Essay

Set in Los Angeles in the early 1980’s, this mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. They live in a world shaped by passivity. The place lacks feeling and hope. Three high school buddies, 2 male and 1 female, … Read more

In Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness the Europeans are cut off from civilization, overtaken by greed, exploitation, and material interests from his own kind. Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice. His book has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale – mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack. … Read more

Young Goodman Brown is a moral story that is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of … Read more

Nature is all around us and we are bound by it unpredictable transformations. Robert Frost finds the beauty of nature, yet is quite aware of its fickleness. Nature is a mundane detail that we rarely take time to appreciate and sometimes take for granted its tendency to constantly make the world beautiful. In many of … Read more

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, women of the Ibo tribe are terribly mistreated, and viewed as weak and receive little or no respect outside of their role as a mother. Tradition dictates their role in life. These women are courageous and obedient. These women are nurturers above all and they are anything but … Read more

The first time I read the poem “Annabel Lee”, I thought it was a really nice poem. But, when I read it for the second time, I realized that it was anything but ‘nice’. It was very dark and disturbing, and even had hints of necrophilia (yuuck). Now, this wasn’t the kind of poem that … Read more

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was born on April 13, 1743 and grew up on the family plantation at Shadwell in Albermarle County, Virginia. His father was Peter Jefferson, who, with the aid of thirty slaves, tilled a tobacco and wheat farm of 1,900 acres and like his fathers before him, was … Read more

Ordinary People is the story of both Conrad and Calvin Jarrett. Because the novel focuses on two different people, there are several conflicts throughout the novel that are specific to those individuals. The central question in Conrad’s story is whether he will be able to recover after his suicide attempt. As Dr. Berger points out, … Read more

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins, gives the reader a mixed attitude. She shows the readers how abusive relationships are. In the story John was very demanding toward his wife. At one point of the story his wife makes the comment that she is growing afraid of John. To me John is your typical old … Read more

When Olympic officials decided to give snowboarder Ross Rebagliati his gold medal back, the cheers drowned out the boos. It was a minor scandal involving a minor sport, but it spoke volumes about the world’s shifting relationship with its favorite illicit drug. Marijuana. A decade ago, Rebagliati would have been ostracized regardless of whether cannabis … Read more

Master Harold and the boys is autobiographical as Athol Fugard is Hally and Master Harold in the play. It is about how the typical white person used to treat the blacks in the apartheid era. Athol Fugard was ashamed of how he treated Sam and Willie the black men who worked for his mother. He … Read more

Jane Austen, it appears, seems to be saddened by the decay of England’s aristocratic social order. The study of her main character, Anne Elliot, and her innocent yet intelligent-like persona take her readers further into the core of her foundation of ethics, and the relation of these to the daunting traditions of her immediate family … Read more

In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the minor character of Tiresias is responsible for foreshadowing Oedipus’ fate, developing the theme of blindness, and also illustrating dramatic irony. Tiresias is responsible for further developing the theme of blindness, by using his own physical blindness to reveal to Oedipus his mental blindness. Lastly, Tiresias is ultimately … Read more

Hamlet one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, where the young prince of Denmark must uncover the truth about his fathers death. Hamlet a play that tells the story of a young prince who’s father recently died. Hamlets uncle Claudius marries his mother the queen and takes the throne. As the play is told Hamlet finds out … Read more

I think the central truth that Richler writes about in this novel concerns our right to be happy. In the novel we witness the main characters suffering because of the fear to protect their rights. One of the brightest examples is Melech. On one hand he is presented as a stern and ambitious character who … Read more

The play, Crimes of the Heart, written by Beth Henley, is brilliantly charming, and Henley is completely deserving of her Pulitzer-Prize for this piece. My mother suggested I read this play because she says that I am very much like one of the main characters Lenny Magrath, and she said that I would be able … Read more

The Old Man and the Sea is a heroic tale of mans strength pitted against forces he cannot control. It is a tale about an old Cuban fisherman and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin. Through the use of three prominent themes; friendship, bravery, and Christianity; the Old Man and the Sea strives to … Read more

On September 28, 1998, Chairman of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission Arthur Levitt sounded the call to arms in the financial community. Levitt asked for, immediate and coordinated action to assure credibility and transparency of financial reporting. Levitt’s speech emphasized the importance of clear financial reporting to those gathered at New York University. … Read more

Tragedy has always been a popular theme in stories and plays. For centuries, people have been captivated by morbidly emotional finales, rather than by happy endings. Stories with a sad outcome fascinate us much more than those, ending on a happy note. Many of the best works of literature are considered to be tragedies. Shakespeare … Read more

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, we meet Jane Eyre, who finds her true love to be someone she is not attracted to. Jane is attracted to people who contain the same intellectual capacity as her, and has no regard for those who have only beauty and … Read more

In 1837 critic Robert Southey wrote to Charlotte Bronte, “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure will she have for it, even as an accomplishment and a recreation,” (Gaskell 102). This opinion was not held … Read more

Sisyphus was given a punishment by the gods, to push a rock up a hill, only to have it fall down on him again. Mersault is a person accused of murder who has spent over a year in jail. What both these characters have come to realize is that they are forced to live in … Read more

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome… is the name given to a group of physical and mental birth defects that are the direct result of a woman’s drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a series of mental and physical birth defects that can include mental retardation, growth deficiencies, central nervous system dysfunction, craniofacial abnormalities and behavioral … Read more

“After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain” (332). This last line of the novel gives an understanding of Ernest Hemingway’s style and tone. The overall tone of the book is much different than that of The Sun Also Rises. The characters in the … Read more

In Shakespeare’s tragedy/history/Roman play Antony and Cleopatra, we are told the story of two passionate and power-hungry lovers. In the first two Acts of the play we are introduced to some of the problems and dilemmas facing the couple (such as the fact that they are entwined in an adulterous relationship, and that both of … Read more

William H. Gates Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Microsoft Corporation William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, the leading provider, worldwide, of software for the personal computer. Microsoft had revenues of $8. 6 billion for the fiscal year ending June 1996, and employs more than 20,000 people in 48 … Read more

The Elizabethan play The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular works. One of the possible reasons for this play’s popularity is the way Shakespeare uses the character Hamlet to exemplify the complex workings of the human mind. The approach taken by Shakespeare in Hamlet has generated countless different … Read more

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, shows a whole family and their struggles. The grapes of Wrath is modeled after a biblical reference to the Israelites, gods chosen people. They also left their land, Egypt, and wandered into the desert for many years,searching in vain for a promised land, the land of milk and … Read more

Symbolism runs throughout Death of a Salesman. There are examples in almost every scene. One example that Miller uses often is the stockings which Linda darns and which Willy presents as a gift to Miss Francis. They can be seen as a symbol of Willy’s career, his self-worth, and his ‘product. ‘ At home, his … Read more

Many of us like to think that humanity as a whole is progressing to a better future where we will live united and in peace with one another, a time of a more enlightened society. But there are those among us that do not share these beliefs. In A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, the … Read more

Shakespeare’s tragic hero, Hamlet, and his sanity can arguably be discussed. Many portions of the play supports his loss of control in his actions, while other parts uphold his ability of dramatic art. The issue can be discussed both ways and altogether provide significant support to either theory. There are indications from Hamlet throughout the … Read more

There is a man who is a head of state. He is a very powerful man and is well liked by his subjects. The people love him. Then he is suddenly, inexplicably murdered. Someone is blamed for the murder, but the entire country knows the accused are innocent and are tools used in a cover-up. … Read more

In the story A&P by John Updike, the main character Sammy is portrayed as a typical young male. When the three young females enter the store, he is quickly distracted from his duties. As he watches the young girls move throughout the store, he describes each of their bodies in detail giving away his overwhelming … Read more

Eudora Weltys “A Worn Path” is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who seeks out to find medicine for her sick nephew. This story contains a motif, which is the continuous walking of Phoenix Jackson throughout her journey. … Read more