Study Like a Boss
I chose Iago as my choice of character to discuss the discrepancy between appearance and truth as the driving factor in how Shakespeare creates characters. Iago is possibly the most heinous villain in Shakespeare. Iago is skillful, untrustworthy, and selfish when plotting his actions. He uses these traits to his advantage by slowly planning his … Read more
While sexual difference may not exist between lesbians all other forms of difference do. These include differences of identity: race, class origins, employment status, age, religion, physical abilities – and while we may struggle against these differences within our individual spaces they have a material and institutional reality that cannot be wished away What, to … Read more
The Aeneid, the greatest Latin epic of the battles and wanderings of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, and his founding of the ruling line for the Roman Empire was written by the great Latin poet Virgil. Or so it seems. When one is reading the Aeneid and has also read both Homeric epics, one can almost … Read more
Color symbolism is really popular in novels written during the 1920’s. One such example is Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. There is much color symbolism in this novel, but there are two main colors that stand out more than the others. The colors green and white influence the story greatly. Green shows many thoughts, … Read more
In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea … Read more
One of the most interesting and exotic characters in the tragic play Othello, by William Shakespeare, is honest Iago. At first Iago seems to be motiveless. However, the motivation behind his actions lie more in Iago’s quest for personal gain, as opposed to just being evil for evil’s sake. Iago’s greediness can be validated by … Read more
Sometimes humans try to avoid their inevitable destiny for their lives; there are moments that we may think of ourselves as invincible and smarter than what is already decided. There may also be a point when making a decision leads to a great error in judgment. In Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, both of … Read more
Janie Crawford, the main character of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, strives to find her own voice throughout the novel and, in my opinion, she succeeds even though it takes her over thirty years to do it. Each one of her husbands has a different effect on her ability to find that … Read more
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams centers around a dream of escape. Although everyone wants to escape from a different reality, they all feel that need to get away. The father is the most successful in his escape because he never has to deal with anything at home. He actually leaves and doesn’t look back. … Read more
In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greeks popular belief that fate will control a mans life despite of mans free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays … Read more
Heathcliff, one of the central character of Wuthering Heights, evolves from an empathetic, innocent victim to a self-centered vindictive individual. This transformation is slow and develops in three distinctive parts. First, Heathcliff is sympathetically portrayed as an interloper. Next, he is characterized as an individual who is beginning to lose his innocence because he is … Read more
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
Catherine Earnshaw She is the daughter of Mr. Earnshaw and the sister of Hindley. She is also Heathcliffs foster sister. Heathcliff and Catherine are in love, but she marries Edgar Linton instead. When Cathy died, she wanted both Heathcliff and Edgar to suffer because Edgar never understood why she loved Heathcliff and Heathcliff because he … Read more
Two of Kafkas’ most predominate works, The Trial and The Metamorphosis, are very similar in many aspects, yet also have unique differences. Many of these similarities and differences are very obvious, but also there are subtle comparisons that the reader might not pick up while reading. One would think, after reading both stories, that the … Read more
In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, the gentle lamb and the horrible tiger define childhood by setting a contrast between the innocence of youth and the experience of age. The Lamb is written with childish repetitions and a selection of words which could amuse any audience under the age of five. Blake represents … Read more
In Brave New World, by Alduous Huxley, a new and controversial society is presented to its audience. A world of artificial intelligence where humans are cultivated in test tubes and social class is predetermined by the chemical mix they receive in vitro leads John Savage into corruption. He is torn between a world in which … Read more
When you think of science you think of hypotheses and conclusions, applications and benefits, which are all for the good of humankind of course. And with each new discovery, the human race takes one step further away from all other species and one step closer to perfection because that is the quest. Right? The point … Read more
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War. The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he goes and burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over … Read more
Perhaps the most interesting and exotic character in the tragic play “Othello,” is “Honest” Iago. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits him and moves him closer toward his goals. He is the main driving force in this play, pushing Othello … Read more
Shirley Jackson takes great care in creating a setting for the story, The Lottery. She gives the reader a sense of comfort and stability from the very beginning. It begins, “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. ” The setting … Read more
John Steinbeck wrote The Chrysanthemums in 1938. Steinbeck, as in many of his novels and short stories, depicts the life of poor, hard working people. In The Chrysanthemums, Steinbeck writes about a farmers wife living in California. The couple lives on a farm, as many individuals did in that time. Steinbeck describes the physical and … Read more
The conflict between society and the individual is a theme portrayed throughout Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Huck was not raised in accord with the accepted ways of civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him through life. As portrayed several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right, … Read more
I thought that the book A Lesson Before Dying was all right overall. I think Ernest Gaines did a good job with the plot but the idea of the book was not to interesting to me. A book about a black man becoming a man on his way to the electric chair is a very … Read more
The tale begins with the noble Friar describing his district, which is ruled by an archdeacon. The archdeacon is one of high degree who boldly does the execution due on fornication, witchcraft, and many kinds of crime. He is a merciless ruler who torments those who fail to pay their tithes or give offerings. He … Read more
The contrast between an urban and a tropical setting represents the awakening that the protagonist experiences in Kate Chopin’s classic novel, The Awakening. At Grand Isle Edna becomes conscious of her restrictive marriage in a male dominated society. Her awakening originates with her experiences at Grand Isle but fully develops upon her return to the … Read more
The Sirens of Titan is Kurt Vonnegut’s second novel. He has written it in 1959, seven years after his previous Player Piano. It has been described as a pure science fiction novel and, after only one reading, it really can be considered to be one. The intricate plot and fascinating detail may obscure the serious … Read more
Writers differ in the purpose for which they write. Some aim to entertain, but the more serious and skilled writers usually have the goal of expressing a serious idea. Writers such as Hariet Beecher Stowe and Alex Haley are writers who write for more than mere entertainment. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, … Read more
The play “Death of a Salesman”, by Arthur Miller, follows the life of Willy Loman, a self-deluded salesman who lives in utter denial, always seeking the “American Dream,” and constantly falling grossly short of his mark. The member’s of his immediate family, Linda, his wife, and his two sons, Biff and Happy, support his role. … Read more
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden views the world as an evil and corrupt place where there is no peace. His view of the world does not change much through the novel. However as the novel continues, Holden gradually comes to the realization that he is powerless to change this. In the book Holden … Read more
In the novel Their Eyes were watching God Zora Neale Hurston portrays a woman named Janie’s search for love and freedom. Janie, throughout the novel, bounces through three different marriages, with a brief stint at being a widow in between. Throughout these episodes, Hurston uses Janie`s clothing as a visual bookmark of where Janie is … Read more
Jane Eyre is the main character in the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte. She is a fictional character along with the book. The book takes place in the mid 1800’s. Jane lives in five different places which greatly affect her life. The first place Jane stays is Gateshead Hall. She then goes to … Read more
In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer is almost always polite and respectful when he points out the foibles and weaknesses of people. He is able to do this by using genial satire, which is basically having a pleasant or friendly disposition while ridiculing human vices and follies. Chaucer also finds characteristics in … Read more
Many lessons are embedded into Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (Bantam Books 1991), including how society acts towards the different. The monster fell victim to the system commonly used to characterize a person by only his or her outer appearance. Whether people like it or not, society summarizes a person’s characteristics by his or her physical appearance. … Read more
F. Scott Fitzgerald is in many ways one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. In his first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald epitomized the mindset of an era with the statement that his generation had, “grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, and all faiths in man … Read more
Albert Camuss novel, The Stranger, and Samuel Becketts play, Waiting for Godot, are both great literary works but has many differences and similarities that distinguish the two. These characters are very different from their society and in that same way the are very similar. To understand in what ways they are similar, there must be … Read more
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, it is the ‘beast’; which is the most important and symbolic. It remains, whether considered real or imaginary by the boys on the island, a significant ‘being’. William Golding has chosen to personify the evil that is inside human beings, in the beast. The beginnings of the idea … Read more
Virgil said, Love conquers all things, let us too surrender to love. Most people have experienced the overwhelming feeling of love, thereby understanding that in the end, nothing will stand in its way. Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, Yzierskas Bread Givers, and Hurstons Their Eyes were Watching God, and dorm life show … Read more
Hemmingway has a unique style of writing. It works on multiple levels. A person could read Farewell to Arms and enjoy it as a tragic love story. Hemmingways concise writing style allows a literal interpretation. At the same time a reader could get involved with the various symbols that he has placed in the novel. … Read more
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway is a story of being apart of the “Lost Generation” in the 1920’s. The Great War had changed the ideas of morality, faith and justice and many people began to feel lost. Their traditional values were changed and the morals practically gone. The “Lost Generation” rejected Victorian ideologies … Read more
Character Analysis Hermia When we first meet Hermia she is the typical girl in love against her fathers wishes. Obviously we see from the start that she is very devoted to Lysander, her love, and she does not like to be forced to do things that she does not want. She does not want to … Read more
The poem Beowulf was written in England sometime in the 8th century. It was written during a time when the society was in the process of being converted from paganism to Christianity. The Christian influences are combined with early folklore and heroic legends of Germanic tribes. Yet, the pagan elements in the epic poem Beowulf … Read more
The story of The Yellow Wallpaper begins with a family going away on vacation. It is revealed later that there are repairs or renovations being done on their regular house. The wife in the story believes at first that the house is haunted since no one has occupied the house for so long, but she … Read more
The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is central to many novels. This dream is different for different people, but in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is … Read more
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye will have a better chance throughout life than Will Hunting from Good Will Hunting because of several reasons. First, Holden has birth parents who still care about him and help comfort him when he needs help. Another reason is how Will has grown up already with an … Read more
John Steinbeck carefully molded his story The Grapes of Wrath to encompass many themes and ideas. He included several Biblical allusions to enforce his message of the migrating families coming together to form a community. Steinbeck alludes to Biblical characters through Jim Casy and Rose of Sharon, events like the family’s journey to California and … Read more
In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the first person narration is critical in helping the reader to know and understand the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden, in his narration, relates a flashback of a significant period of his life, three days and nights on his own in New York City. Through his … Read more
Ralph Waldo Emerson certainly took his place in the history of American Literature . He lived in a time when romanticism was becoming a way of thinking and beginning to bloom in America, the time period known as The Romantic Age. Romantic thinking stressed on human imagination and emotion rather than on basic facts and … Read more
Religion is an important and recurring theme in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Through his experiences with religion, Stephen Dedalus both matures and progressively becomes more individualistic as he grows. Though reared in a Catholic school, several key events lead Stephen to throw off the yoke of conformity and … Read more
The simplicity of the Jacobean Stage and its lack of scenery focused the audiences’ attention on the actors. Discuss how Shakespeare created the grandeur of the Worlds of Rome and Egypt, and the magnificence of the protagonists, through his use of imagery in Antony and Cleopatra’. The play of Antony and Cleopatra’ was written in … Read more
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden views the world as an evil and corrupt place where there is no peace. This perception of the world does not change significantly through the novel. However as the novel progresses, Holden gradually comes to the realization that he is powerless to change this. During the short period … Read more