Study Like a Boss
A common idea presented in literature is the issue of the freedom of the individual in opposition to the controlling pressures of society. Willy Loman, the main character in Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller, epitomizes this type of person; one who looks to his peers and co-salesman as lesser individuals. Not only was … Read more
In novels, such as Edith Whartons Ethan Frome, imagery and theme play a large role in developing the novel and bringing it to the status of a Classic. An authors use of imagery gives the reader an idea of the novels characters and setting. It helps to advance the readers understanding of the novel and … Read more
William Faulkner presents several interesting characters in the story, Barn Burning. Sarty Snopes a lonely ten-year old boy is one of these characters. His father, Abner moves the family around constantly and is a very evil man. Sarty had a rough childhood. He deserves sympathy and respect because he is lonely, courageous, and has good … Read more
The main theme of the book Ethan Frome is failure. It is shown in three ways throughout the story: Ethan’s marriage, him not being able to stand up to Zeena, and his involvement in the “smash up”. Ethan marries Zeena so he won’t be alone after his mother dies. She seemed like a very cheerful, … Read more
In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte recounts the story of Jane and her lovers, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers. Critics such as Adrienne Rich and Eric Solomon argue that Jane Eyre has to choose between the “temptation” of following the rule of passion by marrying Rochester, or of living a life of complete … Read more
The Reeve of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales I portrayed in the first as “old and choleric and thin”(605), choleric meaning short-tempered and yellow. All of Chaucer’s descriptions of the pilgrims in his tales give an insight into and very well foreshadow the their tale to come, and the Reeve is of course no exception. … Read more
Holden wanted to be the catcher in the rye. Holden wanted to catch children before they fell off the cliff and realized how the world really is, the world is disappointing. He wanted to keep children innocent and pure. There are several quotes and examples to support this in Catcher in the Rye like when … Read more
Without a doubt, one of the darkest episodes in the history of mankind involved the systematic extermination of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs and gays by Nazi Germany. In order to get a good sense of the horror and despair that was felt by the interned, one simply needs to read the memoirs of Elie Wiesel in … Read more
Love is an amazing emotion. People spend much of their lives searching for true love. When true love is found, people will do everything possible to hold on to and cherish it for eternity. It is said that true love can only be found once in a lifetime that is filled with intense everlasting emotions. … 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
Theodore Roethke writes a very simple poem called “My Papa’s Waltz”. Roethke will not let his characters communicate and reveal thier feelings and you must determine for yourself if fhe speaks of abuse or a happy reminiscence. Edward Foster comments, “The poem will let you meet Roethke’s father who gives a mixture of tenderness and … Read more
The Alembic of Art is the chapter of My Antonia The Road Home that will be discussed. This chapter suggests that Willa Cather uses references from the arts in creating the novel My Antonia. Much of Willa Cather’s background came from her childhood in Nebraska. It even uprooted the character Annie Sadilek, from Red Cloud, … Read more
Books are known for teaching lessons. In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirically presents the situation of how people of different color were treated unjustly, while at the same time amusing his readers. Isnt it ironic that the character that grows on you most is Jim, the black runaway slave, who society looks down upon most … Read more
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice takes place in England during the 18th century, with an evident main them of courtship and marriage. The Bennet family consists of Jane, the eldest daughter, followed by Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Being girls, they will not benefit from their father’s will which leads to their mother’s obsession over … Read more
Peter Ivanovich (known from now on as PI) was Ivan’s dearest friend. PI and Ivan have known each other all their lives yet at Ivan’s funeral PI shows no deep remorse. All that PI really thinks about is the vacancy that Ivan has left at work. He like other people, thinks that relationships are just … Read more
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written in approximately 1385, is a collection of twenty-four stories ostensibly told by various people who are going on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral from London, England. Prior to the actual tales, however, Chaucer offers the reader a glimpse of fourteenth century life by way of what he refers to … Read more
Though the characters in the Canterbury Tales are described vividly and often comically, it is not necessarily true that these characters are therefore stereotypes of The Middle ages. The intricate visual descriptions and the tales the characters tell help to direct the reader in finding a more accurate and realistic picture of the pilgrims, bringing … Read more
The Wife of Bath is a very envious women, who desires only a few simple things in life. She likes to make mirror images of herself, through her stories, which in some way reflects the person who she really is. This is all proven_through the many ways she portrays her characters. The Wife of Bath … Read more
What story does the image of a strand of iron-gray hair resting on a pillow invoke? Many people could imagine a horrible ghost story or a beautiful tale of old age. Yet, through the eyes of William Faulkner, he imagined a tortured necrophiliac. The story’s amazing twists and turns take the reader on a terrific … Read more
Reading To Kill A Mockingbird and A Rose For Emily I noticed several differences and likenesses. I would like to convey my thoughts to you. Females in “A Rose For Emily” are depicted as reclusive, crazy, and nosy. Females in “To Kill A Mockingbird” are depicted as smart, outgoing, and full of pride. For example, … Read more
Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal Farm, can be compared to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and the 1917 Russian Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the symbolism that is in the book with similarities found in Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer … Read more
The plot of Much Ado About Nothing is an elaborate network of schemes and tricks. This statement is confirmed throughout Much Ado About Nothing. The play contains many examples of tricks and schemes that are used to manipulate the thoughts and feelings of characters. The major examples of such manipulation include- Don Pedro, Claudio and … Read more
All the minor characters who appear in the novel, Jane Eyre are only sketched in, so to speak. They are “flat”; not developed in the way that the central three characters are developed. All of them are conventional; behave and speak conventionally, and do not develop at all. They are set merely as foils for … Read more
In the two stories that we have read each story explores the feeling of horror and fear. We are examining how each character in each story reacts to the ghost that they encounter. In each story the characters react very different to the different types of ghost that they meet. Wells story of the The … Read more
Human emotions are something that we seldom find a way to express clearly: from simple hand gestures, to a disgusted face. To understand his novel more thoroughly, Arthur Miller uses the most understandable method of comprehension, music, to express the emotions of the characters in his play, Death of a Salesman. The characters, Willy, Linda, … Read more
In his lengthy literary career, Jonathan Swift wrote many stories that used a broad range of voices that were used to make some compelling personal statements. For example, Swifts, A Modest Proposal, is often heralded as his best use of both sarcasm and irony. Yet taking into account the persona of Swift, as well as … Read more
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Lord of the Flies is a thought provoking novel, the main theme being the fact that men are inherently bound to law/moral society and without the influence of morality and the basic consensus of right and wrong we would slowly regress to … Read more
Is Hamlet Madness Not Likely Madness is a condition of the mind which eliminates all rational thought leaving an individual with no proper conception of what is happening around him/her. Madness typically occurs in the minds of individuals that have experienced an event or series of events that their mind simply cannot cope with and, … Read more
“You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” but that ain’t no matter. that book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There were things which he streched, but mainly he told the truth. That ain’ nothing. I … Read more
Her life was never easy. From the time she was born, Maya Angelou was subjected to racism, rape, grief and dehumanization. She beared enough emotional stress in a time frame that most people don’t experience in a lifetime. Yet she prevailed. She forced herself to become stronger. And in doing so, she produced writings, which … Read more
Ethan Frome is the story of a family caught in a deep-rooted domestic struggle. Ethan Frome is married to his first love Zeena, who becomes chronically ill over their long marriage. Due to his wife’s condition, they took the services of Zeena’s cousin, Mattie Silver. Mattie seems to be everything that Zeena is not, youthful, … Read more
Washington Irving, in writing “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Stephen Vincent Benet, in writing “The Devil and Daniel Webster” illustrate to the reader the consequences of man’s desire for material wealth and how a person’s motivation for a relationship with the devil affects the outcome of the “deal”. In these two different, yet surprisingly … Read more
“Love is a universal language. ” This popular quote from many movies and literary works describes the importance of love, and how there are no limits or barriers when dealing with love. Many people cannot even help whether or not they fall in love. There are many types of love and they need not be … Read more
Many people find that their dreams are unreachable. Holden Caulfield realizes this in J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. As Holden tells his story, he recounts the events since leaving the Pencey School to his psychiatrist. At first, Holden sounds like a typical, misguided teenager, rebellious towards his parents, angry with his teachers, … Read more
A common tool of science fiction writers is the use of a character, to whom the reader can relate, placed in an alien setting. This character will represent the reader in this new alien world or society, allowing the reader to form a link between his or her own world and this new one. Because … Read more
The Secret Sharer written by Joseph Conrad, centers around a character of a sea captain. Its title and opening paragraphs forecast a story of mystery, isolation, duality, darkness and silence. The novel proves true these predictions reveling thematic and image patterns directly proportional to them. The opening of the novel further reveals dialectics in the … Read more
Franz Kafka was a very intelligent writer of his times. Kafka was born in Austro-Czechoslovakia. He was mainly a writer of short stories, and complex diaries, yet he did publish a small number of novels. The works of Kafka have been interpreted as allegorical, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, Marxist, religious, existentialist, expressional, and naturalist. His novels have … Read more
Knowing secret information can be a very enlightening thing. Knowing information that someone else does not helps make the reader feel more powerful. Such is the case when the reader knows of the mythical Phoenix and then reads “A Worn Path. ” Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” the story of an elderly grandmother’s journey to … Read more
This novel, originally published in 1814, is the first of Jane Austen’s novels not to be a revised version of one of her pre-1800 writings. Mansfield Park has sometimes been considered atypical of Jane Austen, as being solemn and moralistic, especially when contrasted with the immediately preceding Pride and Prejudice and the immediately following Emma. … Read more
Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, takes place in1946 near the small rural town of Ixopo in the smaller village of Ndotsheni. The main character is Stephen Kumalo, a native priest who sets out on a mission to find his family. He receives a letter from a fellow priest, Msimangu, telling him his younger … Read more
Although Night is not necessarily a memoir–as discussed in the “Overall Analysis and Themes” section–I will often refer to it as a memoir, since that is the genre which closest approaches the mixture of testimony, deposition and emotional truth-telling that is in Night. Finally: it is clear that Eliezer is meant to serve, to a … Read more
The way a person reacts to ordinary situations determines the opinions of others based on their behavior. Yet, when this behavior is abnormal or different from the rest of society, it causes society to form an opinion based totally on a persons behavior not their true personality. In Meursaults case, his strange opinions and unexpected … Read more
Shakespeares presentation and portrayal of his female characters in The Merchant of Venice and Henry V follows a typical pattern that is present in all of the Shakespearean plays that I have read so far. When looking closely at the fate of his female characters, this pattern becomes even more evident for it repeats itself … Read more
The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitsgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its imaginative goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is common in many novels. This dream is different for fidderent people, but in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is … Read more
Literature can have many and different values on a person. It is all depending on the story and the value or moral issue the author wants, you, the reader to get out of it. The value literature had on me was actually hard to put into words. But to understand the value of literature you … Read more
Murray Kempton once admitted, No great scoundrel is ever uninteresting. The human race continually focuses on characters who intentionally harm others and create damaging situations for their own benefit. Despite popular morals, characters who display an utter disregard for the natural order of human life are characters who are often deemed iconic and are thoroughly … Read more
The Importance of Biffs Role in “Death of a Salesman” 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 members of his immediate family, Linda, his wife, … Read more
Mary Shelley has become one of the most renowned Gothic authors because of her descriptions and settings and her use of many significant themes. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly has written many books in her life. She has received much criticism about one of her books inperticular, Frankenstien. Frankenstein was one of her most famous novels. Shelly … Read more
“Destiny in Gilgamesh and The Iliad” Stories do not need to inform us of things. From Gilgamesh for example, we know that some of the people who lived in the land between the Tigris and Euphates rivers in the second and third milleniums BCE. We know they celabrated a king named Gilgamesh; we know they … Read more
Morality. It has been questioned by people, honored by people and revered since the beginning of time. Yet even today not one person can say what is morally right. It is a matter of opinion. It was Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s opinion that it was alright to create a “monster”. Frankenstein’s creation needed a companion. Knowing … Read more