Study Like a Boss
Many critics have noted the complexities within Chaucer’s The House of Fame, in particular, the complexities between the oral and the literary. The differences between these methods are constantly appearing; Chaucer is well aware of rapidly changing communicative practises and contrasts the preservation of utterance with the longevity of literary texts. He achieves this by … Read more
In John Updike’s short story, “A & P,” the main character, Sammy, is a cashier at a small grocery store. He is seen by many to be a sexist pig, describing in detail how he sees the three girls that walk in to the store. Sammy is in fact a sexist pig by what he … Read more
Anger is a very powerful emotion. Anger generates hostility and a loss of control. It can tear into a person’s heart and ruin them. We see this in Norman Mailer’s book The Executioner’s Song. The main character, Gary Gilmore, demonstrates so much anger that his blind rage leads to murder. There are many sources of … Read more
Truths lie inside the inner soul of all human beings, it is just a matter of when and where they will come out. Kurtz choose to let his be known as his passing words. An epiphany, a passing glimpse, the realization of what he has created and destroyed, willingly, or blindly going about hacking through … Read more
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 society has created a standard of living unparalled throughout histort. For Willy Loman, however, mass society has created only tremendous … Read more
In 1726, Jonathan Swift published a book for English readers. Primarily, however, Gulliver’s Travels is a work of satire. “Gulliver is neither a fully developed character nor even an altogether distinguishable persona; rather, he is a satiric device enabling Swift to score satirical points” (Rodino 124). Indeed, whereas the work begins with more specific satire, … Read more
All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque’s protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of … Read more
JD Salinger, also known as Jerome David Salinger, is an American novelist and short story writer. Critics and readers alike recognize Salinger as one of the most popular and influential writers. His only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, drew such great attention during the fifties and sixties that those years have been called the … Read more
Mary Flannery O’Connor is one of the most preeminent and more unique short story authors in American Literature (O’Connor 1). While growing up she lived in the Bible-belt South during the post World War II era of the United States. O’Connor was part of a strict Roman Catholic family, but she depicts her characters as … Read more
In Margaret Atwoods novel, “The Handmaids Tale”, the birth rate in the United States had dropped so low that extremists decided to take matters into their own hands by killing off the government, taking over themselves, and reducing the womens role in society to that of a silent birthing machine. One handmaid describes what happened … Read more
When reviewing Nathaniel Hawthornes Tales, Edgar Allen Poe pronounced that the short story, if skillfully written, should deliver a single preconceived effect- an effect upon which incidents be fashioned to accommodate that effect. Edgar Allen Poe was indeed a skillful writer. His short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a flawless example … Read more
‘Siddhartha’ takes place in India probably around 570-480B. C. or 470-380B. C. There is two possibilities when this story takes place, because the date of the Buddha has two theories. Normally, Siddahartha is the name of Buddha but in this story, Siddahartha and Buddha is a different person. Siddahartha was a Brahmin’s son. He was … Read more
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” tells a story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily’s father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Like her father Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, and she refused to change. … Read more
When Maya Angelou says “I know why the caged bird sings,” I think we ought to believe her, since she managed to write a whole book on the subject. I also think she must have had some important motives for writing the book since it does reveal her life story. But I think telling her … Read more
Daniel Defoe is the founder of the English novel. [Defoe] was one of the germinal minds in political and economical thought, a defender of religious toleration, and an opponent of the evils of human slavery (Moore, 7). Defoe reflects his diverse experiences in many countries and in many lifestyles. Besides being a brilliant journalist and … Read more
20th century writers dealt with many issues and themes throughout their writing. The authors that I have chosen to look at are Updike, Beatti, Rothke and Plath. These authors and their works will each be evaluated by how they deal with the subjects love, death, loss and passing of time. The short story Separating by … Read more
A crucial question in Antigone is, “When someone makes a law that is known by the public to be morally wrong, should the public break his/her law? Or should they collaborate with that person by obeying? Antigone felt that the law (no one was supposed to bury her brother Polyneicies) should be broken so she … Read more
In Fitzgeralds novel, The Great Gatsby, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is transformed from a poor working class boy to a wealthy romantic, all due to his pursuit of ideals. The Ideals that Gatsby strives to achieve are: the acquisition of wealth, re-defining his character in pursuit of perfection, and attaining his ideal romantic love. His … Read more
In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, the mothers and daughters face much adversity and hardships. With each mother and daughter have their own virtues to overcome. In the novel, the first generation mothers are having troubles with their American daughters and their different ways. With the help of their mother, the … Read more
An ancient tale of the dreaded curse. The story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne The House of the Seven Gables is a typical example of this story. The story takes place in a simple time during the Puritan settlement in the New England area. With the Puritans there is the classic case in which a man … Read more
In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the main character, Willy Loman, is a struggling salesman. Toward the end of the play, Willy commits suicide by crashing his car. Willy Loman is a complex character who confuses illusion with reality. In a way, Willy has two personalities in this play. The one … Read more
In the old English epic, Beowulf, a pattern is begun of making monsters out to be outsiders, witnessed through the descriptions, attitudes, and actions of the fiend Grendel and his horrific Mother. In this and many other stories throughout ancient times, the antagonistic monsters have been the focus for the problems within society, causing any … Read more
The play “Death Of A Salesman” , the brainchild of Arthur Miller was transformed and fitted to the movie screen in the year 1986. The play itself is set in the house of Willy Loman, and tells the melancholy story of a salesman whom is in deep financial trouble, and the only remedy for the … Read more
By the end of World War I, many America authors were ready to change their ways and views on writing. Authors were tired of tradition and limitations. One of these writers was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was a participant in the wild parties with bootleg liquor, but he was also a critic of this time. … Read more
Sweet Diamond Dust, written by Rosario Ferre, focuses on modernization and how its impacted the country of Puerto Rico and its people. This book discusses the struggles and hardships of managing sugar mills and the influential changes the Americans brought to Puerto Rico in the early 1900s. The Americans triumph over the local landowners and … Read more
Many authors use irony in their stories. There are different forms of irony, including verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. Irony adds a twist at the end of the story and leaves the readers a little confused. Irony plays a big part in Shirley Jacksons short story, “The Lottery. ” Throughout the story, the reader is … Read more
“The Glass Menagerie” is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family. By description, it is a cramped, dingy place, not unlike a jail cell. It is one of many such apartments in the neighborhood. Of the Wingfield family members, none of them want to live there. Poverty is what traps them in their humble … Read more
Francis Marie Arouet de Voltaire was the French author of the novella Candide, also known as “Optimism”(Durant and Durant 724). Many of Voltaire’s works were popular in Europe during his time, yet it is his satire, Candide, which is still studied today. In Candide, Voltaire sought to point out the fallacy of Gottfried William von … Read more
It is reasonable to wonder what Shakespeare had in mind while writing Hamlet. After all, Shakespeare wasn’t a philosopher or historian, or even a literary critic. He was a playwright. He didn’t leave us critical essays examining his work. It is left to us to examine his work and decide for ourselves, if we care … Read more
Philo, one of Antony’s loyal friend and partner in war, has seen Antony going from one respectable soldier to then abandoning his everything about the empire upon meeting Cleopatra. He is not confident into which category Antony fits into. (5. 1) Many roles are played by Antony; therefore we see different sides of the argument. … Read more
The second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th are sometimes called in England “The Age of Shakespeare”. William Shakespeare’s the greatest English poet and dramatist and an indisputed world figure in literature. Altought his works (37 play, 154 sonnets and two long poems) are well knwnall over the world we … Read more
The Great Gatsby is a novel that is about the rich people of the roaring twenties and in particularly about a man named Gatsby in search of the American dream. The story starts out with the narrator Nick Carraway moving from the west (Chicago) to a New York suburb called West Egg. His is trying … Read more
After reading the novel and watching the movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” the novel proved to be a lot better for learning about World War I. The novel is called the best war novel for a reason. Erich Maria Remarque‘s novel is so powerful you can almost perfectly picture how living in the … Read more
Many symbols are incorporated into the play “Death of a Sales man” and they in turn relate to both character and theme. The hose, tape recorder and th e seeds are some of these symbols. The hose in Miller’s drama directly relates to the theme of d eath. The hose is a line attached to … Read more
Satire is a form of literature, the proclaimed purpose of which is the reform of human weaknesses or vices through laughter or disgust. Satire is different from scolding and sheer abuse, though it is prompted by indignation. Its aim is generally constructive, and need not arise from cynicism or misanthropy. The satirist applies the test … Read more
The Greek drama Oedipus Rex is clearly a tragedy. It definitely meets the five main criteria for a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis. Oedipus Rex clearly meets the first of these five criteria. Oedipus is the son of Laius, who … Read more
Often in satire, writers will use the internal conflict of a character to symbolically criticize the values and morality of society. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses the main character of Huckleberry Finn and the conflict between his personality and social conscience to criticize society. In this clash between his … Read more
Creon was a powerful leader of the city-state of Thebes who was viewed as a tyrant. Whether his qualities were good or bad, the people listened and obeyed him. The qualities of leadership he possessed were very strong and evident. The potential to be a good leader was within his ability, but his hubris stood … Read more
Towards the end of the play, Macbeth reveals himself as a ruthless beast who values his position of King more than anything. But it is hard to imagine that in the beginning Macbeth was manipulated to aim for his throne. This meek and faithful character was persuaded to kill the King and later he became … Read more
In the play, The Taming of the Shrew’, characters contribute greatly to the development of the storyline. As one of the main characters Katherina’s shrewish behaviour adds the comical aspect at the beginning of the play and by the end has been diminished with the help of Petruchio’s taming techniques. Shakespeare uses the difference in … Read more
Animal imagery in Henrick Ibsen’s play, The Doll House is a critical part of the character development of Nora, the wife of Torvald Helmer. The aforementioned play is a three-act play that takes place in the Helmer residence, in “a comfortable room, tastefully but not expensively decorated. ” It’s the holiday season at the residence, … Read more
In Black Matters, Toni Morrison discusses “knowledge” and how it seems to take on a Eurocentric standpoint. The “knowledge” she discusses is the traditional literature that is “unshaped by the four-hundred-year-old presence of the first Africans and then African-Americans in the United States” (Morrison 310). Morrison also addresses the treatment of African Americans in current … Read more
Scott Fitzgerald: The Apprentice Fiction, Fitzgeralds ultimate subject is the character of the American Dream in which, in their respective ways, his principle heroes are all trapped. , can be justified through Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby and his short story Winter Dreams. In both pieces of literature, Fitzgerald explores and comments upon Americans … Read more
In Candide, Voltaire uses many writing techniques which can also be found in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Moliere. The use of the various styles and conventions shows that, despite the passage of centuries and the language differences, certain writing techniques will always be effective. One common literary technique is the author’s use … Read more
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a brilliant story. Faulkner uses great techniques to try to confuse the reader. The story begins at one point; he throws a twist in the middle and brings the reader back to the ending of the story. This is a fantastic story that gives us an insight … Read more
My Papa’s Waltz is by Theodore Rothke it is about a childhood memory written later in his lifetime. Theodore Rothke’s dad was an alcoholic drunk. Theodore Rothke went through a period where he was depressed and mentally unstable. Theodore Rothke was fascinated by the nature of the world; many of his poems were about this … Read more
During the Renaissance, women did not participate in the theatre; hence, men, dressed in drag, played women’s roles. This particular characteristic of Renaissance drama adds many dimensions, erotic and social, to the spectacle on the stage. However, “The primary difficulty in surveying this landscape results from the strong indications that early modern eroticism was fundamentally … Read more
People live with lies every day. Everyone from the President of the United States to the poorest beggar in New York City has told a lie. White lies, gray lies, and plain old dirty fat lies are strewn forth every day like water from a fountain. The only true difference between them is the amount … Read more
Janie is the novel’s hero. The story is told in first person as she narrates the story of her life to her friend Pheoby Watson. This is a story of one woman’s search for love in the world. From the beginning of Janies story under the pear tree, she tries desperately to find who she … Read more
Iago poisons people’s thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. His first victim is Roderigo. Roderigo remarks, “That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse as if the strings were thine. ” [Act I, Scene I, Line 2] Throughout the play, Iago leads Roderigo, professing that “. . . I do hate [the … Read more