Study Like a Boss
Anna Quindlen, Bill Bryson, Tertullian, Thomas Paine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harper Lee, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, Eudora Welty, Kurt Vonnegut, Langston Hughes, William Faulkner, Scott Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston, Mark Twain, Ray Bradbury, Sylvia Plath, Shirley Jackson, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf, Jamaica Kincaid, Iago, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Homer, Emily Dickinson, William Golding, George Orwell, The Tempest, Jane Austen, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mary Shelley, Alice Walker, Richard Wright, Tolkien, David Foster Wallace, Barbara Kingsolver, Elizabeth Bishop, J. K. Rowling, Malcolm Gladwell, Mary Wollstonecraft, Nikki Giovanni, Peter Skrzynecki, Alexander Pope, Richard Rodriguez, Robert Lynd, Roger Rosenblatt, Sherman Alexie, William Hazlitt.
This sonnet is narrated by a man whose emotions are completely at the mercy of another. Its theme involves the vulnerability of the narrator’s disposition and the power of love. Just when he reaches the lowest point of his depression, the addressee of the poem enters his mind and cures him of his misery. Shakespeare … Read more
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis contains direct biographical references to Kafka and his family’s lives. Gregor’s father’s dishonest actions stem from Kafka’s hatred against own his father for his relentless disapproval of Kafka’s writing. Kafka depicts Gregor as a lonely, insignificant failure, because that is how Kafka sees himself. Franz’s inability to settle down with a … Read more
Since Europeans first made contact with natives in 1492, the Europeans have taken advantage of the natives for their own benefit. They were extremely efficient, with Columbus discovering America and creating American slavery within a 15-year span. Before the Europeans showed up, scholars estimate the native population was between 20 to 100 million and by … Read more
Having parents that are strict on you could be a good or a bad thing.When it comes to you not being around them it shows how you’d act if they weren’t around. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys behavior is affected by the way they were raised.reasoning, Piggy’s aunt led … Read more
Andrew Marvell’s Mower Against the Garden is the first in a series of four ‘Garden’ poems. The poem can be read literally, as a pastoral, ecological poem concerned with the destruction of the natural landscape as a result of human consumerism; in particular the fashion for highly ornate, architectural gardens. This is an easy assumption … Read more
Virginia Woolf’s revolutionary novel To the Lighthouse provides an incredibly in-depth psychological study of its many characters. Family and friends pass through the Ramsay’s summer home in the Hebrides, all of whom carry characteristics, tendencies, and beliefs worthy of analysis on any number of levels. However, examining the ways in which Woolf portrays the sexes … Read more
Raymond Smith once wrote, “Hughes attempted to integrate the two facets of double consciousness (the American and the Negro) into a single vision – that of a poet.” Langston Hughes, possibly the most prominent black American poet, incorporates these complementary aspects of consciousness into his poetry on a frequent basis. The concept of a multi-faceted … Read more
Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway uses themes that scrutinize the environment of interwar England, which inhibited the ability to effectively communicate one’s thoughts and feelings, because the cultural norm dismissed them in favor of keeping a “stiff upper lip”. In order to survive in this setting, the characters of Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours have … Read more
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales introduces readers to several fascinating and dynamic characters. Perhaps the most fascinating of all is the Pardoner, whose prologue and tale are filled with irony. The Pardoner is a complex character whose blatant hypocrisy and spiritual atrophy serve to give the reader an understanding of the irony of his tale … Read more
Merchant of Venice is a play in the 16th century that was written by the infamous writer, Shakespeare. Just like many other of his play, the story is The Merchant of Venice is classified as a tragicomedy, because it shares features in common with comedies but also contains the kind of dark elements we typically … Read more
In “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” William Butler Yeats’ poem, he focuses on man’s inner nature. He touches on many thoughts that must race through one’s mind at the point when they realize that their death is unavoidable. Main idea of this this poem is death. In this poem, these thoughts include the airman’s … Read more
A Christmas Carol is an allegory, written in 1843 by Charles Dickens, is one of the most compelling Christmas themed books known today. It was written during the industrial revolution in England. It was a dirty era and the plight of the poor was desperate. Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, cold-hearted owner of a London counting-house, … Read more
In his work, Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy tells the tale of two people hopelessly in love, fighting against both internal and external conflicts to pursue that love and have some semblance of a normal life together. Set in England in the late 19th century, this story is about Jude and Sue’s struggle to overcome … Read more
Emily Dickinson’s poetry covers a broad range of topics, including poetic vision, love, nature, prayer, death, God, Christ, and immortality. There is a unity in her poetry, however, in that it focuses primarily on religion. Full of contradictions and varying moods and perspectives, her poems offer a glimpse into a complex and intelligent mind that … Read more
“American literature is male. To read the canon of what is currently considered classic American literature is perforce to identify as male; Our literature neither leaves women alone nor allows them to participate.” Judith Fetterley (Walker, 171) Mark Twain’s writings fall under this criticism in the minds of many a literary critic, especially those of … Read more
The Many Ways We Love Love is an idea that many are familiar with – a term used to characterize one’s deep affection for someone. Love is unique in the ways that it is manifested and presented. Sometimes love is portrayed as genuine devotion to another, while other times it is portrayed as simply lustful. … Read more
“There are times when even the tiger sleeps.” This Chinese proverb is essential in understanding the character of Lindo Jong, mother of Waverly Jong, in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. The book, written as a series of interwoven vignettes, delves into the world of Chinese mother-daughter relationships. The Joy Luck Club tells about four … Read more
Power is a word we hear frequently and use often; it means to have the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. My definition of power is possessing something others want such as money, knowledge, and strength. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper … Read more
Understanding ourselves and the surroundings that shape us is no small feat. Sci-fi novels time and time again have attempted to address such topics by manipulating and distorting the future in a different light. But Kurt Vonnegut takes a different approach, one that is unmistakably human: through comedy. In particular, Cat’s Cradle is a telling … Read more
In a certain Nobel Prize acceptance speech delivered in Stockholm in 1950, William Faulkner famously declines to accept the end of man. Elaborating, Faulkner goes on to promise that “man will not merely endure: he will prevail.” This faith, he insists, has its roots in the human soul, “a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice … Read more
The poems Disabled by Wilfred Owen and ‘Out, out by Robert Frost were written 1917 and 1916. the poems were both written with the theme of loss and adolescent mistakes prominently featured throughout this piece of poetry. Wilfred Owen was an English poet, well known for writing poetry to recover, and soldier during the First … Read more
The word ‘romantic’ is derived from the medieval romaunt, which was a tale of chivalry, written in a romance language, that often took the form of a quest. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this idea of romance became an intellectual or artistic quest which focused strongly on the individual’s personal search for the meaning … Read more
Lucrece’s tragic downfall in Shakespeare’s “Rape of Lucrece” can be largely blamed on male competition. Her hapless story begins with a contest to determine which man possesses the chastest wife, “among which Collatus extolled the incomparable chastity of his wife Lucretia” After Lucrece is proclaimed the most dutiful, Sextus Tarquinius, a Tarquin prince and friend … Read more
Chapters 1,2, and 3 Scout’s comments and reactions towards Jem play a huge roll in Jem accepting Dill’s dare. Jem states that he isn’t scared of the Radley Place because he passes their house everyday on the way to school. However, Scout responds saying you’re “Always runnin’”(Lee 14). Because Scout likes to taunt her older … Read more
In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Shakespeare illustrates a nature in Hamlet that Sigmund Freud identified long after the play was made. Right when the association amongst Hamlet and his mom is inspected, Freud’s oedipal complex speculation strikes a note. The oedipal complex is a hypothesis made by Freud which imparts that, “the child takes both … Read more
In our modern American society, oppression is something that still exists and has been detrimental to people, hurting their lives. The process of fishing can symbolize how regular people fair versus the clutches of oppression they cannot control. For a lot of people, opportunity can be very scarce. Through Bishop’s depiction of fishing, she uses … Read more
Intergenerational relations between mothers and daughters are further complicated in The Joy Luck Club as cultural differences come into play for the first generation Chinese immigrant mother and her Americanized daughter. This is clearly brought out when Lindo Jong shows off her daughter at the market, announcing “to whoever looked her way” that “this is … Read more
In early African-American literature, there is a consistent theme of gaining freedom through assimilation that as an idea slowly wilts and becomes militant as it continues to be ineffective in the black struggle for freedom and equality. Phillis Wheatley is the first canonical African-American female poet and she is able to write in this time … Read more
The plight of the oppressed in medieval England was paramount to the emergence of iconic works of fiction. In turn, the future comprehension of feudal society is dependent upon these works. To rely on monastic chroniclers alone, in understanding the state of their world, would be to absorb works that were largely created under the … Read more
As a poem that presents tragedy within love as inevitable, in Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer also explores the forces that control this downfall: Fortune, the planets and free will. These can be separated in to two categories, those that exist in the human world, and those that are of a higher power. However, Boethius’ ‘Consolation … Read more
By looking at Emily Dickinson’s poem 666 “I cross till I am weary,” we can see the poet’s connections between the nature of life or spirituality and the subtleties of rhyme as well as meter; this link is important because it sets a tone for the reading of the poem. Dickinson’s natural imagery in this … Read more
[5] htps://www.peacepropagation.com/aspx-quran-and-science-of-geology/ William Blakes somber piece, “The Chimney Sweeper” revealed the underlying injustices of the 18th century. In the dark streets of London, the exploitation of children is the focus of his piece. The two perspectives reveal how innocence and experience played a role in each viewpoint. There are two versions of this piece. One … Read more
Since its publication in 1927, Ernest Hemingway’s seemingly simple short story “Hills Like White Elephants” has readers arguing over the ever-present issue of a woman’s rights. At first glance, “Hills Like White Elephants” appears to be about a man and a woman having drinks and a shallow conversation whilst awaiting a train. However, the seemingly … Read more
In order to truly grasp how John Donne (1572 – 1631) regards and treats the concept of love in his poems, one must be well aware of the fact that his love poems never refer to one single unchanging view of love. Instead, in Donne’s love poems, not only can one find a wide variety … Read more
“[A] persuadable temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happiness as a very resolute character.” (Persuasion, Ch. 12) Persuasion seems to draw on the deep divide in the two then contemporary forms of the novel – one based on Augustan values, in which the rational precedes the irrational, and the second based on … Read more
In To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf focuses in great detail on the workings of dark and light on the relationships between her characters. The presence of light or dark tends to govern certain scenes: light brings people together in a harmony based on the physical environment, while darkness instead symbolizes the isolated, interior consciousness. Twilight, … Read more
Upon reading Jonathan Edwards’ Personal Narrative, one would undoubtedly find that Edwards’ descriptions and expressions of his insurmountable love for God (and all things in relation to the Christian faith) are of an extreme degree uncommon to that of the ordinary believer. It is therefore justifiable to pinpoint one of the themes in Personal Narrative … Read more
In Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson describes his vision of the individual, a man dependent on himself and refusing to conform to social standards and expectations. The individual, according to Emerson, stands alone against the wave of society, listening to his own heart and disregarding the thoughts of others. He dismisses any inter-personal connection that holds … Read more
Throughout their poems, authors Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Bronte convey their ideas regarding the despair they have felt throughout their lives, and in particular the concept that ‘thing fall apart’. Through a range of engaging stylistic techniques such as personification, repetition, symbolism, metaphor, alliteration, simile, homoioptoton, synecdoche, rhyme, and tone, each author, in … Read more
“Promises like Piecrust” by Christina Rossetti relates a narrative between a speaker and beloved in regards to the other’s romantic attraction towards the speaker. The title of the poem is taken from the expression ‘Promises are like pie crust, they are made to be broken’, likening the difficulty of keeping a promise to the fragility … Read more
The play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare depicts the beginning and end of a tyrant who loses his strength of will. It can be said however that the fault is not Macbeth’s alone as the witches and Lady Macbeth were partly responsible for Macbeth’s downfall. This can be shown through a variety of techniques such as … Read more
Exclusively raising opposition to commonplace phenomena can only go as far as just that: talk of a new contrary, and usually unwanted, opinion. The crucial ingredient in making a significant impact with a foreign idea is to make a claim so inconspicuous, that a person with contrary views, perhaps, may alter his or her way … Read more
Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club provides a realistic depiction of Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters struggling in relationships strained by tragedy, lack of communication, and unreasonable expectations. Tan criticizes mothers who intend to instill Chinese values while supplying American opportunities. The result is daughters becoming too Americanized and materialistic. Living in America demands a … Read more
Robert Frost is considered one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century. His writings have been lauded for their pastoral imagery, emotional depth, and their masterful use of America colloquialism. Frost’s poem, Home Burial, is an exquisite combination of these elements, exploring the depths of emotional suffering and its effect on marriage. The … Read more
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touched The very virtue of compassion in thee, I have with such provision in mine art So safely ordered that there is no soul- No, not so much perdition as an hair Betid to any creature in the vessel Which thou heard’st cry, which thou saw’st sink. (1531) … Read more
Anne Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book” reflects on an author’s feelings to her book after it is published and critiqued as an unfinished product. The poem uses the controlling metaphor of an author and her book to the relationship of a loving mother and her child to express the author’s complex attitude that shifts … Read more
Friendship: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly One of the main elements in both the coming-of-age novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and the quirky movie Dead Poets Society, written by Tom Schulman and directed Peter Weir, is friendship. Friendship can involve many stages, and at times, can be very complex, but in … Read more
Sonnet 130 By William Shakespeare is a rejection of the Petrarchan blazon rhetoric, made popular by Italian poet Petrarch in his Canzoniere, in which Petrarch idealizes the beauty of his love subject Laura through an anatomical analysis of her body. By comparing the lady’s body parts to the finest imagery of nature, Petrarch idealizes her … Read more
In literature, the presence of alcohol can play a fundamental role in guiding the themes and perspectives within a given narrative. The characters in the story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, for instance, were heavily intoxicated throughout the work. Because of this, the characters’ decisions and reactions to one another are not true … Read more
Sonnet 130 By William Shakespeare is a rejection of the Petrarchan blazon rhetoric, made popular by Italian poet Petrarch in his Canzoniere, in which Petrarch idealizes the beauty of his love subject Laura through an anatomical analysis of her body. By comparing the lady’s body parts to the finest imagery of nature, Petrarch idealizes her … Read more
