Essay

In the beginning Jack Kerouac lived a wild and exciting life outside the realm of everyday “normal” American life. Though On the Road and The Dharma Bums were Kerouac’s only commercial sucesses, he was a man who changed American literature and pop-culture. Kerouac virtually created a life-style devoted to life, art, literature, music, and poetry. … Read more

I could only understand the meaning of the title of the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers after I gave my first opinion about it to my English professor. The poem has a simple, yet carefully chosen use of language, but the intricate ideas and the message the poem sends to the readers surprised me. … Read more

Harry Stout points out in the lead article, How Preachers Incited Revolution, “it was Protestant clergy who propelled colonists toward independence and who theologically justified war with Britain” (n. pag). According to Cassandra Niemczyk in her article in this issue of Christian History “(the Protestant Clergy) were known as “the Black Regiment” (n. pag). Furthermore, … Read more

For over 2000 years Buddhism has existed as an organized religion. By religion we mean that it has a concept of the profane, the sacred, and approaches to the sacred. It has been established in India, China, Japan and other eastern cultures for almost 2000 years and has gained a strong foothold in North America … Read more

Football and hockey are two sports, which are similar in objective, but very different in their rules and guidelines. In each of these major sports there are rules and guidelines that the players must follow. The topics that will be covered are the weight differences between the players in football and hockey, the use of … Read more

The art of deception many times changes the current conditions or plays a significant role in the end result of literary works. In Othello and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus shows how deception changes the identity of individuals and the outcome of certain events. There is a juxtaposition between the characters of Iago and … Read more

Is it fair to judge someone by their sex? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments were made about a person just by observing their sex. The women was looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society, and little was expected from them. They were discriminated against when they tried … Read more

Every person has his or her own “reality” or truth of their existence. For some it may be nothing they expected while others can just be successful in anything. The true reality is that regardless of what direction is taken in life a person brings the same inner self, motivational levels and attitudes. As followers … Read more

The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, describes a period of time in a young boys life. This boy is repeatedly gets kicked out of schools and he does again in the beginning of the book. He leaves a few days before Christmas vacation starts, before his parents get notice that he has … Read more

Throughput the book “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift, the character Gulliver changes many times. During and after part two and four of the book a noticeable change in Gulliver starts to occur. He himself may not see it but the reader sees it and ones attitude towards Gulliver might change due to Gulliver’s changes. Throughout … Read more

Socialism refers to an ideology and the state of government based on that ideology. Socialists claim to stand for the values of equality, social justice, cooperation, progress, individual freedom, and happiness. They seek to realize these values by the abolition of the private-enterprise economy, also called capitalism, and its replacement by “public ownership,” a system … Read more

Music in the nineties can be simply described as diverse. Diverse meaning that music has been segregated into hundreds of groups. This report will refer in detail to three genres of music: Alternative Country, Rap, Alternative Rock. It will also cover certain aspects indicative of the 90’s. Alternative Country Music In 1990, a band called … Read more

The Catcher In The Rye is a book that should be kept on the shelves of bookstores and public libraries for all time. It is a book that actually relates to the issues and problems that many teens deal with. This book is not a book of advice by any means, but it shows how … Read more

The events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, show an underlying relationship of man’s free will existing within the cosmic order or fate which the Greeks believed guided the universe in a harmonious purpose. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concept of fate and … Read more

In a world full of imitations, the Backstreet Boys are definitely not just another fabricated, bubblegum-pop boy-band, but are a multi-talented group of real musicians. With each Backstreet Boy having his own unique experiences in such areas as: acting, singing, modeling, and playing instruments, it is obvious that it would add flavor to their phenomenal … Read more

Winston Churchill was one of the most influential people in this century. He held many offices, jobs, and positions that greatly affected the life of the British, and the history of the world. In Blenheim Palace at Woodstock on November 30th, 1874, Winston Churchill was born. 1 He grew up as the first child of … Read more

The image of a child hero or trickster is seen in many cultures. This kind of role can tell a lot about how a culture acts and reacts to things. The idea of the child hero in stories written and told before the birth of Christ probably reflect the peoples beliefs that the child is … Read more

The dictionary defines a hero as man/woman who is famed for courage or deeds of prowess. The character in the play Julius Caesar, who best fits this description, is Brutus. Brutus is the hero in this play because he demonstrates certain character traits that would be necessary for a person to be defined as a … Read more

When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals they asked a native Australian (aborigine) what they were called. He replied “kangaroo” meaning “I don’t understand” your question. The explorers thought this was the animal’s name. And that’s how the kangaroo got its name. Description: Kangaroos are marsupial mammals and comprise 47 species within the … Read more

Knowledge is gained only through experience, and experiences only exist in the mind as individual units of thought. This theory of knowledge belonged to David Hume, a Scottish philosopher. Hume was born on April 26, 1711, as his familys second son. His father died when he was an infant and left his mother to care … Read more

Writers often use social criticism in their books to show corruptness or weak points of a group in society. One way of doing this is allegory which is a story in which figures and actions are symbols of general truths. George Orwell is an example of an author who uses allegory to show a social … Read more

Their Eyes Were Watching God provides an enlightening look at the journey of a “complete, complex, undiminished human being”, Janie Crawford. Her story, based on self-exploration, self-empowerment, and self-liberation, details her loss and attainment of her innocence and freedom as she constantly learns and grows from her experiences with gender issues, racism, and life. The … Read more

“Who would win in a fight”… A timeless question. It’s been asked a million different times and in a million different places, from classrooms to barrooms to bathrooms, its the universal question of ultimate boredom and time wasting comtemplation. But at the same time its an encouragement for the mind to dive into the absurd … Read more

Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, was written during a period of dramatic revolution. The failed French Revolution and Industrial Revolution seriously mark the novel with hints of moral and scientific revolution. Through Frankenstein, Shelley sends out a clear message that morally irresponsible scientific development can unleash a monster that can destroy its creator. Upon beginning the creation … Read more

In the Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Stanley Kowalski displays his brutality in many ways. This classical play is about Blanche Duboiss visit to Elysian Fields and her encounters with her sisters brutal and arrogant husband, Stanley Kowalski, and the reveling truth of why Blanche really came. Stanley Kowalski is a very brutal … Read more

The intensively descriptive novel, The Color Purple is about Celie, a woman born in the early 1900’s, unselfishly surviving the social injustices of those times. As the novel unfolds, Celie experiences so much sorrow, that she is forced to grow up quickly and learn to appreciate the little that life has to offer her. As … Read more

Unlike professional basketball and American football, interest in baseball has not been sweeping the globe. Declining participation at the amateur level and protracted labor problems at the professional level have thrust “America’s Pastime” into an era of uncertainty. Despite this current adversity, baseball will always occupy an important place in American culture. This column starts … Read more

The main plot of Battle Cry was about the United States entering World War II on the behalf of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This novel recounts the lives of the soldiers that were in the battles such as Guadalcanal in which most people know as one of the most gruesome battles. The novel shows … Read more

Paganism is an ancient type of religion which has quite an inauspicious reputation today. There are many types of paganism, most date back thousands of years, which include Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, and a few other lesser known and practiced variations. Yet all of these religions are similar and share common beliefs. Wicca is the most … Read more

“Our great cities and our mighty buildings will avail us not if we lack spiritual strength to subdue mere objects to the higher purposes of humanity” (Harnsberger 14), is what Lyndon B. Johnson had to say about materialism. He knew the value of money, and he realized the power and effect of money. Money can … Read more

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegorical story about the Christian religion. It allegorizes the journey of a Christian into “the Celestial City, which represents heaven. Although Pilgrim’s Progress may seem simple and straightforward, there are many deeper meanings throughout the whole story. Bunyan uses the names of his characters to signify whom the … Read more

In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the first person narration is critical in helping the reader to know and understand the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden, in his narration, relates a flashback of a significant period of his life, three days and nights on his own in New York City. Through his … Read more

There were three basic conflicts that caused Antigone and Creon to clash as violently as they did. First, was the conflict of the individual versus the state, in which Antigone represented the individual and Creon the king, the state. The second conflict can be described as following ones conscience and ideals versus following the law … Read more

When Rose of Sharon is first introduced in The Grapes of Wrath, we learn that she is expecting a child from her new husband, Connie Rivers. She is described as a mystical being whose primary concern is the well-being of her child, even at the almost ridiculously early stage of her pregnancy at the start … Read more

In J. D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfields innocence is taken away through a twisted chain of events. The novel opens up with Holden depresses after fluking out of Penecy, the suicide of a classmate, and the death of his brother, Allie. Because if these tragic events, Holden tries to preserve his … Read more

A symbol is defined as something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship , association, convention, or accidental resemblance. In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses the green light, the East and West egg, and T. J Eckleburg to show how the American Dream is present … Read more

Reoccurring Themes and Symbols in Different Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne It is no secret that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is a parable. Hawthorne intended it as such and even gave the story the subtitle “a parable. ” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” however, was not Hawthorne’s only parable. Hawthorne often used symbols and figurative … Read more

In his Poetics, Aristotle defined the term tragedy as a man not preeminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon him not by vice or depravity, but by some error in judgement the change in the heros fortune must not be from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery. … Read more

In Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe builds a dramatic poem around the strengths and weaknesses of a man who under a personalized definition of a hero fails miserably. A hero is someone that humanity models themselves and their actions after, someone who can be revered by the masses as an individual of great morality and … Read more

This poem is quite successful in getting the plot across to the reader. Unfortunatly, that is all he can get across because of his beleif that, “inside every fat book is a skinny book trying to get out. ” Sargoff cannot have character descriptions, themes, or any real detail in his “skinny book” because of … Read more