Literature Essay Examples and Topics. Page 60

8,911 samples

“Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls

The entire story is a documentation of the happiness that the dogs brought to Bill, and its conclusion is practically an illustration of how fond memories always stay with the individuals left behind after the [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 232

Characters in Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Wilde uses the character of Dorian as a symbol of his ideas regarding the interaction of art and ethics. In it, assertions are made as to the inability of moral judgments to be made on [...]
  • Subjects: World Philosophy Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 275

John Stuart Mill’s “The Subjection of Women”

In "The Subjection of Women," John Stuart Mill argues for the emancipation of marginalized women for both the benefit of the society and the personal gain of the woman.
  • Subjects: Gender in Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 289

Literature, Key Concepts, and Reading Preferences

Although the term literature means different things to different individuals, it is the reader of literary work who has the discretion to define what literature is and what it is not.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 797

Heroism and Power in Homer’s “The Illiad”

In The Iliad, the relations between two characters, Agamemnon and Apollo, as well as their motivation and passion help to underscore the theme of power and rage; the conflict between the characters is based on [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1565

“Recitatif” a Book by Toni Morrison

The author leads the reader through the intricacy of the events occurring to Twyla and Roberta and does not provide the reader with exact information about the girls' race.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2246

Different Literary Genres Understanding

A major difference between poems and drama and the short story is that the first two have a predefined format of writing which includes the use of more dramatic words as compared to the short [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 597

“The Pilgrimage” by Nelofer Pazira

"The Pilgrimage" by Nelofer Pazira uses multiple rhetoric devices, including epithets and similes, which seem to perform similar functions in the description of the two opposing themes of the essay: the peaceful life in Afghanistan [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 413

“A Friend of the Earth” and “The Terranauts” Comparison

One of the reasons behind the rising popularity of the "eco-fiction" genre has to do with the fact that the philosophy of environmentalism has now been firmly incorporated in the discourse of post-modernity, which nowadays [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 14
  • Words: 3847

Psychological Disposition in Sylvia Plath’s Poems

The secondary argument supporting the claim of the psychological temperament in Plath's works is based on the interpretation of her state of mind when she forcefully vilified her father as a Nazi sympathizer.
  • Subjects: Poems
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1104

“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

Taiwan Literature: Zhou Mengdie’s Poetry

His first book is entitled Lonely Country, and it is the very piece of art, which made him known as the king of the lonely country and proved that he was a sadhu in poetry [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1381

Chinese Literature: Su Shi’s Poetry

2 The implication of social and political concerns through his beautiful and artist description of daily life inspires the readers to realize the real situation of the society throughout his poetic works.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1655

Historical Significance of Ancient Primary Sources

Therefore, the historical significance of the text is that it became the beginning of the historical manner of writing characterized by a thorough analysis of described events and strive for establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2073

Naming and Identity in Achebe’s and Senghor’s Works

This theme can be used to teach the topic of identity to high school students by elaborating that names often have origins that are deeply rooted in a particular culture and that a name can [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 372

“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

History: “Mexican Immigrants in America” by Hanel

First published in 2008, it describes the events from the beginning of the 20th century when many Mexican people came to the United States after the Mexican revolution for shelter to the first decade of [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 685

Eileen Chang’s Literary Works and Their Influences

Some believe that the literature of the ordinary man should comprise of an unadorned and pure story of the life of the common people as opposed to that of the nobility.
  • Subjects: American Novels Influences
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1417

“Wind in the Willows” a Novel by Kenneth Grahame

As the morning seemingly approaches, the Rat is suddenly amazed by a sound of great beauty, a haunting piping."Such music I never dreamed of, and the call in it is stronger even than the music [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 905

“The Shame of the Nation” a Book by Jonathan Kozol

In his book, Kozol presented the stories and events that were a part of his personal experiences and motivated him to focus on the research of the problems of institutional racism and the normalization of [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 830

History of China in Novel “To Live” by Yu Hua

On the whole, the novel is an example of intersection of personal and historical aspects of life depicting an individual and his changes under the impacts of the political history of the country.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1376

Ancient Roman Myth and Historical Facts

Indeed, compared to the Greeks, who composed legends about the creation of the cosmos and the gods, the central place in Roman mythology is given to Rome itself and its heroic people and the specific [...]
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 602

“The Handmaid’s Tale” a Novel by Margaret Atwood

From Offred's accounts of their time at the Center, Moira shows a strong will to survive by maintaining her composure and emotional strength while many of the women were devastated in the life of imprisonment [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 775

“Inherent Vice” by Thomas Pynchon

In this way, Shasta's image can be regarded as a metaphor of time, and the hero's search for her can be seen as resistance against the course of time.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1180

“My Sojourn in Hong Kong: Excerpts” by Wang Tao

8 Tao's description of the Pokfulam district is probably the most poetic: views are "magnificent," the horizon is "endless," and boats in the harbor are "a delight to the eye as well as the mind".
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1121

The Role of Location in Crime Fiction

Thus, the paper argues that the representation of crime in nineteenth-century literature was based on disparities between the regions of the city as well as the countryside.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1117

The Poetry of the Holocaust Period

In conclusion, it seems appropriate to state that Sutzkever is a metaphysical poet as his creative thought focuses on the beauty of nature and the truthful presentation of events.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 858

“Death of a Salesman” a Book by Arthur Miller

Loman believes that Biff has wasted time and money, and is throwing his life away. To defend himself, Biff lies to his father that he has a potential business meeting the very next day.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Racist Ideas in Joseph Conrad’s Work

Achebe emphasizes that Conrad attempts to show his positive attitude towards Africans, but it is clear that he shares the belief about the superiority of the white race that reigned at that time.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 577

“Spy Novels” and Intelligence Studies

The literary genre 'spy novel' emerged in Britain prior to the beginning of the WW1, which in turn explains why in a classical spy novel the protagonist's intelligence-gathering activities are usually described as nothing short [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2777

The Theme of Shame in “Anna Karenina” and The Idiot

Although the theme of shame is central to both Anna Karenina and The Idiot, the nature of this feeling is explained differently: Tolstoy regards shame as the result of a person's actions, while Dostoevsky considers [...]
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1092

Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Eliot Works Comparison

In addition to the Great War, urbanization, immigration, and the rapid progress of technology led to the general feeling of uncertainty due to the rejection of old, traditional ideas.
  • Subjects: Comparative Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 842

“Romeo and Juliet”: Play and Film

Preminger et al.claim that poetry is to be educative and pleasurable and both versions of "Romeo and Juliet" meet this criterion regardless of the fact that they had to appeal to the audience of a [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1135

Different Images of the Countryside in Literature

Throughout the story, the image of the countryside is displayed in two instances: first, as a backdrop against which the reader follows the journey and the conversation of H and Tong-I, and as an environment [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2005

“The Cherry Pickers” by Kevin Gilbert

At the moment of the initially rehearsed interpretation of The Cherry Pickers, Gilbert was named the first Indigenous dramatist to have his play performed.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1102

“Everyday Use” Story by Alice Walker

As a result, she can be considered a reliable narrator as she describes both of her daughters honestly and without skipping over any of the unpleasant bit of their backgrounds such as the fire that [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 648

“Paradise Lost” a Poem by John Milton

Finally, Adam and Eve had to defend their right to believe and have their faith is the allusion to the changes that were apparent in the religious life of England.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 309

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

There is surprisingly little literature pertaining to the subject of the first years after the end of the war. As the name of the chapter suggests, it addresses the issue of vengeance that happened in [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 844

“First Person Plural” by Cameron West

The reader, who gets deeply engaged in the narrative, feels a kind of false hope that Cameron is going to get better when he leaves for California with his family and starts to undergo treatment [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1385

The Play “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”

It seems that the artists decided to participate in this play since they are also concerned about the mentioned issues and would like the spectators to feel as close to Judas Iscariot as possible, sharing [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 567

The Play “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”

The purpose of this production is to deepen the understanding of the story and its themes. The diversity of characters, an interesting and unusual plot, and the variety of settings are factors that contributed to [...]
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 710

“Swamp Thing” a Book by Alan Moore

The personal struggle of the protagonist was two-dimensional: the rejection of his own nature and the active rejection of the idea of duty.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 567

“Song of Solomon“ by Toni Morrison Book Review

Ruth did not abandon her affection for her father even as an adolescent, their goodnight kiss ritual, motivated by her seeing her mother as a rival due to the latter's lack of maternal care, was [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 496

The Value of Realistic Heroes

The uniqueness of a real hero is in their heroism that can be controversial, flawed in nature and outcomes, and harder to detect in general.
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1120

“The Wind” a Novel by Dorothy Scarborough

The author focuses on the thoughts of the protagonist, Letty Mason, and shows the world through her eyes. Letty is a young woman that is not prepared to live in the harsh environment of her [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1192

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora N. Hurston

When Janie decides to move in with Tea Cake, she secretly conceals two hundred dollars in her shirt pocket, and fears to reveal the secret to Tea Cake. Tea Cake's role in the novel is [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 843

Sylvia Plath’s Life and “The Bell Jar”

The decision to publish the novel under an alias was informed by the author's attempt to protect several of the real-life characters that were depicted in the book.
  • Subjects: Writers
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1716

“The Man in the High Castle” by Philip Dick

Robert Childan is considered to be one of the key characters of The Man in the High Castle as he makes a significant contribution into the unraveling of the plot.
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 588

Shakespeare’s Universality: Here’s Fine Revolution

Finally, this essay will try to persuade that the startling uniqueness of mind highlighted in the struggle to find the balance between "utopian possibility and dystopian reality" is what made it possible to render the [...]
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2209

“The Day of the Locust” and “Play It as It Lays”

This paper aims to explore the themes relating to the American dream and its associated emptiness and un-attainability as depicted in the two novels, The Day of the Locust and Play it as it Lays.
  • Subjects: Themes in American Novels
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1654

The Imperative of Good-Doing in “The Arabian Nights”

Considering the importance of religion and its postulates in "The Arabian Nights," it is possible to say that the text moralizes the imperative of good-doing from the religious perspective."The Second Old Man's Tale," "The Tale [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1111

Racial Injustice in “The New Jim Crow” by M. Alexander

The author believes that it can be one of the new systems used to control society and affect African Americans negatively even though it seems to make the USA safer for the representatives of the [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1091

“Travels With Charley” a Book by John Steinbeck

Although his participation is sometimes attributed to the author's fascination with dogs, Charley actually serves two functions in the novel: he is an important character that helps to highlight the author's point and a plot-forming [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 950

“Twelve Angry Men” Movie-Based Play

In this essay, we will examine the setting of the story, the behavior of Juror Eight, and the arguments he used to sway the other jurors to his side.
  • Subjects: Plays
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1373

Europa and Jupiter in Ovid’s and Rembrandt’s Works

The myth "Europa & Jupiter, the House of Cadmus" narrates the romantic story about the abduction of Europa by Jupiter. Immediately, the god in the guise of a bull jumped into the sea and began [...]
  • Subjects: Mythology
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 671

Japan in “The Pillow Book” by Sei Shonagon

The author of The Pillow Book is Sei Shonagon, a Japanese writer who served as a court lady to the Japanese empress in the 1000s. Sei Shonagon was a part of the upper class, which [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 679

Unreliable Narrator: “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov

The separation of the author and the text and the presence of an unreliable narrator who is also the pedophiliac hero of the story put the readers in a dilemma, and they have to actively [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1980

“The Adventures of Amir Hamza” by Bilgrami & Lakhnavī

Indeed, Amir Hamza is a character in which multiple other characters' attribute is embedded: he is a trickster, a warrior, a hero, a spiritual person, a lover, and a mature man; as his personality evolves, [...]
  • Subjects: World Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1114

“Haroun and the Sea of Stories” by Salman Rushdie

One of the principal plotlines of the novel is a love story. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the author's interpretation of love is different from that elucidated in a typical romance.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1099

“Life After Death” a Book by Damien Echols

Thanks to the newly-attained DNA evidence that pointed at the unknown suspect present at the crime scene, in 2011 the West Memphis Three were able to sign the Alford plea that allowed them to maintain [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1123

“Mein Kampf” a Historical Book by Adolf Hitler

However, the book shows that even under the mask of one of the cruelest people in the world, there is a boy with his own dreams and intentions to have a happy life.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 500

“The Scarlet Pimpernel” a Book by Emma Orczy

The representation of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in The Scarlet Pimpernel is considered an accepted and popular view on these historical events in the majority of Western countries.
  • Subjects: British Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 566

American Southern Literature

Some of the most common themes that can be found in Southern literature are dedicated to the dominant religion practiced in this region Christianity, the ethnic communities that inhabit it, class division of the Southern [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1705

“Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi

For instance, in the chapter called "The Drowned and the Saved", the author only describes the setting and does not allow making any particular conclusions about his position, and the reader has to interpret the [...]
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 592

National Identity in “Song of Solomon” by Morrison

In this novel, Morrison, from her feminist viewpoint, depicts the successful quest for the personal and national identity of the main character Milkman, who finds the solution in African national values and the act of [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 834

R. Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”

The family of Henrietta Lacks had to face the consequences of slavery and the outcomes of institutionalized racism. The formative influence of legal system on the lives of common people resulted in the number of [...]
  • Subjects: Dramatic Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 954

“The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough

The purpose of this critical analysis is to explore the author's description of the targeted characters in the book. The emphasis of the book is that the brothers were always determined, focused, and intelligent.
  • Subjects: Historical Literature
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 853

“Tiny Beautiful Things” by Cheryl Strayed

Tiny Beautiful Things is also a memoir with a strong element of self-help built in it; the author is in the role of Sugar who answers questions sent to her by ordinary people for the [...]
  • Subjects: American Literature
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 559