Category: Literature

  • Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism

    Alexander Pope’s five tenets of neoclassicism are essentially in his preparation for his most famous work, his Essay on Criticism. For example, “One science only will one genius fit, so vast is art, so narrow human wit…” (Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism part I, l. 60). Alexander Pope used a couple of tenets of Classicism…

  • Albert Chinualumogu Achebe – Things Fall Apart

    Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 in a large village in Nigeria called Ogidi. His father was a Protestant missionary and he received an English education in his early childhood. Despite his background, he had a multicultural upbringing. This is due to the fact that the inhabitants of Ogidi still followed many…

  • Comparing The Black Cat and The Fall of the House of Usher

    The Black Cat and The Fall of the House of Usher are two very different yet parallel stories. For example, though the stories are different, Poe uses very similar themes for both of them. One theme is Passion. In both the stories, one of the main characters has had a passion for something or the…

  • Character Analysis of Sammy in Updike’s “A & P”

    Sammy works at an A & P grocery store near the beach. He works the cash register and is seemingly an ordinary nineteen year old boy. One day at work, Sammy sees three girls enter the grocery store, each girl wearing only a two piece bathing suit. Immediately he begins to analyze each girl and…

  • Tone and Style in ‘The Great Gatsby’

    The final passage in ‘The Great Gatsby’ can lead the reader to see the novel in a whole new light. Whereas the overall aspect of the book represents one mans attempt to fulfil his dream, the final passage seems a lot more pessimistic and down to earth.

  • Comparing John Locke and Thomas Hobbes

    Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the greatest political and philosophical thinkers of their time and ours. Ideas like these have shaped governments throughout history and still hold true today. They had extremely different views on

  • Themes of Macbeth

    In the Play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare there are many themes, which are fueled by motifs. One of the more popular motifs is blood. Blood represents a lot of things death, revenge, guilt, fear, and life. This is popular because in this play

  • The Scarlett Letter: Isolation Due to Evil

    The final bell rings. You and your peers dash down the halls to meet up with friends and talk about how the day went, gossiping away. Caught up in this wonderful frenzy, you hardly notice the one girl you used to talk to, walks quietly and alone, on by. You

  • Innocence is Simplicity

    Innocence is simplicity; the absence of guile or cunning; naivete. All the children come to the island with a sense of harmlessness. In Lord of the Flies William Golding reveals how innocence can be lost when hidden emotions lead to destructive accidents.

  • A Clockwork Orange

    In “A Clockwork Orange,” a young fifteen year old droog named Alex is a thug on the streets. He and his fellow droogs Pete, Dim, and Georgie do every single horrendous thing possible: raping innocent women, breaking into houses, picking on men that

  • Human Nature, Examples from Macbeth

    Life is a reality that forces individuals to choose between right and wrong. Decisions are made to have a lasting effect that decides the outcome of a person’s future. Macbeth has a great deal of trouble deciding

  • Houyhnhnms In Action

    In Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s travels, part four introduces the Houyhnhnm race. The Houyhnhnms are the leaders of their land, which the main character, Lemuel Gulliver, finds shocking since they are

  • The Lost Generation

    The term “lost generation” was coined by American poet Gertrude Stein to describe American literary artists that sought meaning in life, drank excessively, and had love affairs during the 1920s. These artists include Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle,

  • Theme of “Araby” by James Joyce

    “Araby”, a short story by James Joyce, set before the turn of the century in Dublin, is not the story of any outward action but the story of the inner whirl of the mind. It represents the excited representations of Joyce as a young boy, to relish

  • Shakespeare and the Critics

    Shakespeare is possibly the greatest play writer of our time. One of his more famous plays “Hamlet” tells the story of a man, Hamlet, who is misunderstood by everyone. It is very easy for one to project his or her own faults onto someone else,

  • Beowulf: The Hero Within

    Shakespeare had once said, “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born with greatness, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Stories about great heroes have been mentioned in folktales, legends, mythology, and even

  • William S. Burroughs Biography

    American writer, painter, spoken word performer, and legendary persona, William S. Burroughs left behind a deep wave on popular culture that has rippled beyond the realm of literature exclusively. A preeminent figure of the Beat Generation, Burroughs

  • D. H. Lawrence: Controversial Author

    David Herbert Lawrence was more than a novelist. Lawrence was a poet, storywriter, playwright, letter writer, literary critic, art critic, and philosopher (Phillips, par. 1). Plagued with fragile health and failing relationships, he was constantly searching

  • Gothicism and “A Rose for Emily”

    Southern Gothic literature is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style. This style of writing usually centers on grotesque, mysterious, and desolate characters and settings. Writers of Southern Gothicism examine the decay of the old south and the

  • Charity – A True Act of Kindness?

    In Mary Douglas’s article she discussed how charity is supposed to be a good thing, a spontaneous act of kindness, but in reality is nothing near it. She explains how no gift is given without some selfish

  • The Influence of Puritanism

    Taking into account the definition of Puritanism given by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it is “the beliefs and practices of the Puritans”. Therefore, a definition of Puritan is needed, and

  • Pride of Intellect Punished in the Short Fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne

    From the first date of their publishing, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works have never been dismissed as purely entertaining, or fodder for the masses. Both his earliest writing under pen names and his accredited

  • Themes of the Odyssey

    In The Odyssey hospitality is noted as one of the main themes seen throughout the entire story and is one of the most significant key concepts; without hospitality nothing can be achieved or civilized. In books 6-8 of

  • Janie’s Voice -Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Janie’s dream has always been to travel to the horizon. For her, the horizon is a never-ending journey, her eternal quest for happiness. As her psyche and personality grow due to the hardships she

  • Exploring Human Nature in Macbeth

    William Shakespeare’s Macbeth explores human nature, in particular the ambition of his main character Macbeth. Macbeth makes ill-fated decisions based upon ambitions to become King and retain that position. So