Literature Essay Examples and Topics. Page 27

8,494 samples

Greek Tragedy Vs Shakespeare Tragedy

In the play Antigone, it is an interesting fact that the actions taken by Creon, the King of Thebes, is unsolicited by the citizens of Thebes but hardly anyone has the courage to utter it.
  • Subjects: World Philosophy Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1694

H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” and British Imperialism

Though the British Empire was the complex of colonies, dominions, mandates, protectorates, and other territories ruled by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the people of the Empire lived in fear on [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

‘Ceremony’ by Leslie Marmon Silko: Theme of Healing

The journey of the protagonist that stretches from the abyss of despair and moral tortures to the final recovery of Tayo and his people, serves as a representation of the main theme of the novel, [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 922

Langston Hughes’s Fine Clothes to the Jew Poems

Rampersad, the biographer of Langston Hughes, says that Fine Clothes to the Jew is not a successful volume, though it is Hughes's greatest collection, which was published when the poet was at the height of [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 963

“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright

In his novella The Man Who Was Almost a Man Richard Wright tells the story of a seventeen-year-old African-American adolescent, Dave Saunders, who has a strong desire to buy a gun to prove to everyone [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 875

I. Allende’s and J. Onetti’s Latin Short Stories

The thing that impressed me most of all about the short story is the overall impression of doom and guilt, which is created with the help of the details, that may seem unimportant at first [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1034

Recurring Theme in E. A. Robinson’s Poems

Anderson makes a conclusion that the poem is built on the ironic contrast between the unheroic Miniver as it is and his dreams of adventure, romance, and art associated with heroic figures of the Trojan [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

Culleton Mosionier’s “In Search of April Raintree”

Various attempts by April throughout the novel reveals her desperateness as a teenager to fulfill the criteria set by white, however, as an adult, April feels and experiences the endeavor to observe the creation of [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2752

Malcolm X’s “Ballot or Bullet” Speech: An Analysis

There is nothing ethical in Malcolm's urgings in his overt and covert 'call to arms' though he cleverly covers up by giving a choice of either using the 'Ballot' or the 'Bullet' when he actually [...]
  • Subjects: Dramatic Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 569

Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle

The end of the nineteenth century and the first several decades of the twentieth were extremely difficult for the world and especially for the working class in terms of working conditions and wages.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 828

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers

In the book Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers" by Kwame Anthony Appiah, the author has categorically described the value of differing cultures and the methods which are primarily used to keep two varying [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2309

Machismo in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”

By tracing through Hemingway's life in conjunction with his stories such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", one can begin to trace some of the ideas that characterized Hemingway's life and thinking.
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1805

Man’s Doom: “To Build a Fire” by Jack London

The man's fallacy of not appreciating the realities again becomes evident in the fact that he decides to build the fire "under the spruce tree," instead of building it "in the open"..
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 976

“Tribe”, Short Story by Alan Elyshevitz

As for me, the main theme which the author persecutes in the story is the problem of racial peculiarities of American people and the Indians in particular.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 625

Themes in “The Wars” Novel by Timothy Findley

The title of the story, The Wars, is not that simple and represents two different types of war, which are inherent to people: the war that happens on the battlefield, and the war that happens [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1106

“The Return of Merlin” by Deepak Chopra

The approach is helped by the legends of Arthur and the royal knights like Lancelot and Guinevere. The book is a journey of murder and mystery to spirituality and hope at the end.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 541

Mythological Figure of Polyxena

After the outbreak of the war, Polyxena was captured by the Greek soldiers and soon she was given to Achilles, the murderer of her brothers.
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 553

“Carpe Diem” in the Poems

Robert Herrick's poem carries the same urgent and passionate tone, he also reminds the listener of the fast passing time and the need to act now 'Old time is still a-flying: And this same flower [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 830

A Pair of Voices: Frost and Plath’s Poetry

The sonnet Acquainted with the Night is very sad and not like the usual you expect from Frost. In this poem, the night is decidedly scary and the darkness may be dangerous.
  • Subjects: Romantic Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1935

Revolutionary Road: Masked Emotions to Harsh Reality

In the case of the suburban American, there is a palpable kind of tug-of-war, a troubled air that is reminiscent of the political relations that existed between the superpowers.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1458

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Even should this be the case, the restrictive way in which she is instructed to clean would serve as a viable justification for this unhappiness, not necessarily the physical labor of the maids themselves.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1000

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Kino plans to travel to another city to sell this pearl, but his brother warns that the pearl is evil and he should just sell it.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 926

Ophelia from Shakespeare’s ”Hamlet”

Shakespeare employs the traditional view of the woman as a means of illustrating its more dangerous elements through his portrayal of Ophelia in her innocence, the ease with which others use her, and the suspicion [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1444

Ambiguity of Racial Identities in Larsen’s “Passing”

In the novel, the main character, Clare Kendry, defines herself in terms of her family; she is concerned solely with the welfare of her children and the degree to which her husband's infidelity threatens her [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 958

“Congo” Novel by Michael Crichton

The novel starts with the end of an expedition when people were attacked and killed by an unknown enemy, and the contact between the expedition and the outer world is lost.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 587

“Emma” by Jane Austen

It should be borne in mind that Emma is a representative a certain society and to a certain extent, her actions are governed by the rules, established in this society, and she is not free [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 3002

“I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died” by Emily Dickinson

The emphasis on the absence of any sounds in this room presents a depressing feeling of sadness that is visually interconnected between the absence of movements in the 'air' and the 'paralyzes of the protagonist.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 607

“Hills Like White Elephants”: Argument Comparison

Bernardo and Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" and the tradition of the American in Europe by D. The early versions of that story put Jig and the American man on the train for which they [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 930

“Legend of Good Women” by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Legend of Good Women written by Geoffrey Chaucer is considered to be a significant poem having the dream vision form; it is a kind of testament to female disparate views being prevalent at the [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 814

“Hatchet” the Novel by Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen's works are different from other novels designed to appeal to young adults because of his ability to celebrate the natural terrain and the interactions of the characters with nature. The identification with the [...]
  • Subjects: Aspects of American Novels
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1636

“A Room With a View” by E. M. Forster

As she struggles between the strict social mores of her community and the desires of her heart, Lucy is influenced by both her own internal experiences and the external behaviors of those around her, finally [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 980

Comparison of 20th Century Short Stories

In the modern short story tradition, the effectiveness of a short story depends on many aspects and one of the most essential elements that go into the effective narration of a short story is its [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1265

“A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell Review

Looking at the story from the point of view of Gender Criticism, it can be seen that the essence of the story is to reflect how badly women have been treated by men.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 863

“White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey

As in the second stanza, she writes, "I could easily tell the white folks" meaning she's addressing white people and without any fear whatever lies she had to tell.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 947

“Howl for Carl Solomon” Poem by Allen Ginsberg

The poem "Howl for Carl Solomon" by Allen Ginsberg is the brightest example of the artistic protest against the humiliating and unfair standards and norms according to which human society lives.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1932

Physical Hunger in “Black Boy” by Richard Wright

This paper defines the term hunger, describes other forms of hunger, and finally tries to interpret Wrights form of physical hunger to find out if it is representative of something.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 637

Comparison of Salinger’s and Miller’s Works

Set in the cities of New York and Boston, "Death of a Salesman" the story happens during the 50s and 60s, the story reminds readers that there is more to life than just pursuing the [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 953

Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” Review

He had made expeditions in Lithuania and in Russia, no knight of his degree so often; and many a time in Prussia he had sat at the head of the table alone all the knights [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1284

The Role of Teachers in “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse

Vasudeva, the ferryman and the river act as the best teachers for Siddhartha in his pursuit for enlightenment; however, one cannot undermine the role played by his own father, the Samanas, Kamala, Kamaswami and Buddha [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1982

“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell

However, his job required him to support the imperialist rule and even as he knew the reasons for the British occupation, he also knows that by treating the people the way they did, the Brits [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 593

Use of Language in Susan Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’

The play begins as the County Attorney and the Sheriff have come to investigate the murder and find the motive. Irony helps Glaspell to unveil women's right to suffrage and dramatize the situation.in the play, [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1167

Kate Chopin’s Work “The Story of a Hour”

This is the main conflict of the story and it is my belief that she chose to be happy at her newfound freedom while grieving for her husband a little.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1045

The Theme of Death in the World of Literature

Important is the fact that the death is personified in the poem and has the role of the gentleman. The death is presented as a powerful element of the poem and of the narrator's life [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2578

“Swarm” by Bruce Sterling: Plot and History

As an outcome, it appears that though it is a century of the highest technologies and the story set is way far in the future, the main values remain the same.
  • Subjects: Concepts in American Novels
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 563

Marginal Characters in Medieval Literature

Marginal characters thus may be claimed to play a crucial role in literary work and in the first place of its conceptual realization.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2650

A Modern Tale of James Joyce’s “Araby”

In Araby, the development of theme resembles the archetypal myth of the quest for a holy talisman such as Sir Galahad's quest for the Holy Grail, such as James Joyce's looking for the lost light [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 2022

The Significance of Fences

By naming his play Fences, the plural form of the word even though only a single physical fence is evident in the play, August Wilson brings attention to the symbolism of the fence itself as [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1657

Marriage in George Eliot’s Novel ‘Middlemarch’

Her "Mill on the Floss" vehemently reveals an indescribable conflict in Maggie's innocent mind; one the one side there was the matter of the Tulliver family's ego and prestige, and on the other side it [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1066

Racial Discrimination in “A Raisin in the Sun”

Racial discrimination is the main theme of the book, strongly reflecting the situation that prevailed during the 1950s in the United States, a time when the story's Younger family lived in Chicago's South Side ghetto.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 818

Critical Response on the Play Proof by David Auburn

The play deals with the genius persons of the world and it relates genius convincingly with the world of madness. Then the development of schizophrenia in Nash, which is "a severe mental disorder that distorts [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2156

Kate Chopin’s Symbolism in Short Stories

The lightning becomes the conflict inside her and the beating of the rain on her roof is the beating of her heart as she finally expresses her passion with Alcee.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 991

Van Maanen’s “Tales of the Field” Review

The book, which is the subject of this essay, namely "Tales of the field: On writing ethnography" is one of the most famous ones in the field of ethnography.
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 573

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost: Advice for Life

As Bellah points out, the title of the poem is "The Road Not Taken" rather than "The Road Less Taken", which provides the first clue as to the author's original intentions and a different reading [...]
  • Subjects: American Novels Influences
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1961

“The Kingdom of Matthias” by Johnson and Wilentz

The historical developments of that epoch were deeply connected with the growth and formation of a market society that deeply affected the lives of ordinary men and women and played a great role in the [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1478

A Good-Enough Mother: “The Fifth Child” by Doris Lessing

When David and Harriet went on holiday's with the children, usually Harriet's mother Dorothy looked after Ben, but one day she suggested that they send Ben to the institution, but Harriet was against the idea [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 923

The 1930s English Poetry: Pen at War

Auden's poem uses conventional structure in the form of a sonnet although the the rhymes are not as smooth and lyrical, but the substance of the poetry remains in the era of the 1930s.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1172

The Novel The Outsider Camus: Character Analysis

It is the wearing of black as a show of mourning and the sustained sadness that forbids the beginning of a liaison on the day following the burial of Meursault's mother.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 870

The One Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin

Those running away are not sure of where they are going as Le Guin put it at the end of the story "The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to us [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 781

Nation’s Nature: David Hume vs James Beattie

It is essential to mention Hume's criticism of theories supporting the influence of physical causes, which is indirectly linked to the philosopher's intention to explain the rise and progress of the arts.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 551

Faith and Divine in Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy

Through the character of Aslan, the lion, the author explains the Christian ideas and teaches the readers that humility and sincerity are better than all the wealth of the world.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 822

Conformity in “The Wars” by Timothy Findley

It is equally important to stress that the issue of conformity is based on the person's ability and willingness to fit into a group or culture. One can argue that Ross's decision to join the [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1086

Two Brothers in Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

In contrast to the brother, Sonny uses jazz music and heroin to cope with the despair of their living conditions. In the final part of the story, Sonny's performance at a jazz club brings his [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 898

Nature in Washington Irving’s “The Voyage”

The theme of the struggle between a man and the sea as the power of nature can be traced even in the ancient literature, drawing on the example of Odysseus challenges and Poseidon, the formidable [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1912

Poetry Comparison by Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes

The general impression of Emily Dickinson's poems is that they are very economical with words and the message being conveyed. The general impression of these poems is that the writer feels oppressed and discriminated against [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 861

William Cullen Bryant, an American Romantic Poet

In "Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood," the author relies on such words as guilt, misery, crime, and sorrow to explain the negative side of the surrounding man-made world.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 502

“My Papa’s Waltz” Poem by Theodore Roethke

The literary styles influence the interpretation of the poem by the target audience. In the poem "My Papa Waltz," the author has employed, vivid descriptions, figurative language, and unique poetic tones to communicate the meaning [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 615

“Tangled Up in Blue” Lyrics by Bob Dylan

The song manages to tell the whole story of the life and love of the lyrical hero. The future is unpredictable but we see glimpses of it in the past and present.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 306

Integrating Sources: A Deeper Look at Beauty

Quotation: "The philosophical dimension of beauty does not depend on the limits of the physical world; true beauty far exceeds our earthly bounds". It is necessary to consider the beauty's "subtle qualities" such as "tone, [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 456

Paulo Coelho: The Lesson of Finding One’ Purpose in Life

One of the most common themes in Coelho's books is finding one's purpose in life and seeking after the attainment of ones dreams.'The Alchemist', 'The Witch of Portobello', 'The Zahir' and 'Brida' have this theme [...]
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1594

Bhagavad Gita as a Spiritual Book

Lord Krishna is believed to be the inspiration behind the book known as the Gospel of the Lord. From this knowledge, the history of the Gita, the purpose of yoga, and a guru becomes significant [...]
  • Subjects: World Philosophy Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 783