6091 samples of this type
The poem ‘‘In Just’’ is pieced together and deciphered based on love and deliberately visualizes the external world in portraying its intended message. On the whole, the poem depicts apprehension of the coming of spring from a childhood visionary perspective. It is woven in satire and rhythmic analysis bordering on...
This paper is aimed at discussing the topic of the short story Barn Burning written by William Faulkner. In particular, this literary work describes the conflict between a boy’s devotion to his family and his keen sense of justice. This issue can also be described as the necessity to choose...
Introduction E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India has been a focus of literary, historical, psychological, and anthropological arguments ever since it first was published in 1924. The novel explores the internal relationships between the English and the Indians during the colonial period. The author paints a picture of a...
Introduction The story ‘Lust’ by Susan Minot is very sensational and describes the carefree life of young college students who are keen to enjoy life without giving much consideration to the consequences involved. In this book, the narrator is a young college girl. She brings her audience to a world...
This essay discusses a famous novel about the war in Vietnam called The Things They Carried. It also gives a piece of background information about the writer, Tim O’Brien. In the essay, there is a discussion of the main characters and the underlying themes. The author analyzes some of the...
Despite being set in a particular time and place, Radcliffe’s story actually transpires in a space of imagination and feeling; it is the moral and emotional state of her characters that form the focus of the author’s attention, with a Cinderella plot underpinning their journey of towards discovery and reward....
Introduction In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, the relationship between Eliezar and his father appears to be complex. It is shaped by harsh conditions, religion, deportation, and the interaction between the two and other people. In this essay, the author analyzes how this relationship changes throughout the novel. According...
Various reasons why Moishe was not believed and whether modern journalism has eliminated the problem of complacency In the novel “Night” Moishe, the Beadle warns the residents of Sighet that all was not well in the world and that they were in a lot of danger. Moishe’s warnings went unheeded...
Clorinda Matto de Turner has recounted the misfortunes that befell the Yapangui family in Killac, Andean, in the late 19th century in her novel, “Birds without a nest: A story of Indian life and priestly oppression in Peru”. Just like the other Indian families, the Yapanguis also have to endure...
Introduction The Novel, Disgrace, revolves around David Lurie, a University lecturer who faces one disgrace after another. Disgrace follows David wherever he goes throughout the novel. The 52-year-old man faces life in a post apartheid South Africa where racial discrimination is still rife. David’s first scandal with Melanie at the...
Introduction ‘Disgrace’ is a contended fictional book by J. M. Coetzee that is dedicated to several common issues of post-apartheid South Africa. What makes this novel compelling and exceptional is presenting the existing problems of the society through the prism of perception of the book’s protagonist David Lure and his...
Introduction When the reader comes across Petrus, there is the development of the assumption that one is reading concerning a delegate of the countryside. In a given instance, David instantly recognizes his physical features as having a wrinkled, worn face and astute eyes, and estimated his age to be between...
The introduction The fundamentals of the play When speaking about Samuel Beckett’s play Krapp’s Last Tape, it is necessary to highlight some fundamentals of his unusual production. So, first of all, there is a need to state that the peculiar feature of the play is considered to be a lack...
Theme of Family in Frankenstein: Introduction The family relationship is the most important intimate relationship that involves humankind. If there is absence of this intimacy relationship, human beings would not transform to what they are expected to act, and this deforms the essence of human nature. The feelings are always...
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...
Introduction Madame Bovary is the novel written by the outstanding French author Gustave Flaubert. The novel is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the world literature and one of the most famous works of its author. The novel is interesting for its rich plot telling about the fortune...
The wife in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” dismisses authorities’ criticism on women but also goes ahead to state and refute her own words which make her appear to be contradicting herself and going against her own conviction. For instance, she is eager to know from her husband to be,...
Introduction Night is a captivating piece of literal work that is the brainchild of Elie Wiesel, which gives a personal account of his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Auschwitz, at the sunset of the Second World War, and the apex of the holocaust in 1945. He...
Key Argument Summary The onset of the 20th century was marked by incursion of immigrants into America. The majority of the immigrants, thought by most Americans to be naïve, came from non-English speaking countries (Laskin 6). The migration was caused by persistent conflicts at home and religious persecutions in mother...
It goes without saying that there are no literature works that would not be created under the influence of a particular idea, emotion or event in life. Thus, the three works of literature that we are going to discuss in this essay also were created under the influence of the...
A migratory narrative is based on a subject that moves from the primary location to a different setting. The approach is one of the ways used by different authors to show and describe how black people dealt with the migratory issues as slaves. The author tries to explain the impacts...
“The Miser” is a 1668 five-act comedy of manners by a French playwright Jean-Baptist Moliere. Being first staged at the Palais Royal in 1668, this play is popular among contemporary theatre lovers, who are not less indignant at avarice and inhumanity of Harpagon, the miser and the main protagonist of...
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a memorable short story that has been called a piece of gothic horror (Contemporary Literary Criticism – Select). It is also clearly a piece of social commentary. It has even been analyzed as a feminist critique of patriarchy and male oppression (Oehlschlaeger). It gets part...
Critics have shown that poetry in the modern times is a specialized occupation of a small and isolated group of individuals, yet it was a major form of communication and expression of intelligence a few decades ago (Arana 91). The poets command only a small residual prestige but they are...
The fiction involves being imaginative or inventive; it is characterized by losing touch with the aspects of reality. Fiction is based on illusions, and an individual who acts based on fiction lacks pragmatism. Two Kinds by Amy Tan focuses on the relationship between a mother, and her daughter, the mother...
Describing the development and the collapse of civilizations, one would always touch upon what makes a man. Searching the answer to the famous “Are you a man or a mouse?” question, people try to find the difference between the mankind and the humanity. With help of the two protagonist civilizations,...
The concept of foreign or foreigner in story writing does not merely mean one person living abroad away from home. The idea of alien or foreigner in comprehends the tone of narrators when they tell the story of characters whose surroundings including objects are unfamiliar. Being foreigner or in foreign...
Touching upon various ethical and religious issues, contemporary authors define the concepts of physical versus spiritual life and transcendence. It is important to consider all the symbols and the context of the previous works of the writer or poet and his/her life experience for decoding all the messages of the...
Accepting the inevitable is one of the qualities that help people survive in the mess of the ordinary; otherwise, death will follow and take the life of the one who is unwilling to perceive the changes. However, even though the idea of adapting to the changes in one’s life does...
Introduction According to Harris, the gothic genre involves mysteries, horrific scenes, death, and other features that generate fear among the readers (par 1). The style establishes uncertainties in the settings and plots of stories. In most of the gothic genres, death is inevitable. In fact, most of the characters face...
Some time ago I reread one of the most famous novels of the 20th century, Franz Kafka’s The Trial (Kafka, 1925). Unlike my first experience of reading it, this occasion of reading, along with some other information I run across soon after, has driven me to many conclusions about the...
This Frankenstein analysis focuses on Victor’s motivation, various themes, and parallels with mythology. Check it out if you need ideas for your analysis of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Analysis of Frankenstein: Introduction Almost two centuries have passed since the first publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Today, the monster...
The Sound and the Fury is a wonderful written work first presented by William Faulkner in 1929. The book has many compelling episodes to get absorbed with. It is interesting how Faulkner described his characters so vividly, each of them has own principles, virtues, attitude towards life and towards Caddy....
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...
Introduction The Romantic age is distinguished by a significant shift in perspective, stressing the person, nature, and imagination. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Frost at Midnight,” the poet explores these subjects through the eyes of the Romantic child, providing insights into the child’s relationship with nature, education, and spirituality. This...
Introduction The Battle of Balaclava was a crucial event in the Crimean War, which lasted from 1853 to 1856. This battle proved futile for the British and resulted in significant casualties for the army. For poets, it was common to glorify sacrifice and bravery, particularly when these led to victories....
Introduction The captivating stories in What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman go beyond their specific historical and cultural settings. They examine the numerous facets of identity and the challenging road to self-liberation. Gilman’s 1892 short story examines the psychological...
Introduction Loneliness is something that many college-aged students can relate to due to a lack of time and money. Some students may start seeking validation and love through unhealthy relationships, as in Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Sexy.” Like Miranda, students may find themselves in self-isolation with few to call “friends.” Lahiri’s “Sexy”...
Introduction Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” is a powerful exploration of the impact of imperialism and colonialism on both the colonized and the colonizers. The novella’s setting is a critical aspect of the story and its themes. The different places and times the story takes the reader through, including the...
Introduction In his remarkable work, Howards End, E.M. Forster delves into the social, economic, and philosophical forces that shaped early 20th-century England. Within its pages, readers encounter three distinct groups: the Schlegel family, embodying idealism and intellect among the upper classes; the pragmatic and materialistic Wilcox family; and the Bast...
Introduction Personal decisions and societal impacts often intertwine to create a complex pattern, marking individual and collective destinies in the complex tapestry of human life. This intriguing concept forms the midpoint of Wes Moore’s insightful memoir, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. The haunting phenomenon experienced by Wes...
Introduction Lyle Kessler’s play Orphans explores the consequences of poor parenting among children. It is the story of two grown orphans living in a dilapidated house in North Philadelphia. Although Treat, the elder brother, takes up the responsibility of raising Philip, the younger one, he takes away his chance of...
Introduction It is essential to note that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a tale about the struggle between the forces of evil and good. Its main characters include four ordinary siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, who access the magical world of Narnia through...
Introduction A common topic in literature is the examination of individual identity in the face of social expectations; two examples of this are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” and Junot Díaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Oscar de Leon and Hester Prynne both experience intense emotions of estrangement...
Introduction “Recitatif” is a short story by Toni Morrison that explores themes of race, class, and identity by connecting the two stories of heroines Twyla and Roberta. The book is about the subjective experiences of growing up as children left in an orphanage and how they met each other’s lives....
Introduction D.H. Lawrence’s short story “Odour of Chrysanthemums” explores the depth and complexity of human experience through the plight of its central character, Elizabeth Bates. At its heart, the story is about the search for meaning and connection in a world that can be harsh and unforgiving. Lawrence’s use of...
Introduction Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener is a short story set in Manhattan’s financial district. In 1853, it was published anonymously in two installments in Putnam’s Magazine. In 1856, it was republished in his The Piazza Tales with minor editorial changes. After putting in some initial effort, the new clerk...
Introduction It is significant to emphasize that, along with the plot, the image of the character is one of the most constructive elements of the artistic text. Therefore, it is essential to characterize Huckleberry Finn as a free character. Context Huckleberry Finn is a homeless ragamuffin, the son of a...
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 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...
Literary Theme in “The Old Paniolo Way” “The Old Paniolo Way” is a story written by Kristiana Kahakauwila in her book “This Is Paradise.” The story follows the life of Pili, a man who came to Hawaii to say a final goodbye to his dying father. While the story revolves...
Introduction Eugene Gant’s odyssey in Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel” is a quintessential Romantic journey, replete with the zeal for personal discovery and the yearning for transcendence that characterizes the American Romantic movement. This bildungsroman, or coming-of-age narrative, mirrors the Romantic ethos through its protagonist’s intense internal struggles, the passionate...
Introduction People are often wary and disdainful of anything that differs from their idea of the norm. This relationship also applies to people in difficult life circumstances. Poems by Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas talk about the suffering of two people living on the streets. At the same time, the...
Introduction Since L. Frank Baum introduced Oz in 1900, and generations of readers have lost themselves in the enchanting fantasy realm he created. Oz dazzles as an imaginary world due to its intricate details, which make it feel like a complete universe with its natural laws. Baum achieved worldbuilding mastery...
Introduction The quest for joy and contemplation, as embodied in John Milton’s paired poems “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso,” offers a vivid exploration of two contrasting perspectives on life and the pursuit of happiness. Celebrating Joy in “L’Allegro” “L’Allegro,” with its exuberant celebration of joy and delight, was my favorite reading...
Description of Poems Daniel Garcia Ordaz’s poems are like a colorful tapestry that celebrates different aspects of life, culture, and language. One of my favorites, “These Are a Few of My Favorite ‘Che’s,” is a lively homage to the Spanish language, filled with playful sounds and nods to cultural elements....
Introduction Social norms, mainly as they related to women, were experiencing drastic changes during the turbulent late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through the adventures of its protagonists, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” highlight the symbolism of imprisonment and the widespread struggles women...
Introduction The work under consideration, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, is a highly acclaimed and poignant short poem about the relationship with his father. The author conveys the depth and complexity of his perception and shares it with the reader through symbolism, imagery, and enjambment from a narrative point...
The Theme of Sympathy in The Old Cumberland Beggar by William Wordsworth Wordsworth’s poem touches on the theme of sympathy through the image of the old beggar. With no wealth and money, this man makes the audience pity and worry about him. The image is intensified when the narrator introduces...
Introduction In Zombie Love by Earl T. Roske, Kathy represents a character experiencing internal conflict over her friend Emily’s relationship with a zombie named Walter. Although she loves Emily, Kathy opposes their relationship and is worried about Emily’s safety. She believes Emily should establish friendships with a living person, not...
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 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...
Gogol’s Definition of Home Gogol Ganguli, the main character of The Namesake novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, changed many homes. He lived in his parent’s house in Boston during his childhood and teenage years. Then Gogol moved to New Haven when he became a Yale College freshman. His passion for architecture...
Introduction Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a famous and exciting novel addressing a few essential themes. For example, the literary piece addresses the topics of love, slavery, masculinity, and the supernatural. The author managed to focus on the life of the protagonist, Sethe, to demonstrate what challenges people experienced after the...
Introduction “They Called Us Enemy,” co-written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott and drawn by Harmony Becker, is a crucial tribute to the dread and federal bigotry within America’s borders eight decades ago. Meanwhile, Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” depicts the horrors of the Holocaust as well as the challenges...
Introduction Imagine a world where a simple trip to the toy store can change a child’s perception of society and class. Toni Cade Bambara’s ‘The Lesson” offers just that: it tells the story of a group of underprivileged children who receive an eye-opening lesson from a well-intentioned but confrontational teacher....
Introduction The Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne have much in common. Both works tell the story of incredibly smart scientists who, nevertheless, overestimated their capabilities and decided to interfere in Nature. Each of them achieved their goals and, in doing so, sacrificed human lives. Although...
The Crucible by Arthur Miller examines the widespread fear and persecution experienced during the Salem Witch Trials in the late 17th century. Throughout the play, various propaganda techniques are employed to sway public opinion and defend the witch hunts. It is most realistic to remark that black, grey and white...
To establish their lifetime relationship and demonstrate how their lives have been entwined from a young age, the author opens the novel with Twyla and Roberta as little children. This aids in laying the groundwork for the later-story events. The narrative uses cultural examples to highlight the differences between the...
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is a novel about war, love, and an individual’s personal growth. The story reveals the actions of the first world war, specifically the stories from the Italian ambulance service and young man and woman Fredrick Henry and Catherine Barkley. After meeting the main female...
Nobility, Elegance and Mystery Around the “Emerald Color” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a unique, inimitable work in its structure and content, illustrating a special message and interpretation of color from the point of view of symbolism, hints, and mysterious signs. Thus, the green color in the novel...
Introduction Literature at all times tried to find answers to various questions that arise in human life and thus touched on various topics, but the theme of love always remains relevant. In the sonnets, this feeling is shown in a very contradictory and ambiguous way: on the one hand, as...
Introduction Stories about people who turn into animals, especially a wolf, are not new to the current generations. However, many people interact with such tales through the media, particularly the horrific movies featuring medieval or sci-fiction characters. The werewolf is a typical feature in ancient accounts, indicating the possible link...
Introduction Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937. This story is about Janie, whose life journey is challenging, and shows the girl’s struggle with building the life she wants. Although Janie wants to find love, she is influenced by her grandmother Nanny...
Introduction Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is a haunting first-person narrative that tells a story of a twenty-six-year-old woman who is suffering with postpartum depression. The storyline is relatively simple: a nameless woman is put in an attic of an isolated country mansion by her physician husband to help her...
In the Iliad Homer tells the story of how the murderer was able to repent and remember when he still had a soul. Achilles is presented in the book as an evil that ruined many sons. King Priam sent his son Hector to be the city’s guardian but Achilles killed...
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,...
José Olivarez discusses his family, music and poetry, and race and identity. As a child of immigrant parents, the poet describes himself as white-presenting and an outsider to white culture. He says, “as a Mexican family, my family always had more in common with black families” (“José Olivarez”). The poet...
The narrator describes himself as a lawyer who is unwilling to think more than necessary to do his work well and live a good and comfortable life. In my opinion, such a view makes his life better and much easier, as he has a very positive attitude toward the world....
The personality of characters in ancient Greek literature is a question for discussion. For a long period of time, it was considered that epic characters are flat and do not change significantly throughout the plot. Ancient Greek authors usually did not have a goal to describe deep, complex, and controversial...
Poetry has always been used as a form of stylistically constructed literature to convey the message in an artistic yet firm manner. Kubla Khan is one of those poems that makes you apply all senses in analyzing the poem. Reading through it, I found that I could feel, smell, and...
Summary Hamlet is a classically orchestrated play that applies all the literary styles to elaborate on an ethical dilemma. The play and its production explore how vengeance can become a dangerous mission if emotions clouds judgment (Ibrahim 1). The author intended to elaborate on human philosophy by depicting their typical...
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...
Flatland is a satirical work written by Edwin Abbott that elaborates on the nature of hierarchy, freedom, and reality. The novel describes a two-dimensional world where “distinction of sides is intended by Nature to imply distinction of colours” (Abbott 27). Hence, it is a society where some seemingly abstract properties...
Written at the turn of the 16th century, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is the longest and one of the most renowned works by William Shakespeare. Right from the start, the author sets the mood for tragedy with the mysterious death of Hamlet’s father, king of Denmark. The...
The novel Atonement by Ian McEwan is a romantic war tragedy metafiction that follows Cecilia and Robbie’s lives as the protagonist. They experience conflicts trying to fulfill their dream of eternal love and separate, shutting down all their achievements. McEwan intertwines irony and symbolism to explore the theme of love...
The metamorphosis is a narrative about a salesman named Gregor Samsa who lives with his parents, sister, and maid. One day, Gregor wakes up to find that he has changed into a giant bug and starts to worry about his job as he gets used to his new body, which...
There are so many different opinions of what is important in a man’s life. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe describes the faith of an optimistic, self-reliant man using his intelligence to survive. From the various scenes in the novel, Crusoe stands out to be so celebrated by the readers for displaying...
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...
Around 1850, the United States was a divided country. A deep split separates the slave-holding southern states from the northern states. Harriet Beecher Stowe recounts in Uncle Tom’s Cabin the shifting fates of slaves who are at the mercy of the whims and economic circumstances of their masters, for better...
Dramatic Story “The Open Boat” carries many philosophical ideas. The story is based on the author’s personal experience during his life. During the story, sailors have been wrecked and tried to escape on the high seas, after which not all of them survived. During the story, the characters go through...
Ode on a Grecian Urn is doubtlessly on the list of the best-known poetic works by John Keats, a British romanticist of the early 19th century. In the writing under review, the author, presumably, seeks to express his perspective on what messages art is able to transmit. In addition, he...
Poems are a creative way of expressing feelings and thoughts. While some poems may be short, they are typically profound in their expressions. A crucial part of fully understanding the meaning of a poem is understanding its speaker. Emily Dickinson’s poem Wild nights – Wild nights! may be confusing at...
Introduction Despite being written at the beginning of the 20th century, the play “Trifles” still presents an important source and obligatory to read for people interested in feminism. It was created by an American playwright and journalist, Susan Glaspell, in 1916, and the author conducted pioneer research on the topic...
Who? Pluto How would you describe this character? Why? Physical Appearance The character is dark, tall, and strong. Pluto wants somebody else to do his tasks. Feelings Feelings of loneliness and caring. The character is cunning. Attitude A negative attitude He is the king. The character from “The Pomegranate Seeds”....
It is almost scary how people—in everything they do—are driven by hidden motivations inside them of which they are not even aware. The unconscious—the pivotal concept in psychoanalysis—is comprised of repressed feelings that shape people’s behaviors; specifically; dysfunctional behaviors. The story by Bettino titled “Free Ham” provides a lot of...
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...
In Charlotte Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper, one of the characters is Jennie, who is directly influenced by the gender norms and expectations of the time. This story, like the story of this hero, holistically talks about how gender stereotypes and society’s expectations negatively affect the mental health of...
The 20th century was marked by several military conflicts that forever changed the lives of millions of people across the world. One such dispute was the Vietnam War of 1954-1975, in which the United States of America played an active role (Brigham). The war profoundly impacted American politics and culture,...
Introduction Desire is one of the most common themes explored in poetry. It is also the subject of Sir Philip Sidney’s poem “Thou Blind Man’s Mark”. On the surface, the text seems to implicate desire as the main cause of harm, yet a closer inspection of poetic devices can show...
Introduction Hamlet, a world-renowned literary classic by William Shakespeare, depicts an acute vision of a man struggling with his indecisiveness in the face of constant external pressure and inner unrest. The hero, the young prince of Denmark, undergoes severe changes throughout the play, overcoming his weaknesses and learning to exercise...
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...
The novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes can be described as a parody of chivalric romances. The main character is a man “about fifty years old, of a strong complexion, dry flesh, and a withered face,” who imagines himself a knight and calls himself Don Quixote (Cervantes 19). The...
Introduction In the mythology of the Greeks, Ovid, a Roman poet, is credited with writing the epic poem Pygmalion, published many years ago but has maintained its relevance throughout history and into the modern day. The love Pygmalion feels for the creature he has created is the story’s primary focus....
Introduction A heroic quest is when the protagonist of a story travels to faraway lands to pursue vital life goals that will benefit them individually or a group of people. One of the literary works that share the theme of the heroic quest is Sundiata by Djibril Tamsir, originally published...
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...
Introduction Literature is one of the important kinds of art, causing a strong impact on people and making them think about certain things. It also helps writers to convey their messages and speak about problems that are topical for them. At the same time, as against other arts, literature does...
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,...
Although the story uses the term Phoenix, Arizona, to name Victor’s place of birth, the name symbolizes a form of rebirth to the characters. For instance, victor went to Phoenix to gather his father’s ashes, which brought about all the elements of revival, including ashes, Phoenix, and intense heat together...
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...
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, patriarchy plays an essential role in the deterioration of the narrator’s physical and mental state. The author used sy7mbolism, irony, and the unreliable narrator technique to give readers an incredible insight into the protagonist’s state of mind and relive the life of the...
The book A Different Pond is written by Bao Phi, a renowned poet, and illustrated by Thi Bui, a graphic novelist. It is a lyrical, stirring story revolving around the story of a father and his son who are on a fishing trip in the wee morning hours. The story...
Worker rights are a contemporary issue whose depth and importance were similarly relevant in previous centuries. Pablo Neruda utilizes his poem, ‘The United Fruit Company; to satirize the actions of Latin American leaders in the twentieth century, specifically as they associate with foreign international corporations. Their suppressive actions favoring imperialistic...
Introduction Differences in the perception of life values, manifested in the context of a generation gap, are a common problem raised in literary works. In Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Days,” the poet demonstrates such an assessment by presenting himself as the narrator. In this short poem, he faithfully captures the...
Gwendolyn Brooks represents one of the most prominent African American poetic voices of the 20th century. Her works reflect the complexity of the sociocultural environment of the mid-20th-century American community, particularly, the Civil Rights movement and the associated struggles of African American people (Hayes, 2019). Although “We Real Cool,” Sadie...
The stories of heroes have been broadly presented in literature since ancient times. Heroic characters tend to display various human traits focusing on their strengths and abilities to conquer enemies and overcome difficulties. In Indian literature, prince Rama from the book of The Ramayana appears as a particular example of...
Introduction Shakespeare’s plays present complex narratives where power is not a stable construct that defines one characteristic. Instead, as many authors argue, it is tied to the appearance of order and the expulsion of evil. It generally implies that people with political power must protect their citizens, albeit it is...
Introduction In the short story “Dangerous Laughter,” a group of adolescents engages in a trendy habit. Teenagers congregate at gatherings and laugh irrationally until the laughing obscures prudence and rationality. One girl, Clara Schuler, breaks out of her shell of shyness thanks to the laughing craze and would not let...
Introduction Everyday Use is a short story written by American author Alice Walker. The narrative revolves around an African-American family and the conflict they face, primarily the schisms created by money, materialism, and greed. The set of characters is relatively narrow (Mama, Maggie, Dee, and Hakim-a-barber), but can showcase a...
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...
The name of the protagonist from Sherman Alexie’s story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” is Jackson Jackson. His family nickname is Jackson Squared. He is an Indian man who grew up in Spokane and moved to Seattle. He describes himself as “an effective homeless man” (Alexie 2). The protagonist’s...
Introduction The richness and imagery of Emily Dickinson’s poetry are revealed in numerous works that, despite being written in the 19th century, are still relevant. The variety of literary devices used by the poetess makes it possible to evaluate her talent and identify the characteristic features that distinguish her style...
Introduction In this book, Erich Auerbach has adopted distinct rhetoric and philosophy of communication that significantly advanced my theoretical knowledge of concepts. For instance, the author assumes a persuasive form of writing whereby he coins around words to present an idea or a thought. Firstly, the book has boosted my...
Introduction In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, cultural imperialism is one of the central themes. This term generally refers to the process when one dominant culture spreads and absorbs the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of smaller communities. For instance, when the prevailing American...
Captivity, specifically African Americans being trapped by society through racism, prejudice, and unfair laws, are an important theme in American poetry. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy” and Langston Hughes’s “I, Too” are both dedicated to these social issues. However, in my opinion, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy” is more hopeful than the...
One of the core themes in the play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams is the development of the relationships between Blanche and Mitch. In the beginning, creating a family for sensitive and strong Mitch and delicate and naïve Blanche seems to be a compatible option that meets...
Introduction Wright Brothers is a book written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough and published in 2015. This work does not only present the detailed biographies of two of the most well-known inventors in history. It also examines the influences that were present in their lives and that led...
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...
Neoliberalism in the 1980s espoused globalization and deregulation of economies, which encouraged open markets and corporate development. Consequently, the themes in popular cyberpunk literature showed the extrapolated effects of neoliberal policies, as shown in the novel “Neuromancer” and “Blade Runner” film. Themes include technological development and the idea of consciousness....
Introduction Claudia Rankine is politically charged prose poet, and her works, especially Citizen, have a great influence on the modern American society. Citizen is a poem conducted in prose, thus making it one of the staples of the contemporary literature. One of the important things about Rankine’s work is that...
Introduction “The Storm” and “Story of an Hour”, both written by Kate Chopin, bring out aspects of oppression, imprisonment, and struggle for freedom experienced by women in the nineteenth century. Women have always been portrayed as having weaker personalities and being emotionally fragile. On top of that, a patriarchal society...
Antigone’s opponent Creon is a notoriously very arrogant dictator who demands absolute loyalty from his subjects. He displays his conceit from the outset of the performance via both his words and deeds. He claims the inhabitants of Thebes as his own and uses fear to compel them to submit completely....
The novel From Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among Lowly is an impactful piece, showing the cruelty and inhumanity of the slavery system in the United States. The novel shows many aspects of real life, from childhood, labor, motherhood, and gender to many more. Slavery being at the center of...
Introduction 1001 Nights have several translations, many of which Western specialists make. The author of the collection is unknown, and it is unclear which short stories were included initially and which appeared in later versions. Most readers in Europe and the United States are familiar with Scheherazade’s tales through Western...
Introduction John Milton’s Paradise Lost is a poem based on the Old and New Testament, about the oust of humanity from the garden of Eden and the fall of Satan from heaven. The 1667 edition of this poem was divided into ten books and was written using the blank verse...
Introduction Perrault’s “Bluebeard” story is one of the most famous stories told from generation to generation for centuries. Simple in its plot, it provides a source of wisdom in its various interpretations and morals. To properly understand the story, it should be analyzed from different points of view. One of...
Oedipus by Sophocles satisfies the requirements for a character to be classified as a tragic hero and serves as an example of the Aristotelian theory of tragedy. According to Aristotle, tragic heroes must be distinguished individuals who exhibit noble traits and possess a hamartia or a fatal flaw. An illustration...
Introduction The Historical Context The events in the book occur during Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history. The disaster killed 1,836 residents and caused $125 billion in economic damage (Stevens 158). The hurricane began forming on August 23 near the Bahamas. Before the hurricane reached the U.S....
Fences is a fascinating story and a play written by August Wilson in the 20th century, exploring the evolving African American experience and racial relations. The playwriter depicts the story of African American character, Troy, earning a living by collecting garbage. Troy Maxson is not only the protagonist of the...
Summary Don Marquis is an author of an essay that argues that abortions are immoral from a non-religious standpoint. He begins with a general discussion on why killing is wrong. According to Marquis, killing any human being is morally wrong not because it inflicts suffering on their loved ones but...
In one of the final chapters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the narrative dwells on the reflections about Lizzy and Mr. Darcy’s upcoming marriage, relationship, and their stance on love and class. The chapter is devoted to both the new perspective of the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy...
The theme of death and revenge is multifaceted in Shakespeare’s works, as it is a classic strand of 16th- and 17th-century poetry. It is worth noting that revenge occupies a special place in the results because of its versatility and innocence. For Hamlet, revenge is an entirely new way of...
“Not Waving but Drowning” was composed by British poet Stevie Smith in 1957. The poem consists of only three stanzas about a man who is drowning while the observers think he is merely waving hands and enjoys swimming. Even though the idea is clear on the surface, the text’s true...
Many people in society find it simpler to construct a make-believe universe where they may escape the harsh facts of reality. The play’s imagination stands in contrast to the characters’ real-life experiences. Moreover, the film’s vision of the events in the lives of Blanche and the other protagonists serves as...
Introduction Death yields severe pain in most people, and they get upset even though they do not anticipate it, influencing them to struggle in search of solutions. A similar case is present in plays such as Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Oedipus by Sophocles (Ayumba 1). Both are driven by...
While segmentation between public and private identities helps preserve the character desired to be portrayed, the complexity of a divergent behavior trail renders it difficult to identify one’s intentions on the subject. This grim is attained through manipulating one’s character to match the qualities an observer anticipates. The dynamics of...
Flowers in the Attic deeply explores various topics related to child neglect, abuse, unhealthy parental dynamics, and family patterns. However, one of the most prominent themes that had been reflected in the book is the characteristics of the mother-daughter relationship. An evident general pattern related to this dynamic is the...
Venice Venice city is termed the haunted city because of the legends, mysteries, and stories about it. It is the most romantic location in the entire universe to some people. The place has a sparkling marketing spiel with cuddly pictures of canals and gondolas in which lovers profess their compassion...
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an influential literary work, well recognized for its historical and artistic significance. As one of the oldest pieces of literature, the epic of Gilgamesh addresses multiple themes and ideas, developing the importance of such topics as love, death, and gods’ power. The epic follows the...
The book that I read approaches the issue of growing up gay. The protagonist talks about engaging in his first gay experience with another young boy in the book. The protagonist engages in a journey of self-discovery in a world where being gay has not been embraced in society. The...
