The foremost reason why novels The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nash, The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais, and The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (Old Arcadia) by Philip Sidney are being commonly referred to as such that represent a high literary and philosophical value, is that the themes...
In her book, ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’, Harriet Jacobs writes “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs 64). As Linda in the book, the writer is saddened when it dawned on her that she was expecting a baby girl,...
Introduction In his book, “Fires of Jubilee”, author Stephen Oates takes us back two centuries in a small town in Southampton County, Virginia in the United States. Fires of Jubilee has a place in history because it was a defining moment for the people of South Virginia when they chose...
This question attempts to find out the best theory and research-aligned article from the pool of literature reviewed. The articles reviewed in this section are that of Richard Gibb (2009), Gedaa and Kebret (2008), and Simon (2010) on regional integration in Africa. This essay traces the article that has the...
The beginning of the third millennium can be characterized by strengthening of the position of women in the society. Nowadays females play important roles on every level of the contemporary life. However, no more than 50 years ago women only started acknowledging that they could be something more than housekeepers....
Don Juan – the very word has been used to refer to a male romantic person who is adept at charming women. However, during the Romantic era, the word romantic had different connotations and it referred to the state of being in touch with one’s inner feelings and emotions. In...
Women living in the 21st century can enjoy the liberties which equality with men grants. However, even to date there are places where many women have to prove or struggle for their freedoms. Of course, the beginning of the twentieth century was characterized by the opposite situation when only small...
This paper will study the usage of symbolism and imagery in the play Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The pattern of ideas that emerge in the play will be researched and subsequently the symbols and imagery will be discussed in regard to the way in which such a pattern is...
Introduction People have been dreaming of looking into the future since times immemorial. Alvin Toffler, an American writer and futurist, made an attempt to predict the future development of mankind after thorough analysis of the recent technological changes and their impact on human consciousness. Toffler would figure in history as...
Rip Van Winkle was a dearly loved person in his village. He loved being with children. He played, brought toys, and narrated tales for them which they enjoyed overwhelmingly. Thus his popularity was unrivaled in the village when it came to children. Although he was at all times ridiculed by...
Background During the course of recent decades, the fact that ethnic immigrants often experience a hard time, while trying to integrate into Western societies, has gained a status of particularly troubling social issue. Nowadays, in such large Western megalopolises as London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles, hardly a...
Introduction According to the list of All Time 100 Novels offered by Time critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo, Native Son by Richard Wright should acquire a rightful position among the best novel written in English from 1923 to the present. The novel written by Wright in 1940 has aroused...
Introduction The period after the Civil War era is marked by the emergence of new streams in the American literature. The literary world witnessed considerable changes in cultural, social, and political terms in the end of the nineteenth century thus imposing a controversial vision on the status of post-war American...
Introduction The reign of James 1, was characterized by a growing ideological conflict regarding the personality and social role of women. For years, scholars were engaged in tense debates concerning the true nature of women. And the question that has constantly been asked was that, are women naturally good or...
In her novel, Harper Lee addresses a very question concerning status of “black” people in the society through the example of small town and its society. Harper Lee addresses a very important problem of racial inequality in the society and its impact on the life of an ordinary person. The...
The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus is a play by Ch. Marlowe written in 1604. In this play, Marlowe portrays Doctor Faustus as a man who, of his own conscious willfulness, brings tragedy and torment crashing down upon his head, the pitiful and fearful victim of his own ambitions and...
Introduction Kate Chopin was a female writer who stands out from the writers of her time for having addressed issues of women sexuality and conduct. Chopin lived in a period of time where women were expected to behave in a prescribed “proper” manner and their duties where generally limited to...
The story of Frankenstein beholds elements such as secrecy, fears, ambitions, rejection, and thoughts of mere existence. The mixture of emotions and expressions which are quite close to human reality is a masterwork of Mary Shelley. The work had been written in the era of romanticism that made the acceptance...
Introduction Many fictions presented by British writers have used landscape as a theme that has a major role in the historical perspective of the people, especially Africans. In this dimension, it is critical to note that landscape represents more than a description of objective nature. It’s a way of viewing...
Introduction This essay deals with the strange phenomenon being detected on the surface of a discursive layer presented in two quite contradictive “pieces of meaning” – the book “Fear and Loathing” by Thompson (Thompson, 1998) and ‘CSI: Crime and Investigation’ TV series “Fur and Loathing” (2000). I was stunned by...
The autobiographical book “Shake Hands with the Devil. The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda”, written by Romeo Dellaire, describes the events, which took place in this country in 1994, commonly known as Rwanda Genocide. In particular, it explores the underlying causes of this catastrophe and the failure of the United...
Thomas Samuel Kuhn, an American intellectual is known for his extensive research in the philosophy of science, and his special contribution in developing important notions revolutionized the understanding and study of science after he wrote his best-known book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” (SSR) in 1962. In this book, Kuhn...
Introduction Personally, I find that film adaptations of other literary works usually provide the current generation a glimpse of previously or lesser-known but nevertheless could have been important works of a given earlier period, era, or even another culture and society. These usually serve as bridges that link information between...
Throughout history, mankind has attempted to discover the perfect means of social organization. The problem rests primarily in the fact that fallible human beings must be placed in positions of authority over other persons in order for society to work. This may be considered in the form of governmental organization,...
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the main character Marlow continuously calls into question the modern assumptions that are made by his listeners as well as his readers, blurring the lines between inward and outward, civilized and savage and, most especially, dark and light. The bulk of the book concentrates...
The world has remained engrossed over time by the myths and legends of ancient Greece. It would appear that every ancient civilization has its form of mythology, which loosely resembles one another. This fascination has infiltrated art, music, and literature over the centuries in all European civilizations. In Goethe’s case...
How does one define morality? Is it the standards set by society, or is it something that goes deeper than mere social customs to define one’s individual behavior? What happens to the individual who determines for himself whether to adhere to the social custom or the deeper internal sense when...
Deconstructing the Tutor Myth In Shakespeare’s time period, Tudor historians projected the authoritarian world they wished to build for themselves onto an imagined medieval past with only sketchy basis in reality when it suited their purposes. Shakespeare’s national story that has its start with Richard II and concludes with Henry...
Literature has long been acknowledged as not only an amusing past-time for the literate but also as a repository for the cultural, political and religious beliefs of the people who wrote and consumed it. Poetry is no exception to this rule. For example, the English Protestant Reformation that started under...
Introduction Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Barry MacSweeney and Jeremy Halvard Prynne are an interesting representation of contemporary poets. ‘Contemporary’ is a term that has been used to define the age of modernism and postmodernism. A finer stratification of times will categorize poetic works of poets such as J. H. Prynne, Veronica Forrest...
The Greek artistic works in terms of cultural aspects are intrinsic and wonderful. The peculiarities of genre form and the performance, as it is, adored viewers much. The culture and the society at most points reflect each other. In other words, artists and creative people of the epoch describe the...
Thesis The novel of one of the greatest Latin American writers “The Savage Detectives” displays a level of intertextual play, formal self-consciousness and standpoint diversity rivaling that of the most admired postmodern American writers, all while proficiently avoiding the stiff and ostentatious academicism to which John Barth and his gangs...
Introduction Most scholars define the Holocaust as the genocide of about 6 million Jews in various parts of Europe during World War II as key plank of the Nazi (Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party) under Hitler. Actually, the Nazis also persecuted and killed Soviet citizens, ethnic Poles, people with disabilities,...
Introduction Like Water for Chocolate written by Laura Esquivel is considered to be a marvelous novel published in 1989. The story overview gives an opportunity to realize the basic themes highlighted by the author who strived to underline such issues as “familial insubordination, passion and dictatorial governance”. The author strived...
The story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is one of the famous short stories. William Faulkner is one of the well-known American writers of the twentieth century that belongs to the famous Southern writers. The plot of the story centers on the relationship between the Grierson’s family and...
Introduction The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald set in the roaring twenties. During that turbulent period the U.S. economy was thriving, Wall Street was booming and there was great social upheaval. For instance, the nineteenth amendment had just granted women the right to...
Shirley Jackson possesses a well known reputation for dark fiction writing. Although her short story The Lottery generated a lot of controversy, it ranks as a great piece of fictional writing. Although possessing a very ordinary and mundane setting, the simplicity of Jackson’s direct writing technique and the way she...
Outline The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell is one of the most famous political satires. In the novel, the author mocks the totalitarian government which exists in the place called Oceania, where people’s thoughts, emotions and actions are controlled by the ruler, Brother. The people are physically tortured...
Introduction There can be little doubt as to the fact that the theme of civilization vs. savagery defines the overall semantic meaning of William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies. In it, the author strived for nothing less than exposing the actual mechanics of the process of civilized young boys...
In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Hurston describes the struggle of an African-American woman to obtain independence in the world where she is regarded mostly as an object. During the span of her life the main character, Janie Crawford has to prove that she is a self-sufficient...
The present essay is devoted to the discussion of the male figures described in a famous work of Ralph Ellison titled “Invisible Man” – this book was published in 1952 and won him great fame. It was widely recognized during the author’s lifetime and after his death because it was...
Revenge An eye for an eye is predominantly seen in Hamlet, the lack of understanding and the impulsive attitude of Hamlet gives the play another dimension altogether. Revenge is not a good thing to pursue but Hamlet chose to do so and together with his impulsive nature, cost him dearly....
The story of Christopher McCandless by Jon Krakauer is a manifest of a man’s challenge to himself and nature. Inspired by true events in the life of the 24-year-old person it is a testimony of the high values prominence. It is also the result of testing the will in terms...
Introduction William Shakespeare is the playwright whose name implies the whole époque in the sphere of English drama and whose contribution to literature development one cannot overestimate. Along with the themes covered and the problems his works focus on, they attract the readers’ attention by the depth and skills depicted...
Introduction James Baldwin spent most of his adult life living in France, but is widely recognized as an essentially American writer. Having been born and raised in New York’s Harlem district, he was intimately familiar with the sights and sounds that appeared in his stories even though he’d put an...
Introduction Short stories have the ability to convey a great deal of information in a short space of time through careful use of literary tools such as imagery, narration and contrast. By using these tools to deliver a consistent message, writers are able to question many of our assumed knowledge...
The reality of modern life is such that every person in this way or another tries to find relief in something. For me, it is literature that helps to understand the world better, to adjust to it, and not to get lost in the numerous problems life presents us with....
Introduction Edgar Allan Poe did not live an easy life while he was growing up. Early in his life, he lost a mother along with a mother figure due to illness. Both of his father figures left him as well, so at the age of 16, he was an orphan...
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger should be taught in High school because this work includes the psychological moments appropriate to the age of high school. J.D. Salinger is one of the most famous representatives of the New York literary school of 1940 – 60-ies of the XX-th...
In the short story “Everyday Use” Alice Walker focuses on the concept of cultural heritage and the way it can be perceived (or even distorted) by different people. One of the main characters, Dee is a person who attempts to alienate herself from her roots in every possible way. She...
The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allen Poe, is a story of revenge by aristocratic Montressor who decides to kill Fortunato in a deceitful cruel way to punish him for an insult. Poe weaves a mood of gloom, despondency, and grotesque into this story, by using the literary elements of...
Du Bois was very good at many traits for instance he was a civil rights activist, a professor of Sociology, a writer, and in addition to this, he also tried his hands at many more things. When he was 95 years of age, he became a citizen of Ghana. Du...
Introduction The novel “A separate Peace” by John Knowles is a truly remarkable work, which gives insights into the inner worlds of two ordinary boys, exploring crucial topics, like jealousy, betrayal, true friendship, forgiveness, relationships between people. It introduces a flashback narration of the protagonist of the story Gene about...
Introduction The play The Glass Menagerie describes a unique experience of people during 1940s and their relations with the outside world. Laura Wingfield symbolizes unmitigated difference. Her “morbid shyness” (to use a phrase Williams had applied to himself as a boy) prevents her from having any kind of normal relationship...
The play A View from the Bridge, written by famous American writer Arthur Miller, presents the story of an Italian –American immigrant; Eddie Carbone living in the Red Hook of Brooklyn, near New York. Like William Shakespeare, Arthur Miller tries to catch the attention of the audience at the very...
Introduction In his 2005 book, “The World is Flat – A Brief History of 21st Century”, Thomas L. Friedman has come with the theory, which was known to all of us for some time now, though without realizing it. Friedman is of the view that since the fall of Berlin...
A very successful doctor and his family rented a summer house for three months. It was more like an estate. It was the sort of place where there is a big house and large trees are growing everywhere. And somewhere on the property, there is a boathouse built near a...
Philosophy and literature have always tried to resolve the age-old conflict between free will. In fact, some philosophers believe that a human being is devoid of such gift as free will; such belief is often called fatalism. Our ability to cope with the overwhelming forces has always been disputed. It...
Shakespeare is a household name; he was a creative genius and produced more masterpieces than one. His popularity knows no bounds, even to date people hold the highest regard for his work. His work constitutes a part of the syllabus in major Universities and colleges. Hamlet is one of his...
The Last Knight – The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era is a non-fictional book by Norman F. Cantor. It is the fourth edition published by Free Press, New York, 2004. The story is set in England in the late 14th century at the...
The poem “Out, Out” by Robert Frost is a realistic depiction of the flow of life in rural areas where it is shown how it can be interrupted suddenly. This paper analyzes the poem in terms of its narration and its main theme. The setting of the poem could be...
Introduction “A Rose for Emily” By William Faulkner is one of the typical stories, reflecting the main character, Emily as soul of conflicts, disintegrated soul. The whole story revolves round one main character, Emily and one town, narrated by an unknown narrator. Emily lives a luxurious life in a poor...
Introduction Kate Chopin was a prolific writer of the 19th century whose short stories usually delved upon the topic of the repression of women’s rights during a male dominated era of mankind. The Story of an Hour was written by her as a way of expressing her sentiments about the...
The story of Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet revolves around the hero Hamlet, who is rather than being an action hero is (contrary to the expectations of the audience) a hero of INACTION. Revenge is the main motive in the play. But it is the delay in action rather than action...
Introduction Oedipus the King is a typical Sophoclean tragedy where the tragedy of Oedipus is foreshadowed in the beginning of the play. The oracle predicts that Oedipus would be killing his own father and marrying his own mother. Since then, Oedipus tries to escape the inevitable fate that awaits him....
Introduction “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is a one act play which analyzes the investigation of the murder of John Wright through various dialogues of men and women that are connected to the victim and his accused wife. This paper addresses the themes that occurred throughout the play that help to...
Introduction The story that has been taken under consideration goes by the name of “The Story of an Hour”, which has been written by the very famous author Kate Chopin. The story is about what takes place within an hour in the life of Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard according to...
Introduction The poem chosen for this critical analysis essay is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”. This poem was published by Frost in 1916 and appears in Mountain Interval of 1920. The Poem was retrieved from Bartleby.com Great Books Online and is as follows: The Road Not Taken by Robert...
Introduction “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin portrays the inner turbulence of a lady known as Mrs. Mallard. The writer describes the palpitations Mrs. Mallard goes through the moment she comes to know the sudden demise of her husband, Brently Mallard. The writer, in the same piece of...
As fine pieces of literature, both ‘Death of a salesman’ and ‘Oedipus Rex’, demonstrate the tragic lives of human beings in this distressed world. Even though each one has its own supporting themes, there are some common themes like fate, insanity, isolation and tragedy. Both, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex and...
As a preface to “Huckleberry Finn,” Mark Twain wrote the following words:” Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, 7) Nevertheless, since...
Introduction The Story Of An Hour by Kate Chopin is a story that strikes close to home for most married women even in today’s world of equal rights and women’s liberty. It is my belief that the central theme of the story delves on the seeming lack or loss of...
Abstract This paper explores the possible ways of incorporating quotations and writing about an interesting character and theme in the story of Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”. The theme focuses on Chopin’s view of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard’s marriage, an empty or contented marriage; also this paper focuses...
Introduction Where do the ducks go when it becomes winter. This is an example of symbolism in this novel, which is filled with many more symbols, about Holden or his view on life. The ducks can be symbolizing Holden’s impulse to run away from the world and its problem and...
The book titled Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective by Norman L. Geisler and Paul D. Feinberg deals with the issue of Christianity and the Christian vision of history of philosophy. Geisler and Feinberg strived to define the philosophy as the study, gave reasons to study it, and assessed its...
When one thinks of the American literature of the 20th century, the name of Flannery O’Connor is one among the first to come to his or her mind. Flannery O’Connor (1925-64) is now recognized as one of the greatest American writers of the period. Though the author’s hereditary disease prevented...
Introduction A Midsummer Night’s Dream marks the maturation of William Shakespeare’s comic form beyond situation and young romantic love. Shakespeare adds to the richness of comic structure by interweaving the love plot with a cast of rustic guildsmen, who are out of their element as they strive to entertain the...
Abstract Plato’s cave allegory is an analogy of an individual’s journey from ignorance to enlightenment, as well as referring to his beliefs of the world of appearances, and the world of Reality. Plato’s fable “The Allegory of the Cave” reflects the vast wisdom of Plato, his teacher and the philosophers...
Introduction In the play ‘Hamlet’, by William Shakespeare, a complex plot is created right at the commencement of the play including the murder of King Hamlet of Denmark and the hurried marriage of Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) to the late king’s brother, Claudius. The play however revolves around the task undertaken...
Introduction To describe any one of the three – ethics, culture or socialization – in isolation, might not only be impossible, but will also sound quite ludicrous. To describe what ethics are all about in a particular culture, the socialization process of the individual needs to be studied. Socialization involves...
Greek Mythology, on the whole, consists of stories of gods and goddesses who purportedly dwelt on Mt Olympus. But it is not an account of the Greek religion. The modern idea of a real myth is that it constitutes an explanation of something in nature; for example, how and everything...
Introduction This essay deals with an analysis of different forms and patterns in which the concepts of duplicity and doubleness are represented in Stevenson’s famous novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. The issues of duplicity/doubleness were not an accident thematic choice for Stevenson for he was...
Shakespeare was a master craftsman who depicted almost all aspects of human life in his plays. He delves deep into the psyche of the characters and tries to bring out the most inner feelings of the characters in his dramatic works. The theme of ambition is a recurrent theme for...
The concept and perception of depth in art is the ability of a piece of work to explore more than two dimensions. It is the ability of a product of art to interrogate and appeal to more than the visible dimension. It is the ability of the artwork to move...
Introduction Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 BC: A Historical Biography is a notable book written by Peter Green. The author is a British novelist and classical scholar, famous for his historical books. The presented work can be considered one of the most significant ones Green has written. Moreover, the book can...
Washing Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” is a powerful historical material that describes the issues experienced by many Americans before and after the Revolutionary War. The author uses the life of Rip Van Winkle to analyze the practices of many communities. The story highlights the economic activities embraced by different people...
Introduction Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist and author. He participated in the Civil War, serving in the Ninth Indiana Infantry.1 During this period, Bierce published various articles and essays. Afterwards, he started a new career as a journalist. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is Bierce’s most famous story....
Theodore Roethke – My Papa’s Waltz Being easily one of the most misunderstood poems in the history of American poetry, My Papa’s Waltz is appealing to the general audience in many ways. Personally, I like the poem for several reasons, one of them being the atmosphere that the given poem...
Introduction Throughout this course, I have learned many things that I was not aware of hitherto concerning traditions and especially folklores. Folklore, which is also popularly known as ‘lore’, includes oral history, music, jokes, proverbs, legends, fairy tales, tall tales, as well as traditional customs of different cultures or groups....
Topic Is it relevant to discuss Eleonora in “Eleonora” by Edgar Allan Poe and Tia Roma in Torquemada at the Stake by Benito Perez Galdos as agents of knowledge or as objectified characters? Textual evidence Quote #1 (from text #1) Eleonora “grieved to think that, having entombed her in the...
In spite of research indicating the methods helping to reduce inequality in healthcare, the problem of health disparities is still recognized as a critical question. In her award-winning book titled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot (2010) tells the story of a financially disadvantaged African-American cervical cancer patient whose...
Introduction The concept of “the tipping point” can be boiled down to a series of events that lead to a sudden change. This can encompass a variety of aspects such as the sell off period in a stock market after months or years of a bull run, the sudden popularity...
Introduction The choice of a narrative mode shapes how readers perceive the actions of the main characters. This paper will include an analysis of two short stories, namely Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway and A&P by John Updike. These literary works exemplify different story-telling techniques that enable the...
There is a great number of different masterpieces of literature in the world. Each of them describes some peculiar phenomenon or event. The majority of books are devoted to human beings and their feelings and emotions. There are, however, some works that are devoted to animals and their touching allegiance...
Every culture has its own unique and distinct tradition which is a trademark of identification of every nation. Immigrates are away from their lands and tradition, they face cultural influences that are enforced by an external environment. This essay paper analyzes immigrates experiencing cultural adaptation of Stealing Buddha dinner written...
Northup’s life like before slavery Being born a free person, Solomon Northup enjoyed all the privileges granted by liberty and managed to use many opportunities of his position as a free man. His father managed to educate him and, thus, he could read, write, and he even played the violin....
The excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells about the memories of a little girl. Marguerite Johnson and her brother Bailey, abandoned by their parents, go to their father’s mother to Stamps, Arkansas. That is how children start living with their grandmother whom they soon begin to...
The Age of Empire: 1875-1914 is a historical book written by Eric Hobsbawm. The author described the period as significant towards the development of our present global economy and politics. One important thing about the book is that the author divides historians of the 19th century into two groups: those...
“Dulce Et Decorum Est” – Wilfred Owen In comparing and contrasting Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen, we will look at their various works and see the comparisons and differences, if any, in opinions about World War One. First, let’s look at Wilfred Owen’s poems. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen...
The Names of Novelists and Their Works The basic idea of the paper is to demonstrate ethical identity as one of the social aspects involved in Asian American literature. Due to the fact that immigrants have made a great contribution to the formation of cultural heritage, it is necessary to...
Abstract During the colonial period in America, Black Americans lived under oppression by their white colonial masters. They never enjoyed similar rights as the white American citizens. Blacks were denied the freedom of expression. Because of this, African American writers decided that it would be good to present their grievances...
Introduction There is probably no more fruitful field for authors describing heroes than fantasy literature. In these stories, good usually fights against bad, the hero is opposed to the villain, and their encounters are so exciting that the reader is fully involved in the events of the book. Most often,...