Gender and Communication in “Modern Family” by Lloyd

Television shows present gender and communication in a multitude of different ways, which either positively or negatively affect their viewers’ perspectives on many critical issues. They may promote various stereotypes and encourage people to conform or destroy biases and inspire individuals to be independent. It is essential to understand how...

In Remembrance of Jane

Moving is always not easy for people, since they have to find themselves in a completely new place without the usual circle of friends and surroundings. When I migrated to Saint Louis, it was also difficult for me to adapt. However, when I started working in the hospital, my colleagues...

Shakespear’s Sonnet 18

The power of words negatively or positively impacts people. Languages have a significant impact as people are typically affected by reading the words. The power contained in words can be used to build, create or destroy in equal measure. Encouraging words can be used constructively as well as destructive words...

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass published in 1985 tells the story of his life in slavery and further escape. Literature about life in captivity was popular in his century but what distinguishes this author’s work is that it is his...

Comparing and Contrasting Sonnet 103 with Echo and Narcissus

Shakespeare permeates his lyrics with amazing metaphors and comparisons to express love and feelings. The metaphors used in Sonnet 103 and Echo and Narcissus by Shakespeare also present the reader with an indirect description of the sublime romance. On the other hand, the romance in these two works is, in...

Canto XIX of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Canto XIX is one of the most significant and meaningful chapters in Paradiso and the entire Divine Comedy. Here Dante Alighieri analyzes such concepts of Christian philosophy as Eternal Justice, Eternal Judgment, and Divine Design. He criticizes historical figures of the past and his time and reviews the political state...

Responsibility in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare

Introduction Macbeth is a play, one of the most famous tragedies by William Shakespeare, presented for the first time in 1606. It is based on the true story of the Scottish king Macbeth and reveals an excessive lust for power. In the story, General Macbeth hears the prophecy of three...

Hochschild’s “King Leopold’s Ghost” in Connection With Modern Times

Introduction The crime and the reasons for its commission have always been the cornerstone of a heated debate among police officers, jurors, psychologists, and other stakeholders. The key feature of criminality is that its types do not alter over time. Any violation of the law should be classified in order...

Mythology and Ancient Greco-Roman Beliefs Connected

There are lots of mythical creatures in Greek and Roman mythologies. From various literature preserved up to modern time, it is feasible to encounter different non-human or semi-human deities such as cyclops, sirens, and mermaids. Their functions within myths and stories are multiple: some of these creatures aim to say...

“Let America Be America Again”: The Poem Analysis

The poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is highly controversial and concerns many arguable subjects. One of those subjects is the American Dream, and Hughes says it has changed (191). The author hopes the American Dream will one day become what it once was. Hughes also states...

What Is the Story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” about

Flannery O’Connor’s short story is unpredictable, with a soft start but a terrible ending. Right from the beginning, grandmother depicts The Misfit as an irresponsible person and a cold murderer. O’Connor rather abrasively writes the story, but this blatant approach signals to the reader the possibility of revealing an unsettling...

The Theme of Physical Blindness in the Play “Oedipus the King”

One of the main plays written by the Athenian playwright and poet Sophocles is the tragedy “Oedipus the King.” Oedipus is one of the main characters of the Theban mythological cycle, the action of which is connected with the city of Thebes. The story of Oedipus is complex, even confusing,...

Haunted City: Ghosts of Berlin

Berlin is a haunted city, and this statement is indeed true in some way. Berlin is a city in which dozens of key events in world history took place. There, important political decisions were made, and deadly battles were fought during the war. Thus, buildings, streets, and even some of...

“Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen

The lives of people in the past and, more specifically, their relationships were primarily guided by material considerations. This world is portrayed in the novel “Sense and Sensibility,” written by Jane Austen, which demonstrates the rigid social hierarchy of the time leading to human greed. It is especially applicable to...

1970s History. The Third World Perspective on the Cold War

Introduction The history of the United States is quite complex and riddled with numerous events and moments that contributed to the growth of the nation. After the end of the Second World War, a new upheaval emerged that would affect the overall economic, military, and social attributes of the U.S....

Modernism: Themes and What Modernists’ Works Reflect

Modernism was a prominent period of creativity that was provoked by the grim reality of the twentieth century. The pressure from a multitude of societal issues, two World Wars, and rapid technological advances appear to have influenced modernism in a way that made many authors question the line between pessimism...

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Review

“Harrison Bergeron,” a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in 1961, presents the world 120 years later when the government has complete control over freedom of thought and full equality has finally been achieved – at a price, obviously. The story is interesting in many ways, especially in analyzing...

Plot of “The Secret Agent” Novel by Joseph Conrad

Introduction The purpose of literature is to be thought-provoking and to convey strong messages. Even fictional stories demonstrate a certain degree of connection to the issues present in real life. Such works of literature are often filled with profound symbolism, which invites the reader on a philosophical journey through the...

“High Lonesome” by Joyce C. Oates

Adolescence is a turbulent period of one’s life when a teenager spends most of their time with peers and ignores the family’s influence. While it is a natural part of growing up, some teenagers represent the rebellious phase of puberty more vividly than others. Such is the case of Connie,...

Those Winter Sundays Poem by Robert Hayden

The Poet Robert Hayden wrote the poem “Those Winter Sundays” depicting a Person remembering the love of his father that he failed to understand when he was young and returned with cold indifference. The protagonist is shown to be lamenting his past relationship with his father. The claim that the...

Review of “Young Goodman Brown” Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction The story Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a fascinating piece that focuses on guilty conscience and different issues faced by people in the community. The story involves Brown, who leaves his wife, Faith, to meet a man in the dark forest he identifies as the devil. Authors...

Manifestations of Faith in 16th-Century Writers’ Famous Works

Introduction Universal ideas about life, love, and religion are evident in the works of numerous writers. Many literary pieces represent the author’s thoughts on these subjects, which might correspond or contrast depending on the professionals’ views. The topic of religion was a prominent theme for various writers of the 16th...

Examination of the Heroes Beowulf and The Knight

The characteristics of a good individual have been an essential topic of philosophical and literary discussions for several decades, as such attributes as moral conduct and benevolent attitude often distinguish a virtuous person. The epic poem Beowulf, translated by Lesslie Hall, presents a prominent example of a good individual. The...

Confession & Forgiveness in “The Lovely Bones” by Sebold

The novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold depicts events and memories form life of the author. The author creates a dramatic plot based on real life events, feelings and emotions. Social and personal morals of people are depicted through emotional sufferings and experience of the main heroes of the...

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...

“Neighbors” Short Story by Raymond Carver

The story of the Millers presents fascinating attributes of families in contemporary societies. In many instances, people tend to copy what their fellows are doing with a perception that these other individuals have a better life, just like the Millers admired the Stones. Although Bill is portrayed as an outgoing...

The Differences Between Conducting a Literature Review and Reviewing the Literature

Reviewing literature to solve an identified problem is different from conducting a literature review to search for a gap in knowledge. At the same time, their common features of both types of literature reviews. On the one hand, the purpose of both types of research is to discern what is...

Behavior of Witnesses in “Holocaust by Bullets” by Desbois

Desbois’ work in the book Holocaust by Bullets documents in detail the experience of witnesses to the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis. He argues that the German mass killings on the Jews lead to losses of many innocent lives and generated deep trauma across villages in Ukraine as...

The Cultural Relevance of Post-Colonial Literature

Introduction Literature as a form of art scopes a wide array of topics that reflect personal struggles and social issues. The concepts of culture and traditions often get intertwined with the characters who are bound by various social and gender constructs. The post-colonial literature seeks to cover these topics more...

Hypocrisy and Its Manifestation in Moliere’s Tartuffe

Jean Baptiste Moliere’s comedies have been called the “mirror of the mores” of the time. One of Moliere’s favorite techniques was hyperbolization as a technique for creating images-types. Characters were typified in the minds of viewers and readers and became common nouns. The situation prevailing in the country at that...

“The Story of the Stone” by Cao Xueqin

The Story of the Stone is a classic and outstanding example of the Chinese literature of the end of the eighteenth century that has marked a significant period in the country’s cultural development. The literary work is a composition of multiple social, religious, moral, and psychological issues that reflect the...

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”: The Role of The Misfit

A Goodman is Hard to Find is a short story created by Flannery O’Connor back in 1953. It should primarily be mentioned that this literature piece is very interesting to read because it makes the readers think about the main characters and their distinguishing features, and apply the identified ideas...

Woolf’s “Orlando” & Defoe’s “Moll Flanders” Novels

Introduction The theme of clothing and its impact on people has been depicted in various novels, articles, and other publications. Clothes seem to have a significant effect on how people are perceived and even what roles they should act. The mentioned topic was raised in two notable literary works –...

Violence in Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going?” Story

This short story by Carol Oates does not describe a single episode of violence or an act of aggression, but somehow it scares you more than any story about rape or coercion. You can only «watch from a distance» how a dangerous person persuades a young girl to come out....

The Plot, Character Development, and Motif in “Kindred” and “A Raisin in the Sun”

Introduction There are many essential elements that authors should consider when writing a novel or a stage play. They should build the plot carefully, offering the readers action and mystery, and develop the characters, showing their distinct personalities and motivations. This essay will consider Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Lorraine Hansberry’s...

Woody Holton’s “Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution”

Woody Holton’s book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution discusses the historical events and economic factors that played the central role in the development of the Constitution. Particular attention is given to the economic issues, class conflicts, the role of popular protests, and the decisions of the Founding...

Namwamba and the Magic Pots. Original Myth

Namwamba, a local peasant farmer with two wives and six children, was famous in the village for telling stories and fairy tales that often left listeners with more questions than answers. He was also known for his cunning ways as he often found excuses to abscond communal work like farming...

Harriet Jacobs, an African-American Writer

The ideals of freedom and equality, civil rights, and the ability to succeed regardless of ethnic origin and social class form the basis of the American dream. Sherman Alexie’s writings tell the Native Americans’ real stories since the poet was born and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation. His novels...

Krebs’ Portrayal in “A Soldier’s Home” by Hemingway

In Hemingway’s “A Soldier’s Home,” the main character experiences apathy for a multitude of reasons. Harold Krebs was trained in a way that made him void of any empathy. The disinterest towards maintaining normal relationships or any mundane hobbies settled in after the return to civilian life (Hemingway 2). This...

The Main Character in The Story of an Hour

Women have for ages been victims of abusive domestic situations. In “The Story of an Hour” Louise Mallard, the main female character, fails to prove the validity of the information sent to her by Josephine confirming her husband’s death. According to the telegraph message from her husband’s sister, Brently Mallard...

Unsettling Endings in American Short Stories “Winter Dreams” and “A Worn Path

A proper conclusion is a necessary part of any literary work, as it provides the reader with sufficient knowledge regarding the antagonists’ stories. By addressing the closing events and clarifying the outcomes of the situations portrayed, the author offers the reader a clear understanding of the narrative’s consequences. The classic...

The Importance of Setting for Interpretation of Stories

One of the essential components of any story is its setting helping the authors efficiently transmit the message. It is a place and time of the described events alongside the weather, cultural surrounding, climate, and physical landscape serving as the background of the narrative. Hence, the uniqueness of readers’ experience...

Symbolism in “Dante’s Inferno”

It is difficult to diminish the notable unpredictability of Inferno to a short rundown of significant images. The story includes Dante going from the external levels of Hell into the most profound areas where Lucifer dwells. He encounters the disciplines of various sins and investigates his own feelings and scholarly...

The Boston Massacre. Historical Documents

While both documents are historical accounts of the Boston Massacre on March 5th, 1770, there are significant differences in the narratives. Unarguably, bias and political motivations are present in both, but from what is known by historians, Captain Preston’s account is more accurate. First, the description of the massacre itself...

The Brutal Reality of War in Poems and Art

The poem “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy was published during the Second Boer War in 1902. Hardy opposed the colonial conflict between the British Empire and combined forces of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic and decided to portray the horrors the war embodied for...

Plot and Characters in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”

In the play, Death of a Salesman Miller says that the latest boom in real estate is one of the testimonies of the success of the American businesses. He particularly highlights the rapid development of residential buildings in Willy’s Brooklyn neighborhood. Those who have succeeded in their careers and businesses...

Religion in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” reveal a central theme of religion that has played an important role in society. Both stories are filled with dark gothic motives that create an atmosphere and help convey a message. However, the elements of the grotesque in...

Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes’ and Claude McKay’s Poems

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay are prominent representatives of the dawn of African American culture in the first half of the twentieth century. Harlem Renaissance was a powerful movement that shaped African American literature and aimed at reinforcing the racial bias. Despite leaving a mark in American poetry and being...

The Short Story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver

Love is probably the most discussed and misunderstood concept of human relationships. From early childhood, people learn that it is an essential component of life. Yet, very few really understand the complexity of love. Sometimes, people are ready to accept and forgive some extremely inappropriate behavior because of the belief...

“Parable of the Sower” by Butler

The main character of Parable of the Sower, Lauren, is an African American girl who grew up in the family of a priest in a gated community in Robledo, California. The story takes place in a dystopian world experiencing a crisis of society and environment, which fills it with cruelty...

Character Traits in “The Canterbury Tales”

Literature presents a useful platform of learning morals and values required for a progressive community. Readers obtain vital knowledge and skills from written works of scholars and prominent authors. This analysis, nevertheless, discusses Chaucer’s character’s traits as the narrator of the General Prologue in The Canterbury Tales. This is part...

Building British Identity Across History in “Saint Erkenwald”

Literature addresses historical themes for a variety of purposes, especially since it often provides for fascinating plots and thought-provoking parallels. Medieval English literature was no exception to this rule, and authors of the Middle Ages utilized the topics related to the past to achieve their artistic purpose. “Saint Erkenwald,” A...

“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” Book Review

The book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall down by Anne Fadiman is one of the highlights of the Hmong culture and the challenges socializing a family from Laos faces in American society. Misunderstandings and disagreements manifested in day-to-day interactions reveal distinctive values ​​and norms in the two cultures....

“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...

Features of a Post-Apocalyptic Story in McCarthy’s “The Road”

The parallel realities might be closer than we used to think they are. One possesses an inexplicable ability to travel through time and space, and explore the worlds full of unknown scents, feelings, and senses. Fiction is a powerful and wise guide through each of the existing realities. One of...

The Quest for Freedom: William Blake and Fredrick Douglass

Romantic poets such as William Blake believed human imagination could counter scientific principles that defined reality using material objects. Blake believes that this view of the world is limiting, seeing as happiness depends on an individual’s ability to recreate their environment in their mind. People shape their understanding of events...

Modern Meets Ancient in A. E. Stallings

Death took me by the hand and took me to the underground. Did it not know that I still had life to live and more to explore? It was the second chaotic, unpleasing home it placed me on. Never did death feel a little sorry for me. Dealing with the...

Letter from Birmingham Jail – Summary & Analysis

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was authored by Martin Luther King (1963) while in custody. King references the church leaders as the audience in the first paragraph of the letter. In the article, the clergy term King as a sheer outsider who instigated the demonstrations. In the letter, King uses...

Analysis of “Ozymandias” and “My Last Duchess”

Literary devices are intended to give the text various expressive qualities and originality, reveal the author’s attitude to what is written, and convey some hidden meanings. A detailed description of the sculpture of Ozymandias and word choice, including such imageries as “Two vast and trunkless legs,” “shattered visage,” and “wrinkled...

“The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion” by Oates

“The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion” by Stephen B. Oates is a book that depicts the rebellion led by Turner in 1831. Religion and the Bible play an essential role in understanding the context of the uprising. For slaveowners, the Bible justified their actions towards African Americans. Similarly,...

Parable of the Sower Novel by Octavia Butler

The dystopian novel, Parable of the Sower, written by Octavia Butler, starts in 2024, which instantly affirmed the attitude for the setting of it. Presently, we live in 2020, which places this novel ahead of our current time. Promptly, the readers are introduced into an unruly society in which the...

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....

A Raisin in the Sun by Robert Nemiroff and Loraine Hansberry Review

A Raisin in the Sun portrays the daily life of the African-American family, and the topic itself is a component of a modern play. The issues in the film and original piece concern racism, social struggle, and other relevant matters that people faced both in the 1960s and still encounter...

Monologue of Hamlet by William Shakespeare

‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father: But, you must know, your father lost a father; That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever In obstinate condolement...

John Updike: Biography and Works

Introduction The United States of America, being a home for people of different ethnic and religious affiliations, gender, and social class, has always been one of the major themes for various authors. America was one of the main characters in the works of both born and raised American writers, as...

The Forbidden Fruit in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

Imagine something that makes you happy. Might it be a long-awaited meeting with a friend or an excellent mark for the exam? What about the death of the beloved husband? In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin tells about Louise Mallard, who dies of a heart attack when she...

Wars’ Impact on Society in Female Writers’ Opinion

Liberation wars are common for such countries as Bangladesh and Iran, especially the conflicts that happen between the 1970s and the 1980s. Citizens were challenged by the necessity to survive, find food, and gain respect when no support was offered to them. Today, it is possible to read about those...

“Oryx and Crake” Book by Margaret Atwood

Jimmy, in Atwood’s book, can hardly be called a hero, but he is an ordinary person with his virtues and weaknesses. The writer creates the narrator who is rather close to the general public. Snowman, similar to millions of modern people, has some routines and can try to relax playing...

“Song of the Humming Bird” by Graciela Limon Review

This essay will review the book of Graciela Limon ‘Song of the Hummingbird’, which describes the story of the Aztecs’ fall told from the perspective of a Huitzitzilin, a Hummingbird. The main point of the book is in uncovering the similarities and differences of Christian and pagan culture. Moreover, it...

Role and Place of Women in Bradstreet’s and Rowlandson’s Texts

Today, the role of women becomes more extended and widely interpreted compared to the views of the previous centuries. In recent decades, females acquired the rights to vote, be employed, take leading positions in organizations, and many others. Therefore, it is useful to better understand the place of women from...

The Odyssey: Ideas for Creating a Sequel

Introduction The Odyssey is the world-famous ancient Greek epic and is interesting to a wide range of readers due to a variety of storylines. This work includes both a fairytale narrative and the descriptions of the characters’ lives, which makes it a unique object for detailed study and analysis. The...

A Rose for Emily Literary Analysis

A Rose for Emily integrates several different genres, particularly Southern Gothic and Realism. The literary element of Faulkner’s composed style is that he utilizes a great deal of different scholarly strategies, specifically, arrogance, defamiliarization, and revelation. He often uses bathos and allegory to translate the theme and meaning of the...

Characters of Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Their Heritage

A short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker was first published in her storybook In Love and Trouble in 1973. In the story, Mama, the narrator, anticipates the arrival of her eldest daughter Dee. Dee comes to get in touch with her roots, but her ideas about reality are so...

“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...

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass: Slavery and Christianity

Douglass distinguishes between the truthful and hypocritical versions of Christianity. He demonstrates how the slaveholders’ beliefs do not adhere to religious doctrine and teachings. Instead, their hypocritical actions serve to reinforce the expression of self-righteous brutality. He describes religious masters as the worst, given that they are cowardly, mean, and...

“House of Sand and Fog” Novel by Andre Dubus

The ending of Dubus’ novel House of Sand and Fog is a climax of the plot, which the author achieves through masterful narrative shifting. The tragic death of Behrani’s son becomes a reason for the father to act decisively and express his pain, despair, and anger. The shift from first-person...

“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”: The Book Review

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a novel that was published in 2007 and won the Pulitzer Prize. The author of this work is Juno Diaz – an American writer of Dominican origin, so the work in English contains a large number of inserts in Spanish. The book...

“Mr. and Mrs. Prince” by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina Analysis

In the introduction to the book, the author explains her interest in the history of an 18th-century African American family. She begins her story by standing on her porch and thinking about Prince’s family (Gerzina 2009). Undoubtedly, their history was unusual but not well understood. At the same time, information...

“Diary of a Confederate Soldier” by Law

During the American civil war, armies got destroyed while the survivors were left with memories that would remain in their minds throughout their lives. The soldiers had different experiences from all aspects of the economic challenges, politics, and social issues such as lack of food, shelter, and other basics to...

Review of “Young Goodman Brown” Book

An American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “Young Goodman Brown.” The story’s setting is 17th century New England, which was predominantly Puritan. Hawthorne bases his work on the criticism of puritanism and its central premise that all people are responsible for the original sin. “Young Goodman Brown” is a literary criticism...

View on Cisneros’ “Barbie-Q” and Atwood’s “Happy Endings”

Many authors have designed short stories with limited length and are characterized by plot setting and conflict. In the story, “Barbie-Q,” Cisneros tries to explain how the American society views women to be materialistic and perfect whereby, in reality, they have their flaws (Cisneros,1991). Cisneros shows that the girls’ Barbie...

Love and Tragedy in the Play Oklahoma!

Introduction Literature is one of the forms of arts that human beings have invented in order to reflect the objective reality. Therefore, all the complexity of human relations is also described by literary geniuses. The art of playwriting takes a special place in literature as it is subject to visualizing...

“Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission to China” by Hsia

The book Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission to China written by Ronnie Po-Chia Hsia at first seems to be a story about a missionary’s life and achievements. However, as one becomes more acquainted with it, a deeper meaning behind the narrative is revealed. This relates to the uniqueness of...

Gross Injustices in a Superficially Equal America in Kurt Jr. Vonnegur’s “Harrison Bergeron”

Kurt Vonnegut Junior’s critical short story is a futuristic fiction that presents the hypothetical United States metaphor where uniformity is socially engineered, and individual differences are suppressed. The narrative opens by stating that “everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut 1). Those who are beautiful wear masks, strong and well-built people are...

“Wild Nights!” by Emily Dickinson

Who is the Speaker? Wild Nights is known as one of the most thought-provoking poems written by Emily Dickinson in 1891. This verse has captured readers’ attention and imagination due to its ambiguous nature. It narrates about passion, desire, rapture, and ecstasy; yet, it also describes the powerful natural phenomenon....

Mitch Albom’s Inspirational Memoir: ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’

Introduction The story Tuesdays with Morrie written by Mitch Albom is considered to be a biographical story disclosing the real-life of sociologists. The novel was written in 1997 and gained recognition as one of the most significant works of the literature world. The work is devoted to the disclosure of...

Friendship in “The Epic of Gilgamesh”

In “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” the theme of friendship may be regarded as one of the central themes of the poem. The main heroes, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, were completely different persons before they meet each other. Gilgamesh is primarily described as a tyrannical king that does not respect his people....

Rhetoric in Moore’s “Idiot Nation” and Gatto’s “Against School”

Introduction Education is a point of concern for people of all ages and backgrounds since childhood is strongly tied to the idea of discipline and learning. In the United States and many other countries, “forced” schooling is a societal standard accepted as a positive force in every human life. However,...

Dangers of Mob Mentality in ”The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

Introduction The short story The Lottery is one of Shirley Jackson’s most famous works. Its concept revolves around an annual draw in a small village. Although the lottery is usually associated with a winner getting a grand prize, in the story, it is a process of selecting a victim for...

“My Papa’s Waltz” and “Porphyria’s Lover”: Sounds Show

In prose and verse, sound extensively contributes to indirect characterization: authors use sound devices to shape readers’ perception of characters and nuance characters’ descriptions. In this respect, such unlike texts as “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Porphyria’s Lover” is exemplary for investigating the connection between form (in this case, sound) and...

Deconstruction of Siegfried as a True Hero

German myths have always been different from the overall European mythology. Aside from the setting, probably the most remarkable distinction is the hero. A shining example is Siegfried, who is a controversial figure in the medieval German narrative. He definitely acts with valor, fights the dragon, and dies at the...

“The Scarlet Letter” and Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography

“The Scarlet Letter”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel about a woman named Hester who commits adultery. The setting of the story takes place in a Puritan settlement, in Boston. The year is 1642 and the community is very strict and religious. When Hester’s secret becomes known to the public...

A Doll House by Ibsen: The House of False Values

Similar to Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, and Pushkin, the Norwegian playwright Ibsen is considered a classic of national and world literature. Ibsen, creating an analytical drama, reveals the deep tragedy and cruelty of reality, hidden under external well-being, as well as the ability of a strong-willed person to resist circumstances. The...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Autonomy Samples of Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells were collected and used during diagnosis and treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then transferred for research without her or her family’s informed consent, which was common practice. Scientists also began investigating Henrietta’s children, who thought they were being tested for cancer that...

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...

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien: Bright Characters With Uneasy Fates

Introduction Wars are conflicts blown out of proportion, leading to thousands, if not millions, of innocent deaths. Tim O’Brien wrote stories about the simple people who happened to be at the heart of the Vietnam conflict. It is hard to tell which events in his book “The Things They Carried”...

“A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen and the Role of Ladies in Society

The struggles which women have in their daily life are real and universal. Females have been perceived as the subordinate of males who control societies. The role of ladies has always been to follow what the men say, and this has trapped communities in a patriarchal system. In their education,...

Loss Is a Disaster: Bishop’s “One Art” and Kay’s “B” Poems

Emotional pain is one of the unique aspects peculiar to human beings. As social creatures with a strong devotion to people who surround them, people cannot avoid feeling sad or frustrated because of various losses. These might include the death of close people, failures, or the inability to attain success....

“A Moveable Feast” by Hemingway Ernest: Review

The theme of art is one of the central topics that Hemingway uncovers in “A Moveable Feast,” which is closely connected to the author’s experience of poverty and his development as a writer. The way Hemingway portrays art in his works is praiseworthy because his direct writing style allows seeing...

Shonagon’s “The Pillow Book” as Historical Document

Positive Analysis One of the main strengths of the book is the fact that it provides an invaluable insight into Heian Japan and how regular women lived at that time. It is a well-composed historical document in regards to reflecting the lifestyles and interests of both royal family members and...

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor: The Role of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is one of the most important techniques used by O’Connor in her story A Good Man Is Hard to Find. There are two aims of using this technique namely the suspense and preparing the reader for the events which happen further on. The author gives her readers the hint...

“Royal Commentaries” by Garcilaso el Inca

By the will of fate, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega may be considered as the most famous chronicler of the New World. As the son of an Inca princess and conquistador, he had a truly unique opportunity to learn the details of the history of pre-Hispanic Peru first-hand from numerous...

Individualism in “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut

One of the fears described in dystopian fiction is the loss of individuality. People become uniformed cogs in an oppressive society, so the government could completely control them. Therefore, individualism can contribute greatly to maintaining freedom and independent thinking. In Harrison Bergeron, the author shares his vision of the future...

Symbolism in “The Carpenter’s Gift” by Rubel

In the book The Carpenter’s Gift, the author expresses the idea that kind actions do not go unnoticed and make the world better. Rubel (2011) uses symbolism in order to illustrate this suggestion. Symbolism is a literary device when a particular element of the narrative conveys a broader message. In...

Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” and Its Relation to Psychiatry

The New Jim Crow is a horrifying record by Michelle Alexander based on the race caste system’s return to the United States. According to the story, a large number of African Americans are imprisoned and afterward consigned to a perpetual inferior status (Alexander, 2020). The circumstance denied the rights such...

Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Story

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most prominent writers of contemporary time, whose works masterfully combine elements of reality and fantasy, modern philosophical achievements and folk motives, and mythology. Moreover, the author presents all this to the reader in the form of a parable and succinct, precise writing manner....

The Novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

In his Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine article, reviewing Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Walter Scott introduces the idea, that the novel, dealing with the supernatural, as a possibility for personal reflection. Scott advocates questioning the morals and conventional train of thought by submitting a character of an ordinary man to...

Review of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

The short story written by Kate Chopin in 1894 raises essential feminist issues. Despite the short form of the literary work, it successfully and powerfully conveys the deprivations American women of the end of the nineteenth century experienced due to the dominantly patriarchal society in which they lived. Meticulously using...

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...

J.D. Vance Book “Hillbilly Elegy” Review

Family values have always been a central them in American culture and the value system of American society. However, with the changes in the economic and political background, shifts in the perception of family values, as well as the notion of family itself, have become more noticeable. In his book...

What Influenced Zora Neale Hurston to Write

Zora Neale Hurston became the most significant and most successful black writer of the first half of the 20th century. She made it by using her own talent, ability to produce an utterly unforgettable impression, bright intellect, powerful nature, infectious sense of humor, and the gift of “entering the heart”...

The Importance of Free Will in Three Theban Plays

One of the key concepts touched upon in all three Theban plays completed by Sophocles is the existence of free will and its influence on human lives. This argument should be mostly based on the idea that each person has a predisposition to autonomy. The only responsibility for people is...

Dante’s Inferno: Descending Into the Pits of Hell to Gain Redemption

Introduction: Text Details and Context Being one of the best-known poems of the 14th century and the best-known poem by Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy fascinates with its humorous and nuanced way of describing the complicated relationships between an individual and Christian God. The poem serves as a humorous guide...

Ovid’s Jupiter and Io: Gods and Humans

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 are...

The Meaning of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” as a short story, and it was published on June 26, 1948, in The New Yorker. The first readers of the story were surprised by it because, in the past, works of the magazine were not identified as fiction or as events happening in real...

“Who Moved My Cheese?” by Johnson

In his book, “Who moved my cheese?” Johnson (1998) explores change by narrating the story of four characters searching for cheese. He also depicts how each of the four characters goes about finding cheese. All four characters live in a maze where they are searching for cheese. According to Johnson...

“Silver Linings Playbook” by Matthew Quick

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick tells the story about Pat Peoples, the young man with psychological issues. He plays the role of the narrator but an unreliable one. According to Sarah Pinborough, the unreliable narrator only has his truth to rely on. These people usually have mental issues,...

The Hymn to Demeter. Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries played a vital role in ancient Greece. Moreover, during the Hellenic era, these initiations became a major festival that was later exported as a cultural phenomenon to various parts of the Mediterranean and even encouraged a similar celebration in Ancient Rome. The initial idea behind the initiations...

King Leopold’s Ghost by Hochschild: A Reader Response

Looking at most of the recent history from the perspective of cultural change and the key trends in it will help to discover that the legacy of colonialism is imprinted into every facet of cross-cultural interactions. Although colonialism is typically associated with the history of American and the exploitation of...

“On the Run” of Alice Goffman and Its Public Reception

Alice Goffman’s work proves to be genuinely outstanding not just because of the scrupulous ethnological research, which she has done, but also because of the rising controversy. The work’s reception was mixed mainly because of the ethical considerations of the unclear boundary between objectiveness and bias in an ethnological study....

“The Heart of a Dog”: Person and Society Conflict

With the help of sarcastic irony, Bulgakov in his book The Heart of a Dog creates a world full of large and small conflicts that arise whenever a person is not in his place. The most profound conflict in the story arises between Professor Preobrazhensky and a new Soviet society....

The Novel “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud

Modern Jewish literature is very diverse, representing one of the richest layers of world literature. A large part of Jewish literature is English-language Jewish one. The Jewish diaspora of America did not suffer in World War II and could accept a number of refugees from Eastern Europe. Thus, after the...

“Sharing Our Stories of Survival” by Native Women

Since the first discovery of the American continent, native people have suffered various instances of violence. Indigenous women, however, is the group that is more likely to experience abuse even nowadays since there the current system is not capable of protecting them. The book Sharing Our Stories of Survival is...

Grendel as a Personification of Evil in “Beowulf” Poem

Beowulf is a famous epic poem that was created between the end of the 7th and the first part of the 8th century. At that time, the Anglo-Saxons were already experiencing the emergence of feudal ties (Heaney 1). The poem, however, is characterized by an epic archaization and depicts reality...

Ursula Le Guin: Science Fiction Genre Writer Career

Introduction As one of the most prolific and innovative science fiction writers, Ursula K. Le Guin has definitely left her mark on the landscape of science fiction as a genre. Adding humanity to it and placing the emphasis on societal issues, she revolutionized the sci-fi realm and introduced a range...

“Grandmother” by O’Connor

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” The Grandmother is egoistic, self-centered, and hypocritical; she is obsessed with herself and “afraid she’d miss something” (O’Connor 32). She is also judgmental and manipulative with her family and tries to convince everyone to behave as she wants, which leads to tragic consequences....

The Uses and Modifications of Ancient Mythologies

Mythology refers to a branch of knowledge that deals with myths, especially the sacred tales and fables told by different religions, cultures, and traditions. Mythos tell various stories regarding the crucial elements of human life: the origin of humans, the meaning of life, good and evil, death, and life after...

Komunyakaa’s “Facing It” and Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” Poems

An analysis of a poetic work is a great way to appreciate and understand poetry more deeply. Qualitative literary analysis involves considering the author’s use of such elements of poems like speaker, tone, imagery, metaphors, similes, figurative language.This paper aims to discuss two poems – “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa,...

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by M. Twain

Despite the controversy, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has literary value to share with high school students. It is because the work uses strong messages to criticize the system of slavery during the times of racism (Chadwick, 2000). For instance, Twain (n.d.) constantly highlights that Huck Finn and Jim are...

Homer’s Iliad and Sophocles’ Three Theban Plays

The Greeks are some of the renowned writers who have ever been known. Although most of their works were done in the past, scholars still use their poems up to date. The Greeks seemed to have mastered the art of poetry and tales since the pieces were done in a...

“The House of Mirth” by Edith Wharton

In her book “The House of Mirth”, Edith Wharton addresses several values that play an important role in the society of those days. One of the values, she discusses in detail and from different angles, is the value of responsibility to family and marriage. In the following paper, the influence...

Concerns and Style of Jonathan Coleman

Jonathan Coleman is an accomplished American writer, editor, and narrator born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Coleman’s works of nonfiction are critically acclaimed in the literary community, touching upon a broad range of topics. The main themes favored by the author seem to be related to human nature, justice, and societal relationships....

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...

“Twelve Years a Slave” Book by Solomon Northup

Slavery and racial discrimination are the two ugliest forms of human interaction. Unfortunately, for a long period in history, they had been an integral part of society and determined relations between different groups of people. However, the evolution of human thought and the rise of humanistic values created the basis...

Juan Boscan’s Letter to the Duchess of Soma

Juan Boscan is a significant Catalan lyric poet who was at the court of Charles V and was considered the best student of Siculo and Varini. The latter were teachers of Latin culture in the family of the Dukes of Alba. Subsequently, Juan Boscan himself became a mentor to the...

Daffodils and Falling Leaves in Wordsworth’s and Cummings’ Poems

The poems “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth and “l(a” by E. E. Cummings could not be more different. Nevertheless, the theme of both of these poems is the same: loneliness and solitude. William Wordsworth weaves a vivid floral tapestry that invites the reader into the recesses...

Directing “Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex”

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is a classic tragedy that can be received by the public in any setting because its concerns are timeless. The central themes can revolve around dichotomy, including the image of light as the idea of knowledge and darkness as ignorance. In the original play, all characters’ worship...

Victorian Literature: Conan Doyle and Robert Browning

Sexuality in Victorian novels seems to be a fragrance that is merely palatable but is still there letting the reader feel it and know it is there. The strict social code of behavior for women and the dresses that cover around 90% of the body, letting only the neck be...

“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...

Edgar Allan Poe’s Dark Tale: The Cask of Amontillado Explored

“Cask of Amontillado” is a dark but romantic story that illustrates the horrors of evil. Poe portrays revenge and murder in the tale as expressed by Montresor and Fortunato who are the main characters. Amontillado means sherry in Spanish, referring to fortified wine, while the cask is the barrel. Montresor...

White Slave Owners in Phillis Wheatley’s Poetry

Introduction Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral is the first published volume of poetry written by an African-American author Phillis Wheatley (Mulder et al.). Published in 1773, Wheatley had an opportunity to speak out on the tyranny she and her race faced from day to day. However, there are...

“A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess

Introduction Every book ever published was written for a reason – to convey a specific idea to the readers. However, most published works do not state their central topics on the first page, opting for a more allegorical presentation. This review will examine Anthony Burgess’s most infamous novel, A Clockwork...

Coming of Age: Choice of Transition and Everlasting Infantilism

Coming of age stories have been prominent in many literary works. Aging and crossing a line between being a child and moving into adulthood is a topic that every single person can relate to. However, growing up is different for everyone and depends on their gender, socioeconomic, and cultural background....

“Car Crash While Hitchhiking” by Denis Johnson

Introduction A reliable narrator is a speaker in the story or test who can be trusted. It means that it can also be a person who has values close to the values of the author of the novel and can offer it to readers and other individuals. Thus, the discussed...

“Why Readers and Writers Are So Fixated With Dystopian Visions” by Atwood

Introduction Dystopian literature is a popular form of fiction today, which explores the possible unfavorable outcomes for humanity in the future. This paper is a rhetorical analysis of Margaret Atwood’s essay “Why readers and writers are so fixated with dystopian visions,” in which the author discusses the reasons behind such...