6031 samples of this type
In his work Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe chronicles the tale of Okonkwo, a strong and respected member of the Igbo society in Nigeria. Achebe uses language and style to develop him into a complex and multi-faceted character. He is presented as someone who is both strong and fragile, self-assured...
Introduction “B. Wordsworth” is a short story written by V. S. Naipaul, a Trinidad-born descendant of indentured workers shipped from India, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The story is about the relationship between a young boy (from whose perspective we see the story unfold), and a man named Black...
Poetry is one of the literary texts which gives the writer full control over what they wish to write. Unlike prose, a poem is well shaped and has a logical order which begins with delight and finishes with wisdom. Robert Frost’s essay, “The Figure A Poem Makes,” written in 1939,...
The “Flight” is a novel written by Sherman Alexie about an American teenager who calls himself zits. Sherman wrote this novel from the first-person perspective of Native American youth. Zits is depicted as a foster child who has spent most of his life moving from house to house and contending...
Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” and John Donne’s “Death be not proud” have personified death from different perspectives. Personification is an imperative figure used for a long time in literature to enable the audience to connect with the subject described (Sigvardsson 559). It includes giving...
Chaucer is considered the father of the English language and the founder of realism. His work marked in the history of English literature the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and the establishment of new principles for depicting life and the disclosure of human character. There are three...
In The Great Gatsby, many of the characters have questionable ethics. The story, written by Scott Fitzgerald, reflects a society where moral decadence thrives. Although the characters do not directly express their ethical positions on issues, their lack of ethical principles can be inferred from their actions. Additionally, they act...
Introduction Inspired by the effects of the World War I on soldiers, Ernest Hemingway, published a short story titled Soldier’s Home, based on the life a soldier named Krebs, who struggles to cope with life after coming back from war. The book was first published in 1925 by the Contact...
The Necklace is one of the best-known short stories by Guy de Maupassant, the French novelettist of the second half of the 19th century. Similarly to a range of his other works, this one describes the life of the middle class along with a fate of a woman. A peculiarity...
Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path” demonstrates the conflicts between European values and the traditional Ndume culture. Michael Obi, who came to the village as a headmaster of the school, aimed to cultivate modern values for local youngsters. However, when he refused to open the holy footpath, the villagers ruined the...
“Spare Change” by Teresa Zsuffa is a story that tells about a short episode from the lives of two women, but it reveals several important themes and motives. The main thesis of the story is the idea that people should not give in to their bias but be kind to...
The writer created Animal Farm work during the Second World War from 1943 to 1944, but it was published only in 1945 in Great Britain. The book belongs to the genre of satire and is a parody of the Russian revolution of 1917. In the Soviet Union, however, it was...
Introduction Poetry can take many forms and use a variety of rhyme types and literary devices. Despite the diversity of forms, poems have one thing in common: they elicit deep feelings from people’s souls and make readers reflect on important philosophical questions. This essay will discuss two pieces of poetry:...
Introduction This essay focuses on the analysis of Tony Morrisson’s short story “Recitatif.” The issue of race is explored throughout the story, with Morrison introducing the setting and one character as a “strange place with a girl from a whole other race” (1). Through the interactions between Twyla and Roberta,...
Introduction Romanticism is an artistic movement that united various creators from different epochs and determined the characteristic peculiarities of creative thought of the time. Originated at the end of the eighteenth century in Europe, Romanticism influenced the development of art in its many forms throughout the nineteenth century and beyond....
Yoshiko Uchida’s Journey Home is written about a Japanese American family which undergoes various hurdles during their way back to home. The author Yoshiko Uchida herself belonged to an immigrant family. The novel is an autobiographical account of Uchida who saw the horrors of the aftermath of the Second World...
Raymond Carver’s short stories pens down a world where people constantly struggle for their self-respect and meaning for existence. This rustic feel about his short fictions exemplifies his life. Born in 1938, Raymond grew up in Pacific Northwest in a rustic environment, which had an inevitable effect on his writing...
In the novel In His Steps, Charles M. Sheldon explores the problems in society by observing the city of Raymond through the eyes of different characters. Sheldon’s goal was to “urge Christians to join forces to ameliorate social ills” (Smith 114). This essay examines the characters’ thoughts on Raymond. The...
A reader who makes serious effort to analyze the short story The Chrysanthemums,/can comprehend the signs of the autobiographical elements of the writer John Steinbeck. The story is considered one of Steinbeck’s most gifted short stories. Author builds up the story through the eventful life of woman named Elisa Allen...
Over the past years, the novel “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan has been attracting attention of scholars and researchers interested in cultural studies. A number of scholarly works have been dedicated to the analysis of this novel; the researchers explored such aspects of the novel as mother-and-daughter relations,...
Introduction The Victorian age is at once identified generally as a time of nostalgic perfection and rigid oppression. It is the age of change and social advances as well as the age of the strict social structure and a severe regard for the customs of the past. During the later...
Introduction Wislawa Szymborska is considered to be an outstanding Polish poet and essayist. Her works stand out from all others by their prominent character and individuality. The author’s style is unique and expressive; she always tries to differentiate her poems from others by disclosure of major philosophical and ethical themes....
Introduction Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein raises a number of social issues such as the disapproval of the female gender in society. The social class, as depicted in the novel, is split along gender lines that marginalize women as a result of the existence of a predominant patriarchal structure. Also, a...
Introduction Alexander Pope is one of the most renowned British poets who glorified his native land and his people. He is specifically famous for the use of heroic themes and imagery that made his works successful during his lifetime and still popular in modern times (Fairer and Gerrard 114). One...
Introduction William Bradford’s “Traveling through the Dark” seems to present its setting in the very title, but further analysis of the poem allows discerning that the “dark” has two shades of meaning. The direct connotation of the dark is the time of the day when the events are happening. The...
Ch 5, Pg 38 “That’s all,” she replied, returning the bottle to the cupboard. “But you mustn’t forget. I’ll remind you for the first weeks, but then you must do it on your own. If you forget, the Stirrings will come back. The dreams of the Stirrings will come back....
“Little Red Riding Hood” is one of the tales that seem simple yet addresses complex social issues such as sexual predators, stalking, date rape, and many others. It is the way in which a comparatively old fairy tale shapes relationships and interactions in modern society that seems to be especially...
Introduction William Faulkner is one of the great authors of American History. “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily” are counted as his best pieces in American literature. Both stories reflect the values pertaining to a typical Old Southern American society. Faulkner, through these two stories, has very intellectually illustrated...
Introduction The Canterbury Tales is perhaps one of the most popular collections of tales from the 14th century. It is a collection of stories told by Geoffrey Chaucer who remains one of the significant contributors to literature in the 14th century. In this collection, Chaucer who doubles up as the...
Introduction The short story “The Man Who Went to Chicago” by Wright offers insight into Richard, a black man in the 1960s, as he changes jobs and encounters new environments. As the narrator takes on each new occupation, he learns more about himself and the world he now lives in....
Introduction A Raisin in the Sun is a play about racial prejudice demonstrated by the Younger family. Beneath Younger is a 20-year-old college student at the crossroads of choosing a future career (Hansberry, 2021). This character is my favorite; she speaks out four crucial life lessons: finding a life path,...
Introduction Gender is one of the most impactful and noticeable topics and aspects of Anne Sexton’s poem “Her Kind.” She was very concerned about the sense of alienation in a highly conformist and binding society, which was especially worrisome given the time period when the poem was published and the...
Why Sir Gawain Is a Chivalrous Knight Sir Gawain, the main character in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” is frequently seen as a chivalrous knight because he follows the principles of chivalry. His behavior in the story shows his dedication to chivalrous values like honor, allegiance, and bravery. Nevertheless,...
Natasha Trethewey is an American poet and a two-time United States Poet Laureate. She is the author of six poetry collections, one of which, Thrall, was published in 2012 and earned critical praise and the public’s love. With her ekphrastic poetry, Trethewey charts the intersections of social and personal history...
Oscar Wilde has employed humor in writing The Importance of Being Earnest play. The play comically ridicules cultural norms regarding truthfulness, love, and marriage in the Victorian Era. One of the humor elements that Wilde uses throughout the text is puns. The play’s title consists of the word “earnest,” which...
Introduction The role of analyzing literary works includes revealing their literal and symbolic meanings. In literature, poets develop poems to communicate specific messages to the readers literally or symbolically. In relation to “Moving Camp Too Far” by Nila northSun, one can decipher the different techniques the poet used to deliver...
Introduction The horror literature of the Victorian era contains references to class relations, women’s roles in society, and the family and often deals with the psychological aspects of fear. An example of such work is Elizabeth Gaskell’s Old Nurse’s Story, which raises questions about family relations, class relations, hypocrisy and...
Introduction The story tells about a young woman, who has been diagnosed with clinical depression. Instead of medication, she chooses to go winter camping. During the trip, the woman takes her two dogs with her. She follows the advice given to her by a friend about winter camping and how...
Background It is hard to disagree that the topic of the family may be difficult and heartbreaking for many people. To make it easier to relive happy or sad memories of the family, some poets devote their poems to this topic. For example, in “My Wicked Wicked Ways,” written in...
Symbolism is a vital aspect of every play, and the author employs symbols to provide greater depth to a space. In Tennessee Williams’ drama, The Glass Menagerie, he explores three unique individuals, their hopes, and the harsh reality they encounter in contemporary society. The Glass Menagerie depicts the lost hopes...
Summary The short story “Desiree’s Baby,” written by Kate Chopin, touches upon various cultural, psychological, and philosophical topics. Within this story, Chopin discusses the issues of unconditional love, acceptance, self-identification, and race (Hassan and Tayib 139). The last problem has always been the severe obstacle to establishing understanding within different...
Sweat is a short shorty written by Zora Neale Hurston. It centers around the marital conflict between a hardworking Christian washerwoman, Delia, and her abusive and unfaithful husband, Sykes (Hurston). After 15 years of marriage, Sykes is attempting to evict Delia out of their common household to move in his...
The poem “I Think It Rains” by Soyinka possesses a distinctive structure, which in itself is built in metaphor. A hard-to-follow narrative results from the poet’s ability to express his ideas in rain-like drops, using the images of rain and smoke to explore the author’s state of mind. The rain...
Introduction Prince Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is considered one of literature’s most complex and intriguing characters. The depths of his emotion, the impact of psychological trauma, and the everbearing moral conflict within him contribute to a seemingly erratic but also highly philosophical character. In finishing Act one of the drama,...
Introduction Trifles is a short play composed by Susan Glaspell and revolves around the killing of John Wright and the murder apprehension of his wife, Mrs. Minnie Wright. Despite being written more than a hundred years ago, its primary subject, the difference in the perspective between males and females, is...
“Out, Out” is a poem by the US poet Robert Frost published in Frost’s Mountain Interval collection in 1916, and based on the actual incident which occurred to the son of Frost’s friend. The poem starts in remote Vermont, where his sister calls a young boy chopping firewood with a...
Introduction Published in 1884, Guy de Maupassant’s short story with the ambiguous title “The Necklace” is an excellent example of a work with an unexpected ending that forces the reader to rethink the artistic narrative. Along with the psychological issues of the conflict of desires and opportunities, the instability of...
Introduction Beloved by Toni Morrison is an allegory of emotional and physical trauma caused by slavery. It is illustrated through the story of a black woman haunted by her daughter’s ghost that she murdered to save her from servantry’s fate. The genre used in this novel is called magical realism,...
Reliance on clear language and direct visual images separated the works of the Imagists and Emily Dickinson from the late Victorian poetry. Instead of the elaborate verse where images served as decorations illustrating the text’s main idea, the exacting visual image articulated with painstaking clarity became the poem’s essence –...
In Shakespeare’s play, Lady Macbeth is revealed as an ambitious woman, overwhelmed with her desire to become a queen. She proves her strong verbal influence on her husband, who does not dare to challenge fate. Shakespeare created a vivid female character, combining a craving for villainy and the inability to...
Introduction Njal’s saga is one of the most iconic works of literature from medieval Iceland. The story was written in the thirteenth century by an unknown author with a 9th – 10th century setting in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The story features many characters ranging from Njáll Þorgeirsson, a wise lawyer,...
Regardless of the period the literary text is written, the message it tries to express through black ink is often relative for many decades. An example of this kind of works is the excerpts written by Keats, Yeats, and Orwell. The writers invoke philosophical ideas and provoke readers’ thoughts by...
Introduction The Epic of Gilgamesh is an instrumental literary work not only because it is one of the earliest surviving pieces of literature but also because it offers an insight into the lives of earlier societies. According to many scholars, the epic focuses on the figure of a real Sumerian...
Introduction The problem of the genre of tragedy in the work of Shakespeare as a whole still remains open. It is multifaceted and includes both questions from the field of the history of genres and the question of the philosophical content of Shakespeare’s plays in connection with the category of...
The borderland is a special subjectivity and self-awareness of the one who cannot cross the border but lives inside its rift. In her poem “To Live in the Borderlands,” Mexican-American frontier philosopher, poet, writer, and Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldua describes the experience of people inhabiting the space between several different...
Introduction Short stories and reading overall sometimes seem to be simply a form of entertainment. However, in reality, characters in these writings often provide readers with answers to the questions of the meaning of life or the importance of various values. A story by Ernest Hemingway called “Hills Like White...
Introduction The House on Mango Street is the novel by Sandra Cisneros, the famous American author with Mexican roots. The plot of the novel is based on such well-known concept in the philosophy as the American dream, which means a strong commitment to achievement of better life and the pursuit...
One cannot say that the book “Life of Pi” is devoted to animals, like, for instance, the books by Seton Thomson or Gerald Durrell, who express their love of wildlife in books. In contrast to them, Martel presents a philosophic and religiously oriented account of the life of a human...
Introduction Every woman wants to be graceful and refined, beautiful and elegant, admirable and fascinating. Though the appearances can be deceptive, it is natural for people to pretend to be what they really want to be. Women are considered to be more deceptive than men because they use their natural...
“Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler tells the story of a disturbed teenager, Donny, from the perspective of his mother, Daisy Coble. After Donny’s parents, Matt and Daisy Coble, learn that he is struggling at school, they take various steps to help him improve, including appointing a tutor, Cal. However, all...
Introduction / Thesis Ever since George Orwell’s famous novel “1984” has been published in 1949, its semiotic significance was being discussed from a variety of political and sociological perspectives, with most literary critics concluding that “1984” was meant to increase people’s awareness as to the sheer wickedness of Communism, as...
Mary Flannery O’Connor authored the short essay “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” in a style and manner that is not often seen in women writers. She chose to deal with the real-life issues of parent-child relationships and violent murders. Certainly not a genre that women authors are known...
Outline The following paper discusses portrayal of racism in ‘passage to India’ by bringing the relationship between the concept of racism and the contents of the novel. The analysis focuses to establish whether the content of the novel establishes at any point either resistance to racism, or it submits to...
Literature has a way of continuing to explore many of the same themes that seem to plague mankind throughout history. One of the common themes that continues to appear throughout much of earlier literature is a representation of women as nearly hysterical creatures that needed the guiding and calming hand...
Introduction In the short story “The Overcoat” N. Gogol portrays a small man influenced by social conditions and urban city. The main character of the story is Akakii Akakievich, who works as a clerk copying documents. His single intense desire is not for a rifle, but for an overcoat to...
Charles Dickens is believed to be one of the most prominent writers of the so-called Victorian Era. He is renowned for his style, creation of unique and unforgettable characters, but the overwhelming majority of literary critics focus attention on his social sensitivity because undoubtedly, the authors works often concentrate on...
The novel Wuthering Heights was published by Emily Bronte in 1847, and it is considered to be one of the best-written novels of the Victorian Age. Emily Bronte published the novel under the pseudonym of Ellis Bell. “In the century since its publication, Wuthering Heights, like the play of Shakespeare...
Introduction Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is an American writer whose works were never given proper appreciation to when he was alive. This was a person who died with a firm belief that he was a failure. Most of his works refer to the period of Jazz Age, the name he...
The Bog Girl is a short story by Karen Russell that was published in The New Yorker in 2016. It describes a fictional scenario where Cillian, a teenager born to a single teenage mother, finds a well-preserved dead girl in a bog and falls in love with her. His environment...
The end of the 19th century was marked by a rethinking of the role of women in civil society. It resulted in a movement against discrimination of women in political and economic life. Kate Chopin, an American novelist and short-story writer from St. Louis, was one of the first feminist...
Introduction The tragicomedy The Tempest by the great playwright William Shakespeare is an outstanding and world-famous work that is full of quotes and sayings, which, in turn, have become catchphrases. Some characters of this story are endowed with magical powers, which allows the author to convey his subtexts and ideas...
Introduction ‘Trifles’ is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell. It was written in 1916. Glaspell tells a true story about a murder that happened in a small town in Lowa. The narrative revolves around a farmer named John Wright. The man was murdered by a person who strung a rope...
In his book ‘Night’, author Eli Wiesel depicts several dynamics that affect the relationship between Elie and his father. The two characters are confined in a concentration camp during the Second World War after leaving their home in Siget. Like the other Jews in concentration camps, Eliezer (Elie) and his...
Introduction After reading the short story ‘A & P’, one will be forgiven for believing that Sammy quit his job as a result of his immature, childlike behavior (Uphaus 23). However, a critical analysis of the character will reveal that Sammy did not quit his job on principle grounds. On...
“The Road Not Taken” is a mostly reflective poem written by Robert Frost. This poem is primarily about the choices one makes in life. Once someone makes a choice, it is usually for better or for worse, according to this poem. The poem utilizes symbolism as a reflective tool. For...
The issue of money has always been actual. Life of people changed greatly with the appearance of this remedy. Moreover, sometimes money is even said to be the main value in human relations. Very often, people prefer rich and careless existence in a golden cage to some bright and happy,...
One of the great things about William Shakespeare’s plays is that he was usually able to offer insight into the psychology of his characters. The dramatic play King Lear is no exception. Intended to be performed before an Elizabethan audience, the main action of the game follows the path of...
Introduction The Godfather and Hamlet are two works of art that have enthralled audiences for decades in their respective genres. One is a mid-century American crime drama, and the other is a tragedy set in medieval Denmark. Themes like power, family, loyalty, and betrayal are nevertheless prevalent in both texts....
Introduction Various historical events have shaped the culture and life in the United States. Revolutions, wars, discoveries, and economic growth influenced people’s perceptions of life. This essay will explore the peculiarities of the Great Depression (1929-1939) in the U.S. and its influence on American literature (Pierce 5). The Great Depression...
Introduction Shakespeare and Sophocles, among other playwrights, have skillfully tackled the sensitive topic of perseverance in the face of catastrophe in their works of classic literature. Their plays, Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, are enduring examples of how the human spirit can persevere in extreme tragedy. Two royal characters caught in...
Introduction August Wilson’s “Fences” is a poignant exploration of the complexities within father-son relationships, set against the backdrop of 1950s Pittsburgh. The play not only delves into the personal struggles of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player turned garbage collector, but also provides a profound examination of how...
Introduction “Salvation” by Langston Hughes is a poignant coming-of-age story about a young boy who has a religious revival and experiences a crisis of faith. The story centers around the themes of innocence, peer pressure, and the struggle between societal expectations and personal beliefs. Summary The story starts with the...
Introduction Dolores Dante, the protagonist of Studs Terkel’s story, is a seasoned waitress with twenty years of expertise. Amidst the restaurant’s din, Dolores is the object of an in-depth investigation. More than just a professional journey, her story takes shape as a thread in the fabric of the working class....
Introduction In Mary Shelley’s book “Frankenstein,” the main idea is that trying to learn too much can lead to big problems. The story follows Victor Frankenstein, a guy who wants to learn everything and makes a monster. This theme of wanting too much knowledge and the problems that come with...
Understanding Cultural Relativism and Ethical Absolutism Moral absolutism and cultural relativism are ethical understandings of social behaviors and actions. Moral absolutism holds that universal codes of conduct must be adhered to regardless of context. In particular, a moral absolutist believes that right and wrong are immutable and cannot be excused...
Introduction For many centuries, literature has been a crucial part of society as a means of education and a lens through which society’s conditions are seen and analyzed. Many literary theories have been formulated to answer the how and why of literature and its connection to society. Stougaard-Nielsen (2019) notes...
The poem “Woman’s work” by Julia Alvarez shows that nothing is impossible in this world. She discusses women’s domestic role and their contribution to the family (Hussain). Alvarez looks at how the mother’s story about obsessively cleaning the house affected the lives of many people around the world. Based on...
The novel chosen for analysis is The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, published in 2019. The Nickel Boys is the story of Elwood Curtis, an African American teenager in the 1960s who gets convicted at the Nickel Academy juvenile reformatory. In Nickel Academy, Elwood witnesses and experiences violence, racism, and...
People often create heroes in their minds and desperately try to follow their example. However, nobody is perfect, and a heroic image usually collides with the harsh reality of our world. As a result, a person who believed in their hero may become traumatized by the experience. In the first...
Angelou’s poem, Still, I rise, incorporates figurative language in stanza five. The speaker uses metaphor in the first and second lines of stanza five to express her view and emotions toward racists. “… shoot me with your words” Angelou (line 21) and “you may cut me with your eyes…” Angelou...
Introduction Among well-known coming-of-age novels in the world’s history, Little Women has just been recognized by academics as one of the most powerful Bildungsroman novels for its ability to depict the growth and maturity of the characters. The work by Louisa May Alcott, written in the 19th century, is a...
Introduction The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland is an example of a verse that represents the topics of conformity and rebellion. The author emphasizes the connections between economic issues and conformity, showing that people do not see their natural desires and inclinations because they are busy consuming products. In the...
In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen explores the theme of love and marriage. In particular, he is searching for the answers to whether there is love in marriage and how a successful marriage should be. In addition, he reflects upon the role of social standards and expectations in relation to...
Introduction In a 1962 speech at Scripps College, Rachel Carson helped kickstart mainstream environmental and conservationist movements. She focuses on how humanity has interacted with nature in historical and modern times. Carson uses her understanding of the man-nature relationship to establish the concept of the former against the latter. Carson...
Introduction In Everyday Use, Walker deals with controversial topics for African-Americans, both generations and cultures. The author raises the question of rather do individuals need to give up their African-American roots and more common families when they leave home and embrace the African-American heritage. The problem is primarily African-American, but...
Anne Bradstreet’s “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” presents the reader with a vivid picture of a woman yearning for her beloved spouse to return to her and her children. Given the fact that the author lived in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts, one could expect that the...
Scholars have long debated whether or not Beowulf is a Christian allegory or a wholly pagan work with only a smattering of Old Testament allusions. This debate has lasted for the entire length of the epic. In biblical analysis, Cain’s image is often utilized as a metaphor to denote disorder...
Introduction Never Let Me Go novel highlights the life of a group of clones and their lives when growing up. Kathy, the protagonist, narrates her life in Hailsham, a school of future organ donors. Kathy is now a ‘carer’ but tells her story as a flashback. The memory also speaks...
McKay wrote the sonnet “If We Must Die” in 1919. The audience for this poem was the Black community that was suffering violence due to white supremacy. Even though slavery had been abolished decades earlier, Black people still experiences social injustices. McKay urges his kinsmen to be courageous in the...
The novel Invisible Man is rightfully perceived as one of the pillars of American classical literature. Its main themes include identity, racial oppression and prejudice, civil rights, radicalism, and the contradiction between an internal and an external vision of oneself. The identity turmoil specifically acts as a central conflict of...
The United States is a multicultural country that has many variations of its official language. For example, according to Britton (2021), more than 20% of the American population have a mother tongue language other than English. An increasing number of international students in the U.S. created “ethnolinguistic diversity” (Britton, 2021,...
The poem under analysis is “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and focuses on the necessity of humility and hope. The mariner is a messenger for the wedding guest concerning the message to deliver to the couple. Although the wedding guest shows patience with the mariner’s persistent essence in the...
The story “The Man Who Planted Trees” was written by the French writer Jean Giono in 1953. It tells the story of an old man who spent thirty years of his life planting trees in a valley in France, transforming the once barren land into a blooming garden. The story...
Introduction The problem of gender inequality has affected the relationships within society extensively, shaping people’s perceptions of themselves and the extent of their potential significantly. As a force that has caused multiple women to suffer injustice, gender inequality has been the center of numerous discussions and inspirations for artistic interpretations,...
“The Veldt” is a short science fiction story by Ray Bradbury published in 1950. Concerned with rapid technological development and the spread of consumerism philosophy among Americans, the author sought to warn his readers about the possible negative impacts of these tendencies on individuals and society. The writer argues that...
“The Double Image” is a rather significant and famous confessional poem written by Anne Sexton. This is an increasingly severe and profound literary work that can have various meanings and interpretations. The poet tells about her most intimate parts of life and her way through post-traumatic stress disorder. It is...
Introduction The Oedipus play by Sophocles truly stood the test of time. The themes of fate and predestination revealed in the play are universal and have aroused interest centuries after they were first introduced in 429 BC. The mysteries of fate remain unsolved and continue to excite the imagination of...
Broken Chains is a story written by Gary Soto, the main character of which is the boy Alfonso, who did not have a sense of belonging to a group he is in. In turn, the short story Fish Creeks, written by Amy Tan, tells a young Chinese girl’s drama based...
Drama is one of the most vital forms of art and may be considered as the heart of literature. It developed simultaneously in Ancient Greece, China, Japan, and other countries, and since then a significant number of theatres, tragedies, comedies, and dramas were created (“A brief history of tragedy,” n.d.)....
Introduction Love, especially tragic love, appears to be a common theme in Romanticist literature. As a poet of this literary movement, Edgar Allan Poe contributed to the tendency with “Annabel Lee.” Its central themes are the youthful love and death of a beloved woman. The text seemingly became one of...
Hamlet is an outstanding tragedy by William Shakespeare, which is considered an example of skillful language and complicated plot. The play has always drawn the attention of researchers, and even today, litterateurs still analyze its peculiarities. Through his vivid characters, Shakespeare speaks about eternal issues: the problems of doubts, love,...
The European colonists dominated over the Africans by disempowering them by introducing religious ideas that openly challenged their beliefs from an outside perspective. These white settlers managed to cause conflicts between those who are learned and then plant in those new Christian ideas. They also established a government that harassed...
Undoubtedly, theater is great art serving vital purposes; however, these purposes can vary. In order to explain them, it is necessary to resort to the recognized authorities in the field. The analysis of the concepts of theater by Artaud and Brecht promises nontrivial results due to their different philosophical grounds...
A Doll’s House is one of the many plays written by a Norwegian playwright and theatre director Henrik Johan Ibsen. Now Ibsen is often referred to as one of the most influential writers of his time and even as “a father of realism”. In this work, the plot revolves around...
Introduction The book by Scot Fitzgerald is hailed as a criticism on the period of materialism during the post-war America when people seemed to pursue relaxation and individual satisfaction. It was a time when alcohol was controlled, and through this, a plot was begun: a bootlegger becoming rich in the...
Emily Bronte is a Victorian female writer perhaps best known for her novel Wuthering Heights. However, she also published several poems, many of which are recognized today for their powerful emotion and distinct voice so unlike the poetic voice of the other female poets of her day. Her poetry was...
Fyodor Dostoevsky became a classic of Russian and world literature due to his ability to feel the subtle psychology of broken people, to create them in his works so that they seem frighteningly real. In the novel Crime and Punishment, the author tells readers about the tragic events in the...
Irony in Everything That Rises Must Converge is one of the most prominent literary devices. Another example is irony in A Rose for Emily, which is connected to its theme. Read this sample to learn more about the use of irony in these short stories. Introduction Irony is a common...
Introduction Daughter of Invention by Julia Alvarez describes the lives of the family of Immigrants upon their arrival to the U.S. The story centers on the protagonist’s attempts to write a school speech. The following paper analyzes the main character’s upbringing process to determine its influence on her as a...
The mastery of a writer can make the readers sympathize for the characters’ destinies and their overcoming many difficulties in life according to the writer’s intentions but in spite of the traditional opinions and prevalent public’s visions. Blanche DuBois is the main character of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named...
William Blake’s poems called “The Tyger” and “The Lamb” belong to the collection of the poet’s works called “The Songs of Innocence and Experience.” This collection is divided into two parts. The first part, called “The Songs of Innocence” was published in 1789, this part contains various poems, one of...
Introduction The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer represents Greek culture, as it traces an essential association with its rich heritage and the author’s contribution. Homer’s narrative, written around the 8th century BC, manifests human strength, endurance, and readiness to overcome challenges. Having become the motivation of Greek culture, the...
Introduction Haruki Murakami is a renowned Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist known for his unique blend of magical realism, surrealism, and existentialism. He was born in Kyoto, Japan, and grew up in Kobe, where his parents owned a library (Ali 442). This environment exposed him to various literature, including...
Introduction George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” is a masterpiece of English literature, which has been analyzed and discussed by scholars and critics worldwide. The piece is a reflection on the author’s experiences in Burma as an imperial police officer, during which he had to kill an elephant to keep...
Introduction “Fences” by August Wilson masterfully explores the African American experience in 1950s America, delving into race, personal ambition, and familial obligations. Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player turned garbage collector, stands at the center of the narrative. This essay contends that Troy’s character remains static, entrenched in...
Thesis Statement The ’12 Labors of Hercules,’ a thought-provoking story from Greek mythology, is instructive and can be applied in many ways today. The topic of the study is the timeless nature of the narratives about Hercules’ feats and what insight they provide today. After comprehensively researching selected relevant sources,...
Introduction Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stands out in the broad expanse of contemporary literature as a light of eloquence and emotional depth. “To My One Love” is set in modern-day Nigeria, a country wrestling with its post-colonial identity, societal standards, and the complexities of human relationships. This setting is critical because...
Introduction Following the hero Odysseus as he seeks to return home after the Trojan War, Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey” takes readers on a trip laden with both physical and emotional hardships. Odysseus and Penelope, two important characters in the story, stand out for their distinct characteristics and hardships. While...
Introduction Monkey’s Paw is a horror short story by William Wymark Jacobs, first published in England in 1902. The story has quickly become a classic of English literature since then, sparking conversations on various topics. This critical analysis will prove that the short story asks essential questions on fate, greed,...
The poem “Greed” by Philip Schultz discusses several social problems, including inequality in the United States and the inability to become happy. The message of this poem is relevant to most people because these issues are common for everyone who does not belong to the privileged group of Americans. The...
Introduction In this story, cheese is a metaphor for everything people may want in life, including money, high social status, family, comfort, safety, etc. Unlike the Little People, mice in the story understand that complaining about injustice during change is pointless, as it will not improve any aspects of someone’s...
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides that focuses on the myth of Jason and Medea, initially published back in 431 BC. Though in a patriarchal environment, Medea portrays a powerful ability that is not only confusing but also inspiring. She holds a controversial character in Euripides that...
Short stories such as Jackson’s “The Lottery” often deliver the point of view of their authors regarding a particular issue or topic due to the pace of their narration and the intended moral of the story. Jackson’s work presents an excellent example of the impact of foreshadowing on a reader’s...
Like many other stories addressing the complexity of human nature, Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” introduces a complex moral issue under the guise of a seemingly simple ethical problem. By showing how evil can assume the disguise of morality and, thus, affect unsuspecting people, O’Connor proves that both experiences, when...
Although Ray Bradbury has created many engaging narratives, a particularly intriguing text written by the author is There Will Come Soft Rains. The story concentrates on a house that, hour by hour, performs various duties to serve its inhabitants (Bradbury, n.d.). Nonetheless, the reader gradually realizes that there are no...
Background Information The author of The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He attended Princeton University but dropped out after two years. After leaving college, Fitzgerald joined the army and wrote his first novel, “This Side of Paradise 1920” but The...
Introduction The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin features Mrs. Mallard as the main protagonist. It revolves around her inner character, which tends towards preservation. She is portrayed as a woman suffering intensely due to her internal thoughts. Her true personality is one of independence and intelligence. Her independence...
The relationship Aparna has with Pranab Kaku is very different in many regards from what she has with her husband. The two shared the same love for poetry, film, music, and leftist politics, and back in Bengal, Aparna and Pranab Kaku came from the same North Calcutta neighborhood. After being...
Introduction All literary works are created within a specific historical era characterized by distinct beliefs, cultures, and experiences, which shape the artists’ story, perspective, and style. Published in 1958, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (TFA) mirrors the everyday socio-cultural context of the Igbo people as they struggled with the complexities...
In Othello, a tragedy written by the outstanding English poet and playwright William Shakespeare, black and white colors are frequently mentioned and attract particular attention. At first sight, they refer to skin colors as Othello is a Moor who marries Desdemona, a young and fair Venetian lady. However, black and...
James Hurst’s novel, The Scarlet Ibis, is a piece rich in parallels and literary devices that evokes emotions of empathy and regret from the very beginning. Its central theme is the guilt and shame of the protagonist over the death of his younger brother. Above all, the author emphasizes these...
The Lottery, first published in 1948, remains to be one of the most read stories in American literature. The story revolves around a small village in New England where all the members hold a lottery annually and the person picked is murdered. Shirley Jackson’s main aim of writing the tale...
The poem “When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom’d” is one of the masterpieces of Walt Whitman containing deep symbolism. It is used to convey feelings and emotions and help readers to understand the central message of the author. The star, the lilac, and the bird are the three words that...
In a story as concise and rightly packed as Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” every little detail serves to highlight and stress the piece’s main conflict. This certainly applies to the story’s secondary character – the protagonist’s perceived arch-nemesis Fortunato. There are two symbols clearly related to Fortunato...
Introduction The phenomenon of the American Dream appears vague and indeterminate in the American literature. In a broad sense, this term indicates both material and spiritual values of the American citizens. It is a complex of various ideals, inherent for the Americans since their childhood. The American Dream is a...
There are many evil characters in the play The Crucible, but Abigail Williams is the most prominent. Not only is Abigail unkind and malicious, but the character will get what she wants regardless of the consequences. Despite being a pathological liar, Abigail will try several options to achieve her ambitions...
Introduction Mrs. Hale is the protagonist of Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, and her actions as such constitute the main driving force of the plot. She is involved in both person vs. person and person vs. society conflicts, as she opposes patriarchy on an individual level and then realizes the need for...
As one might expect from a book written by an eyewitness of the Holocaust who barely escaped death at concentration camps, Night by Elie Wiesel deals with the subject of evil in much detail. The teenage author’s encounters with SS soldiers and the personnel of the death camps provide more...
Introduction The theme of friendship is central to Toni Morrison’s novel Sula. The writer exposes two sides of such a relationship – uplifting and supportive on the one hand and complicated and painful on the other. As girls, Sula and Nel structure their own rules and outline the size of...
Introduction Fairy tales have always been a major part of any child’s education and upbringing, which makes a significant impact on their development of worldview. It is important to understand that such stories can have both negative and positive implications, where the tales possess certain agenda as well as controversies....
