Literary Criticism essays

1291 samples in this category

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1 Page 563 Words
Ralph Waldo Emerson once declared that “Life is a journey, not a destination”. This recurring idea can be found throughout numerous works of literature. These pieces are conveying the message that one should focus on what they gain from their experiences, rather than living for the goal. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the author presents a comparable idea through...
LegendLiterary CriticismThe Alchemist
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3 Pages 1436 Words
In Geoffry Chaucer’s literary piece, The Canterbury Tales, various details the various characteristics and opinions of characters as they make a pilgrimage to Canterbury one spring. Chaucer gives each character the task to recite their own tale which the audience may learn from various morals that are depicted. One particularly interesting character that Chaucer calls upon happens to be “The...
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2 Pages 843 Words
One of the earliest pieces of literature which have lived on into the modern era is the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia. It was written as a poem on 12 tablets in the Akkadian language in 2750 B.C.E. after years of being conveyed through storytelling by the Sumerian people. Storytelling was used by Sumerians in the early times to...
Epic of GilgameshLiterary Criticism
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2 Pages 931 Words
Introduction William Shakespeare's Macbeth stands as one of the most profound tragedies in literary history, drawing upon the quintessential elements of the tragic form. The play delves into the darker aspects of human nature, exploring themes such as unchecked ambition, moral corruption, and the inevitable descent into madness. At its core, a tragedy examines the downfall of the protagonist, whose...
Literary CriticismMacbethTragedy
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5 Pages 2263 Words
Hamlet: An Existential Crisis in the Making Through the dawn of mankind, one thing has remained constant for humanity, and that is our crippling mortality. The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is about the self-doubt of the tragic hero Hamlet and his journey towards revenge in order to honor his father. Shakespeare uses the popular ideology of the time,...
HamletLiterary CriticismTragedy
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3 Pages 1410 Words
Comedy vs. Tragedy: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream vs. Romeo and Juliet According to Horace Walpole, “Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel” (Wolterbeek). Over the course of many years, comedy and tragedy have been studied by various scholars, from Aristotle to Friedrich Nietzsche. In both of Shakespeare’s works, A Midsummer Night’s Dream...
Literary CriticismRomeo and JulietTragedy
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2 Pages 1069 Words
Throughout history, literature and the way people interpret literature has changed dramatically. Different genres of plays including romance, action, and even heartbreaking tragedies that touch the reader’s heart have been shared for thousands of years. One of the most popular genres would be tragedies. A tragedy, as described by Aristotle, is a story that follows a protagonist who, over time,...
Arthur MillerCharacterLiterary Criticism
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4 Pages 1706 Words
The epic poem, Paradise Lost which is a masterpiece of John Milton is a work of amazing resourceful genius that continues to have an impact on English literature today. It relates the account of the combat for heaven and man's expulsion from Eden, which is written in more than 10,000 traces of clean verse. Its sections try to recognize the...
Literary CriticismParadise Lost
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3 Pages 1211 Words
Peter Fritzsche’s Life and Death in the Third Reich gives personalized accounts of the Nazis’ different approaches, rationales, and justifications for their actions in their relationship with the German people between 1933 and 1945. Rather than blaming the German citizens for allowing Nazi ideology, he focuses on the complex relationship between the German population and the Nazis. He argues that...
Book ReviewLiterary Criticism
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2 Pages 877 Words
The primary concern of good literature is the representation of the human experiences of surviving, to successfully engage and provoke their readers to morally question their own values and identity. Yan Martel humanizes his characters through the process of spiritual experiences that are developed throughout his novel in order to establish a bond between the audience and the characters. The...
Life of PiLiterary Criticism
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4 Pages 1688 Words
A Marxist Take on Sonny’s Blue The oppression and social status of African Americans in the late 1950s were harsh. This essay will be viewing the story through a Marxist critical lens. During this time frame, there were major Culture differences. African Americans were often looked down upon strictly just because of their nationality. We see many examples of oppression...
Literary CriticismSonny’s Blues
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4 Pages 1641 Words
Addiction to drugs is an overall theme in “Sonny’s Blues”, impacting both those with the addiction and their loved ones. In the story, heroin takes a toll on lives, families, and talent. From another perspective, it offers a period of time where the user can escape from depressing physical and emotional environments. Sonny uses heroin as a way to cope...
Literary CriticismSonny’s Blues
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3 Pages 1195 Words
My essay is going to be based on the reading passage taken from the short story written by Edgar Allan Poe; ‘The Black Cat’, which was published in 1845. What I first notice when reading this passage is that the cat idolizes and admires its owner. He says in the text that when he gets up to walk, the cat...
Edgar Allan PoeLiterary CriticismThe Black Cat
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2 Pages 904 Words
‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson is a short story in which there is an isolated character, Tessie Hutchinson. There are many themes and techniques in the story such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and setting which highlight Tessie`s isolation from society. In the story, there is a village that takes part in a lottery each year when someone is chosen by a...
Literary CriticismThe Lottery
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2 Pages 800 Words
I’m going to talk about Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar was born around the time of the industrial revolution and he was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and macabre. Edgar was best known for his poem including the raven and a valentine. Edgar's life...
Literary CriticismThe Raven
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1 Page 581 Words
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'A Rose for Emily ' is a Southern gothic short story written by William Faulkner which revolves around the protagonist Emily Grierson. This short story was published on April 30, 1930. In this short story, Faulkner used some literary devices such as stream of consciousness, flashback, foreshadowing, symbolism, ambiguity, and allegory. This report will be focusing on how Faulkner used...
A Rose For EmilyLiterary Criticism
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1 Page 628 Words
In 1599, William Shakespeare composed the misfortune play of Julius Caesar, a play dependent on the existence of Caesar. It recounts an account of a Roman government official named Brutus who contrived with others to assassinate Caesar. This essay seeks to discuss the nature of honor as a main theme in Julius Caesar. The play is composed of the nature...
2 Pages 807 Words
As the events are happening in Spain, the author used Spanish words in order to emphasize this circumstance, for example, when the man mentions the name of a drink: The girl looked at the bead curtain. ‘They’ve painted something on it,’ she said. ‘What does it say?’ ‘Anis del Toro. It’s a drink.’ ‘Could we try it?’ Anis del Toro...
Hills Like White ElephantsLiterary Criticism
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1 Page 403 Words
This play teaches us about deception and manipulation to create an environment where it seems no one can be trusted. This play is still relevant and can teach us a lot about modern-day society and the fundamental parts of politics. Looking over the past, nothing much has changed. Interpreting the play from different perspectives grants us not just knowledge, but...
3 Pages 1439 Words
Actions have always proved to speak louder than words and thoughts. You can think whatever you want about yourself, and you can perceive yourself in any way but none of that matters when you put that against what you are physically doing to other people. The actions of oneself are what get called into question here. In Shakespeare’s ​Julius Caesar,...
2 Pages 858 Words
Words are one of the most powerful tools that we possess. If one may decide to use them carelessly or spitefully, persuasion, deception, and control can be achieved quite easily. In our modern society, great speakers often have been associated with powerful leaders. This cannot be more apparent than in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. The chief characters in the play...
Literary CriticismThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar
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1 Page 632 Words
Antonio does not understand rhetoric as Brutus does. Their styles are different, such as the words and phrases they use, the symbolic resources, the duration of each speech and the interaction with the people, the reasons they present, and the vividness of the descriptions and manifestations, being abstract and intangible for Brutus and concrete and sensitive for Antonio. After César's...
Literary CriticismThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar
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2 Pages 991 Words
Throughout the development of civilization, humans have learned that effective leadership is the key to its success. An effective leader means to complete goals efficiently and in a practical manner, resulting in a better future for their followers. William Shakespeare’s play, “Julius Caesar”, showcases leadership and all of its elements in their most undisguised form: the play’s namesake Julius Caesar,...
Literary CriticismThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar
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1 Page 673 Words
Eulogies are normally presented by a family member or loved one. Brutus is in the play Julius Caesar written by Shakespeare and Steve Irwin was an Australian zookeeper. Brutus gives a eulogy about Caesar, while Bindi Irwin gives a eulogy about her father. Bindi Irwin’s is much more personal than Brutus’. These two speeches have similar and different qualities. The...
Literary CriticismThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar
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2 Pages 1043 Words
Characters of this story by Thomas King include the strong-willed mother who feels as if she declares herself a “Canadian” she is denouncing her native roots. She sees the Blackfoot as a whole and refuses to acknowledge the “border” around it. She is loyal and stands her ground as a member of the Blackfoot tribe. Her son who is also...
Literary CriticismShort Story
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4 Pages 1664 Words
Milton’s Paradis Lost struggles with the idea of free will. Free will is a person’s right to live unencumbered and unforeseen, allowing actions to be of their own and not predestined. If people have free will, they are capable of doing good for others but are also capable of causing harm. Milton is tempted at first with giving up due...
Literary CriticismParadise Lost
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1 Page 513 Words
The play is called Antigone not because Antigone suffers the most, but because she suffers at all. The tragedy is befallen by both Antigone and Creon, yet the circumstances upon which they arrive there is where their similarities end. Antigone’s character is built on such a morally strong basis of fraternal love and reverence to the gods that she ends...
AntigoneLiterary CriticismTragedy
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4 Pages 1666 Words
Collingwood (1993) argues, if we take the word ‘science’ to mean ‘any organized body of knowledge’, then it is clear that history is a science but a special kind: whose business is to study events inaccessible to our observation, and to study these events inferentially, arguing to them from something else which is accessible to our observation, and which the...
Literary CriticismWhat Is History
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1 Page 442 Words
At the end of World War II, William Faulkner gave a speech after accepting a Nobel prize, his bold use of language portrays that a writer’s duty is to admonish the delusions that hinder our ability to perceive the world honestly. Two books that give an account of nostalgia, An American Childhood by Annie Dillard and The Road from Coorain...
Being a WriterLiterary CriticismWilliam Faulkner
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2 Pages 1011 Words
In A Christmas Carol, Dickens presents the hope of redemption in the novel as a whole through the contrast and by using Scrooge from stave 1 to stave 5. At the start of the novella, we see how Scrooge has disconnected himself from society. He doesn't allow Bob to heat the office by burning coal, he believes Christmas is a...
A Christmas CarolLiterary Criticism
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