Great Gatsby And Jazz Times

In his Jazz Age novel, The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald portrays society as snobs who bask in the wealth of the age. The novel was written in the heart of the Jazz Age and depicts it flawlessly. After World War I, many companies that had been making war supplies returned to creating their … Read more

Character Analysis in The Grapes of Wrath

There are two main characters in The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. Those characters are Tom Joad and Ma Joad. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start actually analyzing them, since thats what a character analysis is for. Ma Joad is the focal point for the entire family. … Read more

Death and darkness in Edgar Allan Poe’s poems

In Edgar Allan Poes poems he writes about death and darkness. Throughout his poems, “The Raven” and “The Bells”, Poe writes of death, darkness, and evil. Many say he writes about this because of his childhood problems. (Slovey p. 15) As you continue to read, it will show how others feel about his writings and … Read more

Method in the Madness

Hamlets Sanity Supported Through His Relation to Ophelia and Edgars Relation to Lear In both Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare incorporates a theme of madness with two characters: one truly mad, and one only acting mad to serve a motive. Themadness of Hamlet is frequently disputed. This paper argues that the contrapuntal character in each … Read more

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde as a Comedy of Manners

While Algernon Moncrieff and his manservant prepared for a visit froi-n his aunt, the formidable Lady Bracknell, their conversation turned to the question of marriage. Observing the servant’s somewhat lax views on the subject, Algernon declared, “Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? … Read more

The 1920s in America and Great Gatsby

The 1920s in America were a decade of great social change. From fashion to politics, forces clashed to produce a very ^Roaring^ decade. Jazz sounds dominated the music industry. It was the age of prohibition, the age of prosperity, and the age of downfall. It was the age of everything, and this can be witnessed … Read more

The Pearl: Prequel

It was a dark and stormy night … no that’s not it. It was a beautiful sunny day … not it either. Could it be uhh… On that rainy day when the sea would not quit, the sky growled and men shuttered in their huts. That’s it !! Well now that I seem to temporarily … Read more

A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible Comparison

The existence of evil in the world is a universal question that is often contemplated. Anthony Burgess and Arthur Miller in their novels A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible address this question of evil. One of these stories is set in the future, and the other in the past confirming the belief that the human … Read more

Case Dismissed – A Jury of Her Peers

Essay Subjects: Homicide, Children. Keywords: Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale, team men, Mr. Henderson, Minnie Foster Wright, Mrs. Peters, county attorney In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is the main character, even though the reader never sees Mrs. Wright. The story begins as Mrs. Hale joins the county attorney, Mr. Henderson; the … Read more

Blackberry Picking – Seamus Heaney

Once the reader can passes up the surface meaning of the poem Blackberry-Picking, by Seamus Heaney, past the emotional switch from sheer joy to utter disappointment, past the childhood memories, the underlying meaning can be quite disturbing. Hidden deep within the happy-go-lucky rifts of childhood is a disturbing tale of greed and murder. Seamus Heaney, … Read more

The Grapes of Wrath – a Novel by John Steinbeck

Young Goodman Brown Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains much symbolism. The symbols take many forms from the setting to the characters. The symbols can be viewed as just part of the story line, but upon further thought they represent many different things. Faith, Browns wife, is a symbol herself. When he says, My … Read more

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Young Goodman Brown Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains much symbolism. The symbols take many forms from the setting to the characters. The symbols can be viewed as just part of the story line, but upon further thought they represent many different things. Faith, Browns wife, is a symbol herself. When he says, My … Read more

A Rose for Emily a Closer Look

William Faulkners A Rose for Emily tells the story of a young woman who is violated by her fathers strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emilys father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Emily was raised in the ante-bellum period before the Civil War. This story takes place … Read more

Invisible Man

One obvious theme that I picked up when I read Invisible Man was the theme of invisibility. I think the theme of invisibility has different meanings to it. One meaning is that invisibility suggests the unwillingness of others to see the individual as a person. The narrator is invisible because people see in him only … Read more

The Phony Holden Caulfield

What does phony mean to you? Do you consider it something that is not what it really seems? Or even something or someone that isn’t normal in all ways or just in some? Phony is one of the words in the English literature that can have an endless amount of interpretations. Can be being phony … Read more

Why Corporal Punishment Is No Longer Justifiable in Discipling Children

In the “Old Days”, corporal punishment was justifiable, because the children were expected to act like little grown ups. The children had to walk in straight lines down the halls, use proper table manners, et cetra, in order to avoid being beaten. Grown ups had little respect for the children, making them do slave labor … Read more

Reviving Ophelia

Adolescent girls growing up in today’s society endure many more hardships than in previous years. Adolescence is no longer a time of endless sunny days spent on the back porch with a glass of country time lemonade and a smile extending ear to ear. Adolescence for girls is now generalized as a dark and depressing … Read more

Helen Keller

Helen Keller was an American author who lived to educate and inspire others to become the most unique author of her time. She was a gifted woman who had exceptional writing abilities. She utilized simplistic style to correspond with all varieties of people. She wrote to inspire people and to help disabled people achieve their … Read more

The Odyssey and the Iliad

In our day and age, people strive for independence and a sense of authority. However, at many times this is more easily said than done. Whether it be God, or in the eyes of the Achaeans and Trojans, the immortals, lives and actions are commonly defined by a higher being. Which leads to Homer’s epic … Read more

The main theme for Antigone

The main theme for Antigone is that people sometimes have to learn the hard way from their mistakes. This theme is expressed in the final four lines of the play. They read, There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And … Read more

Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein

In Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein, the powerful creature represents the physical manifestation of the ugliness and selfishness of Victor’s desires as well as being the solution for his need to escape from the elements that threaten his way of life. Victor chose to embark on the arduous task of creating what he perceived as perfection. To … Read more

Beowulf (Christianity vs. Paganism)

In the story of Beowulf, there is a noticeable struggle between Christianity and Paganism, and the characters personal battle between the two. Throughout the story the characters display actions that lead towards Paganism and Christianity. Contrary to Pagan belief Beowulf is seen as the epitome of good and beneficent to all of mankind. In Beowulf, … Read more

The Fall of the House of Usher: Imagery and Parallelism

In his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allen Poe presents his reader with an intricately suspenseful plot filled with a foreboding sense of destruction. Poe uses several literary devices, among the most prevalent, however are his morbid imagery and eerie parallelism. Hidden in the malady of the main character are … Read more

The Fall Of Willy Loman

Willy Loman was a man who gradually destroyed himself with false hopes and beliefs. Throughout his entire life Willy believed that he would die a rich and successful man. It was inevitable for him to come crumbling down after years of disillusions. We can look at Willy’s life by examining some of his character traits … Read more

A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner

A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner, begins and ends with the death of Miss Emily Grierson, the main character of the story. In the story William Faulkner uses characterization to reveal the character of Miss Emily. Faulkner divided the story into five sections, the first and last section having to do with the present, … Read more

Realism in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Realism may be defined as an attempt to reproduce the surface appearance of the life of normal people in everyday situations (Kennedy 1410). Basically realism is a situation that normal people can relate to based on their own experiences. Realism is extremely prevalent in the play Death of a Salesman. The characters in the play … Read more

Ibsen: Historical Analysis of A Doll’s House

To view a work of art separately from its environment, ignoring the context, will often undermine important aspects of the work. However, embracing the context will allow one to appreciate the full scope and depth of the piece. In order to fully absorb and understand it, one must consider factors in the artists life and … Read more

Death Of Salesman By Miller Description

Death is such a contradicting situation. It is always a sad event, but in some perspectives it may or may not be a joyous event. Not to say that death should be celebrated, just to point out that life may have been a more dramatic experience. For my first novel in G. T. I read … Read more

Fahrenheit 451 compared to the movie The Power of One

So it was the hand that started it all His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms His hands were ravenous. Montag had just stolen a book. It was something that he believed had to be done in order to change the world and make it better. His idea had started … Read more

Comparion Between: A Doll’s House and Crime and Punishment

There are many links between Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Isben. Each character goes through many ironic situations. Throughout both of the works all three types of irony are used. In this essay irony is going to be used to link the two works together. Dramatic, situational, and … Read more

Jane Eyre – Fire and Water

In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte recounts the story of Jane and her lovers, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers. Critics such as Adrienne Rich and Eric Solomon argue that Jane Eyre has to choose between the “temptation” of following the rule of passion by marrying Rochester, or of living a life of complete … Read more

Of Mice and Men Reflective Response

This is a question who everyone has asked themselves personally in many different forms, from the beginning of time to now. I think this question reflects on the story by Lennie and George working so hard to get where they want to be. If they thought that there was absolutely no purpose for what theyre … Read more

Repeat After Me – The Taming Of The Shrew

As she screams at her father Katherine says “What will you not suffer me? Nay now I see She is your treasure, she must have a husband; I must dance barefoot on her wedding day, And for your love to her lead apes in hell” (Shakespeare 35). Katherine knows that her father favors Bianca because … Read more

Heaven and Hell Divided in C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce

C. S. Lewis is known throughout the world for his ability to tuck theology into fantasy. He’s the author of many books such as the Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity. One of his less popular books, but one that he considered among his favorites, was The Great Divorce. The title refers … Read more

Hamlet and J. Alfred Prufrock

Hamlet and J Alfred Prufrock have three major things in common; question and rationalize theirs situations as well as procrastinate. In this essay, I will explain how they both handle their situations through quotes and how a life of doing so has affected them. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, questioning, procrastination and rationalization define Hamlet’s character. Hamlet … Read more

Themes of The Good Earth Pearl Buck Good Earth

The theme of this novel is not a complicated one. The author is trying to show how a family can rise from poverty to a position of wealth. However, the rise in itself is not the crucial element; the background against which this rise takes place is more important. Wang Lung lives in an era … Read more

Canterbury Tales

Are there many ways that themes and symbols can be shown in stories? Geoffrey Chaucer uses many different themes, symbols and styles in writing all of tales in The Canterbury Tales. By using these things, Geoffrey utilizes several specific symbols to illustrate various central themes. The characters in the tales make the same mistakes that … Read more

Hamlet Feelings

Everyone contains a tinge of Hamlet in his feelings, wants, and worries, and proudly so, for Hamlet is not like the other tragic heroes of his period. He stands apart from other Shakespeare’s heroes in his today much discussed innocence. Is this supposed tragic hero maybe an ideal hero – one without the tragic flaw, … Read more

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

It is evident that the themes in Frankenstein are by no accident. I will take a philosophical look at three themes that interest and stand out most to me. Death, as we know it, is inevitable. Mary Shelley incorporates death into her piece in a way that I havent seen before. It takes a role … Read more

The Foil Of An Investigation

In the early 1900’s Susan Glaspell wrote many works. Two of her works stand out as true feminist tells, including the play Trifles and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. Trifles was written in 1920, while “A Jury of Her Peers” was written the following year. Trifles was written in only ten days. … Read more

Beowulf: Monsters as the focus of the problems in one’s society

In many stories throughout ancient times, Monsters have been the focus of the problems in one’s society. These creatures of the dark have always posed a certain threat to society. Further monsters have been connected to features that are subhuman or primitive animal like features. Beowulf, who’s author is unknown, is an epic poem which … Read more

Macbeth – The Importance Of Night

When I thought about the role that the word “night” would play in the tragic play “Macbeth,” I found that there were a variety of possibilities. Immediately, I thought of the nighttime as a period of rest and revitalization. I expected that this would allow characters to recover from the day’s many demands. Secondly, I … Read more

Prologue to the Pardoner’s tale

Throughout literature, relationships can often be found between the author of a story and the story that he writes. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s frame story, Canterbury Tales, many of the characters make this idea evident with the tales that they tell. A distinct relationship can be made between the character of the Pardoner and Through the … Read more

Distillation of Antigone by Maurice Sagoff

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

Problems in The Catcher in the Rye

It is a worldwide known concept that communication among different people is a necessity of one’s life if it is to be a happy one. Human companionship is something everyone will do anything for. Yet, some people have difficulties in communicating with others especially when they see problems among the people they try to communicate … Read more

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Show how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own natures in order to kill Duncan. Each character in Macbeth has to either fight or give in to the evil. Because evil is contrary to human nature, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own conscience in order to murder Duncan. … Read more

Grendel and Frankenstein

This reflects how both Grendel and Frankenstein must have felt during their lonely lives. Seeking friends, the fiends found enemies; seeking hope, they found hate(Neilson back page). The monsters simply want to live as the rest of us live. But, in our prejudice of their kind, we banish them from our elite society. Who gave … Read more

Religion In Beowulf

There are many biblical references in Beowulf stick out like a shore thumb. Besides the use of the biblical figure of Cain being used to compare him to Grendel, there are many others. Some of which are the more notable ones is the mentioning of the worldwide flood and the Christian idea of sharing treasure, … Read more