Newest Literature Essays

Humans have not yet achieved perfection in regard to performance, appearance, or character. The definition of perfection is subjective. To determine author Ayn Rand’s view of perfection, one would need only to observe the character of Howard Roark...

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Daemon Lover” is nowhere near as omnipresent in the American zeitgeist as her cautionary tale about conformity taken to its ridiculous extreme, “The Lottery.” Nevertheless, in its own modest fashion, “The Daemon...

Throughout human history, people have been much more influenced by individuals that can bring the situation down to a more human and relatable level. Whether it be in politics or on a daily basis, those who can relate with whom they wish to...

One of the most prominent and widely recognized dramatists of the ancient time, Aeschylus was a master of the depiction of conflicting situations. His works always perform the main function of the drama work in terms of touching the mind and...

The issue of male dominance has long been one of the most prevalent issues in history, male elitism dating all the way back to the beginnings of humanity. Similar to most communities, Native American tribes are no exception to the blatant misogyny...

In his 1976 essay “A Modest Proposal: Swift’s Persona as Absentee”, Robert Willson examines Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal through analyzing and discussing the meaning behind his offensive proposal, revealing a clear message from Swift - “…to...

Ancient Greek poet Sappho authored poems exploring various concepts of female sexuality and romantic experience. Many of her poems and the fragments of them that remain explore the theme and experience of marriage in women’s lives. While many...

Often times when we read or analyze texts, we ask simple, broad questions that are at the root of larger, deeper questions. For example, why does a particular character act a certain way? What are the motivations behind those actions? These...

Aristotle’s triangle of rhetoric: ethos, pathos, and logos, is often regarded as the basis for a rhetorical argument. The argument must employ each edge of the triangle in order to be persuasive. However, sometimes it can be beneficial to...

Throughout literature, nature imagery is used to depict a deeper meaning, and often insight into the protagonist’s thoughts and inner self. Nature imagery in the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse reflects the evolution of Siddhartha’s self...

Much of Shakespeare’s work revolves around forgiveness, redemption, crime, or freedom, making it the perfect canvas for inmates to pour their feelings into. Working with directors allows them to be seen as valuable, capable individuals rather than...

In Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Boo employs the themes of corrupt law enforcement and false hope to signify that Annawadians are doomed to escape their lot in life due to the ‘uneven’ land on which their entire community lies....

In Crace’s novel, Harvest, the eventual downfall of the villagers could be attributed to a number of factors. Arguably, Crace may suggest, through his foregrounding of the villagers’ cruelty, prejudice and errors, their responsibility in their own...

In ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, Blake evokes contrasting visions of the world. The two poems, 'The Echoing Green' and 'London', are especially characteristic of these contrary visions; evoking polar opposite images of innocence,...

Blake’s protest against oppression of the human spirit is a clear and assertive one, yet his methods to establish it are subtly employed. The collection of poems establishes, as Blake intended, two “contrary visions” of freedom and oppression....

Despite Blake’s asserted protest in his dual collection, ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’, the role of protest in his vision of innocence, itself, is more debatable. Arguably, Blake’s protest is constructed only through the contrasts that arise...

In the social and political protest writing Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ and Hosseini’s ‘The Kite Runner’ the desired impact upon the audience is arguably to reveal to them a truth about society or about a particular situation, to inspire empathy and...

Blake explores ideas of power and corruption consistently throughout his two collections. Most notably corruption tends to focus around particular elements of society such as the Church with which Blake himself took issue. Power is interesting as...

Throughout the book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood the author; Marjane Satrapi illustrates through her autobiographical graphic novel about the Iranian Revolution and her perspective of the events that occurred her early ages from when she...

In Frantz Fanon’s psychological non-fiction book, Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon criticizes the acculturation of the African American community to become much more caucasian to gain the perspective of superficial status. Fanon brings to the...

One may read between the lines to conclude the Bennets’ marriage in Pride and Prejudice was an act of convenience, lacking love. As a result of this incompatibility, their relationship is fraught with flaws. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...

Within the first few sentences of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky introduces the protagonist of the story, an unnamed man who narrates his life, as a bitter and emotionally distant man. These long-standing feelings and...

My Oedipus Complex by Frank O’Connor is a short story in which the method of narration drastically impacts the success of the story. The story begins with Larry and his mother having a normal day. Their bond is clearly demonstrated as is the way...