Study Like a Boss
Character, Copyright, Fallacy, Irony, Narrator, Reader, Reason, Rhyme, Simile, 1984, A Raisin in The Sun, Animal Farm, Beowulf, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, George Orwell, Hamlet, Into The Wild, Lord of The Flies, Macbeth, A Modest Proposal, All Quiet on The Western Front, Allegory, Antigone, Between The World and Me.
“And they lived happily ever after.” This picturesque phrase can hardly be described as a typical ending to a Flannery O’Connor work. In a ‘standard’ O’Connor piece, one can expect to find several allusions to religion, sardonic situations, and demented characters. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” exemplifies a perfect example of O’Connor’s … Read more
One character in the love triangle described in the novella “The Ballad of the Sad Caf?,” by Carson McCullers, is unworthy of love. Miss Amelia, a businesswoman with manly characteristics and little compassion, gains joy and happiness from Lymon at first and comes to trust him. Unfortunately, it gradually becomes clear that Lymon is actually … Read more
While The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Good Earth by Pearl Buck vary greatly in basic subject matter, their thematic content and general intent are strikingly similar. Both award-winning literary works in their own right, together they provide a unique insight into the United States in the 1930s, when the glitz and … Read more
In literary history, authors often mirrored the social situation of its time through their works. For this reason, many of the greatest works were seen as representations of some social affairs, wars, political movements and other occurrences of the period of time during which the literary work was written. When it comes to more contemporary … Read more
What if death was painless to bear? What if people never cared whether they lived or died? For protagonist Susie in The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold she struggles with her unexpected and unfortunate murder as she seeks closure and euphoria. King Hamlet in Hamlet by William Shakespeare was also murdered and aspires to move … Read more
Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence lends itself as a work of social criticism against the tyrannous ideals of Old New York society through the experiences of Newland Archer and his torn love between two women. Wharton’s plot, set in the late nineteenth century, depicts the story of a young handsome attorney named Newland … Read more
The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers discusses the life of a 12 year old girl, Frankie, who is transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Frankie feels disconnected from the rest of the world, having lost her mother when she was born, and has a distant father who is barely mentioned. In the novel, she … Read more
Character List Mick Kelly: A young girl who is always in her own world, constantly thinking about music and wanting to go to a different country. She lives in the same house as Singer, and many other characters. She is tall and thin with blonde hair and blue eyes, and dresses like a tomboy. John … Read more
W. E. B. Du Bois, in The Souls of Black Folk, seems to be speaking for a raceless society where the quality of one’s character was the sole basis for being judged. Yet this is not what Du Bois saw in his day and it is not what we see today. The idea of race … Read more
Pumpkin Head is a fictional story written by Joyce Carol Oates. Considerably, the story is all about a recent widow who has felt worthless and lonely due to the premature death of her husband. The story explains how the widow welcomed another man in her house for a drink, and this man ends up abusing … Read more
If it happens that your parents concern themselves so little with the workings of boys’ minds as to christen you Elwyn Brooks White, no doubt you decide as early as possible to identify yourself as E.B. White. If it also happens that you attend Cornell, whose first president was Andrew D. White, then, following a … Read more
Depicting a world where the struggle to survive is elemental, two incisive narratives emerged to describe what life was like during the Dust Bowl. Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Time comprises a non-fiction description of life following actual figures and stories of people who had to live through one of the toughest times in history. … Read more
In a certain Nobel Prize acceptance speech delivered in Stockholm in 1950, William Faulkner famously declines to accept the end of man. Elaborating, Faulkner goes on to promise that “man will not merely endure: he will prevail.” This faith, he insists, has its roots in the human soul, “a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice … Read more
In The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton paints an intimate view of New York culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Wharton does this by masterfully presenting a slice of New York, focusing on a few intricately developed characters in New York’s aristocracy. Of these characters, Newland Archer, through his pursuit of Ellen … Read more
Detective stories have been around for over a century and they can be fictional or based on fact. Edgar Allan Poe was actually one of the first authors to publish a detective story, in fact he has three. The titles of these three stories are: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Mystery of Marie … Read more
A family functions like a grapevine; its coarse green vines intertwine from the dusty dirt that conceals the intricate network of roots to the first cluster of sweet grapes that grow in the hot California sun. Similar to the growth pattern of a grapevine, the assemblage of a family gathers in clusters. Though some grapes … Read more
“Like William Faulkner and Willa Cather, John Steinbeck wrote his best fiction about the region in which he grew up and the people he knew from boyhood…” Paul McCarthy Steinbeck’s novels of the common people and the troubles that beset them have earned him the reputation as one of America’s greatest writers. He has employed … Read more
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck introduces a family rooted in the leadership of men. The journey of hardship they endure, however, disintegrates this patriarchal control, leaving the women, Ma specifically, to take charge. As Pa falls behind, guilt-ridden for his lack of ability to provide for his family, Ma is left to make … Read more
The novel “Chasing Lincoln’s Killer”, by James Swanson, is about the plotting and killing of President Lincoln; the twelve-day manhunt of John Wilkes Booth. Booth is the murderer of The United States 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. It was just the tail end of The Civil War and Lincoln and the North did not see what … Read more
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson divulges aspects of passing by a “mulatto” man that no other novel had confronted before. Though most novels during the time were treated by the author in a straightforward manner, Johnson undoubtedly strays away from that to produce an intricate portrayal of a mixed-race man. … Read more
I believe that, in the book “Ponyboy”, the Socs, socialites or social rich kids from the west, are more of a disgrace and menace to society than the “greasers”, the poorer students from the east. The Socs’ idea of fun is throwing big parties, including beer blasts, and jumping greasers. They drive Mustangs, Corvairs and … Read more
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick that tells the story of Arn, a young Cambodian boy who finds himself caught between two warring factions, changing his life forever. Arn is only eleven when the Khmer Rouge first came through his village of Battambang in 1975. He and his family are forced to leave their home … Read more
Bret Harte’s fiction contributed largely to the development of the Western as a literary genre. One of the earliest authors to fictionalize the American West, he spun humorous yarns depicting the offbeat gamblers, prostitutes, miners, and outright outlaws of 1850s California. These social deviants take central roles in his short stories: “The Luck of Roaring … Read more
Aye and Gomorrah is a short science-fiction written by Samuel R. Delany that dives into the themes of sexuality and social norms. The story highlights the abnormal relationships between two marginalized communities and the struggles they undergo trying to understand their situations. Although the novel was written a while ago, the author and reader can … Read more
Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine suspends time for both the protagonist and the reader, with the escalator serving as a symbol of the productive and consumptive postmodern society. Because of the escalator, the story’s narrator and other contemporary office workers have more time to devote to their work and are thus more productive. And while some … Read more
Love—of one kind or another—is the main motivator of Miller’s characters in this play, and drives the major events of its plot. Catherine’s love for Rodolfo and Eddie’s intense love for Catherine lead to the central problems of the play. But even before this, it is Marco’s love for his family that motivates him to … Read more
Authors often use religious allusions to further the significance of a novel. It is when the reader recognizes and understands these influences that the importance of the novel can be truly understood. In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck utilizes numerous Christian references to further the underlying meaning of his novel. Steinbeck’s use of … Read more
Who doesn’t want to be a good human being? Being good could bring one to happiness, joy, faith, and grace. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, however, reveals a satiric reality in which not many people fully understand the fundamental meaning of being “a good man.” This short story is one … Read more
Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” has been the subject of much critical attention. Many of the novel’s detractors have concentrated their critiques not upon its literary failings, but rather its politics (Zirakzadeh). At the time of the novel’s publication and in the years since, such critics have condemned Steinbeck’s expression of the failings of … Read more
Characters and a Description of each main person in the book Ramon is a boy who earns money by hunting for pearls. Ramon’s father is a great pearl diver who was died forever in a shipwreck. An Indian friend who teaches Ramon how to dive for pearls, Gaspar Ruiz the Sevillano the only survivor of … Read more
In Wise Blood, Flannery O’Conner creates a spiritually empty world in which her characters attempt to live life without morals or religion. Hazel Motes, the protagonist, creates the Church without Christ to escape organized religion all together. In her novel, Flannery O’ Conner explores humanity’s need for spiritual truth and purpose. She uses Hazel Motes, … Read more
Authors often use religious allusions to further the significance of a novel. It is when the reader recognizes and understands these influences that the importance of the novel can be truly understood. In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck utilizes numerous Christian references to further the underlying meaning of his novel. Steinbeck’s use of … Read more
In novels The Catcher in the Rye and The Member of the Wedding, Salinger, and McCullers both invite the reader to experience how the adult world can have an impact on the lives of young people. In particular, the novels describe how their protagonists (Holden Caulfield in Catcher and Frankie in Member) feel oppressed by … Read more
Muscles tensed, nostrils flared, the beautiful feline creature eyes its soon-to-be prey, a harmless antelope drinking from the watering hole. Without a moment of hesitation, the black and orange striped tiger breaks out into a full stride and pounces on its victim, tearing the defenseless antelope to bloody shreds with its razor sharp teeth, and … Read more
Characters and a Description of each main person in the book Ramon is a boy who earns money by hunting for pearls. Ramon’s father is a great pearl diver who was died forever in a shipwreck. An Indian friend who teaches Ramon how to dive for pearls, Gaspar Ruiz the Sevillano the only survivor of … Read more
Reading Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison thoughtfully explores the importance of African Americans in the American literary imagination. Morrison shares her concerns with American language and the American literary imagination being both characteristically white, and questions the impact of this whiteness upon American writers. In chapter 1, entitled Black … Read more
The moon, something we see in the sky every day and every night if the moon could talk it would tell tales older than humanity itself. Since the dawn of man, the moon has always been a mystery to all. The beauty captivates us with her light that shines brightly through the night sky, and … Read more
In novels The Catcher in the Rye and The Member of the Wedding, Salinger, and McCullers both invite the reader to experience how the adult world can have an impact on the lives of young people. In particular, the novels describe how their protagonists (Holden Caulfield in Catcher and Frankie in Member) feel oppressed by … Read more
John Steinbeck’s novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men enable readers to capture a glimpse of the time of the Great Depression in the United States. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family of Oklahoma, accompanied by thousands of other farming families, travels across America to chase a dream that lies … Read more
The 1920s is an era somewhat paradoxically described as an anachronistic one rife with social upheaval. Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House sheds light on this awkward time as she details the life of Godfrey St. Peter, an academic caught between the past and the future, between austerity and materialism, between permanence and transience. As he … Read more
Reading Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison thoughtfully explores the importance of African Americans in the American literary imagination. Morrison shares her concerns with American language and the American literary imagination being both characteristically white, and questions the impact of this whiteness upon American writers. In chapter 1, entitled Black … Read more
