5915 samples of this type
Almost every joke contains a hint of truth. For this reason, comedy can be the perfect medium to effect social reform. Clearly, Aristophanes understood this concept quite well when he penned his farcical-humored play Lysistrata. Lysistrata focuses on the story of a young woman of the same name who attempted...
“Macbeth” is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1605 or 1606 and published in 1628. The story of the play is no figment of the author’s imagination. Macbeth was a real king – a king of Scotland, nephew of Molom II, and ruler of Moray. He married Grunch, granddaughter...
Caryl Churchill is the Playwright of the famous Play ‘Top Girls’ which captures a charming and amusing approach of some of the famous women in history and the role of women in contemporary society. The story has been described on the thematic structure of feminist ideas of women’s role in...
William Shakespeare is believed to have been born on 23rd April 1564 in Stratford near London. Though little is known about the life of this great actor and renowned writer, his parents John Shakespeare and Mary Arden are assumed to have taken him to a grammar school where he read...
In the twelve books of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the poet not only weaves an elegant story depicting the Biblical story of the fall from Eden and the nature of hell but presents his readers with a concept of God that remains somewhat ambiguous. Depending upon the way in which...
Things Fall Apart Things Fall Apart: A Novel is the book that can be called a real masterpiece of the African Literature with the appearance of which Chinua Achebe was concerned started writing his novels and glorifying the African culture and Africans. This book can be viewed as the response...
Introduction Many people take pleasure from reading fairy tales, whose endings are normally happy and which depict the triumph of “the good” over “the evil”. Anne Sexton is among the writers, who have a non-traditional vision of fairy-tales, as she creates her own interpretations of fantasy narratives. As Sexton is...
Individual versus society is probably the oldest theme employed by writers, playwrights, and film producers to demonstrate a difference one might make by their positive or negative deeds. In “Suddenly, Last Summer,” Tennessee Williams shows homosexuality as the central point of the conflict between the characters and makes broader implications,...
Living in a society where each person can achieve success and respect regardless of their origin, gender, or race was a general idea of the American Dream at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the American Dream is slowly fading and becoming more of an illusion after the Depression...
It is difficult to identify as to who was the first feminist in the world and as to when the feminist movements had started, but majority of such movements can be traced during the last two centuries. However, there have been women feminists who have proved their abilities in this...
The ancient Greeks, with their pantheon of gods, had deep religious convictions that reinforced many values we continue to hold sacred today, such as honor and loyalty to family and loved ones. Bravery was typically measured by one’s performance in battle or their ability to stand up to strange mythological...
Nowadays, it is being commonly assumed that name, the Christian worldview defines the essence of Western civilization, as we know it. However, the close reading of the earliest Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon poetical pieces, such as “Beowulf”, “The Seafarer”, and “The Wanderer”, provides us with insight into the spiritual foundation of...
Reading of great books has, all through the ages, been recognized as the most powerful contributor to the development of an individual’s personality. The great thinkers and the philosophers of the world have often identified the role of good books as an influential reformer of personal life and attitude. One...
The Great Gatsby deal with contradictions present in a romantic figure, certain troubling discrepancies between appearance and reality which that figure reveals under critical scrutiny. The main character can be compared with Ben Franklin as he possesses the same qualities and virtues. Similar to Ben Franklin, Gatsby value knowledge and...
Introduction Geoffrey Chaucer and Jane Austen belong to two different remarkable periods in English Literature. Chaucer was born in 1334 and Austen in 1775. The birth of the English language and literature in the fourteenth century provided a proper atmosphere in England for the growth of new trends and tendencies...
Introduction When one hears the name of Leo Tolstoy, the first thing that comes to mind is his great novels War and Peace or Anna Karenina. However, this famous Russian writer created more than 150 works, including short stories, autobiographical novels, and novellas. The Forged Coupon is one of the...
Introduction When it comes to discussing the discursive significance of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, critics commonly refer to the fact that, despite having been written at the end of the 19th century, the concerned dramaturgic masterpiece continues to enjoy popularity with contemporary audiences. The reason...
Classic literature is an exciting and essential phenomenon in world history. Numerous authors manage to make the works that remain relevant irrespective of how many years have passed from the date of their creation. For example, it refers to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that was written in the late 16th...
Introduction Suzan-Lori Parks is an African American playwright of the 20th century who transformed American theatre with her mythic plays. She has won the acclaim of dramatists, critics, and the public around the globe as a provocative and influential author. At the same time, her innovative approach to language and...
Fyodor Dostoevsky became a classic of Russian and world literature due to his ability to feel the subtle psychology of broken people, to create them in his works so that they seem frighteningly real. In the novel Crime and Punishment, the author tells readers about the tragic events in the...
The Road Essay Introduction The Road is a chef-d’oeuvre novel by Cormac McCarthy talking about the dangers of human activities to the environment. The main characters are an unnamed boy and his father as they walk on a long road looking for food and shelter after an apocalyptic event has...
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...
Perhaps, one of the most famous works on the subject of disability and the means of people with disadvantages to feel a part of the society, The Miracle Worker handles the issue in a rather delicate and insightful manner, promoting the concept of empathy and cooperation as the primary tool...
Introduction Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which is also called by its opening line How do I love thee, is a prominent example of English poetry. This sonnet reveals the selfless and pure love of the poetess to her husband. Despite all difficulties on her life journey, despite a...
Irony in Everything That Rises Must Converge is one of the most prominent literary devices. Another example is irony in A Rose for Emily, which is connected to its theme. Read this sample to learn more about the use of irony in these short stories. Introduction Irony is a common...
Introduction The main reason why the book Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory is being often referred to as such that represents a high literary value, is that there are strongly defined philosophical overtones to the book’s themes and motifs. One of these overtones is being concerned with the fact...
Introduction The Things They Carried is a classical work of art written by Tim O’Brien. The piece of work is classified as a novel and an anthology of interconnected short stories (Scott 1). Although the critics have challenged the book several times for its vulgarity and confusing structure, it should...
Introduction Many scholars agree that Gulliver’s Travels was written as a bitter satire designed to parody the human race, with particular emphasis to England and Europe. However, despite this, the satirical significance of this book has over time diminished with its secondary meaning, as a children’s book emerging as the...
Empathy in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep: Essay Introduction Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, a sci-fi genre novel, was created by the fantastic mind of Philip K. Dick between 1966 and 1968 and published in 1968. Later, it became an inspiration to the popular 1982 movie adaptation “Blade...
The story of Henrietta is a classical example of how women are portrayed and thought of in the society. The portrayal of women on magazine covers is exemplary done by the author in her book cover. The author views Henrietta as a beautiful black woman. In fact, pundits argue that...
In his theatrical masterpiece, Our Town, Thornton Wilder dramatically focuses on three essential stages of human life, namely birth, marriage, and death. The first part of the play describes the daily lives of human people in a family or a community. The second act highlights the importance of relationships/companionship among...
Introduction Father-son relationships have never been easy, and Wiesel’s novel is the exact manifestation of the given fact. Although the novel touches upon several issues apart from the given one, and the family dilemmas are not the focus of the novel, it is quite peculiar to watch the evolution of...
Introduction “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut is a potent anti-war book that still has readers today. The semi-autobiographical book, first published in 1969, details Vonnegut’s time as a prisoner of war in World War II. Vonnegut tackles the catastrophic repercussions of war on society and individuals through the figure of Billy...
Introduction The social injustice that women faced in the 20th century has not changed much by the 21st century. Women’s voices remain unheard, and men disregard their opinions and feelings. Susan Glaspell invites the reader to look at women’s relationships through the prism of shared experiences with men. Repeatedly pointing...
Sumerian Religion and Environment The Epic of Gilgamesh is the greatest heroic tale of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia—the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. The text provides a very deep understanding of Sumerian religious beliefs and worldviews. This essay will prove, using the Epic of Gilgamesh as an example, that the...
Introduction The poems The Iliad and The Odyssey were created in the eighth and early seventh centuries B.C. They reflected the worldview, the ideal of human behavior, and man’s place in nature and society. The protagonists of the poems are leaders who stand out for their bravery and strength. Homer...
Introduction In James Joyce’s “Araby,” the narrator is driven by his infatuation with a girl, which leads him on a journey to buy her a gift at a local bazaar. The story concludes with the narrator’s realization of his vanity and the anguish and grief that result from it. The...
Introduction The themes of isolation and secrecy effectively manifest in the two selected stories. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Mr. Hooper becomes socially isolated when wearing a black veil (Hawthorne 2). The author uses this item to symbolize the minister’s sins, which he wants to keep secret. In “The Fall...
Introduction One of the most interesting topics raised in the literature is power and authority. This is because this topic can be implemented from different points of view on this phenomenon. Furthermore, it can provide a more complete understanding of the role of these aspects in an individual’s relationship with...
Introduction The poem “White Lies” delves into the topic of racial identity and the societal expectations associated with it. This text is filled with various images and meanings hidden behind childhood memories. The innocent little lies that the heroine tells are a serious social problem in a world where people...
Use of Personal Information In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend can be argued to be an incarnation of the devil or some fairytale villain. The evidence lies in how Arnold manipulates and preys on Connie’s vulnerabilities, using his charm and cunning to...
Introduction The chosen Fabliau is “The Miller’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer, while the modern story is the one from “The Other Woman” (2014 film). Moral in Fabliau “The Miller’s Tale” is a fabliau from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”. In this tale, a carpenter named John, his young wife Alison,...
Summary In “An Old Woman Remembers,” by Eulalia Perez, the author describes life in the California missions around the turn of the 19th century. Eulalia Perez’s narrative gives a distinctive viewpoint on the missionary system and sheds light on how women—especially widows like herself—are seen in these communities. This story...
Introduction Ancient Greece is known for its many traditions and norms that have been preserved for millennia, emphasizing the values of family, dignity, and integrity. However, Ancient Greece is additionally known for its literature and well-known plays that carry powerful messages and illuminate themes that are often debated even in...
Introduction Nancy Mairs is a renowned author and disability rights advocate whose work has been recognized for its frankness and willingness to tell her story to increase recognition in the disability community. Despite several severe disabilities, this person has achieved excellence in education and has become a prominent author. Mairs...
Introduction Modernization refers to the transition from a pre-modernistic and agriculture-focused society into an industrialized and modern one. Industrialization is a complex process during which an economy is transformed from a mainly agricultural one to one that depends on the manufacturing of products. Therefore, manual labor can be significantly reduced...
Mother to Son is a narrative poem written by Langston Hughes, an American poet, novelist, and playwright. The poem is constructed in the form of a monologue of a mother addressing her son. She states that life has been hard for her and compares overcoming the struggles to climbing stairs....
Introduction Jane Austen’s book titled Emma is a novel focusing on romantic misunderstandings and youthful hubris. Initially published in 1815, the book entails events in the fictional Highbury country village that explores the difficulties and concerns of women during Georgian-Regency England. The book is a comedy that highlights social status,...
A Scholarly Summary of the Literary Aspects The narrative keenly illustrates a broken social institution and an apparent disconnect of emotions. Scholar Li (116) depicts Frome’s life as a domestic misfortune characterized by death and a sense of love insecurity. She describes Ethan as a desperate person who is anxious,...
The story of The Kite Runner begins in the pre-war Afghan city of Kabul in the 70s, where there were children who did not know what shelling and explosions were. A favorite pastime and, at the same time, a very serious matter for all the residents were kite competitions (Hosseini)....
Introduction The tale of Jack Finney’s The Love Letter was written in 1959 and became an excellent basis for a touching film that will not leave anyone indifferent. The book describes the love story of a young man Johnny and an adult woman Helen. This short romance means that Johnny...
Published under a poetry collection in 1940, Federico Garcia Lorca’s poem, Norm and Paradise of the Blacks, seems to take apart that era’s contemporary, techno-industrial civilization. This piece of poetry symbolizes the chaotic, hostile, materialistic, and dehumanized version of New York City. This depiction rightly reflects the poet’s experience of...
Introduction Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is a novel about a young writer herself. It reflects multiple life events: her sufferings, mental breakdown, and the attempt to fix her with glue. The story narrates Esther Greenwood, the book’s protagonist, getting an opportunity to study at a prestigious university. Writers various...
Introduction The short and anthologized story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor refers to the Gothic Fiction genre. Ismail suggests that the story can be characterized as the best example of Southern Gothic Fiction. The text consists of grotesque and macabre events, eccentric characters and concentrates...
Introduction The given analysis will primarily focus on the tone of the story and characters as an element of fiction. The tone in the story by Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephant” is dichotomous, which means that two opposite perspectives and demonstrations are presented in order to provide two lenses...
Like many other stories addressing the complexity of human nature, Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” introduces a complex moral issue under the guise of a seemingly simple ethical problem. By showing how evil can assume the disguise of morality and, thus, affect unsuspecting people, O’Connor proves that both experiences, when...
Introduction Junot Diaz’s book “The brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” revolves around the story of Oscar Wao, a young Dominican man, and his family after immigrating to New Jersey from San Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo. Since its publication in 2007, the novel has...
The participation of children in labor activities in order to help their families survive was a common situation for American society in the 1910s. In his poem “Out, Out–” that was published in 1916, Robert Frost draws the readers’ attention to this aspect while telling a story about a young...
Introduction Plato’s sixth book of Republic describes the philosophy of the Divided Line. His allegory divides the world into two unequal parts: visible and intelligible. These categories are divided further into two, thus creating a line of the world containing four sections. While the first realm consists of images and...
Homer’s Iliad is a full-scale artistic discovery made in the cradle of world culture — Ancient Greece. This is one of the first epic poems in the history of mankind. In the analyzed chapter, the topic of funerals and the Olympic Games in honor of the burial of an ancient...
Martin Espada dedicated “The Trouble Ball” to his father, Frank Espada. The author takes readers on a poetic journey to Brooklyn. Espada alludes to the experience of his father’s first American baseball game at Ebbets Field in 1941 as a new immigrant. This game has significantly shaped how the poem...
Introduction Jeanette Winterson is a postmodernist writer whose work blends history, fiction, fairy tales, and feminine romance. Postmodernism allows the combining of different writing techniques and genres. In this sense, in The Passion the author could employ parody, irony, historical rewriting, self-reflectivity, and gothic elements. Postmodernism is often characterized as...
The story Patriotism by Yukio Mishima reflects the ideas of loyalty and sacrifice portrayed with consideration for human feelings and relationships. The events described during the scene are not unambiguous, as they reflect several perceptions of the main characters. At the same time, the story plot represents the direct path...
Introduction The book “In Search of Respect,” written by Philippe Bourgois, was published in 2003 and comprises 432 pages. It tells the story of a group of Puerto Rican men who live and work in the Bronx. Each of these men has a unique backstory and personality contributing to the...
The book “Crispin: The Cross of Lead” by Avi tells the story of a young boy who has to flee his home after his mother’s death. In the beginning, the main character has a low social status, thinks little of himself, and does not have his own opinions. By the...
In “A&P,” John Updike uses Sammy’s point of view on the new generation of women to develop his new wisdom on change over tradition. Sammy, the narrator, gives us an insight into how he perceived three girls walking into a grocery store in bathing suits during the sixties. John Updike...
Introduction Though fiction is often viewed as a realm that is thoroughly divorced from reality, its very nature implies that it reflects the sociocultural realities of its authors’ environments. The specified observation applies to Shakespeare’s famous “Much Ado About Nothing,” which, despite its comedic nature, makes the reader ponder quite...
Relationships serve as the foundation for human interactions with others. It is what guides and sustains the human race. Love is created through relationships, and life is formed out of this love; without it, life is meaningless. Relationships force people to confront their emotions, which influences what they do and...
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s literary work The Yellow Wallpaper is often considered an important early work of American feminist literature that illustrates general social and physiological attitudes toward women in the 19th century which are still relevant today, even in spite of their enormous age. There have been a number of...
Introduction The study of the literature of the past centuries is of particular value as it provides an understanding of how their thought represented itself in earlier times. Moreover, this process provides a unique insight into how people perceived the world and what morals and attitudes to culture and religion...
Marie de France’s depiction of females in Lanval and Laustic illustrates an inclination to sympathize with their sexuality despite the trend of shaming them by male writers at the time for their sexual desires. This tendency is seen throughout the two texts, further affirming the notion of feminist eyes in...
Introduction The Sound of Waves is a fishing love story in the style of the poem about Daphnis and Chloe. Yukio Mishima focused on the story of noble heroes with strong and invincible characters. Consequently, the novel’s key theme is cognition of oneself and the world around these individuals through...
Blazing the trail for a new philosophy is always a challenge; however, the task becomes excruciating when the idea in question is as unpopular as the concept of feminism at the dawn of its development. Edna St. Vincent Millay was one of the few American poets who managed to skewer...
The Wind That Shakes The Barley, written by Robert Dwyer Joyce (2021), explores the theme of the sacrifice young men had to make during the Irish rebellion of 1798. The ballad captures the viewpoint of a Wexford boy who, by joining the rebel movement, had to ultimately refuse the love...
Introduction In a 1962 speech at Scripps College, Rachel Carson helped kickstart mainstream environmental and conservationist movements. She focuses on how humanity has interacted with nature in historical and modern times. Carson uses her understanding of the man-nature relationship to establish the concept of the former against the latter. Carson...
Introduction The role of females in different societies and at different times is one of the most discussed topics nowadays. Although now the world is close to gender equality, thousands of years ago, the role of a man and a woman distinguished drastically, and a person was treated due to...
Brief Summary Sophocles wrote the tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, around 429 B.C. when it was first presented. It depicts the story of Oedipus, king of Thebes, who is said to have slain his father and married his mother by accident due to a prophecy made to Laius, the previous ruler...
In 1879, Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece “A Doll’s House” was published. It is about a central figure Norwegian family in the middle ages. Torvald Helmer works as a provider, whereas Nora Helmer babysits to raise the children and property. As the piece unfolds, it becomes clear that Nora’s marriage is seriously...
In human life, lies are found in various forms and for many reasons. However, often, if not always, deceiving other people leads to lying to oneself. Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” tells about the senselessness of the pursuit of pretentiousness and brilliance of high society, which can turn out to...
This paper discloses the rationale behind certain choices for the drawing of a diagram of the essay “Beyoncé Performs at the Super Bowl and I Think about All of the Jobs I’ve Hated” by Hanif Abdurraqib. This piece has a nonlinear structure, which complicates the comprehension of its main points....
Like many other sonnets by William Shakespeare, sonnet number 116 has no title of its own and is named after the first line: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds.” This sonnet rejects the theme of love, which is regularly encountered in the works of the author. In...
Introduction Folk art, especially of the epic genre, doubtlessly is among the most reliable sources of knowledge about the worldview that is peculiar to a certain culture. The works of such a kind normally embody the values of the storytellers, which makes them a bright illustration of the ways those...
English Literature, as people know it now, was shaped by Shakespeare. His famous works include “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and many others, and most modern people know Shakespeare’s plays. However, apart from literary contribution, Shakespeare revolutionized literature by setting a standard for other works. Shakespeare’s works created a revolution...
Introduction Homer’s epic poem Iliad is one of the most influential literary works in western literature, and it is a detailed description of the values, norms, and beliefs of Ancient Greece. The author depicts the Greek pantheon of gods and their multiple interactions with people. One of the major peculiarities...
“Woman Hollering Creek” was first published in a 1991 collection of short stories by Sandra Cisneros called “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories.” The narration is about Cleofilas Enriqueta DeLeon Hernandez, separated from her friends and family after her marriage to Juan Pedro Martínez Sanchez. Cleofilas was raised by her...
The epic of Sunjata features stories of adventures and achievements of the Mande people, both male and female. Thus, the stories allow valuable insight into the roles that women played in society when the epic took place. Similar to the way women were treated in other ancient societies, such as...
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a relatively straightforward novel not full of symbolism. Nonetheless, those few symbols are significant, multifaceted, and can be interpreted differently. Robinson’s discovery of “the print of a man’s naked foot on the shore” is one of the most noteworthy episodes of the work (Defoe, 2003,...
Introduction Published in 1987, Beloved by Toni Morrison became one of her most well-known novels, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. This work is extremely powerful at evoking a wide range of emotions; it balances fear, hate, tension, desire, and love, which can take many forms, including maternal, physical, and...
Introduction Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one of the best-known classical examples of Gothic horror in literature. The story, delivered by a first-person narrator, retells his experiences when visiting an increasingly hypochondriac friend Roderick Usher, who lives a largely solitary life in his familial...
The main character of the Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most famous female characters in world literature. Heatedly condemning gender, social and cultural stereotypes, Elizabeth is a main figure of disobedience and pride. However, given the social mode of 19th century England, other models are available...
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a short story about an African American family of Mama and her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee does not live with her mother and younger sister, as she is receiving an education. Upon returning home, she finds two old quilts, which seem to...
Introduction William Blake’s poem Tyger is one of the most remarkable literary examples of animal imaginary-heavy works that touch on the topics of imagination, religion, and life’s purpose. It remains one of the most famous works in the entire bibliography of the poet, and consecutively has been a subject to...
Dave Eggers’s The Circle is a novel about a same-name web organization that offers innovative products and services to ordinary citizens. Even though the literary piece considers the American context in the present time, it introduces some dystopian principles because the organization, the Circle, has a few features of a...
Generally acknowledged as one of the most preeminent pieces of Vietnam War Literature, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried portrays the raw and sincere image of war through short linked stories completely refrained from political aspects. Although there is no defined storyline in the book, it is compensated by the...
Joseph Conrad, an English-Polish author has made a considerable contribution to the artistic scene of Great Britain. As a writer, Conrad was noted for his unique writing style, accentuated by the fact that English was not the man’s first language. Having lived during the period of rapid discovery and societal...
Notably, the Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs tells the story of the family who receives a monkey’s paw from a friend, fulfilling the owner’s three wishes, which always lead to dire consequences. Through the story, the reader may notice Jacobs wanted to warn readers to be careful with their...
No one can doubt that women can perform different roles in society. On the one hand, females can follow a simple strategy and become deceptive sex objects. One can state that individuals use their genders as a leading force to achieve the desired outcomes and manipulate people. On the other...
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer known for his mysterious and grim short stories. As well, most of his works are characterized by uncertainty, unpredictability, and ambiguity; his death continues to provoke many concerns, questions, and debates. Poe died on October 7, 1849, and no medical records or death...
In the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London, a man undergoes a lonely journey under the severe environment of the Yukon, attempting to avoid dangerous complications related to freezing temperatures. However, the traveler commits several crucial errors, which ultimately result in his demise. The first mistake made...
Poems can be a successful and interesting avenue to explore new ideas, as well as to comment on the daily necessities of life and its various events. In particular, ideas can be utilized very efficiently in communicating meaning across individuals and being used for their informational value. For the purposes...
Common to many cultures around the world, folklore acts as both entertainment for the children and a way to teach them lessons. “Anansi and the Tar-baby” is one of many Jamaican folklore stories collected by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924). These stories, passed on through generations, were preserved relatively well from...
The literary world experienced many challenges, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, many voices were suppressed. Majorly, the male sentiments found their way into the mainstream due to the societal values that exalted men and despised women’s efforts (Luken 2). Educated males dominated the world of literature depicting the...
After finishing the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the reader may be left wondering about the validity of the events that took place during the narration. That hypothesis can only be tested through the assessment of clues that Poe leaves for the...
From ancient times, people composed stories to entertain themselves and to teach others certain lessons. Over time, genres appeared to which each story could be assigned, which significantly facilitated the process of creation of new art since writers now had certain templates to build upon. Tragedy has always been recognized...
Introduction Research that seeks to examine literary sources in-depth to identify hidden meanings, messages, and applied rhetorical tools is part of an effective strategy for the academic study of the literary sciences. A great variety of artistic and poetic works have traditionally been classified into works closely associated with the...
Introduction It is common for authors to use historical events as a foundation for exploring pressing issues. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is one of the examples of such a choice. In the play, the city of Salem is overcome by the fear of witchcraft,...
The poem “The Bitter River”, written by Langston Hughes, may be regarded from different angles. This ambiguity is rooted in a meaningful metaphor of a river, which is the poem’s foundation. One of the themes disclosed in “Bitter River” is restrictions on art, creativity, and imagination. The author examines the...
The Misfits depicts a group of friends rejected by others, known as the Gang of Five, despite having only four members. They are Bobby, Joe, Skeezie, and Addie, the only girl in the circle. Each has a distinct personality and certain reasons for being ostracized, and later the quarter joins...
Love is probably the most discussed and misunderstood concept of human relationships. From early childhood, people learn that it is an essential component of life. Yet, very few really understand the complexity of love. Sometimes, people are ready to accept and forgive some extremely inappropriate behavior because of the belief...
Crime and Punishment appear to be one of the most widely spread novels of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. Despite being created at the end of the 19th century, it is extremely popular both in the author’s native country and outside its territory. All the plot is articulated on the random...
Feminist literature has been in existence for several centuries, which allows researchers and lay people to become familiar with how women were treated during different historical periods. Moreover, by analyzing the sources and accounts of previous epochs, one can gain a better understanding of the current situation and establish certain...
\Frankenstein’s monster is, perhaps, one of the most sympathetic characters in the pantheon of monsters that have become emblematic of the horror genre. Although modern readers are unlikely to find the novel quite as chilling as their predecessors did, “Frankenstein” raises quite several disturbing themes that still hold relevance for...
The Overview In Neil Gaiman’s short story Other People, a person finds himself in Hell, and his greatest torture is to relive his life through the eyes of those he hurt. It is a circular narrative in the sense that it ends just like it began: an arrogant person enters...
Introduction “A Rose for Emily” is a story about the decline of Southern aristocracy during the early 20th century. The titular character, Emily, declines alongside her house, eventually becoming mentally ill, murdering her lover and sleeping alongside his decaying body. However, while she may have been predisposed to such a...
Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories written by an American author Jhumpa Lahiri. This writing presents its readers with stories about the experiences of Indian Americans who learn to live in the conflict between two distinct cultures. Therefore, in order to understand the life of these...
Jennifer Egan’s “The Black Box” has emerged as a unique short science fiction about future citizen espionage. Published in 2012, the story is a bold and triumphant experiment of narrative presented in new media. Besides Egan’s ability to embrace the wide-ranging virtues, forms, and pleasures that accompany traditional storytelling in...
Slavery and racial discrimination are the two ugliest forms of human interaction. Unfortunately, for a long period in history, they had been an integral part of society and determined relations between different groups of people. However, the evolution of human thought and the rise of humanistic values created the basis...
Introduction Susan Glaspell is a celebrated American writer, and Trifles, a one-act play, is among the many works that she wrote in the early twentieth century. At the time, women in American society were facing various challenges and Glaspell used her literary skills to highlight the same, albeit dramatically. In...
Introduction Earlier Asian immigration to the United States was driven by dreams of a better life espoused in the American dream. Even today, America is among the most preferred destination countries by potential immigrants. For most people, the desire to migrate is to escape extreme poverty locally and build a...
Introduction In his acclaimed book Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age, Modris Eksteins manages to examine the realities of the Great War from various perspectives, including a combination of historical and cultural considerations. The author explores diplomatic relationships prominent in Europe at the...
A Raisin in the Sun is a story about an African American family trying to overcome poverty and find a place in the middle class written by Lorraine Hansberry. The main plot which the reader can identify in the first half of the work is the conflict between the sixty-year-old...
Introduction The theme of friendship is central to Toni Morrison’s novel Sula. The writer exposes two sides of such a relationship – uplifting and supportive on the one hand and complicated and painful on the other. As girls, Sula and Nel structure their own rules and outline the size of...
The story recounts the friendship of two girls, Twyla and Roberta who meet at the St. Bonny’s shelter after being abandoned by their families. Their relationship experiences both ups and downs highlight the dynamics of their respective characters as well as external circumstances. At first, they dislike each other given...
The Things They Carried is a book that consists of fictional stories about soldiers’ experience during the war in Vietnam. The writer reflects on his participation in the military conflict by using a fictional hero – Tim O’Brien. Through storytelling, the author manages to explore his own feelings to convey...
The Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda is a complicated and stimulating poem that encourages readers to delve deeper into the fundamental questions of life and reality. From the very beginning, the speaker asks a set of four questions that are seemingly unrelated to one another at first glance. The...
Introduction Literature has a unique connection with the real world as, through literary works, writers reflect the complexity of human nature and relations. Especially through a first-person perspective, readers have an opportunity to understand a different mindset and culture better. In particular, in Alexie’s short story What You Pawn I...
Introduction Fairy tales have always been a major part of any child’s education and upbringing, which makes a significant impact on their development of worldview. It is important to understand that such stories can have both negative and positive implications, where the tales possess certain agenda as well as controversies....
Rome and Greece are strongly identified with a culture, which credits heroes. The dynasties in ancient times would create their brave men and make them leaders who they believe in. The gallant notion has been passed on to generations through the word of mouth, to a point where it is...
Introduction Paul is a 16-year old boy who was brought up by his father and whose mother died soon after he was born. The narrative does not contain any flashbacks which might express the lack of the protagonist’s ties with the past. Paul’s appearance plays an essential role in the...
Introduction Hemingway’s The Soldier’s Home is a story of a war veteran who faces the dilemma of choosing between being a welcomed member of his old social circle and staying true to his morals and ideals. When the book’s main character Krebs returns to his hometown, he is forced to...
The Second World War is usually remembered as a political endeavor intended to promote a specific set of ideals. Personal experiences are often omitted from historical accounts, with many authors focusing on tactical maneuvers and legislative principles. Two books take a different approach when evaluating these events. The first is...
Introduction The short story titled “Everyday Use” is written by Alice Walker. “Everyday Use” portrays the different understanding of African-American history. For some, it is a part of their daily lives, while for others – something they learn about from books and college lectures. The three main characters – Mama,...
Death is a phenomenon that affects all people, and it is a great source of musings. Some people fear death, some people are indifferent to it, and some people may welcome it. Writers, in particular, have a particular interest in death, as their characters face it in one way or...
Introduction Past experiences, achievements, and challenges will influence people’s lives and the decisions they make. Individuals who acquire appropriate guidance or support will eventually develop a powerful philosophy that can inform most of their actions and aims. Many authors and novelists focus on their past observations and experiences in an...
The “Mother to Son” poem written by Langston Hughes depicts a mother who tells her about difficulties she encountered in her life and continues to overcome them. Based on the example with a stair, the woman emphasizes that her life was not a crystal stair, which means that she had...
Introduction In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was notorious for the harsh segregation policy against black people. In 1963, the Civil Rights Movement started a non-violent campaign to protest against the coeval discriminatory laws. Peaceful marches, sit-ins, and boycotts on segregationist merchants took place in Spring,...
The stories about the Devil, Adam, and Frankenstein’s monster seem to have nothing in common at first glance. However, a more detailed consideration of each of them allows tracing certain similarities between them. People (or other beings) who have negative qualities always seem alike. They are united by their desire...
In the novel In His Steps, Charles M. Sheldon explores the problems in society by observing the city of Raymond through the eyes of different characters. Sheldon’s goal was to “urge Christians to join forces to ameliorate social ills” (Smith 114). This essay examines the characters’ thoughts on Raymond. The...
Introduction Jane Austen is generally accredited to be one of the most widely read and accepted writers in the world of English literature. Effective use of realism, indirect speech, and crucial social criticism is very common in Austen’s writings. Austen has a deep insight into the family dynamics and she...
Introduction The poem has been written in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, fashioned on the lines of Italian poetic traditions, influenced in its form and meter by the work of Petrarch – one of the famous Italian poets of the early renaissance era. Like a classical Petrarchan sonnet, it...
Introduction Christian is the main character of the story The Pilgrim’s Progress written by John Bunyan. This young man is searching for a way to Heaven; this journey of a soul is presented as a physical journey from his native city of Destruction to the Celestial City under which the...
As the title shows, “The Red Convertible” is the main fulcrum of the story and the entire plot is built around it. It is used as a symbol of happiness with its color ‘red’ denoting passion and life. At the beginning of the story, the car belongs to both Lyman...
Introduction The story Red Death was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is about Fight of prince Prospero against red death, the plague which affected the country. The prince and his companions try to escape from the plague hiding. They stay inside the seven differently decorated rooms. A new...
To an eager reader works of literary fiction represent an inexhaustible source for exploring and deriving the senses encoded in the texts by writers. For the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of the text, it is crucial to analyze such fundamental basics as the elements of fiction. In the...
Iago is no doubt the personification of evil and takes contentment in destroying virtue in him and others. The first and most significant thing we note in Iago is that, in comparison with the other characters of the play, he is highly intellectual and strong –willed. The fundamental attribute of...
The play A Doll’s House has several instances of restrictions in life that mainly applied to women who lived in the 1870s. Ibsen demonstrates specific gender roles and tags to his advantage to show the distinction between absolute and conditional love. In his imagination, Ibsen combined with the drama the...
“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen is the most famous novel and it may be considered as a classic of English literature. The novel, like the most part of Jane Austen’s novels, discloses the theme of marriage. Thus, the first sentence of the novel reveals its whole idea: “It is...
Introduction The play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller depicts life and destiny of an American family which dreams about prosperity and high social position in society. in this play, Miller tries to escape social contradictions and economic situation in society but portrays psychological difficulties experienced by the family....
In the novel Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad fully explores the concept of imperialism and the effects it has on everyone who is involved with the process. He does this while employing a new modern means of characterization and expression. It is difficult to describe this new form of expression...
Introduction It is generally understood that while The Virginian is a romance novel, it carefully incorporated the themes of masculinity, vigilante justice, the educated easterner and landscape. The protagonist is simply called the Virginian, introduced and described as an American cowboy, setting a standard for positive image of the previously...
