Updike examines several works concerning the tragedy of the Titanic. He cites these works, I feel, to support his own opinion about the event, and the different accounts of what really happened. Updike … Read more

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. His father was the owner of a prosperous real estate business. His father, Dr. Hemingway, imparted to Ernest the importance of appearances, especially in public. Dr. Hemingway invented surgical forceps for which he would not accept money. He believed that one should … Read more

Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Toms Cabin, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut in the year of 1811. She was a housewife of six, and wrote articles for magazines for a living. Stowes sister, Isabella Jones Beecher, was furious from the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law, passed as part of the Compromise of … Read more

Everywhere we go there are going to be stereotypes that can affect us in our daily lives. Even stereotypes from years ago are still sometimes present today. For years Caucasian blue-eyed dolls was considered the best and most perfect gift for every little girl. For this time period it was considered perfect but many girls … Read more

Twelve Angry Men is a classic movie depicting how one determined leader can alter an entire crowd. Through dedication, curiosity, and the pursuit for the truth he is able to persuade a group of twelve to second guess even themselves. Within this heterogynous group are a dozen different personalities – some of which were leaders … Read more

A persons attitude is mostly what everyone around him or her will view them as. From this they can tell many things. Whether it is if the person is funny or down to earth or even irresponsible. Many times people change personalities often and they would be classified as being a dynamic type of person. … Read more

After Beowulf had served his people as King of the Geats for fifty years, he goes to battle one last time to fight a horrible dragon who is frightening all of his people. Beowulf is old and tired but he defeats the dragon in order to protect his people. Even in death he wished so … Read more

“My Cousin Is Cheating On Me with My Maid” is something that you would expect to see at the beginning of “The Jerry Springer Show,” not in early American literature. But as I have seen in the movie “Ethan Frome,” it is possible for this situation to occur in colonial America. The main characters, Ethan, … Read more

The Greek tragedy of Oedipus illustrates dramatic irony through Oedipus’ noble birth which is unknown to him and his fall from the throne due to his fate and excessive pride. In regard to his noble birth, Oedipus does not know he is born the son of King Liaus, the king of Thebes. As fate would … Read more

When one examines the similarities between Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and The Giver by Lois Lowry, they may be baffled. They may think that Lowry just did a run off of Huxley’s highly successful masterpiece. The similarities are extraordinary, but so are their differences. Many aspects of these novels are almost identical while … Read more

Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus Tyrannus as it is in Latin, could be what we call today a Freudian work of literature. The Oedipus Trilogy was originally written by Sophocles and is meant to be told in a story-telling fashion. But this Grecian tragedy was revised and translated into English by Paul Roche and put into … Read more

Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood is a novel that tells the journey a woman takes from her teenage years until the present through her own thoughts and recollections. The protagonist, Joan Foster, is plagued by the memories and results of her mother’s mental and emotional abuse. Joan does her best to change her interior and … Read more

In the novel The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne displays his view of sin in an assortment of his characters. Through Hester Prynne, he explains her sin of adultery and how she becomes stronger by it. Reverend Dimmesdale deals with his sin of adultery personally because he does not reveal the sin, which allows him to become … Read more

Robert Frost’s poetry has a confortable and familiar nature at first glance, but this author is known for dealing with human tragedies and fears often in a symbolic manner. He uses poetry to express his reaction to the complexities of life and his acceptance of his burdens. Although his work is rooted in New England … Read more

A Midsummer Nights Dream is a classic fairy tale of lovers and betrayers. This play has been called Shakespeares “happiest comedy” and it most definitely is. It is filled with humor and non-stop action. There are many different qualities in a happy play that are clearly noticeable. For example, love that is for the best … Read more

The Joad family is forced to move to California because of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, which has made it impossible for them to earn a livelihood through farming. Drought and depression has made it impossible for farmers to grow a substantial amount to live on. As inflation rises and wages drop, a gigantic worker migration … Read more

T. S. Eliot was a poet, critic, and an editor. He was a major figure in English poetry, famous for works such as “The Waste Land,” and “The Sacred Wood. ” His critical essays helped to start a movement of literary modernism by stressing tradition, along with objective discipline. Eliot, along with the help of … Read more

In the novel the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s character Roger Chillingworth is supposed to represent the evil in the story. Hawthorne shows Chillingworth to be evil by several means. The physical description of Chillingworth shows him as an evil character. Statements are also made by Hawthorne referring to the inner content of Chillingworth that would lead … Read more

Walt Whitman, a famous American poet, was born on May 31, 1819 in the West Hills of Long Island, New York. His mothers name was Loisia Van Velsor, of Dutch descent. , and amazingly could not read very well, if at all. His dad was an English carpenter who probably could not read his sons … Read more

Films of this era are criticized for lacking substance and making up for this deficit with explosions and special effects. Books command a bit more respect from the general public. Many believe that devising a script is a juvenile form of writing, a shrub to the oak of a novel. Upon reading both the novel … Read more

Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse Now was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness that informs the film throughout. A comparison and contrast can be made between the two. Both have the same themes but entirely different settings. Heart of Darkness takes place on the Congo River in the Heart of Africa while Apocalypse Now is … Read more

Guilt and remorse are emotions that are often experienced by humans in general, and the emotional and physical response to these emotions can be very powerful and misleading. In “the Black Cat”, Edgar Allen Poe spins a wondrously horrific plot that consists of a quilt deranged man driven to persecute the object of his offense. … Read more

Barn Burning by William Faulkner is the tale of a sick, demented man who was also a hero. This seeming contradiction is actually the story of the great lengths this man went to in order to prove his point. Although to the rest of the world he seemed like a lunatic, this had no impact … Read more

Such is the genius and so great is the scope of Shakespeare’s writings that there can be little doubt that a common perception is one of an imaginative mind concocting stories. In fact Shakespeare had many sources and much of his work was based on historical fact. Holinshed chronicled in the sixteenth century, the histories … Read more

The novel The Great Gatsby is a story that takes place in the 1920s. The story tells about Nick Carraway moving to New York and the actions that take place during his time in New York. The two main characters of the story are Nick Carraway who moved to New York and the other main … Read more