Study Like a Boss
Many science fiction stories feature aliens, especially the interaction between humans and the extraterrestrials. These interactions from range from one-on-one encounters to merely experiencing the aliens’ culture from afar. No matter the nature of said encounter, the human nearly always leaves changed in some way. Usually this change occurs in how the human perceives the … Read more
One of the giants of Gothic Literature, Edgar Allan Poe set the standard not only for the genres creepy plot and characters, but also for what it means to be Goth Depicted in portraits dressed in black, with haunted, sunken eyes, Poe’s bad boy behavior, excessive drinking, vicious feuding with other writers, and harsh criticism … Read more
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a movie infamous for its depiction of various types of drug use, particularly concerning Psychedelics. The plot is driven by journalist Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr. Gonzo on their drug fueled trip to cover stories in Las Vegas. The film depicts … Read more
After the events of the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men headed back home to Ithaca. En route, they unknowingly stopped at the island of the Cyclopes to gather supplies for their long journey home. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the island were not very friendly – particularly one Cyclops named Polyphemus. In an attempt to … Read more
The short stories of Ernest Hemingway are particularly renowned for their ambiguity and brevity, and the collection of short stories titled In Our Time contains many of these powerfully minimalistic stories. One character that appears in two separate stories is Dr. Adams, the father of Nick Adams, who is the main character in many of … Read more
Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, which follows Rasselas and his companions as they search for the choice of life that generates the most happiness, influenced Johnson’s generation so profoundly that the period from 1750 to 1784 has been dubbed the “Age of Johnson.” Along with Johnson’s philosophical ruminations pondered in the … Read more
Through the many tales of heroic deeds that have been told over the centuries, a picture has been painted as to the appearance and interpretation of the archetypical character of the hero. This character has been portrayed as a masculine figure who conquers all monsters and challenges in his path through strength, will, and determination, … Read more
In order for a successful society and government, true emotions and feelings must be expressed at the essential times. Manipulation is constantly used worldwide in areas such as advertisements to movies. They act as unfair persuaders to make a certain decision or feel a certain way. However, without manipulation, to be able to convey certain … Read more
One’s life is shaped and modified as we grow through the relationships one makes, however little, even daily encounters can drastically change the course of life as a whole. In the blink of an eye, something happens, or rather someone happens to arrive by chance when we least expect it, and we are set on … Read more
In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, characters develop and change considerably; in particular, the character of Mr. Rochester demonstrates this clear character development. Mr. Rochester initially appears to be a profoundly unlikable person, one who acts with disregard towards others and follows a moral code that serves his best interests. He blatantly uses … Read more
<blockquote>“Regardless of what we might think of our gender, we can only live that gender through the body we have.”</blockquote> Throughout Sharon Pollock’s play Blood Relations, the plotline focuses on the life of Lizzie Borden and her day-to-day experience as a woman who does not conform to feminine expectations. The play is set in the … Read more
Lonely mansions, ghostly apparitions, and magic are some of the elements that create the atmosphere in Gothic stories. In his novel Wieland, Charles Brockden Brown uses most of these to create an aura of mystery and suspense. Brown once said that the Gothic novel was a literary form that could “engage, and transport, and chain … Read more
Happiness can be defined in many different ways and is based on perception. In the eyes of every individual, the pursuit of happiness has a greater meaning where many of the characters try to find it in their own manner. People disguise their own happiness as an escape from reality and for a major part … Read more
One concept from this week’s reading I found interesting was Balanced Reciprocity, or the exchange of something with the expectation that you will receive something in return. There are three stages of Balanced Reciprocity: giving, receiving, and reciprocating. I found this particular topic interesting because of how prominent it is in our society. There are … Read more
As its title suggests, “M. Butterfly” is essentially a play about metamorphosis. It is, firstly, the metamorphosis of Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera “Madame Butterfly” into a modern-day geopolitical argument for cultural understanding. Author David Henry Hwang shows, through a highly implausible love affair between a French diplomat and the male Chinese opera singer he believes … Read more
Many scholars have scrutinized the idea of going “beyond Black and White” in relation to the construction of the Asian American identity. Many arguments have been put forward to explain the possible factors that eventually lead to the perpetuation of the “model minority myth” and the “perpetual foreigner syndrome,” as Frank Wu puts it. This … Read more
The Greek rationalists’ search for the meaning of life through rational thought instead of the traditional legends marked the first radical shift from mythos to logos. While there was no clean break with either traditional religion or belief in the supernatural, Greek thought as a whole during the 7th- through 5th-centuries increasingly trended towards a … Read more
The Ender’s Game, written by Orson Scott Card, presents a futuristic setting where the government selectively chooses, controls and trains young prodigies to win the endless battles against the “buggers” or aliens. Ender, the main character of this novel, is a six-year-old prodigy who lives with two siblings, Peter and Valentine who both underwent government … Read more
Introduction Giovanni Boccaccio’s medieval masterpiece “The Decameron” is a collection of stories, chronicled over ten days, which highlights the best and worst of human nature. Boccaccio’s tales deal with themes such as adultery, love, premarital sex, devotion, trickery, and manipulation, among others. Yet this work is historically significant as a result of its brutal and … Read more
Music is a prevalent motif in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, appearing during times of loss and confusion as a reminder of the past. The vignettes all share a common thread, in that music reveals how one must acknowledge the past and learn from it in order to mature and gain wisdom. Music is … Read more
This is my book summary of The Lessons of History past by Will and Ariel Durant. My notes are informal and contain my own thoughts. This summary includes key lessons and important passages from the book. History is the most reliable path to understanding the present and antedating the problems of the future. The aim … Read more
In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening Edna uses painting to mature and awaken. She has always loved painting, however, she has always been unconfident about her skill in painting. As time went on she became more confident with her skills which that helped Edna grow confidence in herself and also her sexuality as a woman. … Read more
When Lady Olivia first beseeches Viola, a girl disguised as the male page Cesario, to love her, the two share a repartee that seems to question Cesario’s affection for the countess. But as Viola responds to Olivia, “you do think you are not what you are” and “I am not what I am,” it becomes … Read more
Act IV, Scene IV, of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale marks a shift away from the Sicilian, courtly world that dominates the previous three acts and much of Act IV. The chaos and disorder resulting from court happenings, Hermione’s apparent death, Perdita’s abandonment, Polixenes’ betrayal by Leontes, and Camillo’s exodus from Sicilia, for example, begin … Read more
Chaucer is a diplomat and also a royal gardener. In short, he is the master of the day job. Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born around 1340 in London, England. In 1357 he became a civil servant for Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and continued his capacity with the British courts throughout his lifetime. The Canterbury Tales … Read more
In “Miss Brill,” Katherine Mansfield uses a combination of symbolism and mood to portray an old woman’s veiled loneliness and loss of innocence. In the story, the protagonist Miss Brill maintains the quiet life of a person who is content to watch the events of others’ lives unfold around her while she remains a figure … Read more
Guy de Maupassant’s “The Drunkard” story illustrates that alcohol abuse is dangerous; after taking excessive alcohol, Jeremie engages in various regrettable actions. For example, Jeremie murders Melina, the wife, in cold blood. Further, Jeremie insults Mathurin, a benefactor, for no apparent reason. Moreover, Jeremie falls into a ditch from where he has to be retrieved. … Read more
Traditional Gender Roles and the Media Traditionally, girls must be gentle and submissive while boys can rough house and have the freedom the opposite gender is denied. This idea of gender roles is birthed from the static expectations of old societal views. Although the media is shying away from this nowadays, many films do not … Read more
In her Prologue and Tale, the Wife of Bath attempts to undermine the current misogynistic conceptions of women. Her struggle against the denigration of women has led to many feminist interpretations of her Tale, most portraying the Wife of Bath as something of a feminist icon. However, through contradictions in action and speech, the Wife … Read more
Stay Gold There are life cycles for everything; humans, animals, and even plants. Everything that is alive will inevitably die; it is just plain unavoidable. In his paper, ““Nothing Gold Can Stay”.” Deirdre Fagan says, “…all beauty is fleeting,” a theme very much present in Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” By using imagery, … Read more
In western society, technology has become so entrenched into our lives that we are seemingly unable to perform daily tasks without it. Technology is ubiquitous, rapidly evolving, and provides many benefits to society. From smartphones, to digital tablets, and aircrafts, technology is able to connect us with each other from any corner of the globe … Read more
The vignettes and anecdotes interspersed throughout John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row may, at first sight, seem tangential. Yet they are fundamental to the novel, not least because the plot line–throwing a party for Doc–would be insufficient to sustain a short story, let alone a full-length novel. Yet the episodes also serve many purposes other than advancing … Read more
In the play My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, the characters’ desires may be similar, but their many limitations due to social and political differences all contribute to conflicted viewpoints. Thami, Mr. M, and Isabel have difficulty connecting with each other for a multitude of reasons. When passion for change conflicts with and overshadows … Read more
“The Beautiful Ambiguity of Blankets: Comics Representation and Religious Art”, written by the University of Florida’s Benjamin Stevens, provides a great deal of insight into Craig Thompson’s 2003 autobiographical graphic novel Blankets. Stevens’ analysis focuses on characteristics of the novel such as style, the search for identity, the impact of Christianity, and the details within … Read more
In Demian, Herman Hesse discusses the meaning behind an apparently futile war under the guise of one boy’s search for personal identity. While Hesse spends much of the novel illustrating Emil Sinclair’s search for meaning, the tying in of the Great War at the end of the novel is neither surprising nor unnecessary. In fact, … Read more
In both ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘London’, both poets highlight the theme of Mortality as a way to convey the key message of human power. This is conveyed in “London” where Blake talks about the death and suffering of people through the regular rhyme scheme which could reflect the regularity of oppression by my powerful beings ‘behind … Read more
An important theme that is portrayed in the Heart of Darkness is the idea of hypocrisy. As the European countries began to colonize parts of Africa, one of the main ways to support the ventures would be through the ivory trade – something that is a staple in the business practices of the Europeans abroad. … Read more
When Horace Walpole wrote the first ever Gothic novel in 1764, the world had never seen anything quite like it before. In an age we now call the enlightenment, where knowledge, science and philosophy had made huge leaps forward, this book dared to be openly absurd; to feature magic, weird curses, phantoms and prophecies. But … Read more
The genre convention that is plainly detectable from the beginning of the film is that there are clear double alternate extremes. This is the place you can plainly recognize the great individuals in the film yet additionally see the malicious individuals. In Hot Fuzz, it is obvious from the begin that Nicholas Angel, the fundamental … Read more
‘A Christmas Carol’ by Christina Rossetti is a devotional poem that has been set to music many times, most famously by Gustav Holst in 1906, and remains a choral favourite today. It is centred around the birth of Jesus Christ, as told from the perspective of a speaker who although is excluded from this biblical … Read more
Marilynne Robinson’s epistolary novel Gilead takes place during the Civil Rights Movement when racial issues are at their apex. After realizing that he is dying of a heart condition, the main character John Ames writes an account of his life for his seven-year-old son, but chooses to avoid conversations about race. John spends time pondering … Read more
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. However, that can only go so far before it is criticized as lacking originality; some might even claim it only creates a worse version of something that may have been praised as being the best. Nonetheless, it all depends on whether or not something is an … Read more
The ‘Crime and Punishment’ is a novel written in the mid-1860s by a well known author named Fyodor Dostoevskys in Siberia. This novel has six parts with an epilogue, it has a serious, dramatic tone and Dostoevskys made use of a dual character-personality. This book presents a student with the shallow-type of beliefs on philosophy … Read more
In Jane Austen’s Emma, Mr. George Knightley chooses to live at Hartfield with Emma Woodhouse, the protagonist and heroine, after their marriage, instead of moving her to his elaborate estate, Donwell Abbey. This decision is significant because of what the choice reveals about their relationship. Typically, in a Jane Austen novel, married women move out … Read more
“It is believed that every original idea has already been conceived hundreds of times over. The challenge of creativity is to transform a familiar concept into something that is unique to one’s personal understanding. Pop-culture is full of claimed ideas, transformed into something entirely new. Classic literature is a well of untapped potential that pop-culture … Read more
Start your day with a complimentary continental breakfast, and then take off on a fishing trip with one of our guides and our exciting duck hunter! After a day fishing ducks and geese, I returned to my club to relax and rest. If you choose to clean your bird, we will take it to the … Read more
“Brave New World”, “The Day of the Triffids” and “Watchmen” all use their dystopian worlds to engage in moral discussion, critically assessing the morals that the world deems to be ‘correct’. In the face of destruction, the characters in the novels must evaluate their morality, the right course of action that will sustain mankind is … Read more
“The Raven” Tone v.s. Mood Essay The tone and mood of a poem or piece of literature has a very great impact on the elements of a story. The tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject, while the mood is the emotion aroused in the reader which the author creates. Word choice affects the … Read more
“To Celia” is a four-stanza poem written by Ben Jonson that has been said to be centered around his fellow poet Lady Mary Wroth, who had also been the subject of his other poems such as ‘To Penshurst’ and ‘Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth’. This poem is essentially a depiction of … Read more
A Balancing Act: How Ayn Rand Pushes Her Philosophy Objectivism over Altruism In Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, the author uses her protagonist, Howard Roark, to represent the ideal man. Roark is characterized as static, passionate about architecture, and indifferent towards others. If he displays benevolence, it is because it benefits him and does not detract … Read more