6076 samples of this type
E.E. Cummings’ poem “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” consists of nine four-line stanzas characterized by a dynamic rhythm and frivolous punctuation. The main theme of the literary piece is the survival of individuality in a hostile world that is biased against uniqueness. The inhabitants of a “pretty how...
Introduction It should be noted that the dramatic monologue “Mother to Son” written by Langston Hughes is quite short but meaningful. The writing reveals a situation in which a mother is giving advice to her son. In addition, the woman encourages her child to not give up in the face...
Introduction The topic of sacrifice has been a subject of numerous works of literature since it refers to the range of qualities and actions that people do in order to bring good to others. Discussing sacrifice in the literary context is seen as beneficial because the acts of selflessness are...
Introduction It is worth noting that the book The Things They Carried is a series of stories about the life of American servicemen that was written in an ironic tone. The work created by Tim O’Brien reveals the physical and mental traumas experienced by soldiers during the war (Liu 57)....
Introduction There are many reasons for people to love or hate Emily Dickinson, but her passion for writing about death can hardly leave any reader indifferent. This author is strong due to her confidence and the desire to find out what happens before and after death and formulate clear emotions...
The play portrays the upper class in a highly interesting and realistic fashion, which enables the readers to understand the struggles the wealthy people can possess. The work of Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, begins its story in the capital of England, in the living space of Algernon...
Introduction The timeless old tale of a little girl who goes to her grandmother and meets a wolf has undergone several changes. They were in accordance with the authors’ social stance and what was politically acceptable in their place of living. Perhaps one of the oldest variations of the fairytale,...
Introduction In rhetoric, the use of Aristotle’s three appeals is often viewed as a crucial component of any discourse. Implying that every argument must have ethos, logos, and pathos, the specified principle allows identifying a strong statement and determining the goals of a particular message. In Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare...
Despite the existing variety of stories and authors, all of them have several things in common. The presence of a theme is usually defined as a major idea of a work that can be stated directly and indirectly (Literary Devices, n.d.). In this discussion, three short stories, “The Cask of...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
Where are the borders between the truth and lies, between justice and injustice? Should the world be considered being civil and civilized, if it is based on the principles of law? What is the connection between law and justice, between civilization and the barbarian world? J. M. Coetzee has discussed...
Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Blackberries” and Sylvia Plath’s poem “Blackberrying” are two of the many poems that have utilized the theme of blackberry picking as a plot. Both poems belong to distinctly different eras of American History. Sylvia Plath is a confessional poet while Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem is deep-rooted in his...
Introduction Molière’s Tartuffe is a perfect example of the critical yet satirical exploration of the theme of religious hypocrisy in the Enlightenment literature (TheatreHistory par. 1). A symbolic capital of praise and admiration that the play has accrued over the centuries speaks tellingly of its theatrical worth as well as...
Introduction Sinking is a chef-d’oeuvre piece of classic literature written by Yu Dafu. The story revolves around an alienated and depressed nameless protagonist whose life is sinking and he cannot seem to rescue himself. However, the author’s subtle message addresses a crisis that many Chinese intellectuals have continued to face...
Introduction J. M. Coetzee is an author of a well-known novel that impressed the public at the end of the 20th century and is still often discussed. Disgrace was positively perceived by critics who appreciated the author’s desire to make the society question the morality of their actions. The novel...
Introduction The Miller’s Tale is a humorous story about an old rich carpenter, his wife and two clerks. The latter two keeps seducing the carpenter’s wife in order to get her to bed. Among the various themes in this story is cuckoldry. The term cuckoldry refers to a man whose...
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 The novel “Disgrace” written by John Maxwell Coetzee can affect anyone who reads it. The author of the work has received several awards for it, and experts in the field have highly appreciated the book. The reading reveals the essence of extremes that can exist in any person, and...
Introduction In the chef-d’oeuvre book, The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton highlights a form of innocence that comes by simulation. The strict societal rules that govern every aspect of living impose this form of innocence that does not come by one’s choice. In a bid to understand the context of...
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...
The issue of social isolation and ostracism has been explored extensively in literature, yet it shines through especially vividly in Coetzee’s award-winning Disgrace (Poyner 1). Among the characteristics that make the message of the novel especially poignant, one must mention the fact that Coetzee manages to incorporate the political and...
Introduction: Relevance of the Topic to Early Modern Literature Although most of the early modern English plays seem innocent to the present-day audience, in fact, exploration of sexuality, ranging from playful and comic to tragic and taboo, was one of the most popular topics among playwrights. Sexuality in the early...
Eliezer’s faith in God was something beyond question. He spent time in devotion to God. He frequently prayed to Him and at times he even cried. This was to show how deep his reverence to his creator was. It was made even more evident when Moshe questioned his faith and...
Captain Nemo is a sea researcher, inventor, and owner of the “Nautilus” submarine. This character is the embodiment of a true hero, courageous, decisive, and fair. Aronnax, a French naturalist, is a participant of the marine expedition organized for the capture or destruction of an unknown creature of gigantic proportions...
One of the major themes of the famous play Antigone by Sophocles is the sense of justice. It is possible to note that the play focuses on such moral issue as true justice. Antigone is the agent of morality in the play as she tries to make the things right...
Are you wondering about the theme of Little Red Riding Hood? This Little Red Riding Hood analysis essay compares how the themes of this story differ in the versions written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and by Charles Perrault. Read on to learn this fairy tale’s genre, setting, symbolism, and...
Artistic expressions are part of every society’s collective memories and subsequent history. The main role of historical memory is to make a society remember what it has forgotten. Furthermore, historical memory upholds the concept that forgetting is part of remembering. This is why memories might change over time in the...
In Hawthorne’s stories, men of supposed decency sometimes do very unpleasant things, and these often affect the women in their lives. The gentlemen in these tales demonstrate is a willingness to take risks with or abuse the good will of women that today would be considered thoughtless at best, or...
Introduction The novel ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ was written in Europe in the early 16th century. It was published in 1726. The novel was written by Jonathan Swift. He was a writer of Anglo-Irish origin. Initially, the title of the book was ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four...
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...
This book critique presented below depicts the essence of the ‘Nine Years Under’ by Sheri Booker, how the protagonist of the story was influenced by events that occurred to her for nine years, and what is the modern value of the book. The author of ‘Nine Years Under’ Sheri Booker...
Introduction Even though scars are quite a usual phenomenon and almost every person has them, they are able to produce a strong influence on their lives. Scars are perceived as something dark and negative. Basically, they are just the signs that somewhere in the past, an individual has suffered a...
‘This boy’s life ‘written by Tobias Wolf is a story about Toby Wolf a young man who is left to live life on his own as the people around him are too preoccupied or too self-centered to pay any attention to him. His mother is a self-centered woman who gets...
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...
Introduction The book, Orange Is the New Black, and the Netflix series talk about a character who goes to prison for fifteen months. The police arrest her for mistakes she did in the past. There are some differences between the book and the series in terms of characterization, themes, and...
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus can be used for discussing the limitations of human knowledge, especially, the inability of a person to foresee the long-term effects of one’s actions. This paper is aimed at discussing such an issue as the responsibilities of the creator and the creation....
Summary Authored by Anne Fadiman, the book, The Spirit catches you and you fall down, unfolds the drama of clashing epistemologies. The book narrates a story of a “family whose second youngest daughter (Lia Lee) struggles with illness having been diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy” (Guerrero, Laughrea, McVicker, & Bradley, 2002,...
The literature in the Baroque period of the 1600s introduced many great and influential historical figures; one of them is Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Latin American colonial poet, writer, scholar, and a nun who was able to express knowledge of art and science, emotions, and the social protest...
Introduction Courting a Monk is a distinctive example of the Asian-American short stories. It is one of the most recognizable works of Katherine Min, an author famous for her ironic depiction of the cross-cultural issues together with the deep analysis of the psychological growth and evolving of the characters in...
Introduction Eliezer loves both his family and God-given his strict reverence to the Jewish tradition. However, he seems to love God more than he loves his father. This is evident when he defies his father’s wish by studying Cabbala. However, as trouble surfaces, he tends to lose faith in God...
Introduction One of the reasons why there is indeed the spirit of tragism to the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, is that the masterwork’s main character (Antigone) fits rather well the pattern of a ‘tragic hero’. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated at length, while emphasizing...
This poem illustrates the occurrence of a dream. It is not just the ordinary dream that occurs when one is sleeping but rather a practical dream or a life goal. This dream seems to be of much importance to the dreamer. The dreamer does not really tell us what exactly...
The name of the author of the story is George Selden. He is an American writer; he was born in Connecticut. George Selden is an author of several books about Chester Cricket and his friends. The main characters of the story are Chester Cricket, Mario Bellini, Tucker Mouse, Harry Cat,...
In this The Weary Blues analysis essay, you will find plenty of information about the poem’s literary devices, metaphors, and themes. Check it out and get inspired. The Weary Blues Analysis Essay: Introduction Langston Hughes was an African American born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He started writing early in...
The Homeric worldview resembles the orthodox Greek perspective (Cunningham & Reich 39). The Homeric conception of the world characterized a flat and rounded disk of land enclosed by an endless ocean stream. Based on the above representation, it was believed that the earth’s plateau was amid Oceanus. The sun, the...
J.K Rowling is the second richest woman in Britain, owing it all to the transformational force of the Harry Potter series which has turned the publishing industry upside down in the last few years. With the sales figures being extraordinary, the series has almost started a war between America and...
Welcome to our The Importance of Being Earnest essay sample! Here, you’ll find the analysis of the story’s main themes and comedy elements. Get ideas for your essay on The Importance of Being Earnest with our essay sample. The Importance of Being Earnest Essay Thesis Statement Oscar Wilde had written...
Introduction Would American theater exist without Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller? Death of a Salesman is a classic play by Arthur Miller, first produced in 1949 (Benziman 20). The tale’s protagonist is the traveling salesman Willy Loman, who struggles to realize the American Dream. The connection between Willy...
Background The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem that tells the story of the great king Gilgamesh, the culture of the Sumerians, and their religion, among other things. Sumerians valued ideas such as marriage, power, good morals, revenge, and pleasure. They expected their heroes and leaders to be of good...
Introduction In humor, grotesques describe something horrifying, ugly, and distorted. It often refers to art or images intended to be shocking or disturbing in nature. On the contrary, satire is humor that uses irony or sarcasm to ridicule someone or something. It usually targets political leaders, celebrities, or other public...
Introduction Dylan Thomas is one of the most influential poets of 20th-century English literature. Born in Wales in 1914, he began his career as a journalist and copywriter but soon turned to poetry. Poem Analysis One of Thomas’s most famous poems is “Fern Hill,” written in 1934. In it, he...
Introduction Euripides’ tragedy Hecuba (Ancient Greek: Hekabe) is set shortly after the Trojan War. It depicts the grief that the queen of the city of Troy, Hecuba, experienced after sacrificing her daughter, Polyxena, and losing her son, Polydorus. The grief-stricken queen begins plotting her revenge against Polymestor, whom she suspects...
The Transformation of Oedipus At the start of the play, Oedipus is a strong monarch, esteemed and admired by his followers. He exudes assurance, assertiveness, and control. However, as the play goes on, his strength ends up being his undoing. He learns the awful truth about his past and deeds...
Introduction to Dramatic Situation “I Live for My Car” by Wanda Coleman presents a conflict between societal expectations and personal identity, as reflected through the relationship between the speaker and their automobile. In this poem, an object typically seen as a mere tool or possession is elevated to a symbol...
Introduction “Sea Defences” is an emotional short story written by Hilary Taylor in 2018 that explores the themes of loss, mental disorders, love, and the impermanence of life. Through a highly descriptive and emotionally evocative narrative style, Taylor paints a vivid picture of the protagonist’s struggle to cope with the...
Introduction The poem “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sarah Teasdale and the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury share the same name and similar ideas and concepts. Ray Bradbury even used the poem by Sarah Teasdale to illustrate the main ideas of his short tale....
Introduction “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice” (The Foundation for a Better Life, n.d.). This well-known quote from Bob Marley rings true in the story “Peach Pie” by Elisabeth Stewart, which portrays the theme of the uncertainty of life and the importance...
Introduction James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” was initially released in 1957 and is renowned for its moving representation of the difficulties of being black in the United States. Set in 1950s Harlem, this short story focuses on the lives of two brothers, an algebra educator and a jazz artist. The narrative...
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 Every civilization has a distinct identity formed by local history and culture. Literature plays a huge role in this formation because it reflects national archetypes and traditions. In Latin American literature, a significant role is devoted to the clash between indigenous cultures (barbarism) and colonialist settlers who are perceived...
Introduction Today, The Wizard of Oz is an American classic of children’s literature and a written work recognized and appreciated globally. Baum’s most famous book teaches readers essential wisdom of life. In order for an individual to find their proper place, their home, in this world, they need to make...
Introduction “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are two seminal pieces of literature that delve into the lives of women facing the constraints of their society. Both texts explore themes of freedom, mental health, and the oppressive nature of marriage...
Introduction In the vast ocean of literature, certain books possess the power to shape minds, stimulate critical thinking, and offer profound insights into the human condition. Teenage years are formative, often characterized by a quest for identity and world understanding. During this time, literature can serve as a beacon, guiding...
Introduction Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, explores the psychological unraveling of its titular character, Prince Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet faces numerous instances that push him closer to a point of no return. This essay studies the pivotal events in Hamlet’s life and examines the turning points that lead...
Introduction In the short story “Hell-Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri, the characters and their actions spoke to me in a profound way. The story revolves around the narrator’s family, particularly her mother, Boudi, who falls in love with Pranab, a foreign student taken in by the family. However, Pranab falls in...
Analysis of Jackson’s Portrayal of Man vs. Society In “The Lottery,” the author effectively portrays the conflict of Person vs. Society through the chilling depiction of a small town’s blind adherence to tradition and conformity. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is pitted against the entire community as they participate in...
Why Sir Gawain Is a Chivalrous Knight Sir Gawain, the main character in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” is frequently seen as a chivalrous knight because he follows the principles of chivalry. His behavior in the story shows his dedication to chivalrous values like honor, allegiance, and bravery. Nevertheless,...
Introduction Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña is a heartwarming toddler’s book concerning a young boy named CJ and his grandmother (Nana) as they embark on a bus ride across the town. Notably, the book was published in 2015, and it is a children’s literature genre,...
Introduction The intention to create judgments and share personal opinions about someone or something is one of the main characteristics of human beings. Sometimes, people succeed in their desire to examine an event and define who is right or who is wrong. However, there are also situations when individuals fail...
Introduction Edgar Allan Poe, a prominent luminary in American literary annals, garners acclaim for his somber and enigmatic narratives and verses. His compositions have ensnared the imagination of readers across generations, delving into the intricacies of the human psyche and the enigmatic facets of existence. To fathom the profound intricacies...
Introduction Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” is among the most significant pieces of American literature. The work utilizes a variety of literary techniques to convey its message and provide context, on the characters, the environment they live in, and the depths of their fall to sin. Above all,...
Introduction Geoffrey Chaucer’s portrayal of gender roles in The Wife of Bath’s Tale differs significantly from other sources from that period. The author puts women in charge of judging men’s actions throughout the text. While the story begins with sexual assault that is later dismissed, it contains elements that present...
Introduction Dr. Seuss is one of the most popular authors of children’s books. In his life, he wrote and illustrated 45 books, some of which became classics of children’s literature (Schwartz). Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in a family of German ancestry that...
Introduction Following the hero Odysseus as he seeks to return home after the Trojan War, Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey” takes readers on a trip laden with both physical and emotional hardships. Odysseus and Penelope, two important characters in the story, stand out for their distinct characteristics and hardships. While...
Introduction World wars became the reason why a man was considered a savage. My friend’s family still does not live according to the rule of partnership that is promoted and used today but follows the rules of patriarchy. They faced a backlash when their son went to school and started...
Introduction Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” challenges stereotypical perceptions of women’s mental health and societal roles and raises questions about freedom of expression. The piece of short fiction has been analyzed from different perspectives, with Conrad Shumaker digging deep into the story’s complexity in his article “Too Terribly Good...
Introduction El Salvadorean poet, journalist, and political activist Roque Dalton was born in El Salvador and is regarded as one of Latin America’s greatest poets. Dalton traveled extensively in Central America and Europe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, learning about various political movements and immersing himself in the...
Introduction Literary works often focus on what kind of a cruel joke life can play on a person. One of those things, that many believe in is a phenomenon of karma. In other words, individuals assume that there is a causal relationship between actions and that for all the wrong...
Introduction “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway. The story takes place in a train station in Spain, where an American man and a woman are waiting for their train and having a conversation about a crucial issue in their relationship. The story is considered...
Music and poetry are interrelated since many poets have dedicated their poems to various musical genres. This article by Beugre Zouankouan Stephane explores how Langston Hughes expressed his love for Blues and Jazz in his poem “Fantansy in Purple.” The author observes an as close link between the two genres...
The central idea of Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”, which is vividly formulated, is a dilemma between loyalty to a blood relative and commitment to justice. Sarti, a little boy, realizes that his father’s actions and behavior are inappropriate, but Sarti’s love for him heavily influences the assessment. However, in this paragraph,...
Oedipus cycle is a collection of three Theban plays written by Sophocles, which include Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus, and Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex). These plays illuminate Thebes’ fate during and after King Oedipus’s reign. The three plays talk about the mythological Oedipus, who married his mother...
“Ode with a Lament” uses imagery and metaphors effectively to convey themes of death, sorrow, and brokenness. The speaker compares the woman’s skin to “a bell filled with grapes”, an image of illness that prompts the reader to readjust any presumption of the relationship at hand. In a world of...
Trifles is a piece written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 in the genre of the one-act play. The play explores the connections between husbands and wives, focusing on a murderous marriage. The play contains many symbols with specific meanings that enhance the contents of the play. Every symbol is related...
Albert Camus is a classic of French literature, his works are recognized as the finest examples of the genre. Camus considered himself an existentialist, like Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Thomas Stearns Eliot. Still, Camus’s prose differs due to his great optimism, and the lack of a tendency to...
Aeneas is the main character of the Aeneid; he is the son of Trojan ruler Anchises and Venus, the Roman goddess of fertility and beauty. In IV’s book of Aeneid, he is depicted as “the most handsome of them all,” who “walks, as lightly, beauty like the god’s shining from...
Bad Indians A Tribal Memoir is a book by a modern American writer named Deborah Miranda. The life of native citizens of Californian lands was difficult during the period of Spanish Missions. Mission Indians, as they are called nowadays, faced much cruelty and injustice, and Miranda, whose ancestors were Indians,...
In “Cry, the Beloved Country,” Alan Paton authored the novel to address the presence of inner conflicts of South African citizens. It entertains and dramatically shows some situations the author wants the citizens to find a remedy. Suffering is evident in many instances where Paton seeks to address South Africa’s...
Compared to his other words, James Joyce’s “Araby” seems almost simplistic, with a touching yet fairly straightforward story of a boy falling in love with a girl living across the street being the main plot. However, while the love story is placed at the forefront and emphasized strongly, the true...
One of the most powerful and captivating characteristics of short stories is the author’s possibility to cover significant themes and lessons in several pages. William W. Jacobs wrote his “The Monkey’s Paw” about one family’s day and night at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, as several decades ago,...
Introduction For many centuries, literature has been a crucial part of society as a means of education and a lens through which society’s conditions are seen and analyzed. Many literary theories have been formulated to answer the how and why of literature and its connection to society. Stougaard-Nielsen (2019) notes...
Every reader of the horror genre knows the name Edgar Allan Poe and his countless works. In 1846, the author wrote one of his most short stories, “The Cask of Amontillado.” In it, the main character, Montresor, recalls how he buried another man alive for, as he believes, insulting him....
Introduction The short story “Runaway” by Alice Munro focuses on the two main protagonists Clark and Carla, which are a husband and wife and owners of a small horse ranch in rural Canada. The couple have a stringent relationship but remain together, despite Carla’s resentment of her husband and attempt...
The essay focuses on a short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, during the analysis of which the main themes of the work and the author’s attitude to them are established. In the center of the story is the unnamed main character, on whose behalf the story is...
When examining and analyzing this week’s readings, I was impressed by the power of words spoken by the authors. Both Douglass and Hochschild presented strong insights into the meaning of the American dream and the proclaimed principles of liberty and justice to different populations. The context for the selected quote...
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...
Introduction Returning to the completed writing and considering its primary characteristics is necessary for creating a comprehensive understanding of the work. My chosen novel, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, is an intriguing piece that regards the subjects of surreality, human alienation, and betrayal within the story of Gregor Samsa. The...
Theme I don’t mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself—that he was fully able to take care of her. F. Scott Fitzgerald...
The play’s primary setting is in the street of Venice, a city famous for its trade, banking, and military strength. At the beginning of the play, there is an unfolding argument about romance and relationship that triggers a conflict between different people in the play. The main character in the...
Introduction Contemporary American literature is largely dominated by white male authors. These authors are limited in their empathy and imagination by their own experiences and inherent privilege that comes with being on the top of the social hierarchy. Therefore, they were unable to authentically portray the lives, thoughts, and experiences...
In Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography titled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she talks about her life as a slave woman and elaborates on the inhumane treatments she faced in the 19th century. Using the pseudonym Linda Brent throughout her narrative, she discusses how slaves were nothing more than...
Introduction The Odyssey was written at a time when men played a key role in society. During this period of civilization, men controlled society. Women, on the other hand, were identified to hold inferior positions in the community compared to men. Women had no opportunity to comment on the daily...
Many people associate drug abuse with antisocial behavior such as crime. However, drugs do not necessarily lead to such behavior. In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” drugs, such as marijuana, alcohol, and heroine enhances creativity and also enables self-discovery. Alcohol and marijuana enhance the communication between the...
The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a play that sheds light on issues several individuals in America experience in their quest for the American Dream. The story’s protagonist, Willy Loman, is caught up in a web of self-denial, contradiction, and desperation. Like many individuals, he envisions living...
Lynda Barry is a modern American cartoonist and author well-known for her book One! Hundred! Demons!, which is an autobiographical graphic novel that delves into her childhood and struggles with depression. The artwork in the book is a mix of real-life photographs, drawings, and collages. Each page contains a story...
Introduction When it comes to producing a theatrical play, it is director’s responsibility to be in charge of the whole concept, while its component artistic and technical elements are usually brought to life with the help of actors, designers and technical team. The collaboration of the contractors is the key...
“The Monkey’s Paw” is a short and famous horror story written by William Wymark Jacobs. Thus, foreshadowing is one of the stylistic devices the author employs to create a unique atmosphere in the text. For instance, Sergeant-Major Morris says the paw’s first owner wished for death (Jacobs, 1902). This fact...
Introduction The literary works by Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis,” and Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five,” show that the abilities of the person to change their destiny are limited in many cases, and the individual can only submit to the circumstances to preserve psychological sanity. The lines from Kafka and Vonnegut illustrate the...
Introduction Alias Grace is a historical, narrative approach to exploring themes of cruelty and redemption within the context of class distinctions and gender norms, particularly within the 1820s-1860s Canada. In Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood takes the audience back to a time when women were not seen as human beings; they...
Introduction The author and feminist classic Virginia Woolf, is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in developing modernist literature. Her novels like “Orlando,” “To the Lighthouse,” and “The Mark on the Wall” have stood the test of time because they both entertain and provoke their readers. Woolf...
Resilient people can quickly overcome adversity, trauma, tragedy, and threats. A person should become more resilient and mentally tough after quickly overcoming these challenges. People get an understanding of life’s obstacles via resilience, so Oedipus and Hamlet both exhibit considerable tenacity, but neither one excels the other. In Oedipus Rex,...
Literary symbols have a significant role in defining the relationships between characters. For example, symbols such as personal items can point to the similarities or differences between the main characters. Thus, symbolism is often used in literary works with stories focused on the juxtaposition of two heroes in order to...
When poetry and prose are compared, it is sometimes difficult to find common ground in tone, theme, and syntax. However, for Ashley Hope Perez’s “What Home Is” and Alice Walk’s “The Flowers,” which are a poem and short story, respectively, the connection can be built in terms of these three...
Flannery O’Connor’s 1955 short tale, A Good Man is Hard to Find, highlights the seemingly random events with far-reaching implications that people encounter. The story, though narrated in the third person, takes the perspective of the character simply referred to as “The Grandmother.” From this angle, O’Connor presents the topic...
In Chapter 1, “Gender, melancholy, and the whiteness of impersonal form in The Great Gatsby,” Greg Forter observes two main points. The first is that Fitzgerald’s feminine expressiveness is connected to Gatsby’s creative responsiveness. However, the author also finds a connection between Gatsby’s ethnicity and Fitzgerald’s ethnicity (Forter 51). At...
Change is uncomfortable and hard to achieve, revealing why most organizational transformations are unsuccessful. In his famous book “A Sense of Urgency,” John Kotter, a renowned scholar, provides eight actionable steps to lead and implement long-lasting organizational change effectively. According to Kotter, the first stage is creating urgency to trigger...
Introduction The spirit of Christmas is the story’s central theme, which gives us an insight into Victorian England. Ebenezer Scrooge, a narrow-minded, selfish man who loathes Christmas was hard on the people who worked for him. Christmas ghosts visit him, allowing him to glance at himself as a man who...
The Great Escape, a non-fiction book by Paul Brickhill that was released by WW Norton & Company in 1950, describes what it was like to live in a German POW camp during World War II. The author was an Australian fighter pilot and became a prisoner of war, which means...
According to the Russian theorist Mikhail Bahktin, a specific type of holiday is optional in all historical festivities. The most crucial is an emerging force preserved in it and contributes to the flight from the capture of “official culture,” such as the state, the church, or other suppressive systems. In...
Introduction Room by Emma Donoghue is a novel that reveals the essential aspects of child abuse, psychological trauma, and social adaptation through a child’s eyes. The events in this book are fictional, although the experiences that the author put in her work require a thorough examination and comprehension. Depicting such...
Introduction Ordinary Men, written by Christopher R. Browning, is a book about actual past events. It is a story about Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police, responsible for round-ups and mass extermination of Jewish people. Peer pressure and obedience to authority are the most well-known reasons for...
Introduction Johnny Appleseed is a novel written by Joshua Whitehead exploring the theme of sexuality and the indigenous nature of people. He writes about a young man named Johny, who is seen yearning to get back to the city for the burial of his stepfather. After some time, Johny becomes...
Introduction The Pillow Book and the List of Hateful Things, written by Sei Shonagon, is a portrayal of the Heian culture in regard to elitist approaches to etiquette, social interactions, and gatherings. Namely, one of the hateful elements that the author highlights is “One is telling a story about old...
The novelty of Samuel Beckett’s vision of performance art continues to affect the American scene. Postmodernism is apparent in the author’s works, which are thoughtful and complicated in their writing, acting, lighting, and other aspects (McNaughton, 2018). Beckett’s Come and Go is a short play with only a few lines...
Characters Trifles is an one-act play written by Susan Glaspell. The play is considerably short, and features a modest cast of 7 characters. The crux of the story is the murder of John Wright, and the subsequent investigation of this event by other characters. A local sheriff and a farmer,...
Introduction Bear Came Along is a 2019 book by Richard T. Morris, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. It tells the story of a group of animals on a river adventure. Published June 1, 2019, Bear Came Along is based on Morris’ memories of his first overnight camping trip. Pham’s illustrations in...
Introduction In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the chivalric quest is undoubtedly the literary type most closely identified with medieval literature. It includes themes of the feudal system, heroic fighting, courtship, brave sacrifice, and religious meditation. A literary masterpiece from the Anglo-Saxon era called Beowulf depicts the mythological and...
Essay Summary In the essay under analysis, the author examines the play Oil by Ella Hickson through the lens of postcolonial ecocriticism and such concepts as environmental activism, place, and borrowed time. The writer introduces the playwright and briefly describes the play, its structure, and style, giving an example of...
Angelou’s poem, Still, I rise, incorporates figurative language in stanza five. The speaker uses metaphor in the first and second lines of stanza five to express her view and emotions toward racists. “… shoot me with your words” Angelou (line 21) and “you may cut me with your eyes…” Angelou...
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...
Introduction Tim O’Brien, an American author, wrote “The Things They Carried,” a collection of interrelated short stories about a squad of American soldiers engaged in combat in the Vietnam War. Tim goes in-depth on the women’s experiences in Vietnam and how they influenced the soldiers. Women were right there at...
A Farewell to Arms, an Ernest Hemingway novel, has a distinctive anti-military rhetoric. While the war is not directly condemned, its atrocities are described vividly, showing that something wrong is happening. Its main character, Frederic Henry, is an American lieutenant serving in the Italian Army ambulance during World War I....
Introduction Joyce Carol Oates and Maya Angelou are two American writers whose works are translated into different languages and known all around the globe. There are different themes addressed in these authors’ works, and female perspectives within the framework of modern reality are one of the major topics. Two stories,...
Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night presents one of the most prominent works of Holocaust literature, which captures the author’s experience in Nazi concentration camps. One of the central themes in the Night is the development of the relationship between Eliezer and his father. Moreover, the father’s role as a caregiver in...
Introduction Metamorphosis is a work in which an exciting storyline develops from the beginning. The protagonist, Gregor, wakes up in the morning and finds that he has turned into an insect with insect legs, scales, and a shell-like back. Moreover, Gregor has to come to terms with this situation and...
The play Fences by August Wilson covers a variety of complex themes, such as race, family relationships, history, identity, change, morality, culture, dreams, duty, and others. Written in 1986, this literary work “clearly displayed the tensions among blacks who wanted to clutch their African legacy” (Ali 1). One of the...
Conflicts between children and their parents are a rather common issue that may influence one’s life significantly. In some cases, those disagreements may affect them even after the parent figure dies. This specific case is shown in the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, as readers follow the story of...
Introduction The topic of discrimination on various grounds, including racial ones, is not new. People who differ in skin color and culture often become outcasts in society. The very existence of a divergent person gives rise to a societal conflict. Shakespeare’s Othello deals with such a confrontation, showing the viewer...
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...
Introduction Susan Glaspell’s Trifles reveals the struggles of women in the society of the early twentieth century. The author’s presentation of genders and their expected behaviors sheds light on the oppressive nature of marital relationships. This paper will discuss the gender roles and the oppression of women in Glaspell’s Trifles....
The poem Daystar by Rita Dove depicts women’s lives in the role of a mother and a wife. The author illustrates the state of loneliness of the protagonist, as well as the peacefulness of her quiet moment of the day. It is also reflected in the title of the poem....
The Things They Carried is a literary work authored by Tim O’Brien. The book is set at a time when the American soldiers were engrossed in war in the Vietnam. Therefore, the literature focuses on the life of American society within the army. A critical analysis of the literature shows...
In Petals on the Wind, the second novel of V. C. Andrews’s trilogy, the story dwells on the life of Chris, Cathy, and Carrie after they manage to escape the attic and move to Florida. However, while at some point, everyone is convinced that going back to the place of...
The End That It Serves from a Narrative Perspective From a narrative perspective, the Divine Comedy by Dante, as provided by John Sinclair, serves to demonstrate to be one of the greatest works of literature in the world historically and in contemporary society (Alighieri, 2014). Dante’s work is divided into...
