Study Like a Boss
Comedy, Courtly Love, Drama, Fiction, 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.
In Chaim Potok’s novel My Name is Asher Lev, Asher struggles with self-identity and going against tradition, which ultimately leads him to question whether his gift of art comes from the Ribbono Shel Olom or the sitra achra. Asher’s gift comes from the Ribbono Shel Olom for three main reasons: all gifts come from the … Read more
The Collector by John Fowles examines a battle for power and control between the introverted character of Clegg and the audaciously articulate Miranda. Power is defined as the possession of control, authority, or influence over others (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) that Clegg has been cheated of his entire life. Clegg was brought up with a poor education … Read more
Although Hannah Webster Foster names her book The Coquette, there is ambiguity in who the true coquette of the story is. Eliza Wharton, named the coquette by Foster and the other characters of the story, does not follow the rules of coquetry. Instead it is Major Peter Sanford who falls under the social definition of … Read more
In the emerging technical age the idea of science without ethics has turned into a center stage issue. Throughout Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, science without ethics is explored through two dystopian worlds engineered by Atwood all from the eyes of the protagonist Jimmy, or Snowman—as he is known after humanity was demolished by … Read more
Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit explores the themes of homosexuality and relationships affected by difference. Throughout this novel, it is clear that there are symbols present that carry the overall meaning in this piece. Jeanette, the protagonist, discovers that she is a lesbian, which is complicated by the fact that she comes … Read more
In the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood, the human race is characterized by a constant desire to achieve immortality. For the scientists at the CorpSeCorps, this means creating the Anooyoo Spa and the genetically mutated pigoons—symbols of society’s need to preserve beauty and prevent death. This idea of immortality is also demonstrated through the Crakers, … Read more
In the novel The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Brian Moore closely examines the theme of alcoholism and its effect on the protagonist Judith Hearne. Moore highlights Hearne’s loneliness in the novel, which appears to be the source of her alcoholism. Although Moore seems to address Hearne’s addiction to alcohol as a psychological problem, he … Read more
While physical life is transient, the notion of the immortality of the soul is central to Christianity. Before Dante wrote the Divine Comedy, the residence of the soul’s afterlife was speculative and enigmatic. Dante filled this vacuum by creating a detailed and gruesome depiction of Hell where sinners are punished for the crimes they commit … Read more
The Chocolate War addresses manipulation, fear and ethics throughout the 1970’s in which the book was set around. Throughout the novel, through the use of characters, Robert Cormier portrays both sides of the two major themes manipulation and fear. The novel presents an understanding of the problems that go on in day to day school … Read more
Assignment: Discuss the treatment of female independence and the independent heroine in two Victorian novels. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, and The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, both utilise the Victorian convention of the orphaned heroine that is forced to find her own way in the world. Treatment of female independence and the … Read more
In the book, sex plays a major role in Desdemona’s development. Having grown up within the confines of a strict Greek Culture, she has been taught that maintaining her purity is paramount. Due to this cultural pressure placed upon her, Desdemona has lived her life being ashamed of her sexuality. This shame that she feels … Read more
Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres follows the novel’s narrator, Ginny Smith, as she struggles with temptation and the mental and physical repercussions of being a victim of unnatural behavior. Larry, Ginny’s father, practices chemical-based farming and breaks the natural bonds with his family by raping both his daughters, disrupting natural order. Biblical imagery and symbols … Read more
The narrator and protagonist in Gunter Grass’ novel The Tin Drum is unique in not only his stature, but by his mental progress as well. He chooses to stop growing at the age of three and does not speak, except through the beating of his drum, until the age of fifteen. This lack of development … 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
Consumer culture has been discussed by many authors and philosophers as long as the human race has been consuming. Consumerism is often referred to as a negative force in society, specifically in the United States, due to America’s image of surplus and leisure even in times of societal and economic suffering as discussed in Clay … Read more
Yin and Yang is the idea of creating balance in the universe. While one side represents good, the other represents evil and when both sides are balanced, one achieves perfect harmony. The two sides fit together perfectly, each conjoined to the other. In Gail Tsukiyama’s novel, The Samurai’s Garden, the idea of yin and yang, … Read more
The point of analysis, archetypes can be related to the novel, “Hunger Games” through many ways. In the novel, Katniss, joined in the alliance with Rue, a young girl from district 11. When Rue was faced with near death, Katniss came to help. The “hero” in the Hunger Games, would be Katniss and Peeta. When … Read more
“For a moment [George] contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her” (Forster 55). This scene from E. M. Forster’s Room with a … Read more
“Language is not a neutral instrument.”[1] Literature is never without an ideology, whether intended by the writer, interpreted by the reader, inherent in the language, or implied by the context. Thus, an author or a playwright’s particular manipulation of medium – a particular style – always serves a purpose; the author’s, or the audience’s. The … Read more
Love is one of the fundamental principles of humanity. It is what ties humans together as a people, and is vital to society. As such, it has influenced the world in countless ways, just one of which being through literature. Les Miserables tells the tale of Jean Valjean, a convicted criminal who must escape his … Read more
Death has been a prevalent theme in literature of all cultures throughout the centuries. In The Thief and the Dogs, the author Naguib Mahfouz explores the realm of death and its interconnections with life. Witnessing the turmoil of the Egyptian revolutions since childhood, it is small wonder that Mahfouz creates a fictional world which mirrors … Read more
In The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector includes a page prior to the story providing alternative titles that she was considering for the book. These titles are significant in the analysis of the novel as several of them originate from references within the text, and the chosen title emphasizes those aspects of the story. … Read more
The 1920s is an era somewhat paradoxically described as an anachronistic one rife with social upheaval. Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House sheds light on this awkward time as she details the life of Godfrey St. Peter, an academic caught between the past and the future, between austerity and materialism, between permanence and transience. As he … Read more
Pages: 56-60: Diction:“I only remember Nancy’s Teddy bear staring at me” (Capote, 60). This quote was pronounced by two of Nancy Clutter’s dearest friends, Nancy Ewalt and Susan Kidwell after seeing Nancy’s corpse. This is an ideal example of diction from Truman Capote, however, is also an example of tone because it establishes an eerie … Read more
In the literary work Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, there is clear conflict within the issues of social class, race and love among the characters. In a society where money and power are necessary for success, Heathcliff, a poor, dark-skinned orphan, felt that it was his responsibility to rise in the social hierarchy to become … Read more
Rosalie Ham’s novel “The Dressmaker”, published in 2000, is set in the 1950’s in an Australian outback town called Dungatar. In the novel, Ham utilises genre conventions such as Gothic, romance, detective story, and revenge tragedy conventions to intrigue the reader’s expectations of the novel and allow them to better understand it. This essay will … Read more
The “Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee,” revolved around a very prominent district magistrate named Judge Dee Goong An, a man famous for his ability to solve mysterious cases. Judge Dee digs deep to solve each case and was successful because he combined the three philosophies of legalism, daoism and Confucianism. These philosophies provided him with … Read more
Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood is a powerfully unsettling novel concerning a lost man in the grotesque, dark world of the American South. Published in 1949, Wise Blood’s protagonist Hazel Motes serves as a reflection of the power of mythology that continues to assert itself in O’Connor’s text. Throughout the course of the novel, Hazel Motes’s … Read more
John Steinbeck’s power as a story teller is rooted in his portrayal of the working people of America. Its Steinbeck’s understanding of the common man that gives his books universal appeal and keeps them in print all over the world. Rather than being a writer of the 1930s, Steinbeck speaks directly to man’s present concerns, … Read more
In Charles Brockden Brown’s novel, Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (1799), many characters have problems with interpreting their own ideas of reality and of what is actually real within the context of the novel. Edgar Huntly’s often-inaccurate perception of reality causes many of the key events in the novel to occur. There are … Read more
You are Ibsen. Review House of Mirth. Which of the domestic palaces in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth claims itself as the titular source of the tragic novel? Each offers strong evidence in its own favor. There is the bucolic decadence of the Trenor’s Bellomont; the old money severity of Mrs. Peniston’s Fifth Avenue … Read more
Love is a complex concept, one that even ingenious writers have struggled to understand. While scientists confine their understanding of love to ‘chemical reactions’ involving dopamine and serotonin, one cannot deny the qualitative nature that love has. Clegg expresses signs of love throughout the The Collector by John Fowles; however, there is more evidence that … Read more
The author communicates his view of democracy effectively throughout his text. He uses literature as a vehicle for political and social criticism. V for Vendetta tells of a future Britain under the heel of a dictatorship. In his graphic novel, the main character, V, destroys the Norsefire regime because he is against its various policies. … Read more
Commonly referenced in Western Europe and around the world, the story of the Faustian bargain—in which a remarkable individual trades soul and salvation for vast power—has appeared throughout history in poems, plays, newspapers, and novels describing characters’ dilemmas. In The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, the narrator falls in love with a machine-generated … Read more
One of the most striking elements of Paradise of the Blind is its constant discussion of food. Through imagery and description of traditional foodstuffs, the novel emphasizes the Vietnamese’s deep cultural connections to and love of food. These descriptions serve to describe family and cultural dynamics of Hang’s childhood as well as highlight the differences … Read more
Pioneering, or the act of breaking new ground, is what has established the United States as the enormous international presence it is today. From ideals represented by manifest destiny, the Declaration of Independence, institutions such as Wellesley College, and the Second Amendment, the United States has created a home for pioneers such as Frederick Douglass, … Read more
Telling a story through the eyes of a child is by no means a new literary technique. Fantastical novels such as Rowling’s Harry Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Cabin in the Big Woods use the younger generation for their central points of view. This tactic encourages a sense of adolescence discovery – almost magic … Read more
Living in a world surrounded by people whom function in a different way could cause one to feel left out, but finding another person, fiction or non-fiction that shares similar characteristics can help solve that issue. In Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher decides to write a mystery novel … Read more
Art lives in a realm of ambiguity, and it is ambiguity that grants it greater applicability to the average life. In Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham, three narratives lack detail as to draw greater attention to the ideas within the narratives and the idea of individuality within society. In We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a dystopian … Read more
In the novel Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong tells the story of Hang, a native Vietnamese girl, following the establishment of independence in Vietnam and the imposition of Communism. Vietnam, with a historical background of invasion by foreign entities, was initially accepting of the system of Communism because it allowed them independence from … Read more
In The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro exemplifies English identity from the perspective of the butler of a prominent estate, Mr. Stevens of Darlington Hall. Ishiguro uses Mr. Stevens’s account to establish English identity, allowing Mr. Stevens’s conservative perspective to be a commentary on that identity as it relates to professionalism and integrity. Ishiguro’s … Read more
It is rightly said that what a man thinks, he becomes. In light of this, Herman Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf deals with Harry Haller, the protagonist who thinks himself to be divided between his human nature and an animalistic one, considering himself a “wolf of the steppes.” In a time when an essentialized idea of the … Read more
Can you just imagine living in a world where racism is not only rampant, but legally forced. Racism stems that one race is more superior to the other which results in different ways people are treated. Alan Paton’s Cry the Beloved Country points out that in South Africa, racism is a very big problem. And … Read more
Giorgio Bassani’s novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is told from the perspective of an unnamed speaker who is recalling his time spent with the Finzi-Contini family prior to the family members’ deaths in the Holocaust. This is an Edenic time, and one that the speaker attempts to preserve through writing the novel. Bassani uses … Read more
Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms features the numbing experiences of Lieutenant Federico Henry while serving in Italy during World War I. Despite serving as such a dismally despondent milieu, the war actually acts as a powerful catalyst. In Chapter 4, Frederic Henry, an American, explains to Miss Barkley shortly after having met her that he … Read more
On page 496 of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, the young woman ponders her account of God’s mysteries. Her story’s strange circumstances provide sight of both personas of Mr. B___: one foul, one noble. Her successful endurance through frightening displays of his physical control over her fuels burgeoning comprehension of the role lack of worry plays in … Read more
Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road unveils the emptiness of suburban life by incorporating a play into the opening paragraphs and then continuing a metaphor of theater throughout the rest of the novel. The novel opens with theatrical failure that foreshadows the evident downfall of Frank and April’s lives. The book characters take on their own theatrical … Read more
Scottish novelist James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner opens with a narrative by an unknown editor describing the Colwan family and the feud between the Colwan brothers, Robert, later known as Robert Wringhim, and George. The editor’s narrative is followed by the manuscript told in Robert’s point of view. This … Read more
In the novel The Wave by Morton Rhue (the pen name for Todd Strasser), a history teacher conducts an experiment to understand Nazi Germany’s influence on its people. However, students turn against each other and terrorize those who are not part of The Wave. Robert Billings is a vital character who develops significantly throughout the … Read more
Fly Away Peter, by David Malouf, details not only the horrors of war, but the beauty of innocence found in Australian wildlife. In essence, Malouf expresses the concept of binaries, in particular the contrast between innocence and experience, and what it means to be alive. The novel explores the life of Jim Saddler and his … Read more