5953 samples of this type
In “Night,” which is a semi-memoir dedicated to Elie Wiesel’s harrowing experiences in concentration camps, the topic of a father-son relationship and its development is very important. Elie, along with other Jewish people of his town, falls victim to the German occupation of Hungary. In 1944, Elie and his family...
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...
Welcome to our essay sample on the lessons from The Metamorphosis! Here, you’ll find The Metamorphosis summary and analysis. Keep reading to get a better understanding of Kafka’s story. The Metamorphosis: Summary The major change in Gregor’s life was the transformation from the human life to that of an insect...
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...
Home has an emotional connection to each one of us: it is the place where we feel safe, where we grew up, where we go for security, and to find love. It means different things to different people, mostly sentimental and heart-warming. For example, Silas the dying old servant in...
Thesis The most prominent theme in J. M. Coetzee’s chef-d’oeuvre novel, Disgrace, change. The author sets the scene for events in the book in post-apartheid South Africa at a time when a variety of changes are occurring, thus affecting the characters in the story and the overall outcome in numerous...
Born in 1917, Walter Lord was an outstanding historian and author. He wrote many books, most of which detail major historical events such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He toured many parts of the world, interviewing hundreds of eyewitnesses about their experiences before, during, and after...
The position of women in society was always determined by the attitude of men to this issue. Women were never considered as the persons with the developed abilities to rule and to have much property. Moreover, the history of the social and personal relations between men and women approves the...
Sharon Olds is one of the most prominent contemporary voices in American Literature. Her poem, “The Possessive,” revolves around the theme of severing relation between a mother and her adolescent daughter. In this poem, she explores the generation gap between the mother and her teenage daughter. It shows the contemporary...
Introduction “Dreams” is a short poem by the American novelist, poet, and social activist Langston Hughes. The author encourages one to be hopeful and practice perseverance and endurance in every life challenge. Hughes persuades readers to keep their hopes as several challenges accompany life without dreams through its expression and...
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 Antigone is a well-known work written by Sophocles. Among the adaptations is the 1986 translation by Don Taylor. The first striking resemblance between the two is the characterization. In the original play, from the beginning, one can see the heroine’s determination to bury her brother despite the new laws,...
Introduction What is worse than being oppressed? The victims of the oppression are oppressing it. The story by Zora Neale Hurston, called ‘Sweat,’ focuses on Delia Jones, a hardworking washwoman, and her abusive husband, Sykes. The background for the story is that it is set against the backdrop of the...
Approach to Poem Analysis John Donne’s poems are known for their startling imagery as the poet has been praised for his playful use of words, including puns and paradoxes, as well as elaborately crafted metaphors. The new criticism approach to literary analysis fits with Donne’s work as it emphasizes the...
Alice Ann Munro is a short story writer from Canada born in 1931 in Ontario, Canada. She attended the University of Western Ontario studying English and journalism before abandoning her studies after two years. Munro won the Man Booker International Prize in 2009, while in 2013, she won the Nobel...
Introduction In Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare attempts to define love, in his eyes appearing, as an unwavering union between two people. Similarly, in his other sonnets, the poet addresses the question of love with utmost romanticism and passion. Shakespeare uses metaphors and other literary devices to convey his ideas to...
Introduction The transformational power of human compassion and grace is demonstrated by Flannery O’Connor in her short tale “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The story’s message is conveyed via changes in the two characters’ archetypes, which the grandmother and the Misfit symbolize. The author illustrates that everyone may...
“Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem by English poet Wilfred Owen. Besides being a poet, he participated in World War I, and this writing was devoted to experiences in battles during the war. “Dulce et Decorum Est” was published posthumously in the collection of Owen’s poems (Spacey). The author...
One prominent symbol in “The Story of An Hour” by Chopin is the open window by which the protagonist stands as the events unfold. As Mrs. Mallard’ processes’ the news of her husband’s death, “she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (Chopin). The open...
One of F.S. Fitzgerald’s most influential works, Babylon Revisited, has the pursuit of pleasure and the “American Dream” as its central theme. The primary character, Charlie, has a tragic backstory, which the author detailed together with his historical period. The story is considered autobiographical since the author established parallels between...
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is feminist and tragic. At the same time, the story is very unpredictable for both the reader and the characters. The author recounts one hour in the life of Louise Mallard after she learns of the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. Thus,...
“The Man From Mars” by Margaret Atwood is a short story about a young man who finds himself on another planet and the psychological implications of his experience (Atwood). In this work, it is possible to see how repression can structure and inform the work, as the protagonist is attempting...
Introduction Gender relationships are always complex and associated with concepts like power, responsibility, and concession. William Shakespeare is one of the authors whose works are intended to change the audience’s opinions on common events and expected feelings. His Hamlet is not just a story of a man who loses his...
A sonnet is a special kind of poetry expression dedicated to the inner workings of the heart and mind. They explore what it implies to give love using a wide range of emotions and various tools. To define true love, William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 first explains what it is not...
Kazuo Ishiguro’s story A Family Supper is a prime example of how the bulk of the words can hide deep meanings and subtexts. In this work, the author uses the essential components of the artwork, including setting, tone, and means of expression. All of these elements, mutually influencing each other,...
The apparent expression of Kafka’s Metamorphosis is the battle to discover and express one’s individuality in a world of constant, all-consuming commitments. For instance, The Metamorphosis discusses a ludicrous occurrence “as Gregor awoke one morning from an uneasy dream he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.” (Kafka 1), which...
Introduction The poem Caged Bird written by Maya Angelou follows the same theme as Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Sympathy. Thus, both poems focus on the theme of freedom through the perspective of a caged bird. However, despite using similar imagery of the bird in the cage, the poems can leave a...
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...
Oedipus Rex is a tragedy since it satisfies Aristotle’s criteria for a tragic hero in Poetics. The protagonist of a classic tragedy of a heroic and noble person whose downfall is triggered by a defect in his character. His frailty causes him to become caught in events that overwhelm him,...
Sonnet 75 was written by Edmund Spencer, a famous English writer who popularized special sonnets named after him. This poem has a typical Spencerian structure that includes three interlocked quatrains, early Volta, and a couplet that provides a solution. It has a more complex rhyme system than the typical English...
“Sonnet 18” of Shakespeare belongs to the group of poems addressed by the author to Pure Youth, the embodiment of the beauty of features, the clarity of the soul of a young man. The addressee of this poem is the very embodiment of youth and beauty, the combination of which...
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...
Plot and Setting In Why I Live at the P.O. by Eudora Welty, a youthful anonymous lady has all the earmarks of investigating the envy and struggle in her family. The setting of the story is the family home in Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century. By bringing...
Introduction The imagery of hybrid species, encompassing a wide array of bizarre anatomical combinations feature in numerous Greco-Roman myths. These hybrid creatures typically possess humanoid parts alongside beastly characteristics, which intuitively seem to exhibit a certain principle. The true nature of the creatures remains unclear; they may have inhabited alternate...
In Albert Camus’s The Plague, a classical masterpiece, a deadly outbreak begins with rats and spreads to humans, decimating half of Oran’s population but sparing the least likely: Joseph Grand. Readers meet Joseph early in the novel, just about the same time news breaks about rats supposedly having an epidemic,...
It is Nathanial Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown that still makes students’ minds and imaginations work hard after reading the short story. The plot is marvelous as per both theological and moral issues. Undeniable, the short story is one that makes one rethink the ideas and values of own life due...
Introduction The first scene in Hamlet is one of the most profound first scenes in the history of drama. It starts when one of the guards asks, “who is there?” (Shakespeare, 1602, p. 5). This depicts a revealing of one’s identity. The answer the other guard gives is quite strange....
Literature of the early 20th century was characterized by the shift from Realism to Modernism. A number of factors shaped people’s perception of the changing world marked by the development of industrial societies and rapid urbanization. Furthermore, people were affected by the horrors of the Civil War and World War...
Introduction Various paths of presenting leading ideas can be implemented in literary writings. Understanding the themes discussed by the author and underlining the primary examples behind them is an exceptionally prominent topic of discussion. Chinua Achebe’s Dead Men’s Path offers a negative example of an authoritative figure’s disregard towards the...
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour raises mixed and confused thoughts. In the short story, a woman experiences the sincere grief because her husband died, but eventually, it turns out that she is undergoing the best period of her life from now on. However, this epiphany turns out to...
Oedipus Rex and Hamlet are prominent literary characters who constitute the example of brave men under challenging circumstances, they experience tragic events in their lives concerning their family members, which eventually leads to their fall. Oedipus is the man whose life is in the hands of fate, he murders his...
The persuasion of the speech is often assessed by standards set by the great philosopher Aristotle. He divided the structure of an effective pitch into logos, ethos, and pathos. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is recognized as one of American history’s most persuasive writings. It was so compelling...
Introduction As the title suggests, the novel ‘Great Expectations’ is about the expectations of a young man as he moves into the harsh cruel world of reality outside his home. His tryst with destiny, first at the hand of a golden hearted criminal, Magwitch, and then at the hands of...
Introduction Most talented authors have their own style, which is reflected in the topics, structure, and word choices of the writer. Stephen Jay Gould also has a “voice” in literature, which allows readers to recognize his work from the first lines and attracts most of them. This paper will explore...
“First Day of Winter” is a work by an American writer Breece D’J Pancake. This short story reveals the inner conflict of the main character, Hollis, and shows an uneasy relationship with his parents. Hollis is a farm boy who takes care of his elderly and feeble mother and father....
The given writings’ central theme is a fulfillment of the prophecies in a highly tragic manner, where the main characters learn about their demise beforehand and make attempts to either make it the reality or avoid it. In the case of Oedipus, the prophecy is manifested in the fact that...
Mental health is an important aspect of people’s lives that requires immediate attention and careful consideration. However, the topic of mental illnesses has been a taboo to discuss and portray for many years. Today it becomes more and more acceptable to talk about one’s health freely, especially in art. The...
The concept of sight is one of the most complex metaphors used in the Greek tragic play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles. As a metaphor, sight refers both to the literal meaning of seeing, as well as to the figurative sense of knowing and understanding. The relevance of this concept...
Introduction Within the current state of government and society order, it is difficult to predict the future regarding the abundance of current issues that can jeopardize a better future. The current civilization should consider the specific laws and ways of living in order to set to ensure a bright future...
Throughout the decades, various intellectuals had their own view of the universe and understood the concepts of Heaven and Hell differently. The distinction in perceptions depended on various factors, such as the historical period, societal rules, personal experiences, and philosophies. For instance, an English poet and philosopher John Milton viewed...
Rohinton Mistry is an author of Squatter, a story about two individuals, narrated to the local young boys by Nariman Hansotia. One of the characters in the story is Savukshaw, a great cyclist, pole-vaulter, hunter, and cricketer. The other one is Sarosh; a Parsi immigrant who lived in Canada and...
Introduction In his book, Bruce Knauft describes the life and culture of the Gebusi, a people living in Papua New Guinea. His anthropological research is deep and covers various aspects of the development of this unique culture. The evaluation of life, religion, social relations, spirituality, and other features of the...
Introduction Being one of the most prominent poets of the era does not necessarily make one’s works the most understandable to the public. T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” is a prominent example of such a paradox. Whereas critics consider the work outstanding and influential, many readers find it difficult...
Zora Neale Hurston was a writer in the early 20th century. Her book Tell My Horse was published in 1938, which described the hands-on experiences in Jamaica and Haiti held two years prior. One of the book’s central discourses is the preservation of the traditional African customs in the era...
“The Return of Martin Guerre” is a book that creates certain controversies in the understanding and analysis of people and historical events. It supposes alternatives that were not possibly considered at the time and raises doubt as to the correctness of the decisions that were made. It also makes the...
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a famous Russian writer, was a short story master who dreamed that people should be free and happy. Unfortunately, in real life, Chekhov had to deal with rudeness and callousness, which he called vulgarity. Chekhov made fun of philistines, stupidity, and the writer especially did not like...
Introduction As the adage goes, ‘…two things are certain in this life: Death and Taxes.’ Although one can escape the latter, the former is like a change, it is inevitable, and inasmuch as people continue to hate it, they must encounter it anyway. Everybody has an assigned day of answering...
Pygmalion if one of the compositions that were written significantly ahead of their time. Like many other plays by George Bernard Shaw, it raises the problem of changing the role of the middle-class woman. Undoubtedly, besides being an extraordinarily entertaining drama, Pygmalion summarises the arguments of how the ‘new woman’...
Character Growth in Three Parts The first part of the novel introduces the protagonist, Keita Ali, who has to flee his homeland to earn money for his family’s ransom. In this part, the readers learn that he feels alienated from his motherland and tries to fit in. The next section...
Blindness, in the literal sense, is the inability to perceive by sight, to see through one’s eyes. In literary usage, however, the term is also used as imagery, giving it an allegorical meaning; it may be referred to as the characters’ failure to relate events to their circumstances. Unlike literal...
The close reading of Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” reveals the fact that the story’s motifs may be well discussed within the context of the Freudian theory of psychoanalysis; as they provide us with insight into the oppression-related essence of the main character’s existential anxieties. In this paper, we...
Introduction The work and organization of the medieval society proposed in the Canterbury Tales by Charles Chaucer can be easily connected with the organization of modern society. This is a point that can be established if the two settings were to be compared. Chaucer depicts a society wherein work is...
“Oedipus the King” is an enigmatic tragedy account where fate makes the main character to kill his father and marry his mother unknowingly. Sophocles borrows heavily from Aristotles’ tragedy ideas to make a tragic hero with a noble personality who is made to fall by mere errors in life caused...
“Wulf and Eadwacer” is an Anglo-Saxon poem found in the 10th century Exeter Book and famous for its difficult interpretation. I believe this poem is essentially an expression of wife and mother’s grief. In the very beginning, it is made clear that by its context and emotional mood, “Wulf and...
Introduction There can be little doubt as to the fact that Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Shakespeare’s “Othello” are highly emotional dramaturgic pieces: in both tragedies, the motifs of love, treachery, misunderstanding, honor and one’s call of duty, actually define the semantic subtleties of a plot. Both plays represent the very best...
Introduction While looking at Tim O’Brien’s book and what the author implements in it according to the role of women, one can surely guess of an unfair attitudinal background represented by men being involved in Vietnam War. This point is emphasized in many episodes where women were blamed and criticized...
Introduction The play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller depicts life and destiny of an American family which dreams about prosperity and high social position in society. in this play, Miller tries to escape social contradictions and economic situation in society but portrays psychological difficulties experienced by the family....
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the oldest pieces of Western literature in existence today. They are canons of the west’s literary past even now and have a large following. The stories of both have been repeated countless times and used in cultural references and in making big-budget...
Janice Mirikitani’s “Suicide Note” and Robert Burns’ “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” are both poems that are extremely simple to read and understand. Yet, on comparison, the wide contrast between them is more glaring than the similarities. The context behind Janice Mirikitani’s “Suicide Note” is included within...
The Glass Menagerie is a play about a dysfunctional family, each caught in between their feelings and dreams. The conflicts experienced in the Wingfield’s family primarily lie deep within themselves, but also intertwine with each other. This essay will analyze the complicated relationship between Amanda–the mother and Laura—the daughter and...
Introduction When it comes to discussing the discursive significance of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, critics commonly refer to the fact that, despite having been written at the end of the 19th century, the concerned dramaturgic masterpiece continues to enjoy popularity with contemporary audiences. The reason...
Introduction The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka presents the story of Gregor, a salesperson who wakes up being transformed into an insect. The narrator helps the audience to understand the characters’ feelings and thoughts, describing not only the events happening in the story but also Gregor’s perspectives on them. This paper...
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” is one of the more famous works of the author. It tells the story of a grotesque plague that is sweeping the land. Instead of dealing with it, Prince Prospero gathers a thousand of his friends and travels to...
Introduction T. S. Eliot is one of the most significant modernist poets, particularly due to his use of vivid imagery in the exploration of social issues about the British community of the time. The Waste Land, written in 1922, is a long poem that has captured the attention of many...
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday is a literary work that stands out based on a variety of elements and features. The purpose of this work was for the author to connect with the readers by means of communicating a unique autobiographical story that was far more...
Seamus Heaney (1939-2003) is one of the prominent figures in the modern Irish poetry. Awarded with the Nobel Prize in 1995, the poet was the author of multiple collections of verse, literary essays, and translations. Seamus Heaney is an outstanding creative individual; his uniqueness is reflected through his poetic language,...
Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is based around the concept of how humans imagine the world, how they dream, and how they invent. However, the story of the nine-year-old Oscar Schell is much more about the story of invention and imagination. With the setting taking place...
Cloning is a medical process whereby organisms that are identical are produced through the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer (Griffin 650). It is a very complicated process, but the bottom line is that an independent human being can be created by cloning. Cloning has brought about a lot of...
Introduction The book Man’ Search for Meaning is one of the most influential works on the psychoanalysis of the modern time. It was written by Viktor Frankl, a former Auschwitz prisoner, and the outstanding psychoanalyst. The existential vacuum is one of the most important concepts explained by Frankl in his...
The “Story Performance and Event” by Richard Bauman is relatively a short book, but very deceiving. The brevity conceals a hypothetical richness and depth that is hard to find in most works of literature which double its volume. In this book, Bauman illustrates the necessity of novel strategies in the...
Theme of Family in Frankenstein: Introduction The family relationship is the most important intimate relationship that involves humankind. If there is absence of this intimacy relationship, human beings would not transform to what they are expected to act, and this deforms the essence of human nature. The feelings are always...
Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Analysis: Introduction The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is a narrative about a girl between the ages of ‘innocence’ and ‘transformative entrance’ into adulthood. Her mother trains her how to be an ideal and respectable lady. She believes that she is the only person who...
Introduction Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, written in 1813, and is still popular and loved by many readers. It tells about the lives of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, who represent opposites and have two points of view on life. This novel gives readers deep...
Introduction Among the many plays created by Shakespeare, one of the most outstanding was the tragedy of Othello. The play’s conflict is based on feelings of trust, love, and jealousy. The work is based on the tragedy that lies in Othello’s downfall, which consists of the murder of his beloved...
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 Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. The story is about the main character, Connie, a teenage girl obsessed with her appearance and social life. Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” tells the story of saying goodbye...
Introduction In his short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Washington Irving uses a variety of figurative devices to represent the depth of his characters’ feelings and the setting where real and supernatural themes are properly intertwined. The personification of birds and the environment underlines the unique nature of Ichabod...
Introduction William Shakespeare’s King Lear is a tragic play that audiences have loved for centuries. The plot follows Lear, an aging king of Britain, as he attempts to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Lear quickly learns that his love for his daughters is not reciprocated, and he is...
Introduction “The Metamorphosis,” a short story by Kafka, explores the implication of losing one’s physical body and the abilities that it provides. The process of metamorphosis itself represents the lack of the protagonist’s self-understanding and self-reflection. Further, verbal communication and its challenges play a pivotal role in the narrative development,...
Introduction Some of the notions that people have always tried to define are good and bad. For example, when thinking about what can be associated with good things, words like kindness, care, and generosity come to mind. And when thinking about bad things, the word monster comes to mind. However,...
Introduction Returning to the completed writing and considering its primary characteristics is necessary for creating a comprehensive understanding of the work. My chosen novel, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, is an intriguing piece that regards the subjects of surreality, human alienation, and betrayal within the story of Gregor Samsa. The...
Introduction Filial piety is a Confucian principle that refers to the act of respecting one’s parents, elders, ancestors, and seniors. The principle is a very important aspect of Chinese society, especially and was embraced after the emergence of Confucianism. Today, it is one of the most important responsibilities of any...
The ideas of good and evil are considered to be crucial during an extended period. So many people find it very difficult to distinguish where true good or true evil may be. Those, who want to learn more about these two issues, have to read such wonderful work by O’Connor,...
“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” This line from Honore de Balzac relates to the main conflict in Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” which is the struggle for individual agency in a conformist society. The protagonists in this play, which is set in late 19th-century Norway, struggle with...
Introduction The concept of finding one’s place in the world has been addressed in various poems. For example, the classic theme of the person and the crowd is presented in the Charles Baudelaire poem Albatross in the traditions of both romantic and symbolic art. Eugenio Montale also touches on this...
American dramatist Arthur Miller wrote about the moral predicament of the working class. Playwright David Ives uses the last twenty-four hours of his protagonist’s life as a montage of dreams and recollections to explore the theme of identity loss. The play’s central plot revolves around the American Dream. Many people...
Introduction Earl Lovelace’s The Dragon Can’t Dance is a national allegory set in the days leading up to Trinidad and Tobago’s independence from Great Britain. The novel follows the residents of a small village as they prepare for their annual carnival celebration. The main characters represent different communities within the...
Jean-Paul Sartre dismisses the understanding of humanism that fails to acknowledge the importance of individual choice. Based on the rejected philosophy of humanism, people may take others’ credit for their personal accomplishments since they share humanity, thus, making others’ achievements their own. He critics the previous understanding of the concept...
Introduction The central theme of Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is the clash between traditional African society and the innovations brought by British missionaries. However, this opposition is not the only one in the book since the whole story is built on contrasts that allow the reader to understand...
Introduction Miller’s Death of a Salesman is iconic and representative since it takes place during a time of national catastrophe, the Great Depression. The author’s imagination was drawn to the seemingly insignificant lives exemplifying central themes, such as family relationships, financial wellbeing, and the shortcomings of the American dream (Churchwell...
Introduction The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the most interesting, essential, and significant monuments of ancient literature, often becoming the object of deep and comprehensive research. This epic narrates about the legendary king of Uruk Gilgamesh, his friend the savage Enkidu, and the search for the secret of immortality...
The use of water in the three novels Roumain’s “Masters of the Dew,” Danticat’s “Krik? Krak!” and Paul’s “Praise Song for the Widow” has a symbolic meaning. The main innovation of the writers is the image symbol which replaces the traditional artistic image. The early forms of poetry and visual...
Prove that irony exists in the play In the play “Proof” by David Auburn, events unravel in the house of a mathematical genius Robert, who has been suffering from mental illness. His daughter Catherine is living with him in order to take care of. The first element of irony is...
In his article, George Orwell details his childhood and early dreams of becoming a writer. He talks about his first poems and plays and how hardy and quick he was as a writer in his youth (Orwell, Great Ideas Why I Write (Penguin Great Ideas)). For George Orwell from childhood,...
In the short story, How I Met My Husband, the author Alice Munro decries the imaginary love affair that a young girl has for an uninterested pilot. Eddie is working for the rich Peebles family who has just settled in the countryside. Both Dr. and Mrs. Peebles portray a little...
Without significant changes, any community will gradually fall into stagnation. While most European countries developed synchronously, traditional China staggered significantly by the beginning of the 20th century. This was especially clearly seen in Chinese literature that emerged in its present form only by the middle of the last century (Gu...
William Shakespeare and his works occupy an honorary place in world literature. At the same time, the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, briefly referred to as Hamlet, is one of the most famous. The plot reveals complex themes of revenge, mortality, deception, madness, and other issues. The...
Mythology has influenced the world up to the present time and remains meaningful for modern society as it is one of the most significant elements of culture. Contemporary arts, literature, and science continue using ancient myths, and people can find references to them in almost all the spheres of life....
Greek mythology is an expansive set of fictional folklore that is one of the most prominent cultural influences in Western arts, literature, and other mediums for centuries due to its origin in Ancient Greece often viewed as the cradle of Western civilization. The rich development of the mythological stories and...
Sappho’s Poems Sappho was a poet and a singer whose works were meant to be sung and accompanied by music. In one of her most famous poems, “Fragment 31,” Sappho uses imagery, such as “sweet speaking” and “lovely laughing,” to describe the narrator’s fascination with the woman observed from a...
Introduction Barn Burning is a short story written by William Faulkner, which demonstrates the complex relationship between personal and familial values. The protagonist Sarty – a ten-year-old boy – is forced to testify in court to prove his father’s innocence (Faulkner 5). However, Sarty is aware that his father has...
Trying to adapt the format to a traditional theater seems ridiculous, game-moving through different landscapes, clever avoidance of trackers, and genre demands when production and audience are trapped. How simulating the heightened tension is commonplace for a limited number of people time? How the main message and theme are delivered...
Introduction Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery is a short story that tells about a fictional village where people are gathered for an annual lottery, in which all the villagers take part. The lottery has been held for many years as a tradition, and the tickets are drawn to select one person...
Thesis John Updike uses language as far more than a narrational or beautifying tool in his short story “A&P”; instead, he employs linguistic tools such as metaphors and colloquialism to enrich his characters and provide a riveting analysis of the many social trends at war in 1960s America. Introduction John...
Edgar Allen Poe is one of the renowned poets whose works have been used by several generations. Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, when most Americans were beginning to embrace literature. He mainly focused on poems and short stories, especially tales. He is among the earliest...
Introduction Many people have heard the powerful words ‘do not go gentle into that good night,’ but few realize where they came from and the powerful emotion behind them. The poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas is one of the recognizable pieces of English...
It has become common today to view the most notable literary works in the light of their reflection of the specific era. Paradise Lost, the epic poem written by 17th-century English poet John Milton in 1667, represents the political and historical events of this period. Still, it can be argued...
Introduction The purpose of the review of ‘Would you kill the fat man?’ written by David Edmonds is to discover what choices people have made, what influenced them, and how it can be evaluated philosophically. The book suggests that the unbraked train will soon destroy five people tied to the...
Introduction A&P by John Updike is a short story describing an incident at a supermarket. The main character, Sammy, is a representative of the typical middle class who works in the store as a cashier. When three girls in bathing suits enter, disturbing the peace in this establishment, Sammy decides...
Jamaica Kincaid’s “On Seeing England for the First Time” is a piece that reflects on her pessimistic view of the country. The narrative of the writing constructs a growing dislike, or even hatred, for England through comparisons to what can be seen as negative metaphors, such as a leg of...
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,...
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...
Money and class always played a huge role in the life of any society. Since ancient times, people have been marrying for money, undermining the primary value of love and romance. In The Great Gatsby, possessions and class are the factors that could contribute to the initiation of a relationship...
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is an 18th-century novel of manners set in rural England and portraying the relationships between the four daughters of the Bennet family and their neighbors. While accurately and vividly depicting the manners and social norms of that time, the novel also provides sharp observations on...
The Garden Party is a short story by Catherine Mansfield that depicts the family of Sheridan and their workingmen from the point of Laura, the daughter of Mrs. Sheridan. The events occur in the 20th century in England, where the differences between upper-class and lower-class families were especially pronounced. The...
It goes without saying that for the appropriate interpretation of any poem, it is highly essential to examine its “background.” In other words, it is important to find information about the author as the understanding of its personality frequently provides a better insight into his or her works. Thus, Edward...
Introduction Racial and cultural identity are among the most prominent themes of Langston Hughes’s literary works. It is important to point out that many of his poems explore different aspects of African American identity in regards to the overall culture and race as well as the intricate topics on social...
German myths have always been different from the overall European mythology. Aside from the setting, probably the most remarkable distinction is the hero. A shining example is Siegfried, who is a controversial figure in the medieval German narrative. He definitely acts with valor, fights the dragon, and dies at the...
Synopsis of the book The synopsis of Esperanza Rising is the girl’s life-changing year. Esperanza had a wealthy family in Mexico, but bandits killed her father; his brothers attempted to take advantage of Esperanza’s family situation. However, her mother was not willing to obey, and they managed to escape to...
Hind Swaraj is a book written by Gandhi, which represents his view on modern civilization. The Reader and The Editor are the main characters who engage in a dialogue, where the latter explains his understanding of self-governance in the Indian state. In this book, Gandhi summarizes his view on the...
During many years, nearly two centuries, many literary critics and lovers of the literature are pointing out the great similarity between the works of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Some people approve that this is the one and the same person. Others claim that Marlowe is one of the predecessors...
There is a number of brilliant writers whose genius helps them create truly amazing writings that rarely leave the readers indifferent. One of such masterpieces is the story titled “The far and the near” by Thomas Wolfe. While reading this short text, one can feel various emotions and start thinking...
Scott Fitzgerald is a famous American writer, and most of his works are devoted to the jazz era. He elaborated this term, which means a happy decade between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Depression. This era involves the rebellion of the young generation against...
The morality of Christian tradition and its application to real-life problems has always been the platform for debate. People look for the solution in God but often get entangled with the common practical reasons for it. The characters of David Foster Wallace’s short story Good People also deal with such...
Koritha Mitchell’s Living with Lynching and James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man” In the book Living with Lynching, Koritha Mitchel studies the so-called “lynching drama” and the role that lynching played in the American culture. She claims that the depictions of racial violence produced by the black and white...
The text under consideration is The Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the middle of the fourteenth century when Europe was affected by one of the most devastating epidemics of the Middle Ages. The exact number of the deceased has not been estimated so far, but some researchers note that...
Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” explores the reality of growing up and being brought up as an African American in the United States of the 1950s. Yet even though race features prominently in the text, the essay is about more than just racial matters. At the core of “A Talk...
In the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy, George Takei provides his memoir after the presidential proclamation ordering all people of Japanese origin to be relocated to isolated camps. The title of the book and its cover page sums the struggles illustrated inside. The image of a policeman holding a...
Introduction Hemingway’s The Soldier’s Home is a story of a war veteran who faces the dilemma of choosing between being a welcomed member of his old social circle and staying true to his morals and ideals. When the book’s main character Krebs returns to his hometown, he is forced to...
“Some Thoughts on the Common Toad” is an essay by George Orwell that was published in 1946. The author describes a common example of the natural cycle, which is the change of seasons. People have become accustomed to it; moreover, in literature, it is mostly associated with beautiful creatures like...
Many scientists agree that Ancient Greece is the cradle of European civilization. Its philosophers, scientists, and poets greatly contributed to the development of Greek culture. Modern philosophical thought would be impossible without the works of Aristotle, Plato, and numerous philosophical schools. Dramatic art would have been different if, at one...
Introduction Civilization is one of the most significant achievements of the whole world. However, is it indeed rational to consider people who fail to meet local norms uncivilized? When it comes to a postcolonial analysis, the concepts of “civilized” and “uncivilized” are interpreted differently from their modern meanings. It refers...
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is the most recognized play written by William Shakespeare and one of the most influential works in the history of world literature. The issue of revenge is the central theme of Shakespeare’s play, which concerns the main confrontation of two protagonists, Hamlet, and...
“What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is a chef-d’oeuvre short story by Sherman Alexie written and published in 2003 for the first time. The story is about a broke and homeless Spokane Indian named Jackson Jackson, who has to look for $1,000 to redeem his grandmother’s regalia, which from a...
Introduction The book All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is about Marshall Berman’s views on the relationship between different manifestations of modernity, and the concept of modernism as an approach to understanding the world. This academic text talks about the changes that the world is constantly experiencing and the...
Introduction Gerald Graff is a specialist in English language studies and a researcher in the sphere of education. He wrote more than five books covering controversial and complicated topics, such as conflicts between a pupil and a teacher, the problem of diversification of cultural backgrounds, and the negative consequences of...
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a brilliantly written short story that leaves the reader with questions about society, acceptance, and sacrifice. The way the author has delivered the content normalizes its fictional side and makes it uncertain whether presented events have occurred. This essay...
Some novels are quite easily comprehended by the readers. The reader may distinguish the narrator’s point of view and objective descriptions of the plot (Blahuskova, 2011). There are different methods used by the narrators to pass the main ideas to the reader. Sometimes this narrator is identified with the implied...
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...
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,...
