Introduction In ancient Rome, slavery was common, and it was highly significant for the growth of Roman society and its economy. Apart from participating in manual labor, slaves were also tasked with several other domestic services, with others engaging in skilled professions. However, slaves from Greek were highly educated. The…
Home/family The entire family is brought down by the slave trade. Clotel, Currer, and Althea are completely separated from each other. Currer later dies of yellow fever while Althea is left to suffer under the ruthless hands of slave traders. Even after being married to Henry Morton, her life is…
Ruth Reichl felt a need to re-title her book from “Not Becoming My Mother” to “For You Mom, Finally” because she finally came to an understanding about who her mother really was and that she had actually grown into the independent and self-reliant woman that her mother had always wanted…
Today’s nurses are faced with the challenging task of delivering culturally competent care to a large number of patients with different ethnic backgrounds. Among other things, a culturally tailored approach requires overcoming prejudice and racial stereotypes, which have shown to have a negative impact on patient health (Perkins, 2014). The…
“Little Red Riding Hood” is one of the tales that seem simple yet addresses complex social issues such as sexual predators, stalking, date rape, and many others. It is the way in which a comparatively old fairy tale shapes relationships and interactions in modern society that seems to be especially…
The summary of Olaudah Aquino’s story from free life in his native Africa to slavery in the Americas and acquisition of freedom has revealed that several issues need to be investigated based on the story and history of slavery. Quite clearly, the presence of several texts and historical accounts tend…
Introduction ‘Trifles’ is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell. It was written in 1916. Glaspell tells a true story about a murder that happened in a small town in Lowa. The narrative revolves around a farmer named John Wright. The man was murdered by a person who strung a rope…
The age of the characters Overall, I began to suspect that Jack and Hope could be elderly people when the author mentioned that in the past these characters were married to other people long time ago. In particular, the narrator says that Hope was a widow, while Jack had divorced…
Irony Jane Austen (2003) treats Emma, the central character of the novel of the same name, with irony. The most apparent aspect of this attitude is created situationally, for example, through the mismatches that Emma creates, which contrast with her “disposition to think a little too well of herself” and…
Narration According to Childs and Fowler (2006, p. 148), narration consists of two “overlapping aspects” that include the content and the form of its presentation. The content will be mostly covered in the following part of the essay; in this one, the forms of the three novels (The Mayor of…
Introduction In the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor focuses on the lack of the ‘good’ aspects that are supposed to lead to ‘grace’ among human beings. The author shows the frailty of human beings and how they lack in spirituality. The story is presented through…
The foundational themes commonly associated with fireside poets were in full display in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem entitled My Lost Youth. The said foundational themes are listed as follows: living a just life; commemorating history; embracing family and community; celebrating nature. However, in this particular poem the theme that reverberates…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of irony as a literary device was not an afterthought. Writers use irony in the same way that a chef utilizes a certain type of ingredient to add flavor or character to the prepared dish. However, Hawthorne’s case, it is a mistake to perceive the use of…
The poem I, Too by Langston Hughes has left me very inspired. The line which I found to be the strongest is “I, too, am America” (Hughes 275), because it received my emotional feedback. It sends a message, to which I can relate myself since I consider myself to be…
The Favorite Readings The abstract Continuation of the Discoveries Along the Coast of the Almouchiquois, and What We Observed in Detail by Samuel de Champlain is a great example of a narrative, which presents remote places and culture. His writing is created in the form of a diary and gives…
Introduction It does not make sense when someone calls Anton Chekhov’s poem The Cherry Orchard a comedy, but as one progresses to analyze the book, this idea becomes a reality. The play is centered on Lyubov Andreyevna whose irresponsible mannerism leads their family into a tragedy of financial collapse and…
Introduction Fences, a play by August Wilson, was published in 1986. The play details the African-American experiences and deals with the themes of racism, infidelity, and forgiveness. This paper explores how Cory, son of Troy and Rose, has avoided following in his father’s footsteps and learned to manage his anger…
Introduction Literature turns out to be one of the most captivating things, any person can enjoy any time. It does not matter where this or that piece of writing came from, but its unique style, its contents, and its idea – all this can easily amaze the reader and attract…
Introduction Katherine Howe’s novel called The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is an adventure story of a young graduate student Connie Goodwin. The main protagonist of the novel is on a quest trying to solve a mysterious riddle of the past. Connie is struggling to locate and put together the…
Pip’s Feelings the Next Day After He Met Mr. Jaggers Pip’s mood has improved the next morning after he came into possession of the unexpected fortune. However, he feels uncertain about his future and even thinks that something may happen to London before he even has a chance to get…
Introduction In his well-known play called Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare describes a case of interaction between the world of humans and the world of supernatural creatures. The drama that revolves around several couples ends up in a massive confusion caused by the meddling of elves and fairies. Initially, the…
Introduction Disgrace is a 1999 novel by J. M. Coetzee, written from the perspective of a middle-aged white South African professor living in Cape Town, who loses his job and, consequently, his usual life after his black student files sexual harassment charges upon him. David relocates to his daughter’s farm…
Summary Chapter 6 of the book, “Mightier than the Sword”, explores various cases of investigative journalism that occurred during the latter half of the 19th century which brought to light the various excesses of corruption and disreputable practices that various politicians, corporations, government agencies and captains of industry engaged in…
Introduction/Thesis Ever since Jean Rhys’s novel Wide Sargasso Sea has been published for the first time in 1966, it had instantly gained fame as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s Victorian novel Jane Eyre – a classical work of British literature. This does not represent much of a surprise. Given the…
Sissy In the story, Sissy is the protagonist and the narrator. In the first summer (or the first episode of the story), Sissy is a child, accompanying her parents and brothers at a tavern near an unnamed lake. She is dependent on her parents because she is quite young. For…
Introduction In this work of poetry, the persona describes the struggles that she goes through, and what awaits her as she makes her journey to the place of grace (heaven) (Stanza five). As the persona nears the end of her narration, it is not clear whether her goal (place of…
Authored by Stephen Ambrose, “Band of Brothers” is a must-read piece that comes in handy in providing an insight on the Second World War. The book tables the turn of events or rather the journey of the citizen soldiers from the Easy Company, 101st airborne and the 506th Regiment units…
According to Joseph Campbell myths typically have four functions. In this paper, we will examine two of the four functions by examining how these functions are emulated in three myths. The three myths that will be used for this examination are “Ages of the World”, “King Arthur” and “Gilgamesh” as…
At the outset, it seems as though Chaucer is a feminist. As argued by Sigmund Eisner (1957, p. 45), he suggests that the work of Chaucer portrayed males as ‘lustful’ and immoral with the following phrases: “Of which made anon, maugre hir heed, By very force, he rafte hires maidenhead”…
Reading Between the Lines: The True Meaning of the Story George Saunders: Marriages. Winning Your Lottery In his extremely satiric essay Saunders asks a simple question – why not marrying someone with an even weaker will and becoming what can be called a “normal family” (Saunders)? The author claims that…
Introduction Plato was one of the outstanding Ancient Greek philosophers. Most of his teachings were based on his conception of the ideas, which explained human nature, life, soul, relationships, and the state. Plato expressed his philosophy in the dialogues, among which the Phaedo and The Republic take a very important…
Introduction One of the reasons why Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise is being commonly referred to as such that represents a high literary value is that despite having been written in 1920, it contains a number of themes and motifs that relate to the discursive realities of a contemporary…
In his short story, The Chrysanthemums John Steinbeck describes a person who at one point understands that her life lacks meaning and value at least in the eyes of other people. The protagonist Elisa Allen feels that her life is deprived of emotional and intellectual intimacy. To some degree, this…
Introduction The poem depicts a traveler who has arrived at a fork in a forest where two roads diverge. It thus presents his dilemma in deciding which road to continue traveling on. In normal circumstances, such a traveler would have a map with him and it goes to illustrate that…
Kafka on the Shore Telling two entangled stories that seem irrelevant to each other but later on prove intertwined, the book is split into two parts. While the odd chapters lead the reader down the life path of a boy of fifteen named Kafka, the second one narrates the story…
Introduction The collection of short stories, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell presents tales narrated by adolescents that presents realistic detail of the miraculous phantasmagoric existence. Each story is infused with fantasy – dating of ghosts and humans in “Ava Wrestles the Alligator”, a song…
Dialogue with the mirror With a slow but firm sense of style, this work little as it is exposes an awakening of a man in front of a mirror. As he shaves, a recollection of a shop he frequently passes that house a range of commodities. He bears a frenzied…
How Eliezer’s relationship with his father changes throughout the book? Eliezer and his father Shlomo are the main characters of Elie Wiesel’s novel Night. In spite of the fact many issues associated with the Holocaust and the people living in concentration camps are discussed in the novel, the author pays…
“Idler #31” Samuel Johnson revealed his ideas on idle people and the nature of idleness in his essay “Idler #31”. The author contemplates the essence of idleness. First, Johnson depicts an idler who buries him/herself in the complete darkness. One could understand Johnson’s words literally, but the author does not…
Introduction Literature is an artistic piece of work used to creatively pass information/ideas to people in society. Since the authors of these pieces of work are members of the society, the ideas/information found in the latter are usually a reflection of the day to day happenings in the society; literature…
Warning of the Impending Doom The people of Sighet found it hard to believe Moishe the Beadle due to certain reasons. The first is because of the status of Moishe the Beadle in the society that they lived in. He was poor, and thus was not particularly liked by the…
M. Butterfly is probably one of the most controversial still rather popular works by an American playwright, David Henry Hwang. This story consists of several captivating details and examples with the help of which it is possible to understand the essence of western and eastern women, define the benefits which…
The history of America includes lots of positive and negative characters that influenced the country and its citizens. At the end of the 19th century during the gilded age, the economy of the country improved and businessmen were holding the power in their hands. Some of them decided to work…
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce In what ways are the condemned man’s perceptions of time and motion distorted as he is waiting to be hanged? Ambrose Bierce depicts the protagonist who is condemned to be hanged, and he does not realize the fringe between illusion and…
In both Shakespeare’s Othello and Garcia’s Chronicles of a Death Foretold, the themes of love, passion, and death are connected. In most cases, death occurs as a result of the violence that is ignited by passion, which seemingly originates from love. However, a critical reading of the texts begs the…
Introduction Epic heroes are considered to be one of the most important figures in history and literature, who represent the best human qualities and traits, illustrate proper morals and values, and teach the reader what it means to be a fair, honorable, and respectable person. As a rule, epic heroes…
Examples of Foreshadowing While not immediately obvious, there are instances of foreshadowing in the story which seems to imply that some form of auspicious practice was about to occur. The most obvious example of foreshadowing was the emphasis the author placed on how the various characters in the story spoke…
The Agamemnon Agamemnon, one of Aeschylus’ greatest work, is a classic Greek Tragedy. This play shows the extension of a curse that was on the house of Atreus. The time setting for this play is the end of the Trojan War, and King Agamemnon’s come back. The play entails the…
Brief introduction of the short story “A good man is hard to find” is a story that talks about a family that is killed by a social criminal named Misfit. The main characters are the Misfit and the unnamed grandmother. It depicts human beings as untrustworthy creatures; it is consistently…
Introduction When Douglas managed to escape from slavery and safely landed in New York, he felt that he had come to a completely new world. He compares a day in New York to a year in slavery. He claims that he felt the same feelings felt by a person who…
Introduction “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor in 1953 and is mostly known for its controversial and grim ending. O’Connor, being a Southerner, has been mostly using a Southern Gothic style in her writings; this genre is usually referred to as…
Introduction William Faulkner is one of the great authors of American History. “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily” are counted as his best pieces in American literature. Both stories reflect the values pertaining to a typical Old Southern American society. Faulkner, through these two stories, has very intellectually illustrated…
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Stranger by Albert Camus is both existential works that explore the themes of alienation, emotional detachment and the seeming absurdity of the human condition. The main theme of both stories is the idea that the world is absurd and that the norms of…
Introduction: Among Villains and Victims Of all the complex and thought-provoking Shakespearean plays, Othello must be the most complicated and enticing one. Offering a plethora of three-dimensional characters and developing an intriguing plot, the play conveys the author’s idea of the battle between good and evil and offers specific, unclichéd…
The major change in Gregor’s life was the transformation from the human life to that of an insect (Kafka 2). Despite this change in physical appearance, Gregor’s life did not undergo further significant changes throughout. The transformation was majorly physical and not on the mind. In fact, the physical transformation…
Marlow left for Africa specifically to Congo in the service of the Belgian company occupying Congo as its protectorate (Conrad 3). However, when Marlow was presented with the map showing the Belgian empire, he raised concerns with the effects of imperial presence in Africa. For instance, the Congolese viewed the…
The Metamorphosis is an expressionist novella by Franz Kafka that is considered one of the most intriguing and absurdist pieces of fiction while presenting an intricate psychological and philosophical analysis of modern realities. The complexity and inherent meaning of the plot have been a widely debated literally topic. Kafka is…
The theme of transformation is one of the most prominent ones in The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka implemented various literary devices to illustrate how the central characters changed throughout the novella. Yet, the key aspect the author tried to convey is that Gregor’s physical metamorphosis led to everyone’s psychological transformation, including…
Chedgzoy, Kate. Shakespeare, Feminism, and Gender: Contemporary Critical Essays. New York: Palgrave, 2001. Recently, feminist criticisms of Shakespeare’s works have greatly expanded. Chedgzoy notes that the modern field of feminist criticism is not as obsessed as it once was on whether Shakespeare’s works were feminist or proto-feminist, or in the…
Introduction Gender roles are a collection of behavioral and social norms that acceptable for people of a particular sex in the framework of a specific culture (Dusinberre 12). Gender roles change widely between different cultures and periods. To better understand gender roles in Shakespeare’s plays, it is crucial to understand…
Introduction The works of William Shakespeare have received a lot of attention throughout history. His works have been analyzed by themes, line by line, or the characters he invented. His works can be interpreted one way or another, and as such, Shakespeare seems to have gained immortality. The Tempest has…
Despite its ancient origin, the archetypal journey of the hero remains one of the most enduring and captivating stories known to civilization. The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and The Odyssey depicts two very different types of heroes – Gilgamesh and Odysseus – however, both heroes encounter the theme of…
Introduction In this paper, I compare two prominent heroes in contemporary literature – Odysseus and Maximus. Based on the portrayal of the latter from the movie Gladiator and the representation of Odysseus in a book with the same title, I argue that both characters had more similarities than differences. In…
“The Disinherited” by Jack Conroy mixed an early version of social commentary and fiction into a compelling informant narrative that delved into the life of a poor low wage worker within the U.S. during the early 1900s. The book delves into how non-skilled workers within the U.S. attempt to live…
Themes The present paper compares and contrasts the characters of two short stories: “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. Both stories seem to explore the themes of crime and punishment. Apart from that, both stories depict a specific case of…
It has been said so many times that in any given journey, the destination is not the most important aspect of the trip or the quest. The most important aspect of the quest or journey is in the act itself, the process of journeying from Point A to Point B…
“Finally, high school is over,” softly said Abu-Bakr Mohammed to himself as he walked down the sandy road that led to his village from the school he had attended for the last six years. Abu, as most of his friends called him, was excited beyond measure because he had made…
Introduction The Arab American writers have always employed several literary components and literary devices that reflect the true history and traditional values of Arabs living in America. The literary works of Diana Abu-Jaber in her two novels, Crescent and Arabian Jazz are some of the most important Arab American novels,…
Canola Queasy It is not easy to create an educative and interesting eco-poem to support the chosen position and help the reader to understand how unfair or unpleasant human activities may be. In her Canola Queasy, Wong underlines the importance of environmental pollution and human direct participation in it and…
Trevor Cole has been referred to by several critics and also fans of his works as the best young novelist in Canada. He comes from a humble background and has even worked on a factory floor to the newspaper boardroom. Despite this, he has managed to earn a living through…
Ximen Qing was born to a family of a person who sold medical herbs (Roy, 1997). Very often Ximen assisted his father in his shop and as a child he was accustomed to work. Nevertheless, his father was not a very rich man, and since early childhood Qing understood that…
Introduction Misha Glenny’s, The Fall of Yugoslavia: The Third Balkan War is a book that gives an account of the events that led to the Yugoslavian conflict. In the book, Glenny gives a detailed account of his interaction with the Balkans and this provides a basis for understanding the origin…
Introduction Children’s literature can be defined as that form of literature that is designed for readers and listeners of about twelve years or below. Barry (2009) is of the view that children’s literature can be viewed from four perspectives. The first perspective defines children’s literature as that form of literature…
The problem of identity has perplexed great philosophers for many centuries and has resulted in differing philosophical views. Many philosophers hold that identity is an inherent characteristic that lies deep in the nature of human existence and attempts to unravel it calls for the understanding of other entities that intricately…
I Stand Here Ironing I stand here ironing is a title that describes the life that Emily undergoes during her childhood, and as one iron in a real sense, he or she tends back and forth at the same position several times. This is the same thing in Emily’s life….
Perceptions of childhood in Wordsworth’s and Freud’s Writings The first common thing in Wordsworth’s and Freud’s perception of childhood is the influence of the events that took place in childhood on the future development of the individual. Freud’s theory that all complex of the individual has its roots in early…
The article “The Awakening: an authoritative text, biographical and historical contexts, criticism” kicks off by giving the novel The Awakening appreciation for being among the few fiction publications that front a female protagonist. The author then goes ahead to explain how the gender of the main character causes her to…
The article The Real Raymond Carver by James Campbell opens by confirming that Carver usually went through various drafts of all his work before settling on a final copy for print. Campbell claims that the joy in reading Carver’s work comes from enjoying the strange scenarios that the author presents…
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain The setting and atmosphere at the beginning of the story The story begins with the description of the country: “It was in 1590 – winter. Austria was far away from the world, and asleep” (n. pag). Thus, the author immediately connects the beginning and…
Behind the Writing: Reading the Author’s Mind There comes a time when a person needs to have a place where he or she belongs. When one knows that there is a safe place worth being called home, no matter how far this place might be, one starts feeling somewhat relieved….
Introduction Even though the two plays; ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles and ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrick Ibsen were written in completely different times, they share certain thematic elements when it comes to the portrayal of the female characters. For instance, the characters “Antigone” by Sophocles and Nora in “A Doll’s House”…
Introduction The term ‘author’ can be used to refer to someone who “…….originates or gives existence (or life) to something” (Hodges 2002). In the context of literature, an author can be described as an individual who originates or gives existence to a piece of text. This is for example a…
Introduction Ghosts were written in eighteen eighty-one as a scathing commentary on nineteenth-century fatalities. The two plays were sensational and often regarded as being indecent. Ghost and a Doll’s House criticized contemporary Norwegian society. A Doll’s House is an earlier play than Ghosts written in 1879 during the European revolution…
Written by James Joyce, Araby is a short story describing young adolescent boys eager to learn about sexual awareness. The narrator who is a young boy falls in love with his neighbor the Mangan’s sister. However, he has poor skills on how to approach a girl and therefore secretly admires…
Introduction John Okada’s No-No Boy recounts the story of challenging cultural identity of a Japanese American young man named Ichiro. In the midst of a bloody conflict with the Japanese, the United States undertook a radical move of creating concentration camps for those of Japanese origin, whilst still requiring these…
Introduction The poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe depicts the actions of six blind men in their attempt at trying to discern what an elephant is like based on their perceptions. The result is a series of rather humorous descriptions wherein each man ascertains the…
The characters of Macbeth and Smeagol/Gollum in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings seem at first glance to be drastically different characters. Macbeth is a relative of the king, in line for leadership. Smeagol is a cut-throat of dubious, possibly Halfling origins with none but himself and his…
In the article, the author begins by pointing out the various issues that stand out in the eighteenth-century novel “The Female American” by Unca Eliza (McMurran 323). The author of this article outlines several facts that are specific to eighteenth-century society. The article proceeds by laying out the peculiarity that…
John Smith, the author of “General History of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles” does not seem to be a reliable narrator, even though he is talking about his adventures from the times of colonization, he makes the story sound like an ode to himself and his deeds. The…
The tone Christopher Columbus used in his letters to the Queen and King of Spain is very official, professional, optimistic, and positive. Christopher Columbus as a person, who was directly involved in the process of discovering new lands had the best level of education and was very well informed about…
Elie Wiesel’s “Night” is a detailed description of the processes that happen in a young boy’s heart, soul, and mind, when he observes people being tortured, starved, and burnt alive, when he gets betrayed, insulted, and humiliated. This short but shocking book contains preserved images and evidence of how far…
“Night” by Elie Wiesel is a powerful book filled with the tragic psychological development of the main characters and their relationships. Wiesel’s writing’s power is that all the unbelievable events described in the book happened in real. The book describes Elie Wiesel’s experiences, a Jewish man captured by the Nazis…
Literary Darwinism is the specific approach in the literary criticism according to which literature as the discourse is discussed as originated from and affected by definite evolutionary processes. Literature reflects the aspects of human nature, human development, the progress of human psychology, behavior, and culture. As a result, there is…
“Rip Van Winkle” is a symbolic story, its author, Washington Irving, used a fictional and unrealistic event to be able to portray the difference between the same places of America before and during the Revolutionary War. The story of a mysterious situation when a character skips a long period without…
An interesting way of looking at the quite radical alterations that information technologies in general and computer usage, in particular, have brought into people’s lives, Nutcracker.com by David Sedaris features nearly every essay mode that there is. Despite keeping their storytelling style consistent and their narration even, the author manages…
The Relationship Between Eliezer and His Father Eliezer is the protagonist of the Elie Wiese’s Night narrative. Eliezer was the son of a Jewish elder called Chomlo (Bosmajian 211). Throughout the novel, Wiese narrates how Chomlo treated his son throughout his life. Similarly, he narrates how Eliezer’s attitude towards his…
Introduction “What’s That Smell in the Kitchen” by Marge Piercy is a poem that relates to my childhood experience. Since I was young, I have been taught by my parents and grandparents that my role as a woman was to perform domestic chores like cooking, cleaning, etc. On the contrary,…
Introduction Wiesel’s book Night can be regarded as a story of dehumanization and lost hopes. However, it is also a story of affection and desire to remain a human in inhumane conditions. There are different themes in the book, but the father-son relationship is one of the central and most…
Introduction Elie Wiesel exhibits his struggle in religion and faith in a unique manner. As a Jew, Eliezer was brought up to be a staunch believer in God. However, the same is not evidenced throughout the book. Eliezer grows up believing that God is absolute and omnipresent. He is a…
While reading the critical response on Ha Jin’s short story Saboteur, I’ve realized that the critic Nicola McAllister has a low opinion of the Chinese government and knows nothing about the policy of China. On the other hand, he is just ignorant of the historical changes that took place in…