The Lais of Marie de France: Idiosyncratic Perspective on Love in Medieval Literature

Critical History The ‘Lais of Marie de France’ is an omnibus edition of works by a medieval female writer. The collection consists of twelve narrative poems, among which are Bisclavert, Cheverfoil, and Lanval. Glyn Burgess, who studied her works, notices, that ‘the theme of love is certainly the fundamental preoccupation’...

Hamlet as an Enjoyable and Exuberant Play

Introduction William Shakespeare was a renowned English writer, poet and dramatist. Shakespeare had a number of plays to his credit. Also, his works influenced quite a number of writers such as Charles Dickens, Herman Melville and a host of others. (Charles 602) This essay will focus on pointing out how...

Nature and Landscapes in S. T. Plaatje’s Mhudi

The issues of ethnic identity and integrity can be discussed as related to Africa of the nineteenth century because of the complex interrelations of European Imperialism and African Nationalism. Solomon Tsekhisho Plaatje is one of the writers who tend to take the varnish off different conflicts that took place in...

Goddess Mythology in a Concept of Nature

Introduction Even though goddess mythology was replaced with male-centered religions a long time ago by a single group of people (Conkey and Tringham 211), its elements can still be found among modern concepts and realities. The moon symbolism and its relation to the cycle of life is a completely different...

Postmodern Ideas and Realism in Works of Fiction

Introduction Postmodernism is a broad academic term that came into the limelight in the mid- 1980s. It refers to certain aspects of works on different disciplines done after the Second World War. The works vary from: music, literature, fashion, art, communication, technology, architecture, and sociology among others (Caughie, 196). Post...

The Struggles of James Baldwin’s Sonny

Suffering initially divides the brothers People have different ways of reacting to the same thing. Some people just simply seem better conditioned to deal with a life of oppression and difficulty than other people. This can be seen in the characters in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” The two main characters,...

The American Dream in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan

Introduction Literature is one of the greatest ways through which important messages are passed to millions of people all over the world. The audience may be fascinated by the title of a story or novel and decide to buy it while another may be interested in reading anything that will...

The Habit of “Disgrace” by John Maxwell Coetzee

John Maxwell Coetzee is considered one of the most prominent contemporary novelists. His literary talent facilitated the South African writer’s worldwide recognition and won him the Booker Prize and Nobel Prize in literature. Coetzee is the author of numerous remarkable novels such as “Life and Times of Michael T”, “Waiting...

Works by Carl Sandburg and Robert Frost Review

The first two poems are good pieces written by Carl Sandburg. The First poem is titled “A Fence” and the second one “Onion Days”. The third poem is a very interesting piece by Robert Frost titled “Mending Wall”. The three poems have apt language of metaphorical compositions. The themes in...

Martin Luther King, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”

Introduction In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was notorious for the harsh segregation policy against black people. In 1963, the Civil Rights Movement started a non-violent campaign to protest against the coeval discriminatory laws. Peaceful marches, sit-ins, and boycotts on segregationist merchants took place in Spring,...

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”: A Very Important Tool of Antislavery

Introduction According to American history, Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and an American author. She lived during the Ohio period at Cincinnati which was across the river from where the slave trade took place. Therefore she got first-hand information on the slave trade. These incidences galvanized her to write...

“Military Rule in America” by Karen L. Remmer: Book Review

Introduction The book Military Rule in America is a historic book written by Karen L. Remmer. It talks about the type of government that was present in Southern America, in the 20th Century. The author aimed to pass a message to leaders who believe in a dictatorial type of leadership...

Important Life Lessons to Learn from John Updike and Nathaniel Hawthorne

In the following paper, I have my purpose to find connections between the stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of them reveal some important experiences from the lives of two young men who protest against society they live in and its common practices....

Feminism in Kate Chopin’s Book “The Story of an Hour”

Introduction “The Story of an Hour” is filled with twists, turns, and captures the reader’s attention from the on-set. Kate Chopin goes on to show that women at the time lived for their husbands and they existed solely to fulfil their husbands’ dreams. Twenty-first century critics would find a lot...

“American Leviathan: Empire, Nation, and Revolutionary” by P. Griffin

Introduction This paper is a critical essay of the book American Leviathan: Empire, Nation, and Revolutionary Frontier (2007) and the reviews on it. In the book, Patrick Griffin studies the life of the Ohio River Valley from the 1760s to 1790. The author shows the war from the Hobbesian point...

Enlightenment: Andrew Miller’s Novel “Indigenous Pain”

Introduction The world’s existence is established on philosophical foundations that influence world trends and actions. These trends determine the common outlook and interpretation of social and scientific phenomena. Societies take positions under the influence of prevailing philosophical ideals. These philosophical ideals imply that a society ascribes its values and standards...

Prior’s War Neurosis in The Ghost Road by Pat Barker

It often happens that people’s past has its pernicious and destructive influence on their present preventing them from being healed from received injures especially the mental ones. This problem is described in a famous trilogy by Pat Barker. The trilogy speaks about the life of military people during the First...

“They Shut Me Up in Prose” by Emily Dickinson

Annotation The writer speaks of a force that has tried to limit her ability to write in prose and compares this to a time when she was young and they tried to lock her up in a closet in a bid to silence her and make her still. She goes...

“Yellow Wallpapers” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Yellow Wallpaper is a book narrated first-person point of view (Perkins, 2010). It is about a young woman who is mentally disturbed and hence depicts a true-life story of the writers’ experience. She is strongly against the domination of men over their wives. They do not see them as...

“The Bluest Eye” by Morrison

The Bluest Eye is a novel that is centrally anchored on the theme of race relations. It highlights the psychological and subconscious tensions that work through the lives of African Americans which create conflicts of identity that haunt them in their entire lives. Although the desire to improve the African...

Native Americans in the United States: Literature Review

What you Pawn I Will Redeem The narrator of the story by Sherman Alexie is a homeless man Jackson Jackson, a very unusual person with a generous heart, an “After Columbus Arrived Indian” (Perkins 402). He is a heavy drinking homeless Indian man, with bad health, leading a destructive lifestyle;...

American and Asian American Literature Debate

Over the years racial discrimination in the United States of America has been an issue of burning debates. Although commonly an African – American issue, Asian Americans were able to develop the rich heritage of their community in order to make themselves known. Provided that Asian Americans have been suffering...

Allegory and Symbolism in “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Introduction Interesting details The horse and donkey were compared to a droopy flower that needed watered. Elisa is the droopy flower. She sees the world with a view of delicacy and strength. She can be both strong and delicate. She wants to be assertive but the era discourages the type...

Hero’s Transformation in Ancient Literature

Researchers of classical mythology and the eminent literary figures have often mentioned the fact that ancient mythologies explore the adventurous journey of an epic hero through the social, cultural, and political history of a particular nation. Homer’s lliad exhibits the adventurous journey of the mythical hero Achilles; in which the...

“Night” by Elie Wiesel: Struggle to Keep Faith in God

When under serious pressure of life whoever is not broken? Whoever is not shaken, embarrassed and confused? Who will be able to save one’s spiritual heart from a “shipwreck of faith” which is described by Apostle Paul in his writings to the first century Christians? Sort of a “shipwreck of...

Love vs Fear: The Song of Roland and Hamlet

In the substantial space, there are only two emotions that exist, love and fear, and all the other sentiments are just distinctions of the above mentioned. Such sentiments are like high opinion, conformity, and being acquiescent. To set in motion with love is a sentiment based on knowing that everything...

Themes in “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy

Introduction In his work, The Road, Cormac McCarthy creates a quintessentially post-apocalyptic scenario, revolving around the plight of a man and a boy, desperately holding on to a wavering yearning for survival and sustenance, in a world turned upside down by the reasons unknown to the reader (Ryan 152). The...

“Night” by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer’s Lost Childhood and the Image in the Mirror

Sad circumstances in life… always leave deep wounds on people’s hearts and may change the entire personality of any individual. This is the very situation that has happened to Eliezer, the main protagonist of “Night” book by Elie Wiesel which represents the author himself. In the final scene, we learn...

John Brown’s Raid in Tony Horwitz’s “Midnight Rising”

Introduction Tony Horwitz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, vividly presents faith, violence, race, social justice, and individualism as central themes in his book entitled the Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. The book surveys the events that led to the Civil War in America. In...

“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...

Gregor is a Symbol in the Metamorphosis by Kafka

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed hr had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug” (Kafka 1). This is nonsensical! Kafka uses this ‘metamorphosis’ scene symbolically to achieve some assorted themes of the story. To understand why Kafka uses Gregor...

Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Oates J. Carol

Introduction The family has remained as the only functional unit of the society where children can get love, guidance and acceptance. However, parents who are supposed to give guidance to children have neglected this role leaving young people with the only option of learning from their peers. In fact, many...

“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...

“Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes

I have never read anything more touching than Thank You, M’am by Langston Hughes. There are just two main characters in this story: an old woman Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, and a young boy, Roger, who appeared to be a pickpocket. The last tried to still Mrs. Luella’s purse...

The “Night” Novel by Wiesel Review

Wiesel’s intention in writing the novel ‘Night’ was to give a testimony of the horrors that took place during the Holocaust; consequently, the themes from the book reflect these intentions. Themes in the night When Elie was a young boy, he grew up in a sheltered environment where he assumed...

Main Characteristics of a Knight

Introduction The story of the song of Roland is an old one that portrays the struggle between evil and good. This is clearly seen between the Christian franks led by Charlemagne who represents good and Gods will while Muslim Saracens representing pure evil. Main Body In this story, Roland is...

Mythology in Relation to Historic Events

Mythology is a term derived from Greek and can be broken into two terms, “mythos” which means narrative and logos which relates to speech or in other terms; argument. Mythology can then be defined as the act of studying myths, which are stories that are held to be true by...

Oban on Native American Indian Culture and Values

Overview This story revolves around a beautiful girl from a native Indian American village and her encounter with the bear people. Throughout the story, the traditional believes that native Indians held about bears are clearly articulated. The bear has always been part of Native American Indian culture and mythology. Native...

“Recovering the Sacred” by Winona Laduke

Introduction There is a book I have read recently that impressed me a lot with its content and the way it was written. It is called Recovering the sacred by Winona LaDuke. This book is about some cases when Native Americans took back their traditions, food, and lands. Reclaiming sacred...

Beowulf, a Never Forgotten Hero

Early English literature flourished after the Anglo-Saxons had settled in England between the 5th and the 12th centuries, a long period of migration, and conflicts over the supremacy, where kings could only rely on the loyalty of their men. Almost ineluctably, first literary compositions exalted the figure of the hero,...

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.”...

Stono Revolt Literature Review

Introduction In 1739 a slave revolt took place in South Carolina. It is referred to as the Stono Rebellion or the Catos Rebellion. It is not clear what actually triggered the rebellion by the slaves in South Carolina. On the fateful day of 29 September 1739, the slaves in South...

The Story ‘A Rose for Emily’ by Faulkner

The story A Rose for Emily by Faulkner is being told in several time periods not following one after another linearly. This is called nonlinear narrative. The author first describes Miss Emily’s funerals and then the events that took place before her death and led her to such a miserable...

Chivalric Code in Sir Gawain and the Green Knights

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle-English alliterative romance that outlines the adventures of Sir Gawain. He and other characters are being guided by the code of chivalry which shapes the values described in the poem. All of the most important human virtues are depicted in the poem,...

Dichotomy in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Poem

The dichotomy is the division of opinions that are contradicting in their meanings and application. The poem sir Gawain and the Green Knight is about testing the morals that people uphold. The poem revolves around Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight is the challenger who puts sir Gawain...

“The Odyssey” Analysis by Richard P. Martin

Odyssey is a Greek poem attributed to Homer; and is an essential aspect within the contemporary western principle. In this epic Odysseus had traveled to fight the Trojan War and due to his return, suitors tried to convince his wife Penelope that he had died in the war so that...

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: Part Three Analysis

The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem written in the 16th century and has an English origin. It is about a knight serving during King Arthur’s regime; he accepts to fight a mysterious green warrior known as the Green Knight. The fight is scheduled for New Year’s...

Abigail Adams by Akers

Introduction Charles W. Akers in his book shows Abigail Adams as a woman who is more than simply the wife of a president. He shows us that she is a first lady and a prolific writer too. The author shows us that, unlike the other first-ladies; Abigail Adams was popular...

Critical Analysis of James N. Gregory’s American Exodus

Introduction The book, American Exodus: the Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, is written by James N. Gregory and it depicts the great dust bowl times which caused major agricultural and subsequent economical damage in American agricultural lands from the years 1930 to 1936. Canadian prairie lands were...

Human Relations: “Mending Wall” and “A Fance an Onion”

The problem of human relations to each other has been reinforced in literature from the beginning of the twentieth century. More and more literary works manifest the idea of the “raising wall” among the people. The conception of separatism has gained force within the last 100 years. Sociologists believe that...

Trojan War: Change in Tactics and Outcome

One of the highlights of Greek mythology is the Trojan War described in the pages of The Iliad and The Odyssey, along with many pieces of Greek literature. The battle was fought between the Greeks and the Trojans. A lot of kingdoms took part in the war and supported Sparta,...

Tayama Katai’s the Quilt the Ancestor of “I-Novel”

Introduction At the end of the nineteenth century, Japanese literature experienced many striking moments. In particular, in the late 60th, it endured the most deplorable declines under the governance of Emperor Meiji. The famous authors were doomed to resort to writing books about formless and meaningless gossips. So far, having...

Theme in Thomas’ Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas was a master of the form, and the poem Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night is a wonderfully powerful villanelle. Each line builds upon the previous and the power grows like successive waves upon a lake. The rhyme scheme and the metaphors create an image that...

Song Lyrics: “Animals Versus the Flea” by Donne

Introduction Contemporary art is what amazes sophisticated viewers and readers a lot. As such, it is remarkable to dive into the past centuries’ creative works in order o see how everything has changed since then. Taking poems of John Donne The Flea and Nickelback’s Animals would be a nice example...

Erotic in S. Jackson, B. Harris, and R. Stokes

The erotic is meant to be a source of power for females. Through this power, they are supposed to lead normal and comfortable lives in society. What does the word “normal” mean in the context of the lives in society today? In the male-dominated world, normal life for a woman...

Alcoholism Treatment in “Charming Billy” by McDermott

Alcoholism refers to the prolonged and uncontrollable use of alcoholic drinks which results in addiction and in effect severe health and social consequences. Billy Lynch is a character from Charming Billy and is the focus of the novel. Billy is an Irish migrant who lives in New York just like...

“A&P” by John Updike

A & P written by John Updike is a short story of a teenaged boy of 19 named Sammy who worked at a local grocery store called A&P. Sammy relates in first person the three young girls in swimsuits who entered the store. He appraises them sexually, until the manager...

Shakespeare as the Genius of European and World Literature

Shakespeare is the legend of all world literature and the leader among English Renaissance literature. He was a gifted man of the people who came to the capital and in a few years became the largest literary and theatrical value. He made a new impact in the knowledge of reality,...

Writing About the Past

When it comes to discussing the representations of the past in the works of literature, many critics assume that how authors go about retelling their memories simply reflects the creative subtleties of their psyche. And, it goes without saying, of course, that addressing the subject matter from this perspective would...

“Adventures of Huckleberry” by Mark Twain: Facts and Fiction

In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, fact and fiction are two concepts well stated. The novel’s main theme is the racial relationship among people of a different race. Writing hilariously, Mark Twain is able to bring out the contrast of fiction from the fact in the real...

Features of Poetry and Poetic Language

Though humans are known as the social beings, very often some individuals feel strangeness and uncertainty even being surrounded by the closest people. Such uncertainty can be a result of numerous social or personal phenomena and events. The short story Solder’s Story by Ernest Hemingway depicts the life of the...

The Inkspell and Its Relation to Inkheart

Inkspell previously referred to as Tintenblut, is a junior adult novel authored by Cornelia Funke. It received a book of the year recognition under the children’s literature category in 2006, therefore was referred to as the 2006 book sense. This book is the second in the ink world trilogy after...

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...

Snow in August by Pete Hamill

Marketing management is a management discipline that encompasses fields such as strategic planning as well as other processes involved in achieving the objectives of an organization through delivery of quality values to customers. The main focus is aimed satisfying the requirements of the customers. It begins with market research through...

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...

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot

According to the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot” Henrietta lacks who was a poor lady that was serving in a southern tobacco farm. Here she served as a farmer just like her slave ancestors. On Henrietta being diagnosed with cancer, shortly after her death the...

Bartimaeus “An Oasis” by Jonathan Strowd

The meaning of the notion “blindness” may be interpreted literary, as a physical defect of a person, but its figurative meaning is more interesting as it finds its realization in Mark 10: 46-52. The pisode narrates about the healing of the blind beggar named Bartimaeus, who was sitting “by the...

‘The Right Stuff’ Book by Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolf in his book ‘The Right Stuff’ 1979 attempts to talk about the commitment of the pilots in US postwar research with the experimental speed-planes. The title, The Right Stuff dwells around the idea of having the right stuff. Wolfe also documents the tales of the initial development of...

Works of William Carlos William

William Carlos William was both a doctor and writer. He has written poems, drama, as well as short stories. In all his writings, he employed a critical approach when addressing various issues. This essay looks into some of the critical aspects that he tackled in some of his works. One...

The Metaphor of Piece in “The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet

The author, Anne Bradstreet, who is a Puritanical woman from the 17th century, views her literary work of art as a child being born. The metaphor of the piece as a child being conceived and nurtured is the overwhelming image of this poem. It is in keeping with the author’s...

Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and American Society

Handmaid’s Tale is a novel that is set in the year 2195, it is written by Margret Atwood. The society in the novel refers to a lot of examples from the Pre- Gilead era. The main character Offred encounters several challenges that are revealed in the epilogue by Professor Pieixoto....

“Hamlet” by Shakespeare: Scenes Analysis of the Play

This paper is based on scene analysis of the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, the paper critically analyzes the “Ghost Hamlet “ in this drama, which is based on the Novel “The Norton Anthology World Literature”, authored by Sarah Lawall in 2009 and published by W. W. Norton publishers. Over the...

“A Moment’s Decision” by Glynn Sharpe Review

A setting is a very important element of any literature work. Not only does it describe a place where the action occurs, but it also helps the author to describe his emotions, vision of the action described and his attitude to it. It is interesting to analyze how in A...

“Washington Square” Book by Henry James

This story commences in Manhattan at the beginning of the 17th century but it is written from Paris. It is a very interesting story talking about an American setting with American characters. It has several themes including family betrayal, deception, truth, and imagination, and family domesticity among others. However, the...

Bailey Jon and Burch Mary “How Dogs Learn”

There is much written on the issue of “how to train Dogs”; but there are questions and problems addressed better in this book than in any other book on the same. This review is an analysis of how useful this book is in the practice of Dog training. The book...

The Last Soviet Generation: Term Definition

Introduction It now became a commonplace practice among political scientists to refer to seventy years of Soviet Union’s geopolitical existence within methodological framework ‘totalitarianism vs. democracy’. Nevertheless, people who were born and raised in USSR (especially the representatives of Soviet last generation) would strongly disagree with suggestions that, while living...

R. W. Emerson and N. Hawthorne: Human Nature

Introduction People are different with a view to their intellect and abilities, features and appearance, beliefs and views. Some people have good intentions and make good actions; other people do not seem to be good at all. Nevertheless, good and bad actions and even thoughts can be argued; it is...

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’: A Speech That Shaped History

The book I have a dream: Martin Luther King and the Future of Multicultural America by Echols analyses and evaluates the racial relations in American and a unique vision of America by King described in his speech, I have a dream. The first part of the book descries his attitudes...

Discoveries of Other Characters in Three Novels

Introduction Microserfs,a novel by Douglas Coupland is full of interesting characters. These characters have different traits but they are connected by their fascination with the computing world. Daniel Underwood, who is arguably the lead character in the novel, comes to the conclusion that there is life beyond computers. He therefore...

“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Solzhenitsyn

The novel ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is considered to be a prominent work of Russian literature dedicated to the disclosure of life in Soviet labor camp experienced by the protagonist Ivan Denisovich. It is necessary to underline the fact that the author...

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis

Author The author, Joseph John Ellis was born in 1943 and is currently professor at the Mount Holyoke College of History on the Ford Foundation. He wrote the Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation in 2000 and received the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2001 for it. He received his PhD...

“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell Analysis

Richard Connell, a revered novelist and playwright, is the author of the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” which has proved to be a literal masterpiece. Its first edition was published in 1924 by Collier’s Weekly but since then the book has on various occasions been anthologized to symbolize a...

Africa’s Role for African Americans in Literature

According to Countee Cullen, Africa means home to African Americans because it is a continent where they would not be discriminated against because of their color. Africa means the awakening of the African Americans after being oppressed for such a long time when they were working as slaves in America....

“Stitch” by Terry Dowling

Introduction Stitch is an eye catching short story by Terry Dowling. The story is set in a home back ground of aunt Inga who is described as Bella’s Aunt and her husband. It quite a lovely old couple where ,that besides of their old age they are happy to be...

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...

J. Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” Review

The novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin depicts love relations through the lens of the 19th-century ideology and social philosophy of life. To some extent, Austin idealizes love and romantic feelings portraying passion and pre-marriage arrangements. The plot of Sense and Sensibility develops through a set of sub-elements, both...

Latina Females in Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”

Introduction Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” is an illustration of the problems faced by Latin women in a culture laden with racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Society as depicted in the book is being dominated by men, while the Latin women are treated without equality, akin to second-rate beings....

Ancient Traditions: St. Paul, St. Augustine, Virgil

There is no denial that works of literature, cultures and beliefs of different nations are interconnected and interrelated. Moreover, every new narrative or piece of art created by a human is based on previous traditions and consequently establishes the foundation for further development. In this paper, I am going to...

“The House on Mango Street” Book by Sandra Cisneros

Introduction The House on Mango Street is a novel by Sandra Cisneros and tells the story of a young Latina girl, Esperanza Cordero who is brought up in a Chicago neighborhood full of Chicanos and Puerto Ricans. Residents in this neighborhood are so impoverished and full of social ills; everyone...

Love and Loneliness in the Works of R. Carver and B. A. Mason

Introduction Raymond Carver is considered one of the very few contemporary writers who concentrated mainly on short stories and poems. According to many, Raymond revived a dying profession of literature. His literary works are mainly characterized by middle-class characters. Because he mainly wrote on love and loneliness, Raymond was believed...

“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...

Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” Review

Hills like white elephants, is a sort story written by Ernest Hemingway. It is an important piece of Ernest’s work from his second collection of short stories Men without women. Hills like white elephants could be tagged as one of the best writings by Earnest’s. What makes Ernest’s Hills like...

Kakinomoto Hitomaro’s Poems 29 and 30

Conveying the feelings of poets, their works reflect not only the life of the poets’ souls but the state of the culture at a certain period of time. Poems by Kakinomoto Hitomaro included in Man’yoshu implement all the main theoretical achievements of Japanese poetics of the seventh-eighth centuries and illuminate...

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe

Introduction The story Red Death was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is about Fight of prince Prospero against red death, the plague which affected the country. The prince and his companions try to escape from the plague hiding. They stay inside the seven differently decorated rooms. A new...

Creativity in Chopin’s Short Story ‘The Storm’

Artistic creativity may intuitively appear to be simple but in actuality it is a complex phenomenon. Creativity is definitely an elaborate process with the product being an outcome of the implementation of the creativity. It can be stated that art and creativity is fundamentally governed by the flow of emotion...

“The Secret Life of Bees” by Kidd and the “Feast of Love” by Baxter

Two novels under analysis are peculiar for their plot and main ideas. It is no secret that both The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter fuel the problem of love. However, there is a question to be answered: is love...

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner Review

A Rose for Emily is considered to be a short story written by William Faulkner, an American writer. Miss Emily, the central figure of the story, is described as an isolated character living in the atmosphere of totalitarian upbringing. It should be noted that the author creates sophisticated characters perceived...

Creation Myth of the Iroquois Analysis

Every culture on Earth has developed some form of creation myth to explain how they came to be and how they were placed in their environment. This myth typically explains how the land they stand on was formed, how the creatures and plants on this land were made and how...

Analysis of the Character ‘Othello’

Othello is one of the classical literary masterpieces written by William Shakespeare. Known as the dark-skinned Moor of Venice (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002), Othello is a story of the mighty warrior whose life turned into a tragic downfall as he was corrupted by suspicion and jealousy over his wife Desdemona and...

Honor de Balzac’s “A Passion in the Desert”

Introduction Art is an essential part of human life. Literature is a part of art. Literature entertains people, gives them some information, or offers them some ideas to think over. Literature is very important for modern people, it ennobles, especially classic literature. It is impossible to imagine present life without...

The Art of Losing by Elizabeth Bishop

Introduction Elizabeth Bishop has often been portrayed as being detached from her poetry, partly because she often takes an exterior view. However, this is merely her artist’s eye coming through as she uses very co0ncrete imagery to convey her meaning and expects the reader to create most of the message....

“Mama Might Be Better Off Dead” by Laurie K Abraham

Introduction Mama Might Be Better Off Dead is written by Laurie K Abraham (1994) and depicts a profound and unsettling picture of health care from the human perspective. The book is illuminating as also disturbing in telling the story of the devastating illnesses which have become very common in the...

Thoughts from Vallejo’s Pen

While the reader can certainly enjoy Cesar Vallejo’s poetry on first reading, it is impossible to fully understand or appreciate it in isolation. It is necessary to know something about his life and the history of his time to fully grasp the content and to read much of the rest...

Reviews on Gender Articles

When searching the required articles, I followed the necessary requirements. The first article called New Brooms They Say Clean’: Women’s Political Activism on the Ballarat Goldfields, 1854 is a scholarly and peer-reviewed article, as it contains the necessary credentials, namely the information about the author, the author’s Ph.D., and the...

“The Worst Hard Time” by Timothy Egan

National Enterprise Reporter Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and the author of five successful books. His books include masterpieces such as The Good Rain and Lasso the Wind. The worst hard time is a story that centers on the people who were present in America’s high plains in...

Novels by A. Bierce and H. James Comparison

Introduction The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” written by Ambrose Bierce is about the last minutes of a man who was condemned to hanging. Standing at the Owl Creek Bridge, the place of his execution, he never stops thinking about his family and plans his escape. Another...

Cyber-Science, Fiction or Modern Reality?

In their article From Cyborgs to Cyberbodies: The Evolution of the Concept of Techno-Body in Modern Medicine, Andrea Gaggioli et al. strived to provide readers with the insight into the fact that, due to the recent revolutionary breakthroughs in the field of informational technology and biomedicine, the very concept of...

Plato, Aristotle and Preferable Response to Literature

The wisdom of the past can be a perfect source to resort to when one needs advice on the present situation. Ancient Greek civilization has been a recognized treasury of knowledge and philosophic ideas that are topical even nowadays, many centuries later. The names of prominent Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato,...

Negativism in “Othello” by William Shakespeare

Introduction Othello is one of the most popular plays by William Shakespeare. It has a lot of themes that intricate the mind of a viewer and a reader as well. The role of this play is really significant for contemporary human beings. It was outlined by William Shakespeare in the...

Analyzing the Short Story: A Rose for Emily

William Faulkner is often considered as one of the most widely accepted writers in English literature. Faulkner’s story ‘A Rose for Emily’ explains the story of Emily Grierson. Emily Grierson is a strong woman with a great sense of tradition and a very dynamic character. The final paragraph of Faulkner’s...

Traditions of Magical Realism in Juan Rulfo’s Short Novel Pedro Paramo

Juan Rulfo’s short novel Pedro Paramo is one of the most eminent Latin American works in literature along with novels by Marquez and Borges. In this respect, the analysis of the novel gives a specific evaluation of it in terms of the traditions of magical realism. The reality which is...

Facing East From Indian Country by Daniel Richter

Introduction Facing East from Indian Country by Daniel Richter is not the first book written about the Native Americans. A number of other researchers spent their lives trying to identify what the Indian’s New World was like. As far as Richter’s book is concerned, it can be definitely stated that...

“Cultural Literacy and Critical Literacy” by Donald Lazere

Donald Lazere has devoted his numerous works to the matter of critical thinking in the modern culture. In his Cultural Literacy and Critical Literacy (1992), Lazere focuses on the notion of the critical literacy, which, in his opinion, is rather important for the intellectual potential of an individual. He has...

“The Hero With a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell

A hero strikes one as an individual whose personal attributes elicit admiration both before and after their death. Mythology presents a hero as one with great strength and courage, one who is widely celebrated for bold exploits. Making such a unique character entails a process as Joseph has explained in...

Anna’s Sacrifice in My Sister’s Keeper by Jodie Picolt

This paper analyses the role of Anna Fitzgerald and her character traits in the novel “My sister’s keeper” which was written by Jodi Picoult became the best-selling novel in the United States of America in 2004. “My sister’s keeper” novel is basically about a thirteen-year-old young lady Anna Fitzgerald who...

Myth About the Selkies Narrates About the Seal People

The Ireland is a country of ancient myths and traditions whose magical stories are emotional and appealing. Those narrations are always a mixture of love and hate, sufferings and pleasure, joy and grief. The myth about the Selkies narrates about the seal people who have all the qualities of the...

“The Hearts Is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers

Introduction The heart is a lonely heart is a novel that created literally sensation in American literature history. This book was the first to be awarded for the recognition of plight of the oppressed, the mistreated, the forgotten and the rejected populations of the United States of America (Johnson 23)....

“The Crescent City Lynchings” by Tom Smith

Tom Smith’s book “The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans “Mafia” Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob” is about the some past violent and related events back in 1800. The events took place in New Orleans. In 1980’s New Orleans was a different place than...

Sacagawea: Biography and Book Critique

Introduction The stories about Indian people are always fascinating and mysterious. It does not matter whether they concern the way of life of Indian tribes or explore the life of a separate person, they do it in a way that the readers forget about everything that surrounds them and give...

Vampires: From Ghoulish Demons to Stylish Icons

Vampires are probably the most popular mythical creatures, having some manner of cultural existence across the globe. In every culture and mythical folklore across the globe there has been some reference to a creature very similar to the vampire. The vampire myth has not been confined to Europe but has...

“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”...

“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

The poem dramatizes the conflict between nature and the worldly activities, Frost places emphasis on natural things and reinforces his point that natural things are much better and beautiful than the worldly things. The poem is extremely well written and it is written in monosyllables throughout. Lines like “My little...

“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...

Kate Chopin: Early Feminist Writer

There are many early feminist writers who wrote prolifically in the late 19th century up to the early phase of the 20th century. In this study the focus will be on early feminist writers that came from the South. This means that they are female writers who are not only...

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Introduction Written by Dante Alighieri in the fourteenth century, The Divine Comedy is considered to be one of the most captivating epic poems in literature. Dante’s Inferno paints an edgy and imaginative vision of the Christian afterlife by combining classical Christian influences with a classic touch of Renaissance culture. The...

An Independent Woman in American Literature

What is the place of a woman in modern society? Should a woman be a classical housewife and the ‘mother of the family’ or a modern independent businesswoman with a strong position in the so-called ‘men’s world’? Today we have a right to choose. Today we have equal rights and...

“I Too” and “The Ballard Of Landlord”

Introduction In their works, the two poets send out a message that indicates that something is wrong in the society. Discrimination of the human being in any form is an injustice. This is because once someone is discriminated against he is automatically denied a chance to compete and be like...

Anne Sexton’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”

Anne Sexton’s poem “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” has been commonly referred to as such that represents the classical example of so-called “feminist poetry”, in which the motifs of depression and hypertrophied sexuality define such poetry’s semiotics. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of literary reviews of this...

Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks compresses a lot of meaning in a few short lines, in her poem “We Real Cool”, on page 649 of The Bedford Compact Introduction to Literature. Following a student review of Chapters 18-20, one can appropriately analyze this poem. The author utilizes various poetic devices to get...

Breaking Free of Tradition. Poetry

Early American Poetry Poetic tradition in America followed that in Britain for nearly 200 years. The Puritan poets, like Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, likened their work to the British metaphysical poets, and followed in the footsteps of Milton, Spenser and Donne, among others. Their poetry was highly didactic, mostly...

“A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams, is the author of the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ which was produced on Broadway in the year 1947. The play won many awards and was adapted to a film in 1951. The theme of the play is the decaying South and its arrogance, inability to accept truth...

Gaius Valerius Catullus’s Poetical Works

Gaius Valerius Catullus was Roman poet that lived in the 1st century BC. His works are still popular among the readers due to their liberalism and in-depth perception of love. Catullus was also famous for his “angry love poem”. Catullus creative but short life (84-54 BC) was devoted to the...

“Afterimage” by Helen Humphreys

Literature is a source for human imagination. It is impossible to imagine our world without literature. When people read a book they are involved in the process with such power that it is sometimes impossible for them to tear themselves away from the book. People relax when they read books,...

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...

Jane Austen’s and Her Works’ Influences

Have you ever thought where the works of imaginative literature come from? The writers create them when inspired, but what is inspiration? It is nothing less than the genius that enables people to commit their thoughts to paper in such a way that these thoughts are embodied in words in...

The “Substance of Things Hoped For” by Samuel Dewitt Proctor

A crucial mechanism for survival in the black community’s struggle The “substance of things hoped for” is a crucial mechanism for survival in the black community’s struggle because it is extremely important not only to dream about freedom and prosperity but to follow the dream and embody the plans and...

Nigeria in “No Longer at Ease”

Chinua Achebe is one of the most popular African writers of the twentieth century, who presents the culture and traditions of early African tribes and communities in his works. Born in Ogidi, Nigeria, he depicts the life of people in Nigeria, colonialism, and its effects on their lives. His works...

Mystic Features in “Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier

The short tale “don’t look now” by Daphne du Maurier has incredible fright. The story started off at a family home in England. It involved a blissful couple John and Laura Baxter. One day, as a routine, they were seated calmly within their home compound with their children playing. Their...

Anouilh and Levi: Dehumanization and Degradation

Introduction Literature is one of the types of art which charm everybody. Literature may entertain and give some food for thoughts, especially if we take into consideration some serious pieces of writing. Every work of any writer is called to deliver some important information to the reader, any writer inserts...

Analysis of the Novel “Fahrenheit 451”

Introduction “Fahrenheit 451” is a science fiction written by Ray Bradbury. Its publishing year was 1953. It tells about the future of the American modern society. Fahrenheit 451 indicates the measurement of the temperature. Its name is related to the job of the hero of this novel. After reading this...

Gettysburg Battle. “Lost Triumph” by Tom Carhart

There are many books on history written by different historians and scholars, and even by those people who are of little touch with the discussed issue. Some historical events have contradictory nature because of a lack of information that was not properly documented. Such events are doomed to provoke different...

“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift

Although Henry David Thoreau and Jonathan Swift in different historical periods, both of them actually address the ways and methods of social change in their respective essays “Civil Disobedience” and “A Modest Proposal”. In the work entitled “Civil Disobedience”, David Thoreau provides the ideas, which could be categorized as the...

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...