Contemporary Literature: Beowulf, the Movie

Beowulf is an American performance that is founded on the “Angola-Saxon English epic poem,” currently considered as one of the earliest and most influential poems of the modern-day European dialect. The 2007 film, directed by American director Robert Zemeckis, was produced through an action capture and process technique, comparable with...

Literary Analysis: “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe

Introduction From the poem, the speaker demonstrates an unmatched love and affection for Annabel Lee who died unexpectedly. This love survives considerably after the mentioned death. Poe, the poet, uses literary styles to unveil the theme of lasting love between two characters. It is possible to recognize and understand that...

Women’s Gender Role Unfairness: “The Yellow Paper” and “Trifles”

Introduction The question of gender roles has been recurrently addressed in numerous works of literature. The presence of different outlooks on the issue allowed numerous contemporary and past authors to approach gender roles from numerous perspectives. The current research paper takes Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Paper and Susan Glaspell’s...

Three Waves of Feminism in Cunningham’s “The Hours” Novel

Introduction The Hours by Michael Cunningham is a novel, which follows and describes a day from three women’s lives. The main characters are Virginia Woolf, Laura Brown, and Clarissa Vaughn. The actions of these women take place during different timelines and locations. Virginia Woolf is an author who is writing...

Family in Bambara’s ”Raymond’s Run” & So’s ”Three Women of Chuck’s Donuts”

Kindred significantly contribute to the character, values, beliefs, identity and status of an individual. When kindred suffer loss due to divorce, illness or death of an individual the impact is felt by others. In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story, “Raymond’s Run,” the protagonist shows how she relates with her brother...

“I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai: Review

I am Malala, or also known by its full title as “I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban”, is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai. It has won at both Specsavers National Book Awards, and the 2013 Goodreads...

Values in Qur’an and “Thousand and One Nights”

By comparing several passages from the Qur’an and the story of “Thousand and One Nights”, it becomes possible to determine what values they share. These morals and instructions are passed down from generation to generation, showing believers the right way of life. The story of Prince Behram and the Princess...

Explication of “Diving Into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich

This poem dramatizes the conflict between the fight for women’s empowerment and rights. Rich’s oeuvre is characterized by the extended metaphor at the heart of this poem. She speaks about the struggle for women’s empowerment by using the image of a woman training for a deep-sea scuba dive and discovering...

Analysis of “The Lifted Veil” by George Eliot

The Lifted Veil is a novella by George Eliot. At the center of the story is Latimer, who is a dying man with an assumed ability to see the future. However, the text allows different interpretations, which imply that he is not a reliable narrator. Understanding how Eliot portrays the...

What Should Businesspeople Learn from “Atlas Shrugged”

Overview of the Novel Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, founder of the liberal philosophy of objectivism. It was her fourth book, the last, and the longest. It was published on 10th October 1957 by Random House Publishers and lies within the science fiction, mystery, and romance genres....

“The Other Two” Short Story by Edith Wharton

In the short story “The Other Two,” Wharton describes a husband, Mr. Waythorn, whose wife Alice has two divorces. At first sight, it seems that Alice is miserable because she marries and divorces in strive for social prestige. Nonetheless, it is essential to notice that Wharton depicts the upper class’s...

Analysis of “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Hamlet has attracted abiding interest due to its aesthetics and the exceptional complexity of the author’s masterpiece. Deep reflections on life and death invariably attract the readers’ attention and push each to their interpretations. Every generation can identify with the problems touched upon in the play. Shakespeare’s work remains...

“Philip Seymour Hoffman” by Nick Flynn: Poem Analysis

In “Philip Seymour Hoffman” by Nick Flynn, the narrative sets the former addict in front of a box with Vicodin, which he had put away for an emergency when he decided to stop using drugs. The author describes the thoughts and feelings of a person who struggles with addiction, demonstrating...

Character Development of Almarine Cantrell

In Lee Smith’s novel “Oral History,” the character development of Almarine Cantrell plays a large role. It is a dynamic character since the main difference between a dynamic character and a static one is a change in the structure of thought and feeling within a literary work in one or...

Cortazar’s “The Devil’s Drool” vs. Marquez’s “Big Mama’s Funeral”

The protagonist of the story The Devil’s Drool, Roberto Michel, a Chilean living in Paris, accidentally takes a strange picture, depicting a woman seducing an inexperienced youth. The appearance of the photographer gives the guy the opportunity to escape, but the card begins to live its own life, and a...

Review of “The Veldt” Story by Ray Bradbury

Like most of Ray Bradbury’s works, the story The Veldt is written in the fantasy genre. The plot develops in the most ordinary family of Hadleys: mother, father, and two children. They live in a modern smart house called “The Happylife Home” that does all the work for them (Bradbury...

Comparing “The Egg” by Weir and “Other People” by Gaiman

The Overview In Neil Gaiman’s short story Other People, a person finds himself in Hell, and his greatest torture is to relive his life through the eyes of those he hurt. It is a circular narrative in the sense that it ends just like it began: an arrogant person enters...

War in Ernest Hemingway and Tim O’Brien’s Stories

Soldier’s Home and How to Tell a True War Story are short stories written about the wars. In the Soldier’s House, Hemingway narrates the time after the First World War, and O’Brien connects the events with the Vietnam War. In a comparison of O’Brien’s description of war with Hemingway, it...

Trappings of Marriage in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

Introduction and Thesis This literary analysis delves into “The Story of an Hour” by the American writer Kate Chopin. The story follows Louise Mallard, a married woman with severe heart health problems. At some point, the news surfaced that her husband had died in a railroad accident. Louise’s sister and...

‘Raisin in the Sun’ by Lorraine Hansberry: Dreams in the Play

Introduction This play was written by playwright Lorraine Hansberry in 1959. It talks about a young family with a mama Lena Younger, her son Walter Lee, Ruth the wife of Walter, Travis their son and Benetha the young sister to Walter. One of the themes of this play is dreams...

Love Theme in “Paradise” by Toni Morrison

Introduction The novel Paradise was written in 1997, and it was Morrison’s first book after winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. Paradise stresses the affection of God, and it is the author’s third novel focusing on various kinds of love. All the chapters in the book are dedicated...

The Sound of the Trees, and the Noise of the People

Robert Frost was a prolific American poet born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco. Although he holds the absolute record for the number of Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry awarded to a single person, Frost struggled to find any recognition in his early years. In fact, he had to work...

The Play “Othello” by William Shakespeare

Introduction It is worth noting that the play “Othello,” written by William Shakespeare, is a rather complicated story that can be explored at different levels. In particular, it talks about the loss of trust, love, and the meaning of life. At the same time, the play shows a conflict between...

Unconscious Irony in “Oedipus the King,” by Sophocles

Tragic heroes often embrace unconscious irony, leading to their downfall. In any literary work, it becomes fascinating when some of the characters are self-denial after engaging in different heinous actions unknowingly and later face the consequences after realizing the truth. Denotatively, unconscious irony is when various characters within the play...

Praise, Blame and Interpretation in Literature

Description and analysis are the initial stages of learning the content of a literary work. Notional selection for analysis of one side of the whole text and identification of its place and meaning in the system allows an understanding of its general meaning in a new way. However, singling out...

Man-Nature Resistance in Faulkner’s “The Bear” and Frost’s “Mending Wall”

Introduction In literature, the theme of man-nature relationships is common and delivered in a variety of ways. In the majority of cases, people see nature as a protagonist because, despite multiple intentions, it is hard for a person to gain control over natural processes and changes. It is also important...

Disempowerment of Women in King Arthur’s Court

Abstract Thomas Malory’s book “Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript” is about the life and death of King Arthur. Apart from ventures and battles, it depicts the disempowerment of women in King Arthur’s Court, an issue which is not so frequently discussed by scholars in frames of the book “Le...

“Order of Things: An Archaeology of Human Sciences” by Foucault

Argument The central argument that Michel Foucault puts forward in the Order of Things: An Archaeology of Human Sciences is that relevant points of history, knowledge, and humankind come in a specific order. By discussing the order, the author points to a series of assumptions that make up the relevant...

“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” and “War Dances” by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie’s short stories “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” and “War Dances” portray two native American men, who lead different lives, yet whose narratives share common features and explore similar topics. In the first story, the reader witnesses a day of a homeless person in Seattle who spots family...

Alice Walker’s 1955 and “Everyday Use”: Artificial vs. Genuine

Introduction Alice Walker is a writer who focuses her stories on the place of women of color in American society. In her works, the author raises themes of life of the African American community in the country, race, racism, as well as those of culture, heritage, and belonging. This essay...

Oedipus, the King and Hamlet: Analysis

Belonging to entirely different cultures and addressing quite different social and psychological issues, “Oedipus, the King” and “Hamlet” might seem quite distant from each other. However, with the advent of psychoanalysis and the development of the psychoanalytical theory, parallels can be drawn between the emotions by which Hamlet and Oedipus...

Symbolism in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: Or, the White Whale

Introduction Evaluating fiction due to the use of literary analysis tools is a valuable practice in identifying the unique interpretations and thoughts laid down by writers. As a topic for research, symbolism in the novel Moby Dick: Or, the White Whale by Herman Melville will be considered from the perspective...

Romeo, Juliet, Ishmael Beah, and Victor Frankenstein

Scene 1: The Beach (ROMEO and JULIET find themselves trapped on a tropical island. The sun is shining brightly, and the weather is scorching and humid compared to summers in Verona). ROMEO: (Worried). Where are we? And what happened to the boat? JULIET: (Calmly). I’m not sure about the boat,...

Phoenix and Cycle of Struggle

Student Name___________________________ Professor Name__________________________ Course________________________________ Date__________________________________ Mythical and majestic phoenix dies under its own power and emerges from its own collapse, which makes its immortality cyclical. Phoenix’s main quest is to ease the pain and suffering of her beloved one. It is important to note the fact that her name...

“Jupiter and Io” by Ovid

Introduction In his poems, which Ovid wrote while being inspired by Roman folklore, he demonstrated the entire mythology of his time. In addition, the author also managed to illustrate through the prism of poetry the life of the people around him. Even though many of his characters are gods, they...

Life and Dead in Poetry

Introduction The two main manifestations of human existence or two of its forms are life and death. These issues bother people during centuries because they are too complicated to understand them entirely. That is why the most intent contemplators of the world, poets, cannot ignore these categories. Reflecting life in...

Caution and Restraint in Books 17-20 of Homer’s “The Odyssey”

Introduction Books 17-20 of Homer’s The Odyssey concentrate on Odysseus’ arrival to his palace in a beggar’s disguise and the adventures surrounding his unannounced return. There are several critical ideas reflected in these parts of the epic, including loyalty, pride, patience, a strategic approach, and Athena’s involvement. However, it seems...

Personality in Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire”

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is written by Tennessee Williams and first presented in Broadway Theatre in December 1947. The play is focused on the tense relationship between two sisters, where one is a spoiled young woman who is driven by her desires, and another is desperately in love with her...

Article Review: “The Philosopher Stoned” by Adam Kirsch

Introduction In his article The Philosopher Stoned, Adam Kirsch describes Walter Benjamin, his way of life, views, ambitions, and the influence of drugs on his mentality. The author explores certain life periods of Benjamin, observes the progression of his character, and also tries to emphasize his book On Hashish. Kirsch...

Winterson’s “Written on the Body”: Feminist Text

Introduction A distinctive feature of Written on the Body would be an attempt to go beyond the main idea and significantly expand the range of problems and relationships. The work, thanks to the skillful pen of the author, is filled with subtle and vivid psychological portraits. It seems reasonable to...

Autobiography as a Literary Genre: Review

Autobiography is an exciting and unusual literary genre popular worldwide. Writing an autobiography is an excellent opportunity to declare oneself, tell stories, and teach future generations something new. This allows people to transfer their useful experience to other people, which contributes to society’s development. However, in addition to having an...

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding

Notwithstanding that both William Golding and Mary Shelley created hypothetical situations to explore the nature of humans, their approaches and motives significantly differ. However, the given paper will prove that simultaneously they share the research on how the environment influences people and on what the inner nature of these creatures...

Literary Analysis of Ward’s “Sing, Unburied, Sing”

Jesmyn Ward: A Celebrated Author in American Literature Jesmyn Ward is considered an important author in American literature owing to her ability to showcase an intimate and in-depth understanding of language. Ward’s works explore American families and their diverse cultures. All of Ward’s novels are set in the small town...

The Portrayal of Schizophrenia in a Beautiful Mind

Mental health is an important aspect of people’s lives that requires immediate attention and careful consideration. However, the topic of mental illnesses has been a taboo to discuss and portray for many years. Today it becomes more and more acceptable to talk about one’s health freely, especially in art. The...

Aging and Acquiring Wisdom in Bishop’s Poem “The Fish”

Modern American poetry is characterized by a variety of themes and issues that capture poets’ minds and become continuously addressed in their works. Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry is particularly marked by the heterogeneity and complexity of intersecting themes. The poem entitled “The Fish” is one such works, where the themes of...

Why Self-Plagiarism Is Not a Form of Cheating

Cheating generally refers to unfair practices in whatever activity one chooses to perform. Most of the time, it would include making the work easier or faster without following the rules and laws associated with the deed. While plagiarism means using someone else’s work or ideas without proper referencing, self-plagiarism refers...

The Tragedy of a Modern Man

I agree with the quote by Vaclav Havel, who outlines the tragedy of a modern man. After reading the quote written by Havel over and over, I have concluded that a person who knows less about the meaning of their own life lacks the ability to understand the general worldview...

Emily Dickinson’s and Langston Hughes’ Literary Achievements

Introduction The analysis of the literary works and writing styles of representatives of two different eras is a unique experience that allows comparing individual authors’ approaches and identifying the key factors that influence their creative manners. As an example of comparison, the achievements of two prominent representatives of American literature...

Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”: Empathy as the Key

Introduction Change is one of the concepts that appear both thrilling and frightening to people at the same time. However, even during the most drastic change, those who can keep their humanity intact are capable of surviving the challenge of transformation and even turning it into something beautiful. Examining the...

Poems Comparison and Analysis

The poems below describe children playing and then one of them getting hurt by the door. Although the first poem starts on a cheery note, it ends with a sad mood because the child needs tending and the games stop. The poems are connected based on the content because both...

Essay on the Aeneid by Penguin Classics

Virgil’s poem “Aeneid” is an epic work that was based on Roman mythology. The narration is describing a story about legendary Aeneas, who was the son of the goddess Venus and the king of Troy Priam. It is argued that he was the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, who were...

“American Born Chinese”: Theme of religion

Introduction Religion is a contemporary issue influencing civilization, morals, laws, and cultural societies globally. The American Born Chinese written by Gene Luen Yang’s narrates the experiences of immigrants in America using three different tales. This book conveys three major morals, which are resisting the urge to be assimilated, not denying...

“The Tyger and The Lamb” by Blake

The literary concept of poetry is one of the most challenging aspects in terms of encoding the writer’s intentions and ideas behind the lines, especially when analyzed decades after their first publications. A prime example of such a challenge would be the poems written by Robert Frost, an American poet...

“Alien” Short Story by Riley Brett

Introduction Alien presents a short science fiction regarding a strange individual being returned to Earth after supposed abduction by a UFO. Told from the perspective of a blogger that encounters and connects with the man by accident, the short story offers a lighthearted but also tragic narrative of someone being...

The Theme of Patriotism and Honor: Poetry Seminar Analysis

Introduction The theme of patriotism and honor is a crucial element in understanding the literature and film created to depict World War I. The poem “The Absorption” in particular focuses on the ideas of patriotism because Sassoon contrasts the horrors of wartime with the soldier’s changing attitudes towards the battlefield...

Greek Drama. “Medea” by Euripides

There are several elements that can outright describe and reflect Greek drama. The play “Medea” by Euripides is a mythical tragedy that was written in 431 BC. One common element in such plays that is also reflected through the drama is the presence of mythical gods. The story gives relevance...

The Chicano Movement in Films and Literature

The discussion of the history of Mexican identity in the US is not possible without the mentioning of the Chicano movement. A series “Chicano! A History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement” provides an extensive overview of the movement, and the current paper will address the first episode of...

Odyssey. Influence on World Literature

The Odyssey is a world literature masterpiece, one of the two epic poems written by Homer. It was composed around the 8th century BC, and its plot focuses on Odysseus’s journey home after the Troy’s fall. This essay aims at analyzing several peculiarities of The Odyssey that show its significance...

Claudia Rankine: Biography and Works

Introduction Nowadays, more and more poets are starting to experiment with the possibilities of language. For example, some of them mix prose and poetry or create new genres in literature. Undoubtedly, the genre diversity and the formation of new departments of literature is a significant part of modern writing, but...

The Philosophy of the Middle Path in the “If”

Introduction The poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling develops the theme of resilience, manhood, and middle path utilizing devices of rhythm, rhyme, repetition, and symbolism. This didactic poem presents the author’s advice to his son John and consists of one compound sentence. In this sentence, Rudyard Kipling describes paradoxical life situations...

“Crack” by David Farber Analysis

This review dwells upon David Farber’s Crack: Rock Cocaine, Street Capitalism, and the Decade of Greed. The book sheds light on diverse aspects of the war on drugs and the crack market in the USA in the twentieth century. The author attempts to identify the major causes of the problem...

The “Sula” Novel by Toni Morrison

Introduction In the middle of the 1900s, the United States of America survived hard times when racism, poverty, and inequality shaped human standards. There are many literary works where authors tried to share their opinions and describe specific situations, conflicts, and lessons. One of them is Sula, a novel written...

“Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson

The poem Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson is one of these works which overthrow readers’ expectations. At the very beginning, the main character is presented as a successful and wealthy man who can afford anything he wants. Richard is envied by people he meets every day in the streets...

The Importance of Social Class Showed in Two Novels

Social class and status were extremely important during the Victorian era. People did not have a chance to climb to the top if they were born into a lower class. Poor and less educated people remained the members of their class for life. A person’s belonging to a certain social...

“Illness in Literature: “Nightmare Begins Responsibility“ and “The Metamorphosis““

The Importance of Literature For every reader, literature opens up the marvelous world of human relationships and experiences. Different epochs and cultures would describe the term literature differently. In its simplest definition, literature refers to a set of written and printed works of a certain people and period. At the...

Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote this first-person poem inspired by the Chamonix Valley landscapes near Geneva. The Romantic style of William Wordsworth significantly influenced Shelley’s poetry. The former applied a similar writing style by describing feelings and emotions with physical objects. The young Englishman visited the Arve Valley by Mont Blanc,...

Analysis of a Scene from ‘Fences’ by August Wilson

Fences written by August Wilson is a play that revolves around the conflict within an African American family that takes place in the year 1957 in Pennsylvania. The play’s title has a metaphorical meaning, and the unfinished fence the audience sees on stage symbolizes the uneasy relationship of the main...

“Mother Tongue” of A.Tan Analysis Review

Amy Tan is an American writer of Asian origin who is passionate about languages. She had to grow up in a difficult situation, being the daughter of a Chinese immigrant. Her circumstances were also complicated due to the communication issues that her mother had to endure. For this reason, she...

Shelley’s “Frankenstein”: Analysis of Frankenstein’s Character

The story about Frankenstein and his monster raises many questions. One of these questions is still unanswered. For example, people cannot decide what is more important in making a person, nature or nurture. The monster people were afraid of felt the beauty of the world with its “cheering warmth” and...

Kreon in “Oedipus the King”: Analysis of the Character

The embodiment of the rival for Oedipus is Creon who does not represent the same interpretation that takes place in Sophocles’ Antigone. In Oedipus the King, this character does not want to obtain power and aspires rather a share of it. The chorus reaffirms the reliability of Creon’s words, as...

Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in the Wonderland”

It is difficult to imagine a person in the world who has never heard about the famous story of Alice in the Wonderland. The address to this fascinating plot about a little girl who appears in miraculous surroundings seems to have its reflection both direct and indirect one in a...

“Romeo and Juliet” by Baz Luhrmann: Forbidden Love

Introduction The works of William Shakespeare have lived through centuries in order to be awarded the title of unprecedented classics. However, with the major change in the overall perception of society and its behavioral patterns, many creators felt the urge to interpret this classic to mitigate the gap between the...

Robert Frost’s Poem “Mending Wall”

“Mending Wall” is a popular poem written by Robert Frost which attracts the reader’s attention due to the importance of the theme covered in this poem. The author touches upon one of the most important philosophical themes connecting with the nature of human existence and the relationships between people. Robert...

A Child in Whiteness: The Snowy Day by Ezra J. Keats

The Snowy Day by Keats Ezra J. is one of the pioneer writings among stories for children that depicted an African American child as the main central character. The story was published during the Civil Rights Movement era by an author of Jewish heritage. Although it is a children’s book,...

Romantic Era of English Poetry

The Romantic era is an important period in the history of English literature when many of the touching and evocative poems were presented to the public. My choice of the “Romantic” group is explained by the profoundness of themes and emotions expressed by the authors. Through the use of imagery...

“Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway: Analysis

The ways of how a person’s psychological state and attitudes to everyday situations change in response to traumatic experiences, such as war or violence, have been an inspirational topic for multiple generations of writers. “Soldier’s Home,” a short story by Ernest Hemingway, is an excellent example of works that reflect...

Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones”: A Call for Loving the World No Matter What

Many modern poets are quite different from the classical representatives of the genre. They have more freedom of speech and do not need to conform to an societal rules, they prefer not to restrict themselves by any rhythmical patterns, and frequently, they do not take much care to choose flourishing...

The Novel “The Screwtape Letters” by Clive Staples Lewis

Lewis’ Screwtape Letters is a novel that provides advice in reverse, presenting temptations and people’s attitudes towards them in the context of religion and faith. Screwtape, the devil, teaches his nephew, Wormwood, to tempt people and make them suffer, which is expressed by means of irony. The author aims at...

Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”: Racism

Introduction The main character of Battle Royal, a short story which was written by Ralph Ellison, describes the life of a young black man, who is forced to endure violent acts of racism towards him and other African-Americans. Even though it depicts the events from centuries ago, the issue that...

Othello Versus Shakuntala: Ultimate Lessons

The importance of love and affection in literature is permanently reinforced by secondary ideas that emphasize the eternal influence of higher feelings on the human race. The idea of pure love has been investigated by many authors, and Shakespeare’s Othello and Kalidasa’s Shakuntala may be considered rather similar in terms...

Migration and Industrialization in Sinclair’s “The Jungle”

Facing lack of opportunities to earn money and good standing in their homelands due to political and economic crises, 20th century European citizens thought of migrating to America as a quintessential success. The overseas country promised wealth and stability to any person or family who was willing to dedicate their...

“A Late Aubade” by Richard Wilbur

Introduction “A Late Aubade” is a poem by Richard Wilbur, one of the most prominent American poets of the 20th century. The title of the poem suggests that it is a morning farewell song from one lover to another. The poem consists of seven paragraphs and “features a carpe diem...

“Gooseberries” by Anton Chekhov: Character of Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Himalayan

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a famous Russian writer, was a short story master who dreamed that people should be free and happy. Unfortunately, in real life, Chekhov had to deal with rudeness and callousness, which he called vulgarity. Chekhov made fun of philistines, stupidity, and the writer especially did not like...

Euhemerism Theory and Myths Across Cultures

Introduction to mythology Myths are the basis of our cultural construct. Myths are based on gods and heroes who narrators of myths insist should be emulated. Myths provide insights about the cultural past of modern society. Theories of mythology Euhemerism The euhemerism theory explains how myths are actual accounts of...

The Poem “Everyman”: Author’s Perception of Death

Introduction As the adage goes, ‘…two things are certain in this life: Death and Taxes.’ Although one can escape the latter, the former is like a change, it is inevitable, and inasmuch as people continue to hate it, they must encounter it anyway. Everybody has an assigned day of answering...

Comparison: “A Pair of Tickets” by A. Tan and “Everyday Use” by A. Walke

Introduction The two stories created by Amy Tan and Alice Walker depict the similar paths of girls that explore their heritage. Both characters have their concerns regarding the history of their families that are initiated from different parts of the world. Girls go through the process of evaluation of their...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ Review

Introduction Transcendentalism, as an introspective philosophical movement, arose during the Romantic era in literature and held that each person could arrive at extreme certainties through sound reasoning, sensory experience, and the expression of oneself outside the conformity of society. The Romantic period elicited highly contrasting intellectual as well as literary...

“Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut Review

Persuasive Essay The preeminent role of literature in society’s development cannot be doubted. Through reading, people obtain valuable means of developing a sense of beauty and imagination. Moreover, the reader can visit many places which he or she might never be able to see in reality. However, the most crucial...

The Maintenance of Solidarity in Ousmanes’ “God’s Bits of Wood”

Introduction “God’s Bits of Wood” is a book that was released in 1960 just when Senegal had achieved independence. This probably has a historical significance i.e. a strong theme that stresses on unity is emphasized probably because of its importance by then, specifically so when it come towards building the...

Wiesel Elie “Night”: Eliezer’s Lost Childhood

Introduction ‘Night’ is an autobiographical story written by Wiesel Elie. The short story details the plight of a Jewish family during the holocaust. In the course of World War 2, the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler unleashed unimaginable and horrifying atrocities against members of the Jewish community living in Germany...

“King Leopold’s Ghost” by Adam Hochschild

The world history is incredibly rich with dreadful outrageous events that loom through centuries and make us wonder whether limits to human brutality exist. In his best-selling novel King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa Adam Hochschild depicts the flawlessly elaborate atrocities of a...

“A Door into Ocean” by Joan Slonczewski: Human Cultures Collide

No one wants to die. Understanding this fact is what enables a connection between seemingly opposite human viewpoints. Taking this extreme into consideration is most important now in struggles with the environment, because these struggles mean life or death for generations to come. “A study published in the journal Science...

“Schoolsville” by Billy Collins Review

“Schoolsville” is one of the most popular Billy Collin’s poems. This poem touches upon the theme of the boundaries between reality and unreality. Reading this poem firstly I had thought that it presents the memories of old teacher about his pupils but the last two verses confused me and made...

Reflections on Chaucer’s “The Prologue”

Chaucer’s goal in “The Prologue” of his famous work The Canterbury Tales was to demonstrate, with some humor, the common figures of the day, and how they mix and intermingle when thrown together. As Dryden stated: “it is sufficient to say, according to the proverb that here is God’s plenty.”...

Fathers in Faulkner’s Barn Burning and Barreca’s Nighttime Fires Comparison

In the story Barn Burning by William Faulkner and in the poem Nighttime Fires By Regina Barreca we encounter fathers who react to their situation using fires. Their need for revenge against society affects their families as they become involved. The fathers are disappointed by society and fire helps them...

American Literature in the Past 50 Years

Introduction In exploring American literature over the past 50 years, it seems relatively clear that the literature has progressively become more optimistic in general, perhaps because of the many voices it is now able to incorporate, even as it retains high literary standards. While literature in the earlier periods was...

Language of “Everyday Use” Story by Alice Walker

The short story Everyday Use (1974) by Alice Walker is a representation of earlier works by the author. In fact, the story is about the hardships of African American women in everyday life. It is about the milestones of heritage and ancestry that is implied in terms of African American...

Freedom and Enslavement in Literature

Freedom and enslavement are patterns adopted in the literature that rarely hinders the expressive manner of writers. The conventions that govern the presentation of works like poetry and anthology are not limited to one style or literary appreciation method. The writer moves beyond the unknown. A social world with no...

Values and Conflicts in The Oresteia by Aeschylus

Values are actions that society universally qualifies as good; therefore, the wider community sets them as their goals in life. The play revolves around Atreus’s house in which it seemed there was a revenge cycle. Haunting in the Atreus house by ancient crimes began with the patriarch, Pelops. Atreus invited...

“The Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Symbolism

Introduction Nathaniel Hawthorne was an outstanding writer of the 17th century and produced several works that took a reasonable place in the world’s classical literature. Judging from the example of his writing piece such as “Young Goodman Brown” one can state that his creative activity was distinguished with thoughtfulness and...

“The Storm” by Kate Chopin

On 18th July 1898, Kate Chopin wrote a short story titled “The Storm” which played around the events happening in the life of a woman (Calixta) over a stormy afternoon. Calixta was a typical traditional housewife bundled with the task of taking care of the home while her husband (Bobinôt)...

‘Girl Powdering Her Neck’, Poem by Cathy Song and Painting by Kitagawa Utamaro

Introduction Every poem expresses a certain idea presented by the poet. It could be a personal thought or a story. Sometimes a poem describes a certain scene with certain events. In this case, the poet draws an image. Many poems have paintings to describe their events. The painting helps the...

Alan Paton’s “Cry the Beloved Country”

Literary works have been instrumental the world over in initiating wide ranging changes in human affairs. Alan Paton’s Cry the Beloved Country is one such striking work of fiction that had sought to bring about positive social change in South Africa and has been assiduously studied and debated by scholars...

“The Difference of Being Human” by Francisco Ayala: Arguing

Ever since the application of the notion of political correctness to theoretical and empirical research, in various fields of science, began to undermine its intellectual soundness, we can no longer assume the results of such research as being objective by definition. Reading Francisco Ayala’s article “The Difference of Being Human”...

“One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey

The story is the confrontation of feeling and reason The book has a very interesting heading that transfers into some fictional world with awkward creatures depicted by the author. To my mind, the novel’s goal is to show that what people consider normal is uninteresting. Instead, the author reveals his...

“The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by O’Connor

Author’s name: Flannery O’Connor This author has published a number of short stories apart from two novels. Her writing slants towards a compulsive Southern Gothic tradition with a strong narrative pace and most of her writings are based on old Southern styling. The readability of her works derives from the...

Unhappy Marriage in “The Story of an Hour” by K. Chopin

Choplin’s story is set in a time when many females were supposed to play the role of a housewife and a homemaker. This was a time where roles for females and males were defined by society such as women took care of the house while the man was responsible for...

Internal Strife and Conflict in Literary Works

Introduction The paper is about to discuss the literary elements of inner struggle and meditation in various literary works such as Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ Theodor Roethke’s ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ and the play ‘All My Sons’ by Arthur Miller. It begins with a thesis statement. The body of...

The Strange, Dark World of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

“Macbeth” is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1605 or 1606 and published in 1628. The story of the play is no figment of the author’s imagination. Macbeth was a real king – a king of Scotland, nephew of Molom II, and ruler of Moray. He married Grunch, granddaughter...

“Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway: Problem of Choice

Introduction People usually appear before the choice: whether to do this or not, whether to go there or not, whether to stay with the person or to leave him/her. Analyzing the story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and imagining the conclusion of the story, three main developments may...

Mura’s “An Argument: On 1942”: An Interpretation

David Mura is a third-generation Japanese-American writer. “An argument” is a poem written by him depicting the traumatic experience of the Japanese living in America during the days of the Second World War. The situation then was something similar to the one the Muslim population in America (though not so...

Thomas Bell “Out of This Furnace”: Immigrants in the USA

Introduction Thomas Bell’s book “Out of this Furnace” is a good presentation of five generations of Hungarian family immigrants who moved into the US in the 19th century. One of the characters in the book, George Kracha came in 1881 and settled in Pennsylvania, and started working in a steel...

“Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office” by Edelman Russ

The Book, “Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office” is a conflicting view of why being a nice guy in business and life has more benefits than what the conservative believes. Being a nice person is a fashioned thing in the modern world contrary to what the conservative has believed...

Reflection of Society in Literature

Outline The introduction discusses the thesis statement literature reflects community and the body part discusses the statement in terms of the two literary works ‘The Lesson ‘ by Toni Cade Bambara and ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner. Finally, there is conclusion which confirms the thesis statement. Literature and...

The Deception Role in “Silence”

The term “deception” has a lot of synonyms: deceit, lie, fraud to name just a few. Such diversity of terms to describe the act of deluding and giving false information proves the seriousness of the concept of lie for human beings: deception can cause a dramatic change of life of...

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” : The Book Analysis

Background “One Flew over the Cuckoo´s Nest” is a story of lives within a group of people with different psychological approaches. The characters in the book are definitely with peculiarities as of their psyches and Billy Bibbit is a great example of a man with a psychiatric disorder. Ken Kesey...

Gothic in “A Rose for Emily” and “Young Goodman Brown”

Introduction Given the fact that stories “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner can be thought of as such that sublimate the particularities of authors’ Romanticist worldview, it would be logical, on our part, to expect strongly defined Gothic elements being present in...

Cinderella’s Stepsisters As Saviors

The story of Cinderella has been told in most cultures but the European version is the best known, partly because that version has been modified as times changed. It is mostly read as a rags-to-riches story of a virtuous girl who gets her just reward in this life rather than...

Characters in A Doll’s House Play by Henrik Ibsen

Introduction Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House (1879) is mostly remembered for its heroine, Nora, slamming the door behind her as she abandons her husband and children to find herself. In this essay, however, Nora will be regarded as a secondary character because she reacts to people more than she...

Ahab from Moby Dick and Prospero from the Tempest

First of all, there is the necessity to explain the choice of the form of the essay and the choice of the characters that present nontrivial development of the comparative analysis of their characters. The work has the form of the panel discussion with two main participants, Ahab and Prospero....

Frederick Douglass’s and Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiographies

Introduction The overall situation in America from a political, educational, and religious was distinguishable. Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass were iconic American figures able to accomplish their life goals and express their life road through their biographies. Through the reading of the book, the similarities between the two have been...

The Rise of Western Civilization in Beowulf: Critical Analysis

Even though an old Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf” is assumed to contain motifs that are largely mythical in their essence, many of these motifs do relate to the realities of the time when the poem was written. In his article “Beowulf in Literary History,” Joseph Harris makes a good point when...

The Iliad’s Oral Tradition

There are several suggestions that perhaps Homer’s The Iliad is the product of a much longer oral tradition that Homer wrote down and passed along as an artist. An oral tradition can be generally thought of as a story that is passed down from one generation to another through oral,...

Francois Voltaire’s “Candide, or Optimism”: Analysis of Satire

In the scope of classical literature, the writings of Francois Voltaire occupy a prominent position. Voltaire’s renowned shrewd outlook and sober judgment found reflection in his famous satire Candide, or Optimism – a book which, met with a scandal immediately after publication, has enjoyed great popularity for centuries due to...

Lydia in Pride and Prejudice: Character Analysis

The novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen is considered to be a masterpiece of classical literature that has gone a long way due to the vivid presentation of the conflicts and interaction of the characters of the protagonists, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. These characters have been the subjects...

Dream and Reality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

Characters are the main issues in the understanding of the whole written work of any author. The author’s opinion, theme, and ideas are delivered through the characters of the story. It is significant to notice that characters are the main device in the author-reader communication, and an author usually tries...

The Great Gatsby: Analysis

Introduction To begin with, I should pay attention on Francis Scott Fitzgerald as one of the greatest American writers of the last century. Also we should admit his many-faceted talent in depicting the Post-World-War I society of the United States in his outstanding novel “The Great Gatsby”. This one is...

The Role of Love and Women in Great Gatsby and the Sun Also Rises

Introduction Love is inextricably linked to women in both Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby” and Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” so much so that a serious discussion of one cannot be complete without the other. Daisy Buchanan and Brett in both books respectively are the agents that symbolize love, or the absence...

Literature and Its Different Elements

“Literature is a reflection of the society” (Elements of literature, 2009). Literature is the representation of an individual, their language and culture. It reflects society in the framework of occasions, traditions, background, thoughts, and beliefs of that time. Literature helps the reader to understand about the experience by narrating the...

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad

In the novel Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad fully explores the concept of imperialism and the effects it has on everyone who is involved with the process. He does this while employing a new modern means of characterization and expression. It is difficult to describe this new form of expression...

“Lysistrata” by Aristophanes and “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare

Introduction The contest between men and women has always been one of the main struggles in the world. Both, men and women want to take dominant positions in the society. The times were changing and the influence was also different in different times. Matriarchy and patriarchy were present in the...

“Pool Players Seven at the Golden Shovel” by Brooks

The poem “Pool Players Seven at the Golden Shovel” discloses a bright and fashionable presentation of the main characters of the poem, namely the street boys whose fate depends upon their luck. In that regard, the poem is also a protest against the goodness of life, which came out of...

The Character of Hamlet’s Mother

Heilbrun: The character of Gertrude cannot be only described by such qualities as weakness, shallowness, and intelligence (201). Gertrude is a strong-willed woman and a rather reserved personage (205). Maxwell: Gertrude could be identified as a weak and neutral heroine, though her role in the story was very significant (237)....

My Personal Ithaka. “Ithaka” by Constantine Cavafy

In his poem “Ithaka,” Constantine Cavafy encourages his readers to go off on a journey that will last most of their life. In the poem, he talks about how the journey needs to be full of adventure and discovery but he also warns against monsters like Laistrygonians and Cyclops, and...

Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” and O’Connor’s “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”

Introduction Life in South America had unique conditions. This was because of the unusual race relations, conflicts, problems and its history. Life was different for the descendants of the white aristocrats and of the poor whites. This paper will endeavour to discuss the South and Southerners as they appear in...

Gender Roles Within Greek Society

Introduction Gender roles in Greek society were determined by social and cultural traditions, position of women in society and their significance as citizens. The position of women in society was determined by absence of political rights acquired by men. Many Greek plays portray women as canny and jealous. The play...

Phenomenon of Cinderella Tales

Cinderella is one of the most popular characters in the history of the world’s fairy tales. This character could be modified in some ways by certain national cultures and in other ways by other cultures but the very essence of the story about Cinderella has always remained unchanged. It depicted...

Bibliography on the Author James Patterson

Introduction James Patterson is one of very few authors, specialised in the genre of criminal thriller, who provides his readers not with merely the possibility to “kill time”, during the course of reading his books, but who also allows them to get an insight onto the fact that the concept...

William Trevor’s ”Felicia’s Journey”

The novel “Felicia’s Journey” by William Trevor presents a story of a young girl who had a tragic love experience in her life. She had a love affair with Johnny Lysaght who abandoned her when he found out that she was pregnant. Some readers keep to the point that the...

Family Members in “Without My Cloak” by Kate O’Brien

Introduction In different epochs and changeable cultural values, different restrictions are put by the society on its members. In that sense, absolute freedom of choice was not a term that was known for any ordinary person in any chosen time or space. The main issue of contradiction is to what...

Analysis of “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

“Story of an Hour” was written by Kate Chopin in the late 18th century, and is much different as compared to other short stories. It is a dramatic example of a woman who suddenly finds herself blessed with the long-desired freedom that she internally sought from a repressive marriage. The...

“A Short History of Nearly Everything” by William Bryson

The Book “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, written by a famous American author William Bryson is considered a brilliant combination of science and fiction books. It is worth mentioning that such a term as science fiction is not quite appropriate in this case because it does not show the...

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Is He Insane?

Introduction The issue of insanity has often been uncomfortable, for the average human being as well as for the writer. It often provides a fascinating subject for drama, as has been demonstrated brilliantly by William Shakespeare as insanity plays a key role in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. In this play, the...

“Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War” by Bruce Levine

Introduction The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States started at 1861 and ended in 1865. It was a civil war in the United States of America when the Southern slave states declared about their desire to get separated from the United States and formed the...

Theme of Judgement in the “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee

Introduction To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee is one of the most vehement novels that break the tradition of ‘ part pour l’art’ and proceeds to provide some strong lessons. Racism and classism are one of its major themes, and in course of exploration of such a theme,...

Gender & Feminism in A Doll’s House

Ibsen’s drama ‘A Doll’s House’ appears to be influential literary work, as it revises and reconsiders traditional male and female roles and reveals the threats underlying gender discrimination. The author definitely portrays courageous and goal-oriented women, who struggle with the challenges of the androcentric society and find their niche in...