Study Like a Boss
A protagonist is defined as a leading character in a written piece. The protagonist in a novel sets the story and frequently leads the plot. The protagonists can be analyzed to reveal the moral or meaning of a story. In the following essay, four main characters will be analyzed from E.M. Forester’s A Passage to … 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
In the play Long Days Journey Into Night by Eugene ONeill, the Tyrone family is haunted not by what is present in flesh facing them, but by memories and constant reminders of what has been the downfall of the family for years. ” No it can never be now. But it was once, before you-” … Read more
It is understandable that so many people in our class did not find the last act of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night a satisfying one; there is no tidy ending, no goodbye kisses or murder confessions; none of the charaters leave the stage with flowers in their hands or with smiles on their … Read more
As the fog descends around the Tyrone’s summer home, another fog falls on the family within. This fog is that of substance abuse, in which each of the four main characters of Eugene O’Neill’s play, Long Day’s Journey into Night face by the end of Act IV. Long Day’s Journey into Night is a metaphoric … Read more
It seems to be quite amusing the way that so many people get so bent out of shape about a movie not following a book exactly. That is the beauty of prose, and the wonder of cinema. Why should there be a word for word visualization of something that already exists quite happily? Lolita is … Read more
Nabokov’s Lolita is a book that deals with obsessive lust and bloody violence, the real horrors of which are often masked by the beautiful, clever language of the novel. Indeed, Humbert’s early job as a perfume salesman mimics and evokes this masking and sweetening aspect of language. Sudden, horrible death occurs frequently in Lolita, but … Read more
Imagine for one moment that you are not yourself any longer. Visualize instead that you are a young girl; old enough to know right from wrong yet still young enough to be terrified by the dark shadows in your room. It is a cool autumn night and your parents have opted to attend a party, … Read more
Lolita is one of the most unconventional literary classics of the century. Lolita is a twelve-year-old girl, who is desired by the European intellectual Humbert Humbert. As the narrator of the story, Humbert chronicles his abnormal childhood, adolescent experiences, and an adventure in a booming American as a European tourist and pedophile. But it is … Read more
How did they ever make a movie out of Lolita? The tagline for Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film version of Lolita said it all. Films and books “inspire, but may provoke”. They thrill but sometimes offend. And often the same artwork attracts both acclaim and condemnation. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of media … Read more
Vladimir Nabokov, one of the 20th century’s greatest writers, is a highly aesthetic writer. Most of his work shows an amazing interest in and talent for language. He deceptively uses language in Lolita to mask and make the forbidden divine. Contextually, Lolita may be viewed as a novel about explicit sexual desire. However, it is … Read more
Like Water For Chocolate is a fantasy-type love story by Laura Esquivel. It teaches a lot about family life in Mexico, the country where it took place. The owner of the De la Garza ranch where the family lived was Mama Elena, who raised three daughters on her own because her husband had died. Tita, … Read more
Food equals memory and memory equals immortality. In the recipes we pass down from generation to generation, in the food of our mothers, we reawaken the past, make the present more real, perhaps capture a bit of the future. Food is about history, with handed down recipes such as in Like Water for Chocolate, the … Read more
There are many different definitions of feminism. Some people regard feminism as the idea that women deserve the same amount of respect that men deserve. There are the other schools of feminist thought that hold women superior to men. Yet another believes that the gender roles controlling women are artificially created and not innate knowledge, … Read more
An oppressed soul finds means to escape through the preparation of food in the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, “A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies,” published in 1989, written by Laura Esquivel. The story is set in revolutionary Mexico at the turn of the century. Tita, the young heroine, is … Read more
There are all sorts of novels, English, American, Mexican, ect…, but they all have something that distinguish them from the rest. Mexican novelist tend to write about magic and love. In Laura Esquirel novel Like Water For Chocolate magic is in many peoples opinion a big part of the theme. Tita the main character of … Read more
Romeo and Juliet and The West Side Story , both romantic sagas that unfold into a struggle between love and family tradition and ways. In the two stories a young girl and a young man from different paths find each other and fall in love, and in both, they are forbidden by either family to … Read more
Laura Esquirels, Like Water for Chocolate, is a modern day Romeo and Juliet filled with mouthwatering recipes. It has become a valued part of American literature. The novel became so popular that it was developed into a film, becoming a success in both America and Mexico. Alfonso Arau directs the film. After reading the novel … Read more
In the two novels, Master Harold…and the boys, and Like Water for Chocolate, there are many symbolic similarities. In both books there are acts where individuals strongly oppressed, or discriminated against. Although the individuals are being oppressed for different reasons their emotions are shattered deeply. In Athol Fugard’s book Master Harold and the boys, an … Read more
Does your family have any traditions? Do you eat certain foods for certain holidays? Traditional values and family are important in many cultures, but they seem to play an especially important role to Mexicans (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). One of the most important parts of their culture is food. Much of Mexicans daily routines and traditions … Read more
Les Miserables is a story, a very long story, which has been categorized as a classic. The story is about 1200 pages long. It is an epic saga, which covers about three decades in the early 1800’s of France. The film is about the fugitive, Jean Valjean, following his release from jail after doing nineteen … Read more
Les Miserables known in English as “The Terrible” is a musical portrayal of the French Revolution. It is a musical tragedy, which served as a major powerhouse competitor for Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals in the early eighties and nineties. When first debuting on Broadway in 1987 it traveled a long hard road to compete with … Read more
The world is composed of light and dark. It is of evil and good, concrete and abstract, black and white, planes and curves, stark and subtle. Like the faces of the coin, these opposing forces can never fully merge into the other, yet as separate entities, they make up a singular material which cannot do … Read more
In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo portrays human nature in a neutral state. Humans are born with neither good nor bad instincts, but rather society affects our actions and thoughts. Hugo portrays the neutral state of mind through Jean Valjean and Cosette. The two extremes of good and evil are represented through Thnardier and the bishop. … Read more
In his novel, Les Miserables, author Victor Hugo makes a strong statement about society being the cause for evil in man. Les Miserables is based on a poor man, Jean Valjean, who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving baby. Valjean is sentenced to 20 years for his crime, … Read more
It is precisely of him that I wished to speak. Dispose of me as you please; but help me first to carry him home. I only ask that of you. Upon examination of Les Miserables, it is clearly evident that the elements of Forgiveness, Self Sacrifice, and Courage are only a few of the main … Read more
Jean Valjean spent 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. He made several attempts of escape and never made it but finally released. His imprisonment hinders his chances of refuge for the night as shown at Digne where he is repeatedly refused shelter until he arrives at Monseigneur Myriel’s Jean Valjean spent 19 … Read more
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, written by DH. Lawrence was first published in 1928. The novel follows around the protagonist of the story, Lady Constance Chatterley. The story is about how this woman, who is trapped in a loveless and almost sterile marriage, finds emotional and physical love with the games keeper of her husbands estate. As … Read more
Thomas Hardy’s diary contains an entry that explains how he will show the world something it needs to be shown in a story about a poor, struggling young man who has to deal with ultimate failure (Howe 132). This brief description of a story has turned into Hardy’s phenomenal Jude the Obscure. Jude is emotionally … Read more
In Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, Hardy shows his views on religion and commitment to the Church which were said to have declined in the latter years of his life. (Ingham, xxvii) Throughout the book Hardy displays his feeling that religion is something that people use in order to satisfy themselves by giving their lives’ meaning. … Read more
Its no problem of mine but its a problem I fight, living a life that I cant leave behind. But there’s no sense in telling me, the wisdom of the cruel words that you speak. But that’s the way that it goes and nobody knows, while everyday my confusion grows. –New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle, … Read more
In Fielding’s Joseph Andrews you see a variety of characters. They range from the shallow, vain and proud characters like Lady Booby and Mrs. Slipslop to the innocent, sincere, and virtuous like Joseph and Fanny. The presence of Lady Booby, and all of the people like her that are portrayed in the same selfish and … Read more
Ivanhoe is set in approximately twelfth century England during the time of feudal Europe, the crusades, Richard the Lion Hearted, and Robin Hood. Chivalry is still a major force in England, as is Christianity. The story refers more exactly to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I, when his return from … Read more
In the Pacific there is an island shaped like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephant and birds abound. A young Indian girl lives and waits for her people to return for her, from the land to the east. Karana with her long black … Read more
Chapter I The conditions of this master-slave relationship are that the slave (Linda) is there to do work for her mistress, or master, which is now her sister’ s daughter. Linda is supposed to take care her new owner’s five year old daughter, help plant things, take care of any animals and anything else she … Read more
No one in today’s society can even come close to experiencing the heartache, torment, anguish, and complete misery suffered by women in slavery. Many women endured this agony their entire lives, there only joy they found was through their children and families, who were torn away from them and sold, never to be seen or … Read more
In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, there are many interesting characters, However, I think Claude Frollo is a good one to talk about. In the book Claude is a priest who sees a beautiful girl and thinks unpure thoughts about her. Since he is a priest he feels he has to do something about these … Read more
“Love is a universal language.” This popular quote from many movies and literary works describes the importance of love, and how there are no limits or barriers when dealing with love. Many people cannot even help whether or not they fall in love. There are many types of love and they need not be between … Read more
Everyday, the people of Paris are accustomed to waking to the bells of Notre Dame. Today, the 6th of January, was different though. It is to be a hectic and eventful for the ambassadors of Flanders would arrive to discuss the marriage of the price to Margaret of Flanders. Coincidentally that same day was the … Read more
I. Setting Paris 1482 II. Characters Quasimodo ‑ protagonist. Hideously deformed with a hump on a back, protrusion from his chest, and a large wart covering one eye. Abandoned when he was a chile at Notre Dame. He was adopted by the archdeacon who attempted to make him a scholar even though hes deaf. Archdeacon Claude … Read more
The film uses various techniques to present a particular view of the war against France. What is that interpretation and how does the film convey it? Although the Branagh version of Shakespeare’s Henry V remains very close to the text, with only a few lines left out of the film, the movie portrays a very … Read more
In Henry V, Shakespeare uses Henry to show that a leader must put duty and fairness above friendship. King Henry has been known as a wild misfit, and someone who has no regard for the world around him, as it is shown in Henry IV, Part I, and Henry IV, Part II. He is an … Read more
Shakespeares presentation and portrayal of his female characters in The Merchant of Venice and Henry V follows a typical pattern that is present in all of the Shakespearean plays that I have read so far. When looking closely at the fate of his female characters, this pattern becomes even more evident for it repeats itself … Read more
Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen is a great book about survival in the wild. It follows the time of a boy, Brian Robson, who crash lands in the middle of a Canadian forest. I think Brian would have though of his time in the forest as fulfilling. Maybe not in the middle of the story, but … Read more
The story The Hatchet is about a boy, Brian Robeson and how he gets stranded in northern Canada when the pilot of the plane he is on has a heart attack. He is left without food, water, and shelter. This is the story about how he survived. His dad lived up near the tundra in … Read more
Summary: This book is about a boy named Brian Roberson who gets stuck in the wilderness when his plane crash-lands because the pilot has a heart attack. It all started when Brian’s parents had a divorce. He was sent away on a plane by his mother because it was summertime when his dad had custody. … Read more
In James Baldwin’s 1952 novel “Go Tell It On The Mountain” the characters in the novel each embark on a spiritual journey. Baldwin has dedicated a chapter to each member of the Grimes family, detailing their trails and tribulations, hopes and aspirations, as each one’s quest to get closer to God becomes a battle. I … Read more
Claudius and Gabriel are very similar, as they are very different people. Claudius and Gabriel share the characteristic that both regret what they do. Gabriel doesn’t actually get down on his knees and pray like Claudius does, the reader could tell though, that Gabriel is having some great problems with the way he is. His … Read more
In his play “Ghosts”, Ibsen forces the reader to think about his own ideas and believes, as well as those of society and past ages. Symbolism is one technique repeatedly used to portray the author’s ideas through rain, light, fire, the orphanage, Oswald, and through Engstrand himself. The use of religion is also interesting in … Read more
At the time when Ghosts first appeared, it was considered extremely dangerous and indecent. The themes it contains of inherited illness (siphylis, though this is never directly stated) and hypocrisy were unacceptable to the later nineteenth century audience, even to those who considered themselves liberals and had championed Ibsen’s earlier plays. The story of the … Read more
