Literature Essay Examples and Topics. Page 31

8,712 samples

“Trifles”: Mrs. Peters Character

Peters reveals and enriches itself throughout the play: initially embodying the quality of obedience, with time she demonstrates the power of observance and attention to small things and consequently achieves a triumph over the male [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 658

“Oedipus the King” Drama by Sophocles

It vividly discloses and illustrates the talent of the ancient Greek dramatist as the master of disclosure of the themes that have been topical in the course of development of human society and literature.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 953

Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Followed the Petrarchan Ideal

Shakespeare changes the content of the traditional sonnet in this particular poem by placing the focus on the true permanence of the image rather than the physical 'permanence' of the woman herself.
  • Subjects: Dramatic Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 987

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

American Literature: Death Comes for the Archbishop

When the novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop" begins, one can see that the setting is the Great Rome in 1848 where the cardinals and the American missionary Bishops were indulged in a talk about [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1960

“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel

I agree with the review that this novel is a vivid example of Laura Esquivel's unique style of writing and extraordinary talent that becomes apparent through the choice of settings and objects, irony and symbolism. [...]
  • Subjects: American Novels Influences
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 639

The Narrative of “Night” by Elie Wiesel

The recurring themes of Night, by Elie Wiesel reflect the poignant feelings of disgust of writer against mankind and gradually his loss of faith in God, helplessness and hopelessness of a child who entirely disgusts [...]
  • Subjects: Dramatic Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1125

“Black Venus” by Angela Carter

The Poet is a co-tenant of Jeanne's in the apartment, where Jeanne receives customers, and who also owns the pussy cat that the woman wanted to strangle and kill.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1943

Aeneid, an Epic Poem by Virgil

The Trojans were the ancestors of the Romans according to the Aeneid, and their enemies were the Greek forces who had besieged and sacked Troy; yet at the time the Aeneid was written, the Greeks [...]
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2677

Love Concept: Modern & Postmodern American Literature

The depiction of the theme of love has always been vital regardless of the literary trend and modernism as well as postmodernism saw a number of literary works dedicated to immortal issues of love, death, [...]
  • Subjects: Modernist Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 934

Comparing Dr. Faustus and Hamlet

Hamlet kills numerous characters in the play and this goes to show his excessive pride or in other words his sin of pride.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 783

“The Glass Menagerie” the Play by Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams, a prominent playwright of his own epoch was born on 26 March 1911 in Columbus where he lived with his family consisting of his grandfather who was a religious man in the church, [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1004

Interpretation of Robert Frost’s Poems

Type: Lyric Rhyme Scheme: aababbcbccdcdddd-last two lines are the same Setting: In a sleigh in the middle of a winter's night, between the lake and the woods and not near the houses.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 3164

“Rip Van Winkle” the Story by Washington Irving

By the very act of passing over a indication of an event in American history, the story draws attention to it"."Rip returns to find people talking of the heroes of the late war, the new [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1225

The Romantic Period in British Literature

The Romantic period in British Literature is grounded on the nexus of the Enlightenment's encouragement of commerce, rationale, and freedom and the Victorian understanding of industrialization and realm.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 514

The Frame Story in “1001 Nights”

The formality in the frame stories throughout The Thousand nights and a one uses is due to many causes: the strength of convention, the narrative function of most of the stories, the element of doctrine [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 820

Achilles, Odysseus and Aeneas Comparison

Much ado in the Illiad tells of the dishonor he suffered from Agamemnon, his decision to quit the field because of it, and the futile efforts of the Greeks to appease him and draw him [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1623

Voice in Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”

His shift in language, from the discussion of Oliver and what he was doing and thinking to a consideration of what we must do, signifies the switch from the simple narration of the story to [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1575

How Poe Builds Suspense?

The use of language and stylistic techniques enriches the suspense and horror of the actions being described. For instance, in The Masque of the Red Death, the prince is depicted as a madman who enjoys [...]
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1760

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut is a science fiction writer who tells about Cold War fears and the threat of the Bomb, the lurking dangers of overpopulation and food shortage on the one hand, and on the other government's [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2060

“Jabberwocky” Poem by Lewis Caroll

The meanings in the glossary differed from those in the Through The Looking Glass, therefore, the translation read: "It was evening, and the smooth active badgers were scratching and boring holes in the hill-side, all [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1336

Ritual Performance and Cosmology in the Rig Veda

Despite differences in the interpretation of features text as a whole, the data remained of the most ancient Indian religious texts allows restoring some elements of mythology and cosmology of the Vedic Indians. Altogether, it [...]
  • Subjects: World Philosophy Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1730

Sam and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit

In both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and their film adaptations, Sam Gamgee, the character, was a hobbit who becomes Frodo Baggins' close friend in his quest for the 'One Ring'.
  • 5
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 922

Social Values in Modern Asian Short Stories

The author used a flashback to build up the rest of the story in bringing out an element of discrimination which was directed to the Koreans by the Japanese.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1389

John Donne’s Poems and Their Reflections

The works of John Donne and works of other writers reflecting on Donne's works The writer was an English metaphysical poet; he wrote poems to address different issues in society like love, politics, and epigrams.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 541

Symbolism in “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad

There is the use of visual imagery in his work, and this was achieved through the use of contrast. At some point in the novel, Conrad's use of imagery appeared vague and confusing in that [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 591

“Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving

At the same time, the story draws a parallel to the uprising itself, with the tyranny of Rip's wife leading him to try and escape, only for this woman to disappear before his return.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 843

“Hysterical Realism” in Zadie Smith’s Novels

Instead, she wants to provide her readers with a chance to position themselves toward the residue of the past experiences of the country that still can be felt on the streets of modern London.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1119

Odysseus’ Personal Qualities and the Epic Hero Image

However, despite the need to win the audience, Odysseus also uses rhetoric to establish his authority; in his storytelling, he is always somewhat distant from the listeners: "Odyssean charisma, in both the personal sense attached [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3042

“The Iliad” a Greek Epic Poem by Homer

One of the most famous arming scenes in the Iliad is the description of Achilles' arming, in particular, shield. It could be supposed that Homer tried to highlight the horror of the war and focused [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 642

Literary Devices in “The Monkey’s Paw” by Jacobs

The author is talking about fate and magic at the same time, and also tries to show the way people surround mythical things with beliefs that make it easy for the believers of such things [...]
  • 4
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1113

“The Romance in the Forest” by Ann Radcliffe

Ann Radcliffe's "The Romance in the Forest" explores the relationship between Adeline and the men in the book. Adeline is the lead character in the book, and she is supposed to exemplify the strength of [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Repetitive Narration in Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

It also shows that Lennie and George were never going to escape the desperate circle of the routine of their lives."The deep green pool of the Salinas River" that is "still in the late afternoon" [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 568

Jamaica Kincaid’s Biography and Works

The challenges that young Jamaica experienced during her childhood and during her time in the United States comprise one of the inspirations that led to her passion for writing.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 396

Joseph Conrad’s Novel “Heart of Darkness”

In the Congo, he is clearly not in favor of the Africans but as a portrayal of how Africans needed the whites to salvage them from the darkness they were living in.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1675

The Ideal Relationship in Ramayana

At the age of sixteen, the sage Vishwamitra sought the help of Rama and Lakshmana to fight the demons. Rama banishes Sita to the forest because of rumors of her impurity.
  • 5
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 552

American Literature Course: Reason for Attaining

Literary works have always been a source of fascination and enjoyment for me, and it is due to this that I have taken this course not out of any particular reason outside of that I [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 1087

Charles Baudelaire’ Vision on the Satan

The specifics of the concept of the devilish which has been spoken in Baudelaire's poem The Litanies of Satan and in his narrative story called The Generous Gambler provides a deep insight on his idea [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1461

The Blind Side: Book and Movie Comparison

But when simplified even further the movie version differs from the book because the author wanted to show the evolution of how American football is played and conducted using the story of Michael Oher the [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1597

Hills Like White Elephants and Shooting an Elephant

The validity of this suggestion can be well illustrated, in regards to the fact that, throughout his conversation with Jig, the American never ceased exhibiting the signs of being thoroughly arrogant.
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1379

“Raisin in the Sun” and “Harlem”

Hansberry and Hughes introduce the same idea of a dream compared to a raisin dried up in the sun, but explain it in different ways in order to show how the interpretation of a thought [...]
  • 3
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 826

“The Swimmer” by John Cheever

In "The Swimmer" the reality paves the way towards surreal through the use of foreshadowing where there is a creation of the antagonistic world faced by Ned in every new swim.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 741

Plot Means in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

The frozen in time quality of the setting, combined with the images of "coquettish decay," underscore Miss Emily Grierson's inability to free herself from the memory of her father and of the past.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1122

“Guests of the Sheikh” by Elizabeth Wernick Fernea

The author explains the meanings of different events and rituals conducted by members of the El Eshadda tribe in order to get rid of ambiguities that inform the western ideologies regarding the culture of the [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1941

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and His Literary Contribution

Most scholars are skeptical about the magnanimity of Sarmiento's contribution to literature but it is often agreed that his works are an accurate reflection of the social and political situations in the 1800s' Argentina.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1145

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Enkidu, another man who is also depicted in the Epic of Gilgamesh as having a power in terms of how he treated his companions, meets King Gilgamesh in some of the scenes in the epic [...]
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1933

The Enormous Radio

The short story gathered the attention of the public that made it to be among The Enormous Radio and Other Stories collections.
  • 2
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 574

The White Noise by Don DeLillo

In this case, the visit to the supermarket reveals Jack's true nature as an American who is proud of his way of life, and the satisfaction he feels after buying goods from the supermarket.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 1527

Chinese Calligraphy

Unlike other types of calligraphy, the Chinese calligraphy is more of painting where characters are used as a tool of communication and to express what the artists' spiritual world is like.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1385

Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: Themes & Symbols

The fact that the patient is the physician's wife ought to portray a picture of mutual agreements and understandings rather than subjecting one's decision to the other with a reason for care and protection.
  • Subjects: American Novels Writing Style
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 861

Carpe Diem and Aubade in British Literature

The themes and the underlying meanings of the poems encompass the problems of human existence, human feelings, desires, and even the world perception. The aubade is the kind of lyrics devoted to love and the [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 539

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and the Culture of the Igbo

However, when the oracle instructs that Ikemefuna is to be killed, Okonkwo severs his head with a machete even despite the fact that he is warned by the elder that he did not need to [...]
  • Subjects: Romantic Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1402

Importance of the Book “The Odyssey” by Homer

It is a book with a story that has lasted for ages due to its major themes such as the relation between father and son, the role of women, the significance of hospitality and the [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 866

The Scarlet Letter

When examining the novel, it becomes clear that the writing style and the way in which the author delves into the Puritan way of life seemingly shows the double standards that existed at the time.
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 611

In the Basement of the Ivory Tower

In his compelling masterwork, In the Basement of the Ivory Tower, Professor X laments on the poor education system among the people of low social class in America.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1389

The Other Wes Moore

The Source of all the Differences Although he does not categorically state it, it is evident from Moore's account of the two lives that the main point of divergence between him and the second Moore [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1176

Poe’s Favorite Subject Matter Is Death

This is not an exaggerated statement judging from terms and imagery used in at least four of his popular works such as The Cask of Amontillado; The Black Cat; The Tell-Tale Heart; and The Masque [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1551

“Utopia” by Thomas More

The name of the utopian land is the Green Spit; its inhabitants refer to it simply as "The Spit". Most people in Barrel work at forestry, maintaining the rainforests, or zoology, looking after the animals [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 836

The Concept of Broken Love in Poetry

The emotional state of the author is the main idea of the poem because the main character seems to reflect the mental and emotional features of Browning introducing his weakness and lack of self-confidence.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 2979

The Glass Menagerie: Figurines’ Significance

In this paper the focus will lead to a discussion of the significance of the glass figurines and their symbolic value to the whole play as representation of the most central symbol uniting and supporting [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1414

Creation Myths: Theories of Myths

This longing to explore on the nature of creation through vivid accounts or tales, prompted the materialization of way of life and custom which in the long run led to formation of religions and subsequent [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 937

Edgar Allan Poe’s Life From Primary Sources

I had indeed, nearly abandoned all hope of a permanent cure when I found one in the death of my wife [in 1847]. In the death of what was my life, then, I receive a [...]
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 886

The Novel “The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline

In the line "It's the kind of thing that shakes a person to their core and never quite leaves them," trauma is manifested by showing the impact of the disastrous event on the character.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 387

The Play “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller

As a result, the play depicts a family in which a son, Chris Keller, is dissatisfied with his father and unable to regard his father, Joe Keller, as a responsible citizen for the country to [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 554

The Novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

This fact confirms the thesis of the essay and highlights such topics of Frankenstein story as justice and vengeance. The portrayal of Victor Frankenstein characterizes man's inability to take responsibility for opportunist acts.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 405

The Short Story “Borders” by Thomas King

King demonstrates that the erasure of identity and one's desire to forget one's roots can cause racism and oppression of indigenous peoples.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 586

The Précis of the Eyes to See, Ears to Hear Chapters

In the format of reflection, which is the second part, the so-called "Examen" emerges, which displays a view of the events that occurred between prayers in the life of the praying person, parallel to the [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 558

Life Transformation of Chris McCandless

At the end of the narrative, the protagonist becomes the cause of his own death since he is not physically and mentally prepared for wild conditions.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 374

Sympathy for the Frankenstein’s Monster

The author describes the monster as a yellow-faced creature of enormous stature, with watery eyes and a black mouth, which, in the tradition of literary Gothicism, is intended to instill fear in the reader.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 449

Unity in Gullick’s The Invisible String Short Story

Using a clear plot, the author creates a story to expand on how connectedness to others informs her life, making the significance of developing this mindset the central message.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 327