Study Like a Boss
Comedy, Courtly Love, Drama, Novel, Poetry, Protagonist, Short Story, Tragedy, 1984, A Raisin in The Sun, Animal Farm, Beowulf, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, George Orwell, Hamlet, Into The Wild, Lord of The Flies, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, A Modest Proposal, All Quiet on The Western Front, Allegory, Antigone, Between The World and Me.
However, behind all the glitz and glam of a world revolving around fine food, attractive women and fast cars, there seems to be nothing more than a bottomless pit of mediocre writing, shallow ideologies and immoral perspectives. So here I am feeling rather shaken and stirred that Bond has quite literally made the double 0, … Read more
Mexican author, Silvia Molina, writes the novel, Gray Skies Tomorrow, a narrative of a young Mexican girl who travels to London to attend Oxford University and her life there within a two-year span. Although not exactly an autobiography, the author writes first-person and describes events in her life as well as fictional events as she … Read more
Fear is one of the strongest emotions experienced by humans, so much so that it plays a drastic role in influencing the actions of men and women. This concept is one that appears frequently throughout Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife, a riveting tale of the many odd occurrences that surround what is assumed to be … Read more
Novelist Ray Bradbury once said, “I used to take my short stories to girls’ homes and read them to them. Can you imagine the reaction reading a short story to a girl instead of pawing her?” (“Ray Bradbury Quotes”). While speaking from a comical perspective, Bradbury understands this: short stories are powerful. They have the … 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
Haruki Murakami, Japanese author of The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, has many characters who all have influential aspects on the protagonist Toru Okada. But one particular character, May Kasahara, is one minor character who has a critical effect on the unfolding of the protagonist throughout his journey. This enigmatic character is unknown and although she … Read more
The historical fiction account of Simon Bolivar’s last seven months, “The General in his Labyrinth” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was praised by the St. Petersburg Times as “the authors most readable book… His words are lush and readers will come away with a sense of Bolivars humid, weary world and its rich odor of … Read more
With the second theater scene of Stephen Crane’s novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, the plot of the selected play is used ironically to provide insight to the hopes and concerns of its audience. Because the theater is a form of escape for Maggie and those of the Bowery tenement specifically, the strife of … Read more
‘The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea’ was written in 1963 by Japanese author Yukio Mishima, known as one of the most controversial yet celebrated writers of Japan. One could argue the novel has many links to Japan’s history, hinting at various aspects of Japan’s WWII surrender. Translated by John Nathan, the novel … Read more
Nathan Englander’s “Free Fruit for Young Widows” is strong story full of morality. In the center of the story is Professor Tendler, who escaped from the concentration camp during the Holocaust to get back to his family home. He finds his babysitter with her family there in his house who were a part of their … Read more
Prozac Nation chronicles a bright 19-year-old woman’s struggle with depression. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wurtzel is an aspiring writer and freshman at Harvard University. With a childhood plagued by divorce and abandonment, Lizzie has a history of depressive episodes and self-confidence issues. The book is set in the 1980s, when mental illness was very much a taboo … Read more
Oppression is a common theme in literature; this is not surprising in light of humanity’s history of vying for power. In literature as in society, are many factors behind oppression – differences in skin color, sex, religion, and family history among them. The one motivation which ties these together is a desire to be in … Read more
Daniel Woodrell creates a protagonist in his novel, Winter’s Bone, who is prideful, resilient and would do anything to preserve her own kin and blood. Woodrell also allows the reader to see her weaknesses, making identification with her character easily done. Ree Dolly faces challenges at a young age that most children her age could … Read more
With its alternately overt and subtle use of symbolism, Nathanael West’s ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’ works on three separate yet interrelated symbolic levels: a simple symbolic level, in which objects, people, and events in a particular scene are representative of one small symptom of the overall weariness experienced by Miss Lonelyhearts; a more detailed symbolic level, in … Read more
The central theme of the short piece Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is the pain of loneliness and undeniable attempts people who are alone make to live their lives vicariously and insidiously through others and the environment around them. Rather than finding company through interaction with others the lonely among us uncover fulfillment by experiencing … Read more
Thomas King’s “Borders”, written in 1993, is a short fiction story showing an indirect characterization about Mother. The story allows the reader to understand the difficulties Mother encounters, of not disclosing the citizenship of the country she belongs to. However, taking the pride, of showcasing the cultural identity as ‘Blackfoot’. Identically overcomes the various difficulties … Read more
Mahasweta Devi is a major literary force in contemporary literature. Born on 14th of January, 1926 in Dhacca, in a privileged middle class Bengali family. She is an extraordinary woman who has written and fought for the marginalized tirelessly for the past six decades. She is culmination of an activist and a writer working for … Read more
The story “Diary of a Madman” written by Lu Xun is a story about a Madman who writes in a journal over a period of time; explaining the people in his town and how obscured they were. When you start to dive into the story the people believe he’s a madman because, he will not … Read more
Louise Erdrich’s novel Love Medicine conveys the state of Native American life in today’s society. Her symbolism stands out to me above all else in the book. While Erdrich uses many symbols and motifs, the most poignant is her water and river imagery and the symbolism behind it. She uses water to symbolize many concepts … Read more
Tadeusz Borowski is an inherently tragic author. His life as a guard in a German concentration camp is something to be pitied at best. While Borowski writes about his horrible experiences as a guard in his collection of short stories This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, he seems to retain a sort of … Read more
Lulu Nanapush Lamartine is a symbolic and admirable Chippewa Woman in Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine. As a Native Woman character, Lulu reclaims and redefines space that is usually taken up by unfair stereotypes by using her shameless beauty and compassionate sexuality. Margaret Galloway argues that Lulu, as one of the most distinctive female characters in … Read more
In Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe, the author tells a story about a boy named Hiram who comes back to Greenwood, Mississippi to visit his Grandfather. When he revisits and goes down memory lane, he discovers that a lot of things have changed since he had lived in the South as a young child. … Read more
The Relation To and the Importance of Henry Dawes, and the Dawes Act, to Green Grass, Running Water Henry Dawes was not culturally enlightened, especially when it came to American Indians. Although as a US Senator, Dawes was very involved in Indian policy, and he penned the historically renowned Dawes Act. The act shaped the … Read more
Throughout Savage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward places considerable emphasis on growth and change within Esch — whether the multiple descriptions of Esch’s pregnant belly, or how she sees herself as a fighter who breaks the stereotypical male-female dynamic by becoming the stronger, more mature party in her affair with Manny. This focus is interesting because … Read more
Throughout Naguib Mahfouz’s 1947 masterpiece Midaq Alley, the alley’s microcosmic nature turns its powerfully crafted characters into living renditions of sin. More specifically, Mahfouz creates characters to represent the Christian church’s Seven Deadly Sins, with almost each and every character fitting perfectly into a respective wedge in the famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch. Some characters … Read more
Fiction has created the opportunity for humanity to explore concepts in an experimental and safe arena. The Anthropocene has seen the adverse consequences of the human species experimentation, which is why it is essential for literature to be allowed the parameters for experimentation. This essay will establish Frank Herbert’s Dune (2010) as a key text … Read more
Throughout Naguib Mahfouz’s 1947 masterpiece Midaq Alley, the alley’s microcosmic nature turns its powerfully crafted characters into living renditions of sin. More specifically, Mahfouz creates characters to represent the Christian church’s Seven Deadly Sins, with almost each and every character fitting perfectly into a respective wedge in the famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch. Some characters … Read more
History is written by the victorious, the dominating nation, the ruling class, and subaltern voices are overpowered and unheard. Jean-Francois Lyotard, in his The Postmodern Condition, critiques the historical master-narrative, the vision of history as a totalizing narrative schema that reflects a singular perspective: “I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives… The narrative function is … Read more
Louise Erdrich’s novel Love Medicine conveys the state of Native American life in today’s society. Her symbolism stands out to me above all else in the book. While Erdrich uses many symbols and motifs, the most poignant is her water and river imagery and the symbolism behind it. She uses water to symbolize many concepts … Read more
Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, Midaq Alley, is a story about a group of people living in an alley in Egypt in the 1940’s. Already, from that description, the reader can see that the women of this tale have a significant disadvantage in equality. Surprisingly enough, the women prove to be very strong, independent, and powerful, despite … Read more
In Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe, the author tells a story about a boy named Hiram who comes back to Greenwood, Mississippi to visit his Grandfather. When he revisits and goes down memory lane, he discovers that a lot of things have changed since he had lived in the South as a young child. … Read more
Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North was first published in 1969, and has come to be regarded as outstanding in its genre. Originally written in Arabic, the book features notable parallels to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which it is considered by many to be a response to. However, Season of Migration to … 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
The life and times of Joyce Carol Oates dynamically impact the short story, “Where You Are Going; Where Have You Been” in which music, myth and mores shape the social text corresponding with the 1960s. The 1965 rock song, “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” lyrically and historically harmonizes in Oates’ short story, “Where are … Read more
At one time, when Lydia and her brother, Nathan, were small, meditating on her mother’s failure at her personal goals sparked a decision in Marilyn that left Lydia wondering for a time “how everything had changed in just one day, how someone she loved so dearly could be there one minute, and the next minute: … Read more
Fiela’s Child is a fiction novel by South African writer Dalene Matthee. The narrative is set in the forests of Knysna, South Africa. This novel follows the story of Fiela Komoetie and her family. Fiela is a black South African, and everyday she work hard to provide for her family, attending to her farm, and … Read more
Peter Abrahams’ Mine Boy illustrates in beautiful and haunting prose the oppression black citizens of South Africa faced in the years preceding apartheid. The country’s white minority imposed its power over black South Africans in several ways, the most significant of which are succinctly listed by Nelson Mandela in his book No Easy Walk to … Read more
From New York to Los Angeles, CA, and all the stops along the way. Are you ready to travel around America, following Percy on his quest? This story takes place everywhere: in the sky, in the sea, underground, and all across America. It takes place in the present, and so you’ll probably recognize a lot … Read more
Cthulhu is a monstrous entity created by H.P. Lovecraft, his creation was first introduced in his short story, “The Call of Cthulhu”, published in American pulp magazine, Weird Tales in 1928. Considered a Great Old One of great power that lies in a slumber mimicking the characteristics of death deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, hidden … Read more
Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady presents the reader with a novel that uses literary form in an attempt to frame the life of its female protagonist; the very title – ‘Portrait’ – expresses a double meaning, referring both to the representation of someone’s interior character and also a painting, drawing or engraving of … Read more
“And what stood in their way? Their personalities and pasts, their ignorance and fear, timidity, squeamishness, lack of entitlement or experience or easy manners, then the tail end of a religious prohibition, their Englishness and class, and history itself” (McEwan 119). Throughout the novel On Chesil Beach, author Ian McEwan builds an exploration that considers … Read more
A Fiend in Disguise in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie, a 15 year old in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a prideful and churlish girl who has a habit of belittling others and boasting about her good looks. At first, the … Read more
In his book Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell follows sixteen-year-old Ree Dolly in her struggle to help her family survive in the bleak Ozarks. The protagonist must constantly maintain a crucial balance between caring for her mentally incapacitated mother and younger siblings while hunting the hardscrabble hills surrounding her dilapidated home for her jailbird father who … Read more
In the book “Highly Illogical Behavior” by John Whaley, some of the central conflicts the characters faced were mental illness, one’s questionable plan and love triangle. It all starts out with a teenage boy named Solomon Reed, who suffers from agoraphobia, the fear of any type of predicaments, due to an unfortunate event that happened … Read more
Marxist Criticism of The Watsons Go to Birmingham Christopher Paul Curtis certainly makes a point to address class in his telling of the Watsons’ story, but beyond this, The Watsons Go to Birmingham carries more direct allusions to specifically Marxism. The novel chronicles a snapshot in the lives of the Watson family in Flint, Michigan … Read more
It’s impossible to determine all the complexity of a character just based on first impressions. This is especially true for the character Kolya in David Benioff’s novel City of Thieves. On the surface, Kolya appears to be a fearless, comedic, womanizer who is careless and on the verge of being annoying. This becomes a conflict … 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
Truman Capote wrote the novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s without a rhyme or a reason. He used real life characters possessing different names. It is stated that the narrator just might have been Truman himself during his early years in New York. It is clear that Mr. Capote does not believe in traditional values. He himself … Read more
Cormac McCarthy’s setting in Blood Meridian is a landscape of endless and diverse beauty. McCarthy highlights the surprising beauty of combinations of scrubby plants, jagged rock, and the fused auburn and crimson colors of the fiery wasteland that frame this nightmarish novel. Various descriptions, from the desolate to the scenic, feature McCarthy’s highly wrought, lyrical … Read more
Since the very rudiment of mankind humans have dreamed… Dreamed of understanding nature’s phenomena, dreamed of finding out the secrets of the infinite universe and dreamed of perception of their own place in its vast continuity. These dreams, passed orally through the lips of generations eventually took form of what we now call a myth. … Read more
