5539 samples of this type
Introduction The concept of capital punishment is a highly controversial and widely discussed subject. The article discusses the topics of atavism, arbitrary condemnation, and sanctioned violence. The author makes an attempt to argue that capital punishment can be abused in someone’s interest because the victim will no longer have a...
Judith Ortiz Cofer Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952-2016), who wrote Quinceañera, was a Puerto Rican American author critically acclaimed for her poetry, short stories, essays, fiction, and autobiography. She was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, in the family with a military father, J. M. Ortiz Lugo, who took his closest relatives,...
Introduction Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) is an American novelist and a prolific author. She developed and finessed the Southern Gothic style and went down in the history of literature for her captivating short stories. In this story, O’Connor describes a family trip from Georgia to Florida for a summer vacation. The...
Introduction The genre of dramatic tragedy is revealed comprehensively in the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Miller. The main character of the work is Willy Loman, a salesman who is disenchanted with his life and goes through the difficult steps of an internal crisis. Miller represents American reality...
Introduction Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is widely accepted as the most shining example of feminist drama. Within only one act, the author manages to evolve a complicated plotline, to describe settings in detail, and, most of all, to represent the life of a woman in the early 20th-century society. Representing such...
Some people are like square pegs in the world of round holes, and Willa Sibert Cather eloquently tells a story of one of such individuals in “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament.” Paul is a high school student from Pittsburgh who lives with his father and reluctantly tries to conform...
Introduction In the Poem, “My Husband Discovers Poetry,” and the song “Alcohol,” there are numerous poetic stylistic devices that are used. This essay will be assessing the poetic voice and tone in the poems. The use of authorial voice in the poem and the song In the poem, “My Husband...
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...
Introduction The writing style is an essential part of any science. Although the experiment’s results can be assessed with a certain degree of certainty, which excludes bias, the ability to write often determines the way the readers get to perceive certain subjects, be it literature, anthropology, history, sociology, or others....
Irony Jane Austen (2003) treats Emma, the central character of the novel of the same name, with irony. The most apparent aspect of this attitude is created situationally, for example, through the mismatches that Emma creates, which contrast with her “disposition to think a little too well of herself” and...
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...
Sissy In the story, Sissy is the protagonist and the narrator. In the first summer (or the first episode of the story), Sissy is a child, accompanying her parents and brothers at a tavern near an unnamed lake. She is dependent on her parents because she is quite young. For...
Introduction One of the reasons why Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise is being commonly referred to as such that represents a high literary value is that despite having been written in 1920, it contains a number of themes and motifs that relate to the discursive realities of a contemporary...
Introduction: Among Villains and Victims Of all the complex and thought-provoking Shakespearean plays, Othello must be the most complicated and enticing one. Offering a plethora of three-dimensional characters and developing an intriguing plot, the play conveys the author’s idea of the battle between good and evil and offers specific, unclichéd...
Marlow left for Africa specifically to Congo in the service of the Belgian company occupying Congo as its protectorate (Conrad 3). However, when Marlow was presented with the map showing the Belgian empire, he raised concerns with the effects of imperial presence in Africa. For instance, the Congolese viewed the...
The Metamorphosis is an expressionist novella by Franz Kafka that is considered one of the most intriguing and absurdist pieces of fiction while presenting an intricate psychological and philosophical analysis of modern realities. The complexity and inherent meaning of the plot have been a widely debated literally topic. Kafka is...
Introduction Misha Glenny’s, The Fall of Yugoslavia: The Third Balkan War is a book that gives an account of the events that led to the Yugoslavian conflict. In the book, Glenny gives a detailed account of his interaction with the Balkans and this provides a basis for understanding the origin...
Introduction Children’s literature can be defined as that form of literature that is designed for readers and listeners of about twelve years or below. Barry (2009) is of the view that children’s literature can be viewed from four perspectives. The first perspective defines children’s literature as that form of literature...
Introduction Even though the two plays; ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles and ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrick Ibsen were written in completely different times, they share certain thematic elements when it comes to the portrayal of the female characters. For instance, the characters “Antigone” by Sophocles and Nora in “A Doll’s House”...
Introduction John Okada’s No-No Boy recounts the story of challenging cultural identity of a Japanese American young man named Ichiro. In the midst of a bloody conflict with the Japanese, the United States undertook a radical move of creating concentration camps for those of Japanese origin, whilst still requiring these...
“Rip Van Winkle” is a symbolic story, its author, Washington Irving, used a fictional and unrealistic event to be able to portray the difference between the same places of America before and during the Revolutionary War. The story of a mysterious situation when a character skips a long period without...
An interesting way of looking at the quite radical alterations that information technologies in general and computer usage, in particular, have brought into people’s lives, Nutcracker.com by David Sedaris features nearly every essay mode that there is. Despite keeping their storytelling style consistent and their narration even, the author manages...
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...
The narrator of Cathedral is an unnamed person. Still, this vagueness does not make him unimportant, as he influences the way the readers perceive the text. I associate him with an antihero and believe one to resemble a negative character because his behavior is indecent. As Cathedral refers to realism,...
Type Although the story is narrated from the third-person perspective, the primary source chosen for the analysis can be defined as an autobiography since the events described in it occurred in the authors’ life as well. Title The autobiography was published under the title of Leaves from a Slave’s Journal...
Introduction Kate Chopin wrote The Storm which is a short story in eighteen ninety-eight. The story was however published in nineteen sixty long after she died. The author based the story in Louisiana where the two main actors are Calixta and Alcee. Most of Calixta’s neighbors are of the Catholic...
Introduction In Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers”, when approaching the title of chapter eight, ‘Strife in love’, it is evident that we will encounter incidents of love in the chapter, that love will be dominant therein, but looking at strife in its independent contextual meaning, then, the kind of love in...
“All the world’s a stage,” wrote Shakespeare (Shakespeare, 2010), and that is true even when behind the wheel. Driving is not a solitary activity but involves many interactions, with passengers, fellow drivers, gas station attendants, and, in most unwelcome fashion, for the most part, the highway patrol. The experience of...
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois uses color symbolism in “Of the Coming of John” to reveal the plight of the diverse American population. The author uses opposite colors to point out not only racial differences but also those associated with the opportunities to live a happy life. He refers to...
Introduction Humans have always been fascinated about the future. This fascination coupled together with limitless imagination led to the development of the science fiction genre, both in print and on the screen. The industrialisation period that began in the 1900s inspired a new form of science fiction that mainly dealt...
Introduction Gulliver’s Travels is a satiric story written by Jonathan Swift in the first half of the 18th century. It is a unique collection of traveler’s tales that appeals to both adults and children due to the presence of hidden meaning that allows the readers to see one and the...
Nowadays, it represents a commonplace practice to refer to the policy of apartheid in South Africa, as having been innately racist – something that serves as the best indication of this policy’s sheer inappropriateness. The main assumption behind such a point of view is that the policy’s practical implementation used...
Many social forces shaped the United States at different epochs. European migration between the end of the 1800s and the middle of the 1900s was the event that cannot be neglected in the American history because it may explain current social inequalities and concerns. Out of This Furnace is not...
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is full of examples of courage, but it has the examples of the exemplar cowardice as well. Cowardice has different forms in the novel. The first example of cowardice is the behavior of Mayella Ewell. She has no friends, and her...
Motivations of the main characters Discovering characters’ motivations may be challenging in Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.” because the reader sees the story from just one perspective: that of Sister, the main character. Sister is not truthful about her motivations even with herself, so she decides to...
Introduction Dramatic events associated with death have always been a compelling topic in fiction. However, in addition to creating a straightforward appeal, they can be used as devices for the exploration of deeper themes. In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin uses the theme of death to successfully reveal...
The Piano Lesson is a play that was written by August Wilson in 1990 with its main theme being a family legacy. It is set during the dark days of the Great Depression in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wilson managed to encompass and deliver the main problems of the American society during...
Introduction Symbolism is often used in fiction to describe pressing but controversial issues. Through subtle comparisons and allegories, authors can connect simple objects and situations to more complex problems. The novel Disgrace, written by Coetzee in 1999, uses a number of symbols to strengthen the message of the author. First...
Introduction As an avid reader, I have read numerous books covering various fields, including history, sociology, business, philosophy, medicine, and psychology. All of them had an impact on my life by the insights they provided. However, none of them was as transformational as “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz....
Ever since Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being was published in 1984, it became instantly popular with the readers. And, as of today, critics’ opinions as to what attracts readers to this particular novel vary rather substantially. Whereas; some critics explain novel’s popularity by the sheer progressiveness of...
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...
About Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Denmark in a poor family. Interestingly, his father loved books and encouraged Hans Christian to compose fairy tales. At an early age, the author had to start working at a factory to support his family, but then his poetry...
Pulitzer prize winning collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies by the Indian-American writer, Jhumpa Lahiri is analysed in this essay from feminist and postcolonial perspective. Grouped among migrant writers, Lahiri like Salman Rushdie, deliberately create characters that have a plural and/or partial identity. The crisis created among the female...
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...
In “Darkness too visible,” Gurdon discusses the problem of young adult fiction, which often appears to be too brutal and gory to be introduced to young readers (Gurdon, 2011). As Gurdon (2011) notices, many of the books explicitly use foul language and descriptions of violence and assaults, which can negatively...
Comparison of the Different Versions of LRRH Two versions of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH), including the original written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and the retelling by Charles Perrault, focus on similar themes and have a lot in common. However, regardless of the fact that they describe the same...
The book Mhudi, which was written by Sol Plaatje in 1920 and first published in 1930, is a novel that tells a story of indigenous African tribes, the complex relations between them, and the facts that impact these relations greatly. The sophisticated atmosphere is perfectly shown by the author, who...
I perfectly realize the unique mission our newspaper accomplishes, the role it plays in the formation of peoples mentality, and the impact it has on their minds. For this reason, I am sure that only worthy artworks could be published by it. Thus, considering the unique goal and a specific...
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday is a literary work that stands out based on a variety of elements and features. The purpose of this work was for the author to connect with the readers by means of communicating a unique autobiographical story that was far more...
Americans, in the twentieth century, saw wonderful scientific discoveries like the atomic bomb, the space age, and political moves that came as a result of a sense of superiority for America. It elevated America to a nation that was ahead in civilization and development. All these phenomena had a great...
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Elisenda and Pelayo responded to the arrival of the old man with enormous wings like to the ordinary event, which captured their attention only for a while, and then they focused on benefiting from the situation. Thus, having met the old man, Pelayo...
A short story is a very interesting genre because authors are supposed to convey their messages using the limited number of words – therefore, it can be supposed that good short stories have to be revised many times in order to exclude odd details that do not help the reader...
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 While at first glance Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and Virginia Scott’s Snow are remarkably different, after careful consideration it becomes clear that there is a striking similarity between the poems’ meanings and messages. This paper aims to compare the poems and discuss rhetorical and...
Introduction There is no doubt that law, order, and moral norms remain the components that allow to shape the society and to control people to prevent a wide range of unwanted situations. When it comes to the life of modern society and its members, it is necessary to say that...
Introduction In his book, Horatio Alger reflects on a range of issues associated with the street life of a 14-year-old bootblack Ragged Dick (7). The book includes three stories, describing the way the poor young boy, striving for financial success, succeeds thanks to his courage, good fortune, and virtue and...
Charles was married to a young woman. She was his second wife. The first one died. His first wife was a widower. Charles married her because he was unsure of himself. In fact, his own mother was unsure if Charles could survive on his own. Even with impressive credentials and...
In the history of literature there were many writers who became the living witnesses of the horrific realities of their times; some of them were Erich Maria Remarque (who was a soldier during World War I), Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi (who survived in concentration camps during the World War...
Introduction John Maxwell (J. M.) Coetzee is a well-known novelist who received numerous awards and recognition for his outstanding works. He is also a linguist and translator who contributed to the field of literature. Today the author represents two countries as he moved from South Africa to Australia at the...
Introduction One awkward scene in the novel was where Manfred stabbed his own daughter Matilda when she was out with Theodore at St. Nicholas church. Manfred was in love with Isabel, but he thought that she loved another man called Theodore. As a result, Manfred had deployed a man to...
Elie Wiesel revealed his experience in the ghetto in his novel Night. He portrayed the horrors of the war years and the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. The author shares his thoughts and deepest emotions. The book is a very intimate confession of a person who tried to come...
Just like any other religion, Christianity had a period when it was to pave its way through the doubt and rejection of the people in order to gradually win more and more followers. The intent to move on from one religion and set of beliefs to another always comes along...
Thesis The most prominent theme in J. M. Coetzee’s chef-d’oeuvre novel, Disgrace, change. The author sets the scene for events in the book in post-apartheid South Africa at a time when a variety of changes are occurring, thus affecting the characters in the story and the overall outcome in numerous...
Introduction Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street is an illustration of the problems faced by Latin women in a culture laden with racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Society as depicted in the book is being dominated by men where women are generally praised for their physical features; however, the Latin...
The play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare is characterized by comedy, farce and humor that are present throughout the play. It is mainly based on love, magic, mistaken identity and the sudden reversal of relationships. Act I begins with a scene where Duke Theseus is conversing with his bride....
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....
Night illustrates the life of Elie Wiesel and his father in the Nazi concentration camps during the World War II (Rucco 3). In the concentration camps, they underwent through cruel and brutal situations. The situations affected and changed their relationship in a number of ways. After being taken to the...
Introduction Although fiction distances itself from reality in many ways, Octavia’s article embraces science fiction as well as the Black culture. Science fiction acts as a powerful figurative tool, allows for making an allusion of the current state of the African American culture in the realm of the present-day U.S....
Introduction After reading the short story ‘A & P’, one will be forgiven for believing that Sammy quit his job as a result of his immature, childlike behavior (Uphaus 23). However, a critical analysis of the character will reveal that Sammy did not quit his job on principle grounds. On...
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...
The book Fahrenheit 451 is a novel written by Ray Bradbury reflecting a society that is insensitive to the plight of the minority. The book presents a society where the majority has their way, while the minorities do not have their right. The protagonist of this book is Guy Montag....
Introduction Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a novel that covers Phillip Dick’s analysis of the human state and his pursuit to retire six androids. The story trails John Isidore based on a post-apocalyptic future. The movie Blade Runner assumes the same story line as the novel. The difference...
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 Literature acts as a store for people’s culture. It also communicates one’s feelings as it shows how people in society do things. Poems are forms of literature that are essential in modern life. People use poems to express their feelings or happenings that exist and take place in society....
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 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...
Struggling for rights has always been one of the integral parts of a man’s life, which predetermined the pace of humankind development. It is quite peculiar though that woman started to protect their rights and freedoms relatively not quite long ago. Perhaps, this could explain the rapid growth of the...
Introduction El Señor Presidente (Mister President) is a landmark text in Latin American literature authored by Guatemalan diplomat and writer Miguel Angel Asturias (1899 – 1974) as it details the nature of political dictatorship and its impacts on the society. The award winning work, originally written in Spanish, tells the...
The Jacobean era is characterized by marvelous literary masterpieces by Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson and many other brilliant poets. It is important to note that the works created at that period can be regarded as similar since they were similar in terms of style and themes revealed. Of course, each poet...
Based on the evident mistreatment that women get in society, feminists have devoted themselves to making hefty campaigns to end gender segregation. However, the role of women in society has not received its due attention. As a result, the paper sheds light on the roles of women as portrayed by...
Love in Poetry Admittedly, love has always been one of the major themes in poetry. Poets have always expressed their feelings in their works. More so, many people state that poets write their greatest masterpieces when they are in love (Arana 33). It is also possible to state that poems...
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...
Introduction The relationships between a father and a son usually compose in early childhood. However, there are families where father-son love is hidden too deep in their souls that they are unable to see it until something bad happens and only the support of the closest people may help. Reading...
Rhetorical questions are a feature of style extensively used in literature to capture the readers’ feelings in any article. It involves asking questions in the course of narration or describing scenarios that raise such questions within the reader’s mind. More complex rhetorical questions are built using other stylistic features. Rhetorical...
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,...
In his book Night, Elie Wiesel explores a variety of themes. One of them is the attempts of a person to reconcile one’s experiences with the belief in God. Eliezer, who is the main character of this work, is on the verge of losing his faith in God as a...
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...
The world’s literary interest to female psychology and changes in attitude to women has been changed over time. Looking back at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, specific attention should be paid to the works dedicated to studying women’s psychology and mental health...
The book ‘Making Sense of the Molly Maguires’ by Kevin Kenny addresses the industrial capitalism that followed the American civil war. It highlights the bitter disagreements that took place between the Railroad Company and individuals who were mining coal. The company was in full control over the Pennsylvania coalfields in...
Beowulf, Gawain and Viola It is a common assumption that all heroic medieval literature presents heroism along the main characters to establish and develop their plot. However, there are certain values that the heroic characters must present to earn heroic status. These characters must portray heroic prowess that is presented...
An American writer William Faulkner is famous for his short stories which described events taking place in the so-called Yoknapatawpha Count, which is recognized to be a non-existent city. Thus, one of his short stories, namely A Rose for Emily is an issue which is to be discussed below. The...
Referring to the folklore stories, women are often expected to do a lot of things in sake of men and sacrifice their vision of happiness and real love for the family’s needs. While focusing on the cultural differences, it is possible to note that the Mexican women are expected to...
Marion Wiesel’s book titled “Night” has done a commendable job not only in documenting historical truths about some physical events that happened during the Holocaust, but also attempting to create an emotional picture of the grotesque events experienced by individuals during that time. The book avidly demonstrates how the most...
Introduction People have always used literature, especially science fiction (SF), as a way to express their concerns, allow readers to get distracted from real-life issues, and make their predictions regarding the future. In his SF novel, Gibson (1996) describes exciting events in the near future. Therefore, the reader recognizes many...
Introduction John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” gives a vivid description of the Garden of Eden – it is presented as a dynamic place with a prelapsarian setting. The first seven books of the epic poem give an overview of paradise’s purity, emphasizing the relationship between humanity, nature, and divinity (Milton, 2000)....
Introduction In his seminal work, Mere Christianity, Lewis, a renowned Christian apologist, employs a series of vivid word pictures and illustrations in Book II to elucidate profound spiritual truths, much like Jesus did with his parables. These imaginative analogies serve as guiding lights, illuminating the path to understanding for readers...
Essentially, a fable is a concise story that usually involves animals, plants, or forces of nature, among others, as characters. Fables often carry moral lessons through the actions and interactions of these characters. I want to describe an example of a fable called “The Wise Condor and the Impatient Rabbit,”...
A short fiction story by Nadine Gordimer questions the authority of a white man in Africa. An African landowner and head of a regional party, Marais Van der Vyver, has killed his Black worker. Even though it might appear unacceptable in today’s culture, it is consistent with the image of...
Introduction Grief and loss of a loved one is an experience that significantly affects a person’s worldview, forcing them to rethink one’s own beliefs. For C.S. Lewis, the death of his wife, Helen Joy Davidman, was a turning point in his life, forcing the writer through many emotions and contributing...
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 Harper Lee was an American writer best known for her work “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In it, she considered the critical social issues of the time that were reflected in society and how unfair and prejudicial people could treat each other. The origins of writing the work were taken...
Have you ever imagined living in a dystopian world where the Party rules with an iron fist and there is no way for freedom? Would you oppress such a life and question the oppressive regime? In the novel 1984, Winston Smith is such a person, a middle-aged man who has...
Introduction The Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic that describes the interactions of many key characters in mythology. Ramayana is an epic narrative from Hinduism that reveals the traditional ideas of the time about courage and duty (The Ramayana: A South Asian Myth and Text, n. d.). At the same...
The goal of Lazy Lawrence is to offer insightful teachings for children’s future success. The narrative teaches children that spending time on things that will help them reach their ambitions is essential. It teaches children the value of inner drive and the necessity of perseverance in the face of adversity....
Introduction The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, will always be remembered as a dark day in American history. Some experiences frequently went unwritten or were missed among the agony and loss. One story focuses on the immigrant servants who died while working in the World Trade Center’s kitchens on...
Introduction At a time when everyone is striving for self-improvement and personal growth, Ottessa Moshfegh shows the other side of this process. Her story, Bettering Myself, is not a failure’s path to success but the inner development of a character with varying degrees of success. Moshfegh challenges readers to question...
Introduction Kate Chopin is a well-known writer whose works are infused with meaningful messages, requiring readers to focus on the motifs and details of the work. Among the stories written by Chopin is “Lilacs,” which follows the life of Adrienne Farival, a French performer, who keeps returning to the convent...
Introduction The short tale “Sweetness” by Toni Morrison sheds light on colorism’s pervasive effects on people and their interpersonal interactions in the United States. Students can investigate the themes of colorism, self-esteem, and relationships in the novel using the academic essay “Colorism and the Afro-Latinx Experience: A Review of the...
Understanding Cultural Relativism and Ethical Absolutism Moral absolutism and cultural relativism are ethical understandings of social behaviors and actions. Moral absolutism holds that universal codes of conduct must be adhered to regardless of context. In particular, a moral absolutist believes that right and wrong are immutable and cannot be excused...
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...
Book Summary Chains is a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, first published in 2008. It is a fictional story following the life and struggles of Isabel and her little sister, Ruth, during the events of the American Revolutionary War (Anderson 7). Isabel seeks to help the rebels against the loyalists...
Introduction Magical realism is a literary genre that has become increasingly popular recently. It combines the realistic elements of the everyday world with fantastical and supernatural elements, blurring the line between the two (“Magic Realism | Definition, Authors, and Facts“). It is a common theme in several short stories, such...
The Use of Honorifics: Thou vs. You The Elizabethan conventions are a group of signs in the theater indicating belonging to a specific period. The first thing to point out is the language used by the characters of Hamlet. Laer addresses the King, “That I shall live and tell him...
Introduction Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. The story is about the main character, Connie, a teenage girl obsessed with her appearance and social life. Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” tells the story of saying goodbye...
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 Josephine is a biography for young adults about Josephine Baker, an African-American actress and singer who came to renown in 1920s France. Josephine Baker is regarded as a notable African-American lady who demonstrated to the nation that she was a civil rights champion, a French spy during World War...
Publication Year and Historical Context of “A Modest Proposal” Swift’s 1729 work, A Modest Proposal, satirized the tense Anglo-Irish relationship and the declining standard of living among ordinary people. The Norman invasion in the late 12th century marked the start of 700 years of interaction between the two islands, which...
The Book’s Overall Topic In the history of the US, Americans have been part of many relocation incidences seeking a better life, including the Dust Bowl and the Gold Rush. However, one large migration stands out of all of them: The Great Migration. The Great Migration included a significant number...
Introduction Alice Walker presents several bright characters in the short story “Everyday Use,” but the mother and Dee, her eldest daughter, are at the center of the plot. After returning home, a young woman shows interest in her African heritage – through her actions, she wants to show that she...
Introduction Universities are often seen as bastions of meritocracy and social mobility, where students from diverse backgrounds come together to pursue academic excellence and achieve upward social mobility. ZZ Packer’s short story “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” provides a powerful critique of race expectations in university settings. The report examines the experiences...
ZZ Packer’s story “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” tackles the issues of teenage exploration of sexuality, loneliness, isolation, and relationships. The heroine, a young woman named Dina, is struggling to define herself and find ways to build relationships with people around her. Her attention is focused on another girl, Heidi. However, her...
The play “Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare is a well-known play that often features in professional and amateur theatrical performances. The play is expansive, and reading through all of it often makes the overarching plot escape in the details. Summaries of the play are available for performers to understand...
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...
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...
After I read the “Preface” by Alice Walker and the poems at the beginning of Spiegel, I started to think about animal life. I felt ashamed because I had previously loved visiting the zoo and exploring animals living in captivity. Moreover, I realized that confinement is a restriction on the...
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...
Individuals develop certain beliefs and identities from early childhood as a direct influence of the family’s culture, religion, traditions, and rites of passage which shape the family member’s identity. Growing up with specific cultural and societal expectations requires displaying specific skills which must conform to the community and its traditions....
Ancient Greece stands out significantly among all other civilizations of its time due to its cultural development. The work of Greek philosophers, scientists, and writers countless times served as an inspiration to a younger ancient Rome, Europe, and consequently the whole world. Such tendency effectively showcases the definition of the...
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...
The poem My Papa’s Waltz touches on the intricate relationship between a child and a socially irresponsible father. It is difficult to say whether this work was written under the pressure of one’s negative memories or in impulses of inspiration. However, Theodor Roethke conveyed with precise accuracy the image of...
Introduction Genre is one of the decisive factors in literature since it predetermines the use of structural, content-related, character-based, and thematic decisions. In this regard, the genre of the sonnet implies the adherence to strict structural rules that allow for the logical development of the message delivered by the poets....
Introduction The Mind at Work: Valuing the intelligence of the American Worker examines the mental aspect of work, which is sometimes considered mindless. Rose portrays waiters, hairstylists, plumbers, construction workers, welders, and car assembly line employees in vignettes. This academic and sophisticated work reads like a captivating novel. Reading his...
Les Miserables is a historical novel that was written by French novelist Victor Hugo in 1862. The novel talks about a life of a person named Jean Valjean, who had been arrested for stealing a loaf of bread from his sister. When Valjean was taken to court, he was sentenced...
Storytelling as art can speak to humans in a way that numbers, presentations, slides, or data cannot. It is capable of influencing one’s beliefs, thoughts, and values. Through Shahrazads’s effective storytelling techniques, she changes the king’s mind, calms him, and manages to save her and many other women’s lives. Her...
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...
The perceptions of the role of men and women in various societies are often portrayed differently depending on the culture. Most instances demonstrate them differently, but there are always some similarities in what men and women are perceived to be. In the previous reading handled in previous classes, different personalities...
On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City is a book by Alice Goffman that presents research on a Black neighborhood in Philadelphia. The book is based on stories told by locals, mostly a man named George Taylor, although it is a pseudonym, and the author’s personal experiences. Since...
This dissertation is fundamental and very informative research that explores the representation of the topic of racial identity in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. Since the author also compares this short story to three significant African-American novels, it is possible to say that this source is helpful in identifying the...
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is a passionate and thoughtful account of nature observations throughout a year. In the very beginning, Leopold lovingly refers to the start of the year’s observations as tempting distractions (1). This love for the natural world is vivid in his descriptions of natural...
The work “Revelation” by Flannery O’Connor was chosen to analyze the question of historicity or biographical character of a literary work. This work is of particular value for research, as it provides valuable insight into what contribution the writer’s life and past experience make to her future works. Thus, in...
Being a teenager is not a simple task, as some adults who refuse to understand it may believe. Teens often have a unique perspective on reality and worldview. Young people have an entirely new outlook on life, hence, they need to receive the most attention from their family members during...
The work of the Dwelling is unique in that it provides readers with the opportunity to look at their own lives differently. With the help of her book, Linda Hogan tried to show how people look at each other and ignore those things that seem insignificant. The author introduces her...
“We Wear the Mask” was composed in 1895 by Paul Laurence Dunbar – one of the first African-American writers who attained national prominence. The poem itself is devoted to the lifestyle of African-Americans of that time. Despite the abolishment of slavery in 1865, racism remained an issue in interracial communication...
Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Raven” is one of his most mystical and complex poems. It was first published in 1845 and immediately caught readers’ attention with its dramatic and musical tone (Poe 2). This poem narrated the story of a young man who lost the love of his life. In...
Queen Josaka in Oedipus the King is an excellent example of a character whose faith and beliefs allowed her to live a royal life only to end in pain and grief. Queen Josaka and her husband, King Laus, always paid tribute to the prophets and acknowledged everything the prophets foretold....
Part 3 of The City Always Wins by Hamilton has impressed me and had a much greater impact than the previous two parts. One of the reasons is the disclosure of characters from a new side. Unlike the first two parts, in the final one, more tension is observed, affecting...
“White Elephant Hills,” “Desiree’s Baby,” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” by Ernest Hemingway, Kate Chopin, and Flannery O’Connor; all address women’s choices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Women had a terrible situation in terms of their life choices and independence during this period. Instead...
Introduction Tinkers, an award-winning literary piece by Paul Harding, is focused on the story of George Crosby, an elderly man revisiting his most memorable life recollections. The novel additionally features the main character’s father, Howard Crosby, as the meaning of life, death, and family is explored. The described struggles of...
Introduction There are several ideas the readers can get from the text extract of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. One of the intriguing ideas in the text was how background and upbringing could make a person different from others. This difference can be seen through some of Yolanda’s...
Introduction Hamlet by Shakespeare is a brilliant piece of classical literature that is immortal in its ability to be always relevant. It tells a tragic story about the young prince of Denmark, who is tortured by nihilism and vengeance for his father. Throughout the narrative, prince Hamlet encounters numerous challenges,...
