Study Like a Boss
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a story written to promote awareness of the tragedies that occurred in France during the French revolution. The two themes of the book are interconnected with each other. The themes are those of sacrifice, and hate. The themes are portrayed through out the book and are … Read more
In the Stories of Achilles, Gilgamesh, and Job As opposites, relationship and alienation reveal much about character. In Homers The Iliad, Achilles tragic flaw, anger, and his petty pursuit of honor cause his alienation from society. His reconnection comes only after his friend Patroclus dies and he sees that the he has focused his life … Read more
Struggling through such things as the depression, the Dust Bowl summers, and trying to provide for their own families, which included finding somewhere to travel to where life would be safe. Such is the story of the Joads. The Joads were the main family in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, a book which was … Read more
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost exemplifies the loss of innocence. The poem displays how you are pure and innocent when you are a child but as you mature, it is impossible to remain this way. In The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden will soon realize that nothing Holdens main … Read more
Both Hester and Dimmesdale, are characters in the Scarlet Letter. They suffer with the guilt of the sin of adultery that they committed. At the time, the Puritans looked down on this type of sin. Hester and Dimmesdale can be compared and contrast in the way they handled their scarlet letter, their cowardliness, and their … Read more
Without honor, life is meaningless. According to the folktale, Green Willow, honor is essential to an individual of Japanese decent. This tale explains what the people of this country value and how they function. As the story unfolds, so do the components that form what Japan is. The background contains the codes and classes in … Read more
Victor Frankenstein and John Faustus are two characters that are alienated because of their intellectual curiosity. Faustus’s and Frankenstein’s pursuits of knowledge begin with an inexorable journey to their downfalls as they become alienated. Both characters attempt to exceed human ability and are alienated from God because of their attempts. These men are concerned with … Read more
Oedipus the king written by sophecles when read for the first time the reader will realize that the audience already knows what is going to happen its just the way that the characters deal will with it. There is an oracle that says that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. Sophecles examines … Read more
Literature that children are exposed to often gives them ideas and provokes them to think and draw their own conclusions about things, it also provides a necessary escape from reality for them. This is why censoring children’s books can be rather destructive to their developing minds. If the tools with which kids are given to … Read more
Probably the most complex female character in the novel, Ophelia deserves special attention from the reader because she is treated as a surrogate for Stowe’s intended audience. Its as if Stowe conceived an imaginary picture of her intended reader, then brought that reader into the book as a character. Ophelia embodies what Stowe considered a … Read more
Ethan Frome, the main character in the book entitled Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, has many complex problems going on at the same time. His family has died and he has a wife that is continually sick, and the only form of happiness he has is from his wife’s cousin Mattie. This, however, at times … Read more
The Harlem Renaissance is the vast migration of African-Americans to northern cities during the 1920s and 1930s. During this time African-Americans felt that they were finally able to freely express themselves as proud Black individuals. This period of time held some very important landmark occasions, but also came with its share of racial prejudice and … Read more
Banned for social reasons in many conditions and in many school systems, Anthony Burgesss A Clockwork Orange first seems to pierce the mind with its bizarre linguistic orgy of debauchery, brutality, and sex, and for some, refuses to affect them above the level of pure voyeurism and bloodlust (either for reveling in it or despising … Read more
Through the years there has been much debate as to whether Shakespeare’s The Tempest is an Allegory to European colonization and colonial life, or if it is his “farewell to the stage” with a complete overview of the stage and a compilation of all of his characters into a few, in which the playwright himself … Read more
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, considers a very delicate situation experienced by a Scandinavian family in 1879. Nora Helmer, the main character and adored wife of Torvald faces a life-altering dilemma. She has to decide whether to remain with her obsessive husband in his sheltered home, playing the part of a doll, or take the … Read more
The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Beckett. The pilgrims, who come from all classes of society, tell stories to each … Read more
The play “Death of a Salesman” shows the final demise of Willy Loman, a sixty- year-old salesman in the America of the 1940’s, who has deluded himself all his life about being a big success in the business world. It also portrays his wife Linda, who “plays along” nicely with his lies and tells him … Read more
In The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Georgianas futile attempt to be flawless by cooperating in her own murder doesnt make her any wiser, especially because such a sacrifice does not earn her closeness with her husband. The character of Georgiana epitomizes the virtues upheld by the conventions of her time; she is beautiful, docile and … Read more
Two hundred years ago, the church was the center of life in many New England towns. The church provided not only religions guidance but, was a place for social gathering and a chance for neighbors to keep in touch. This is shown in depth in Boston, by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter and in Salem, … Read more
Two men. Two men alike in two different stories, in two different time periods, characterized in ways that fit their culture and the social structure of their audience. Efficient changes in characters tend to help the reader or the viewer better understand and relate to modern day circumstances. Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where … Read more
Huck is very responsive to the beauty of the natural world about him. He uses vivid imagery to describe nature in a peculiar way, which one can even consider out of character for him. His word choice, general attitude, use of literary devices, and the use of words which describe the sounds as they happened, … Read more
The Great Gatsby is a symbolic novel of the disintegration of the American dream in an era of extraordinary prosperity and material excess. On the surface, we see that it is a story about the love between a man and a woman but the overall theme is the collapse of the American dream in society. … Read more
Invisible Man. Throughout the story, the narrator embarks on a mental and physical journey to seek what the narrator believes is “true identity,” a belief quite mistaken, for he, although unaware of it, had already been inhabited by true identities all along. Ellison, in Invisible Man, uses the main characters invisibility and conflict with the … Read more
Ethan Frome is a story of ill-fated love, set during the winter in the rural New England town of Starkfield. Ethan is a farmer who is married to a sickly woman named Zeena. The two live in trapped, unspoken resentment on Ethan’s isolated and failing farm. Ethan has been caring for his wife for six … Read more
In Christopher Marlowe’s the epic Christian tragedy, Doctor Faustus, the protagonist, Dr. Faustus, struggles between following God or Lucifer. Faustus, who is an enigma in himself, is capable of tremendous eloquence and willful blindness. His refusal to see what is fact and what is fiction is a result of his pompous persona. In his quest … Read more
The freedom of choice and the rehabilitating form of corrections encase the realm of A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. It produces the question about man’s free will and the ability to choose one’s destiny, good or evil. “If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange-meaning that … Read more
Throughout life, an individual may endure several emotionally or physically straining moments. In The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield suffers much verbal abuse, as well as physical. Both forms of the abuse, combined with other factors, eventually leads Holden to suffer a mental breakdown. Holden’s actions prove that ** “A blow from a whip … Read more
The two works of art that caught my eye when looking for subjects that demonstrated what we discussed in class were The Resurrection by The Master of the Osservanza and The Agony in the Garden by Sassetta. The Resurrection was done on wood panel with tempera paint is a portrayal of Jesus Christ rising from … Read more
Insanity and Feminism in the Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects the intense struggle with of a woman during the late 1800s. However, as the story unfolds, we realize the reasons for this insanity and the connections of this breakdown to the main characters husband, John. What we … Read more
The poem, “Barbie Doll,” written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the affects that can happen. The title of this … Read more
Two hundred years ago, the church was the center of life in many New England towns. The church provided not only religions guidance but, was a place for social gathering and a chance for neighbors to keep in touch. This is shown in depth in Boston, by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter and in Salem, … Read more
Call of the Wild Jack London’s thrilling epic tale of adventure and bravery, through the eyes of a part St. Bernard, part German Shepherd named Buck. Our story opens with the author describing the lifestyle of this pampered dog on the premises of his master’s home, Judge Miller, in the Santa Clara valley. John London … Read more
Lockwood’s narration forms a frame around Nelly’s; he serves as a mediator between Nelly and the reader. A somewhat vain and arrogant man, he deals very clumsily with the residents of Wuthering Heights. Lockwood comes from a more domesticated region of England, and he finds himself at a loss when he witnesses the strange household’s … Read more
On important theme within The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is the struggle between good and evil as experienced when Huck’s personal sense of truth and justice come in conflict with the values of society around him. These occurrences happen often within the novel, and usually Huck chooses the truly moral deed. One such instance occurs … Read more
Uncle Toms Cabin is a historical book that I feel is one of the most mind enduring books of all time. This book put me in the place of every northern citizen in the 1800s. I felt as if I was in the story. My knowledge of how slaves were treated was enhanced greatly. To … Read more
Edward Albees play Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a drama exploring the anxieties of modern life. By personalizing aspects of the epic Albee has inverted many of its features to create satire. This internalization pits individuals against each other and themselves. M. H. Abramss definition of epic, in his book A Glossary of Literary … Read more
The novel Our Guys, written by Bernard Lefkowitz, is a very dynamic story about the heinous actions of a dozen middle-class athletes, from a small New York suburb, against a defenseless mentally handicapped girl. Lefkowitz describes a brutal gang rape involving a baseball bat and broomhandle, which took place in this unsuspecting town, by these … Read more
According to Goethe, “We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe. ” Despite the hyperbolic nature of Goethe’s statement, it holds some truth. Because of this element of truth, society looks to psychoanalysis as an important tool for understanding human nature. Furthermore, … Read more
The famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace in 1865. It is a story about the lives of the Russian royal family from 1805 to 1815. This book depicts things and events that happened during the war. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, … Read more
For my English creative writing assignment, I have chosen to do a letter correspondence between a modern Romeo and Juliet. I have turned the play around a bit, and it differs from the original story. Near the end of the play, the Capulets discover Juliet and Romeo’s marriage and forbid her to see him ever … Read more
The monotony of life has waged war against the narrator in Alice Munro’s “Miles City, Montana. ” The author depicts the narrator as a brittle woman in search of a personal identity among a community of conformity. This battle between domestic responsibility and personal satisfaction reeks havoc on the soldier of this mother and wife. … Read more
Parenting is an act of being a parent, which means you show love and care towards your offspring. Harper lees book To Kill A Mockingbird, shows the difference in parenting of the characters Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch. Some ways these two characters are different is depicted in this essay by: showing the difference in … Read more
When a reader first reads The Yellow Wallpaper it appears to be a story of a young woman suffering from post pardum depression that slowly ends in the total loss of reality. However, understanding that Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an early feminist, and her writings share a common theme that women do not have an … Read more
The Island of Dr. Moreau is a story that questions the ability of men playing God. The balance of nature is put to the ultimate test as a man by the name of Charles Edward Prendick stumbles across an out-of-control experiment that fuses man with animal. At first glance, this tropical paradise seems idyllic. But … Read more
Banned for social reasons in many conditions and in many school systems, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange first seems to pierce the mind with its bizarre linguistic orgy of debauchery, brutality, and sex, and for some, refuses to affect them above the level of pure voyeurism and bloodlust (either for reveling in it or despising … Read more
A Clockwork Orange received critical acclaim, made more than thirty million dollars at the box office, and was nominated for various awards; however, this esteemed film was outlawed from the nation of Great Britain in order to curb its immoral content from permeating society. Before all the controversy began, A Clockwork Orange was a novel, … Read more
Jane Austen was a child of the Enlightenment, an age when reason was valued while many romantic traditions still lingered on in society. [* By the way the romantic period follows the Enlightenment (a reaction)] As one of the educated and intelligent women emerging from this era, Austen has used the character of Elizabeth Bennet … Read more
John Updike, unlike many of today’s authors, wrote about what he knew and life experiences. Some people may say that this would make his writings boring or uninteresting. The way he writes, however, makes it applicable to almost everyone’s life. When John Updike was little he grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and … Read more
The American Novelist, John Steinbeck was a powerful writer of dramatic stories about good versus bad. His own views on writing were that not only should a writer make the story sound good but also the story written should teach a lesson. In fact, Steinbeck focused many of his novels, not on average literary themes … Read more
In the short stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “Girls at War” by Chinua Achebe, the theme of blindness is prevalent. In “The Cathedral” Robert, the man who comes to visit, is physically blind, but in his mind, he sees things more clearly than most others do. His “mental-vision” is seen when he travels to … Read more
