Literature Essay Examples and Topics. Page 57

8,581 samples

“Riders of the Purple Sage” Western by Zane Grey

The book "Riders of the Purple Sage" was one of the first in the genre western. Overall, storylines intertwine the fates of the main characters, which allows the audience to understand them better, and an [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1111

Alexander Pope, a Poet and Translator

Pope was living with his parent in their house, but his works on some of the writings by Homer provided him with enough finances to find his own dwelling, which happened to be a villa [...]
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 309

Edgar Allan Poe’s Life, Poems, Short Stories

The recognition of his works is based mainly on the uniqueness of the themes and characters the author created, as well as his excellent command of the language and exceptional imagery and style.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1159

“The Epic of Gilgamesh” in Art Interpretation

It is imperative to mention that the analysis of ancient works is incredibly important because it enhances the understanding of the traditions and values of the people."The Epic of Gilgamesh" is regarded as one of [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 832

Life Meaning in “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom

Morrie questions the importance of spirituality and the ability of a person to love and be loved. The virtue is ridiculed by society and is considered to be a manifestation of the softness of the [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 862

Search for Meaning in “The Lucky One” by Sparks

However, despite the consensus among critics, both the fate and the chance are methods that are used by the author to reveal a much deeper concept of the journey through which the protagonist searches for [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1239

“Eveline” a Short Story by James Joyce

Thus, it is agreeable that Wendy's paper requires some polishing in order to bring out clarification on synthesis and analysis as well as inference of the plot.
  • Subjects: Dramatical Novel
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 575

Chinua Achebe’ Book “Things Are Falling Apart”

Chinua Achebe, an African author with his origin in Nigeria mainly focuses on the colonization of African countries and the role of women in the society in the village of Umuofia in his book Things [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 874

Race and Culture in Langston Hughes’ Poems

The most obvious way of assessing the extent to which Langston Hughes responded to the historical context of his race in his work is to assess his thematic concerns. Again, just like in "Cross," Hughes [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1229

“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

“Daisy Miller” a Novel by Henry James

As the representative of literary realism, Henry James in his novel Daisy Miller uses a number of realistic features such as concentration on details, accent on reality instead of reflections and on characters instead of [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 580

“Barn Burning” a Story by William Faulkner

Another aspect that is worth noting is that it is entirely possible that the boy has recognized that Abner is emotionally unstable and requires the support.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2015

ZZ Packer’ Stories Comparison

Dina's experiences in Japan depicted in Geese contribute to the depiction of her life at Yale from Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, offering valuable insights into the development of her character and search for personal and national [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 570

“To the Lighthouse” a Novel by Virginia Woolf

In such a case, it shows that Friedman perceives the imagery of water as a part of change according to which one surrenders to the process of accomplishing the wouldouble vision'.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1131

Early American Literature: Thematic Elements

This paper explores the issue of how these people's ideas contributed to the shaping of the culture of that time. The literature portrayed the ways of life of the early dwellers of America, and it [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1184

LGBT Literature: “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

The chosen book is Oscar Wilde's 1891 classic: The Picture of Dorian Gray; a story carefully fashioned to affirm the tilt youths have toward beauty, and the extent most could go to retain that unique [...]
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1112

Sven Beckert and Naomi Klein’s Books Comparison

The author perceived the foundation of modern capitalism through war capitalism, which used military strength and technological advantages in order to clear land for cotton plantations and subjugate or exterminate various indigenous races that got [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1450

The Play “King Hedley II” by August Wilson

The play is touching and even funny at certain parts, but overall it became one of the darkest and most tragic reflections on African-American life in the 20th century's drama.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 580

20th Century Literature of the American West

The abundance of beautiful descriptions of the nature coupled with limitless opportunities that are beyond the reach of common people make the majority of literary works of the twentieth century a combination of wonderful and [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1377

”Arcadian Adventures With the Idle Rich” by Leacock

The short story that is found in the second chapter of the book describes a significant flowering of the seeds of individualism and corrupt materialism that occur in Plutoria Avenue in a large city in [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1100

Miller’s “A Doll House” and “A Sorrowful Woman”

The succeeding sections of this work give the literal evidence, which indicates the place of a woman in the society, and support the thesis on the need to radicalize the society on gender equity.
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 959

“Dead Man at Grandview Point” by Edward Abbey

In this chapter, the Abbey's goal is not to clarify the reasons of death, but to explain that death is something all people have to accept one day, and the way the tourist at Grandview [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 500

“Planet of Slums” a Book by Mike Davis

In his book, Mike Davis explains to the readers the mechanisms of how slums work, and puts forth an idea that the blame for slums being dangerous and miserable lies not on the inhabitants of [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 920

An Exemplary Hero: Homer’s “The Odyssey”

The masterpiece describes the life of Odysseus and his journey especially after the infamous fall of Troy. One outstanding fact about Odysseus is that he is the main hero of the epic.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3094

“Year Zero: A History of 1945” by Ian Buruma

Through numerous examples of events happening in many countries after the end of the war, Ian explains to us that the changes in socio-political systems were made by the people who tried to make the [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 824

“The Giver” a Novel by Lois Lowry

Before the Sameness, the world of the book was much like ours. Finally, the central box lists the emotions and sensations, probably the cause most responsible for the occurrence of the Sameness.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 538

Elena Poniatowska and Her Feminism

Thus, the primary objective of her journalism and fiction was to break the indifference of the society and to open people's eyes to the problems of those who are silently excluded from public life.
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 603

“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel

The imagery of the ocean wave ushering in the infant on the wooden floor shows the narrative's fantastic element: "Tita was literally washed into the world on a great tide of tears that spilled over [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1129

Sandra Cisneros’ Life and Work

Cisneros was the only daughter in a family of seven children, and they often traveled from Mexico to the United States, as her father was involved in upholstery, which demanded constant movement between the two [...]
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 598

Loyalty in “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens

For instance, the author ridicules this blind loyalty to Gradgrind's philosophy and outlines various ways it has affected the lives of his children and people that surround him.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1104

“King Lear ” by William Shakespeare

At the end of the day, the character learns the price of such a fatal mistake which is betrayal and loss of everything he loved in his life. The theme of the transformational power of [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2753

Word Choice in “The Curse” by Arthur C. Clarke

When I read the story for the first time, it hardly drew my attention to the words chosen by the author to depict this scene. And why earlier in the text the author used the [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1695

Humanism in Thornton Wilder’s Play “Our Town”

Rather than invoking the idea of creation, Wilder seems to describe the role of birth to the continuation of generations and the role that physicians play in conserving human values. In this case, Wilder wanted [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 662

Chiew’s, Ramos’, and Chimamanda’s Short Stories

The consistency of the three works in addressing power struggles within the family as a social unit is a lesson to the society of the urgent need to restructure the family as the basic social [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 819

Gender Fights in “The Chrysanthemums” by Steinbeck

In this story, the author managed to challenge the traditional views on gender roles and demonstrated the tragedy of a person constrained by the existing order."The Chrysanthemums" pictures individuals in the stagnant world and identifies [...]
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 855

Misjustice in Solzhenitsyn’s Work and Innocence Project

Compensating the Wrongly Convicted is intended to introduce the issue of wrongful convictions that persists in the United States today answering some of the basic questions concerning the problem and informs about the potential solutions [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 822

Afghani Childhood in “The Kite Runner” by Hosseini

The purpose of writing this book, on the author's part, had to do with his intention to reflect upon his childhood memories of having lived in Afghanistan through the years 1965-1980.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2221

“Editha”, “Fires on the Plain”, “Old Man’s War”

The often promoted idea of nationalism that increases patriotic sentiments during a time of conflict may play a substantial role in the development of wrong ideas regarding war and its purposes, and provoke division of [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 619

Solidarity in The Waste Land and Angels in America

In his 1922 poem "The waste land", Thomas Eliot attempts to portray how social solidarity of in the modern world is affected by social and cultural changes such as the change in gender roles, dynamism [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1137

Joe Christmas in Faulkner’s “Light in August”

Although it is possible to perceive him as a bad person, the analysis of Christmas' character and the adverse episodes, in which he is represented as the main actor, reveal that he is not more [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 592

Characters and Setting in “The Veldt” by Bradbury

The second and the third ones are created and represented by the Veldt, which turns the reader nauseous with the eye-blinding sight of an African steppe and then lulls their vigilance by offering a background [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 584

“The Story of an Hour” Plot by Kate Chopin

In this case, the duty of the person breaking the news was to appear gentle while transmitting the sensitive news. It was quite unnoticed that a sob was to hit her hard since she was [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 554

Homelessness in “Light in August” and “Wise Blood”

The concept of home is commonly regarded in relation to the process of formation of individual identity, and, in almost every culture, the definition of a home serves as an indicator of a person's wholeness [...]
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1425

Racism in “To Kill Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee

The family is transformed from poverty to wealth, but it remains one of the few white families ready to accommodate and recognize the black people as a part of the society, while other Whites oppress [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 833

Edgar Allan Poe, an American Romanticism Writer

Poe's three works "The fall of the house of Usher", "the Raven" and "The Masque of the Red Death" describe his dedication to literature and his negative attitudes towards aristocracy.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1203

Denmark’s Occupation in “Number the Stars” by Lois

She is also courageous because she had to hide in the other family, away from her parents. She was brave when she encountered the Nazis in the Annemarie's apartment and pretended her elder sister.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 632

Governance and Society in Mi’kmaq Creation Story

The ingenuity of the elders and respect of the societal culture is a critical governance issue. The governing figure in the story is Gisoolg who is the Great Spirit and creator.
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 551

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. Elliot

Even though the poem seems to puzzle the readers and looks like a mixture of incomprehensible thoughts, Eliot showed in it how a person perceives the world, referring to the stream of consciousness and focusing [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1111

Autobiography in “Song of Rita” by Rita Joe

Rita uses the poems to outline her main challenges, which are reminiscent of the challenges, which faced aboriginals of her time. Rita uses the book to show her patience in an abusive marriage which she [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 574

“A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Beah

The theme of the father is firmly connected to the central theme of war in the book: the young boy, the main character of this true story, treasures his family more than anything in the [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 1094

Stetson’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Criticism

Since the woman who narrates is alienated from the community and not allowed to work or be engaged in any other activity, she describes her inner thoughts and feelings, and that makes the whole story [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1165

Puritans in “The Scarlet Letter” by Hawthorne

As I read through the introductory part of the novel, the statements made by the narrator reinforced the idea that the Puritans were bad people. I was surprised at the obsession they had when it [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 330

The Ebers Papyrus and The Book of the Dead

Though a range of facts concerning the household and traditions of the people of Ancient Egypt remain buried under the sands of time, several facts about the culture in question can be considered relatively well-known.
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1107

Ibsen’s A Doll House and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

Of course, the most suggestive similarity of the two plays is that recognition and reversal occur simultaneously for protagonists as they learn an important thing about themselves and this knowledge changes their life completely forcing [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 627

“American Negro Slave Revolts” by Herbert Aptheker

According to Marcum and Skarbek, the slavery period in the United States occurred from the 16th to the 19th century. In reference to Aptheker, the majority of the slaves lived in poor and inaccessible areas.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2744

American Dream in Hansberry’s and Miller’s Tragedies

Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" and Miller's "Death of a Salesman" tell the stories about how people can perceive and be affected by the idea of the American Dream, how they choose wrong dreams [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1694

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Carver

The question, therefore, concerns the ubiquitous darkness that surrounds the main characters throughout the story and the purpose of this darkness, whereas the key problem concerns the reasonability of using darkness as the basis for [...]
  • Subjects: Aspects of American Novels
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1121

Hero in “The Odysseus” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh”

This paper explores the differences and similarities between the heroes of the ancient epics such as "The Odyssey" by Homer and "The Epic of Gilgamesh" the product of the culture of ancient Mesopotamia.
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 558

“Girl” Story by Jamaica Kincaid

This vision is somewhat old-fashioned, but the meaning behind this is much bigger, as the word "lady" in the context of this short story implicitly represents the depiction of the superlative human personality traits, not [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 573

Tweeter-Drama: Social Media as a Theatre Platform

Jeremy Gable, who works as a teacher, explains that the world of social media is too powerful and it can not be repressed by the regular theatre plays or any other traditional activities.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 282

“Annabel Lee” Multi Rhythmic Poem by Edgar A. Poe

Therefore, the author's works created a powerful impact on the establishment of a connection between content and literary form. Thus, Poe's writings possess the power to show the links between a concept and a form [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 824

Feminism and Roles in “A Raisin in the Sun” Play

These are such questions as: "What does Beneatha's conduct reveal about her intentions?", "How does the character treat female's role in society?", "How does Beneatha regard poor people?", "How does the heroine explain her choice [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 824

Rebellion in “No Name Woman” by Maxine Kingston

Rethinking and remastering her mother's talk-stories, the author bears witness to the oppression of women's bodies, minds, and spirits that they managed to withstand. The author muses that she is the only one tending to [...]
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 838

Characters’ Traits in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

As weird as it might sound, Lady Macbeth is very emotional; as a matter of fact, the crimes that she committed can be attributed to her emotionality rather than her greed, though the latter has [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 844

Heroism and Characters in the “Beowulf” Epic Poem

The central figure of any heroic epics is the character who represents the interests of his people and serves as the embodiment of the human qualities which are considered to be the best in their [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 929

Tao Qian’s and LI Qingzhao’s Poems Comparison

Thesis Statement: The use of song lyric and art collection in Li Qingzhao's work portrays the disillusionment associated with the Song Dynasty while Tao Qian's dianyuan style depicts the disunion and desire for freedom during [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1427

Black Feminist Perspectives in Toni Morrison’s Works

Morrison's fictional works are carefully crafted to enable the audience understand and question the standpoint of Afro-American feminism created in the writing. This kind of mystification, misrepresentation, and erasure stimulated black females to construct their [...]
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2406

“My Left Foot” a Book by Christy Brown

Seeing his attempts to express himself through scribbling something on the slate with a piece of yellow chalk, Brown's mother decided to teach him how to write, and this was a crucial moment in the [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 555

Sherman Alexie: Poet’s Biography

Born and raised in the Spokane Indian Reservation region of Washington, Alexie Sherman has grown to be one of the renowned poets of his time in the United States.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 560

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

Commercialized Writing in “Erasure” by P. Everett

Everett's subjects focus on social observations of the life of African Americans, as well as how it is disruptive by the existing stereotypes on the life of the black community.
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1118

The Holocaust Effects: Books “Tzili” and “Wartime Lies”

The natural experiences of growing up are changed and twisted by the war and its horrors, but the specific developments, their perceptions, and impacts are affected by the children's personalities and circumstances of their lives, [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1383

The Novella “Billy Budd, Sailor” by Herman Melville

The work was published in 1924, and one of the reasons for its triumph in America and the United Kingdom was the precision, with which the author portrayed the historical and cultural context.
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1420

Relationships in The Epic of Gilgamesh

In the story of Gilgamesh, Enkidu helps the wild animals to escape traps set by people. In Catullus, the narrator shows that toiling in further lands to gain profit is worthless if it is not [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 617

Literary Devices and Structure of Amenemope Text

Lichteim comes to the conclusion that the author of the book of Proverbs in the Bible was familiar with the text of the Amenemope, explaining why there is a lot of similarity in the two [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

A Rose for Emily by Faulkner: Garrison’s Analysis

In his examination of the story "A Rose for Emily," Garrison presents an entirely different method of examination as compared to previous critiques of the story wherein he focuses on the way in which the [...]
  • Subjects: Concepts in American Novels
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1656

Depression and Melancholia Expressed by Hamlet

The paper will not attempt and sketch the way the signs or symptoms of depression/melancholia play a part in the way Shakespeare's period or culture concerning depression/melancholia, but in its place portrays the way particular [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3319

The Grief Role in Achilles’ Name, Character and Actions

In spite of the fact that there are debates on the etymological character of Achilles' name, the role of the hero's name is significant to predict his fate and behavior because the hero's grief associated [...]
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1370

Literature: The Grapes of Wrath and As I Lay Dying

This understanding forms the background of The Grapes of Wrath and As I Lay Dying analysis in this paper. The unity of structure and language in any comical genre take after carnivalistic folklore..".there is a [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3270

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

In its turn, this allows us to refer to The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa as a book of not only a great literary, but also a philosophical value, [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1509
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