Essay

The book called The Color Purple shows many of the topics discussed in class, but for the purpose of this paper I would like to discuss three aspects that are the most concerning and disturbing. The concept of the body, reproduction, and violence shown through the novel are the most prominent and key concerns seen … Read more

The importance of the wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and the ‘three’ sides of Jane The ‘trio’ in Jane In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman makes direct or indirect reference to objects which play a symbolic role within the context of the story and elucidate its thematic fibre, a fibre which revolves around … Read more

Everyone, at some time in life, will experience fear. But, often fantasies are created in one’s mind to escape that fear. Ethan Frome uses his fantasy as an escape to the entrapment of his marriage and the fear of public condemnation. Ethan Frome lives in the winter town of Starkfield, Massachusetts where “the storms of … Read more

The Scarlet Letter, a romance novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in 1850. This book takes place in a Puritan society in which sin is harshly punished. Dimmesdale, a pastor of the Puritan town, has committed a great sin in which he can not say anything, for fear of what would happen to him. Arthur Dimmesdale … Read more

Nella Larsen’s novel, Passing, provides an example of some of the best writing the Harlem Renaissance has to offer. Nella Larsen was one of the most promising young writer’s of her time. Though she only published two novels it is clear that she was one of the most important writers of the Harlem Renaissance movement. … Read more

The subject of mythology deals mainly with the notion of battle, or good versus evil. In this struggle many individuals are singled out for either the evil they cause, or from the good they bring to people. When you mention heroes in mythology, there are two distinct names that a majority of people bring up, … Read more

Poetry is often meant to be smooth, flowing, pleasing to the ear and the mind. To achieve this effect, many poets use different poetic techniques to help convey the meanings of their poetry. In the sonnet, Yet Do I Marvel written by Countee Cullen, many different features of poetry is used. In this essay, I … Read more

Poe is a very complicated author. His literary works are perplexed, disturbing, and even grotesque. His frequent illnesses may have provoked his engrossment in such things. In 1842 Dr. John W. Francis diagnosed Poe with sympathetic heart trouble as well as brain congestion. He also noted Poe’s inability to withstand stimulants such as drugs and … Read more

In John Milton’s Paradise Lost the forces of good vs. evil are major factors throughout the epic. From the beginning of the poem, good vs. evil, or more specifically Heaven vs. Hell and God vs. Satan, become Milton’s focal point and the basis of the story. Milton sets up an opposition between his characters. Satan … Read more

In The Odyssey by Homer, there were many great women that had conflicting personalities and adverse motives, but also they were alike. With these oppositions they helped Odysseus to get back home to Ithaca, whether they wanted to or not. These women from the novel that have opposing qualities, yet help Odysseus get home and … Read more

In reading Ibsens A Dolls House today, a person could find it hard to imagine how daring it seemed when Ibsen wrote it over one hundred years ago. A main subject of this play is the emancipation of women from the restrictions that society and men place on them. When Ibsen wrote this play he … Read more

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” there are numerous aspects of the plot that can be explored. The use of conflict, foreshadowing, and flashbacks throughout the story form the plot along with its characters. The plot’s stages can be traced throughout the story. The start and end of the exposition, climax, and resolution can … Read more

In the New Testament it states that “the wages of sin is death. ” Though the penalty of sin in The Scarlet Letter is not a termination of life, the evil of isolation can be a physically, morally, and socially tortuous event in Puritan society. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, … Read more

Upton Sinclair visited Chicago in November 1904 to do research for the book. Sinclair lived in a neighborhood called Packingtown for seven weeks. While in Packingtown, Sinclair interviewed workers, lawyers, doctors, saloonkeepers, and social workers. The book deals with the greed and ruthless competition that turned America into a brutal country, which Sinclair referred to … Read more

A tragic hero is the protagonist in the play who usually is faced with some opposing force whether internal or external. In order to be a tragic hero, one has to have the following characteristics: (1) be a nobleman, prince, or person of high estate; (2) have a tragic flaw, and a weakness in judgement; … Read more

In Sophocles Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters attitudes change from close minded to open-minded. It is their close minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close … Read more

“Blow from the South. The wind leaves no trail. Throw sand from the East to distract him. Blow, blow, blow. He cannot see. He is blind now. Make him lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down. ” (p. 98) What kind of thoughts go through a reader’s mind when they … Read more

Voltaire’s Candide uses anti-heroism as an object of mockery against the philosophers of the Enlightenment. Candide, the hero of the novel travels around the world where he encounters many difficulties. During his travels, he sticks to the teaching of his tutor, Doctor Pangloss, believing that “everything is for the best” (3). The sheer stupidity of … Read more

I believe that Shakespeare had a very little understanding of women. In this play The Taming of the Shrew the women seem very flat. There is Kate; she is the proverbial “witchy” woman. The butt of jokes men think of while sitting around a campfire discussing their troubles with women, or the woman everyman wants … 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

Theres a famous saying that goes like this: Behind every great man, there is a great woman. However, not all men are great. All men have flaws and women help men get through tough times and problems so they can come to resolutions. In the novels The Man Within, Lord Jim, and The Catcher in … Read more

In one of the greatest works of the Twentieth Century, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many dynamic and round characters which greatly add to the story’s theme. One character, Daisy Fay Buchannon, is made essential by way of her relation to the theme. With her multi-dimensional personality and relation to the … Read more

“On every page Hard Times manifests its identity as a polemical work, a critique of Mid-Victorian industrial society dominated by materialism, acquisitiveness, and ruthlessly competitive capitalist economics” (Lodge 86). The quotation above illustrates the basis for Hard Times. Charles Dickens presents in his novel a specific structure to expose the evils and abuses of the … Read more

In the play Othello, the character of Othello has certain traits which make him seem naive and unsophisticated compared to many other people. This is why Iago, to get his just rewards uses him as a scapegoat. Iago told Roderigo, ” O,sir, content you. I follow him [Othello] to serve my turn upon him “(I, … Read more

An old Cherokee Proverb moralizes that one should have a vision not clouded by fear, and in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman the main characters, Will and Biff, each conceal their dreams with fears of abandonment and betrayal. The play is about a working class family in the 1950’s, and the underlying issues that … Read more

The novel begins with the main character, Pip, encountering a runaway convict. Pip procures supplies for the man from his house. The convict then gets into a fight with another runaway convict and is take back to jail. Pip is soon after invited to the house of Miss Havisham, a rich, eccentric old lady who … Read more

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a materialistic society that has forgotten social interaction with each other. This materialistic society is where Bradbury believed society today is headed. The materialistic society in Fahrenheit 451 created through Bradbury’s cynic views of society. His views of society are over-exaggerated in contrast with today’s events, especially … Read more

Poetry is one of the most ancient and widespread of the arts. Originally fused with music in song, poetry gained independent existence in ancient times-in the Western world, as early as the classical era (6th century to 4th century BC). Where poetry exists apart from music, it has substituted the lost musical rhythms with its … Read more

In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Brutus is a conspirator who portrays a person who favors a republic for Rome. Brutus is an honorable man. Many characters in the play show there reverence for Brutus. Brutus exemplifies his honor in many ways. Brutus is obsequious when he is needed to abet his fellow … Read more

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous work, The Canterbury Tales, he points out many inherent flaws of human nature, all of which still apply today. In the phrase, ‘avarice is the root of all evil’; (Hopper, 343), one can fail to realize the truth in this timeless statement because of its repetition throughout history. Whether applied to … Read more

The character Willy Loman from the play Death of a Salesman has been read throughout the years with distinct interpretations. Many people have given different reasons to what led to Willys tragic fate. One interpretation I took was that Willys instability in his life led to his death. Some point that led in to my … Read more

The Odyssey, by Homer, is a classical piece of Greek literature. Throughout The Odyssey, Homer makes use of many literary techniques in order to give meaning to the poem beyond its significance as a work of historic fiction and help his readers in the comprehension of the story. One of these techniques is the use … Read more

The world depicted In Homers Odyssey and Aeschylus Agamemnon was one quite remote from the modern concept. The society of archaic Greece was one based on communities of local landowners who joined together and accepted the rule of a chief landowner. Under this ruler, or basileus, the large landowners held aristocratic power and formed the … Read more

If one was to examine the three characters, Tom, Ma, and Pa Joad from John Steinback’s The Grapes of Wrath. How would we figure out what astrological signs they were born under, as taken from their actions and attitudes in the novel? What certain qualities do they possess, that make them fit there Zodiac sign? … Read more

In reading the book Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, and watching the by the same title, I discovered several large differences. Primarily, the edited and modified parts were changed to make the movie more interesting. In the book, Marry Shelley described everything in great detail. She included details that may not pertain to novels storyline directly, but … Read more

In examining the four father poems, I chose to talk about “Breakings”, “Black Walnuts”, and “My Papa’s Waltz”. In each of the three poems the speaker reminisces about memories he has with his father that take place when the speaker was young. The three texts discuss the father’s importance in the son’s maturation. In the … Read more

The old man and the sea was written by Ernest Hemingway and was published in 1982, though the original American print had been published in 1952. The title is exactly what the book is about. It is a short story. The story is written in one continuous whole and is written from the view of … Read more

In Margaret Atwoods, The Handmaids Tale, our eyes are open to an oppressive society of which seems to be the near future. Widespread sterility has led to the rich controlling young women of childbearing age, who are called “handmaidens”. The tale is narrated by Kate, also known as “Offred”, her handmaid name. She relates her … Read more

Chryseis and Briseis who were captured during a raid in Troy are awarded as war prizes to Agamemnon and Achilles. Chryseis for Agamemnon and Briseis for Achilles. Chryseis is the daughter of Chryses which prays Apollo to help get back his daughter. Apollo causes a deadly plague in the Achaian camp. Achilles asked Kalchas to … Read more

Steinbeck consistently and woefully points to the fact that the migrants great suffering is caused not by bad weather or mere misfortune but by their fellow human beings. Historical, social, and economic circumstances separate people into rich and poor, landowner and tenant, and the people in the dominant roles struggle viciously to preserve their positions. … 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

When he lifted his head a little, he saw his vaulted brown belly, sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, were waving helplessly before his eyes. Gregor Samsa has gone through … Read more

“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, is the tale of the unstoppable love and care of a grandmother for her grandchild. It tells a story of sheer determination as Phoenix Jackson makes a long journey into town to get medicine for her chronically ill grandson. She strives forward despite frequent obstacles in her way that … Read more

Born in Dublin in the year 1865, William Butler Yeats would go on to become universally recognized by his peers as the greatest poet of this century writing in the English language. This recognition would come as early as 1828, a decade before his death with the publication of arguably his finest volume, The Tower … Read more

The earliest known manuscript of Beowulf is thought to have been written in the tenth century, however, the poem had most likely been told as an oral tradition for centuries before that. In fact, the poem’s events date back to the sixth century. However, because there is only one manuscript of Beowulf still in tact … Read more

Woman is used many times in Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Stephen Dedalus, the main character of the work, is fascinated by woman. This fascination is played upon in many circumstances. First and foremost is the relationship he has with Dante, his aunt. While this relationship is mostly discussed in the … Read more

In “The Jacket” Gary Soto uses symbolism to reflect on the characterization and development of the narrarator. Soto seems to focus mainly on a jacket, which has several meanings throughout the story. The jacket is used as a symbol to portray poverty, the narrarators insecurity, and the narrarator’s form of self-destruction. Since the story uses … Read more

Authors use different types of literary devices such as setting in their works to reveal theme. Setting can be described as the time and place in which an event occurs. It is a major factor in revealing plot and showing character development. The setting in The Grapes of Wrath allows the reader to see the … Read more

Shirley Jacksons, The Lottery, has raised questions in the back of every readers mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. A reflection of ourselves is what we see when looking through the pond of Jacksons mind. The Lottery clearly expressed Jacksons feelings concerning traditional rituals through her story, opened the eyes of its … Read more

The Odyssey is an epic poem written in a series of 24 books. It is one of two epics written over 2500 years ago by the Western European poet, Homer. This epic joins Odysseus 10 years after the Trojan War. The story follows him as he attempts to return to his home in Ithaca where … Read more