Literary Criticism essays

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5 Pages 2308 Words
In the 1872 novella Carmilla and the 1897 novel Dracula, both Le Fanu and Stoker bestow the treatment of women as a catalyst for exposing the dangers of gender stereotypes, to illuminate social concerns and injustices for the reader that were occurring at the time in Victorian. These injustices are mirrored in the above statement. Both authors allude to the...
DraculaGothic FictionLiterary Criticism
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1 Page 663 Words
The black death is set upon the city of Thebes, as the people look towards their righteous king, Oedipus for hope and resolution. Oedipus is seen as a hero to the people, but has not identified with himself: 'I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear for my own life' (Sophocles 163). Oedipus's self-thoughts and heroic beliefs...
IronyLiterary CriticismOedipus the King
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3 Pages 1323 Words
It is often said that certain literary works and characters within such works represent real-world issues. In the work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Gatsby is shrouded in ambiguity to the reader, providing them with a possibility for personal interpretation. In the work, Gatsby’s character develops from a character representing materialism and a fixation on...
CuriosityLiterary CriticismThe Great Gatsby
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2 Pages 928 Words
The book begins with an introduction by the author. While it is not part of the actual story, it is worth looking into because it describes the author’s thoughts and comments on his success and the true meaning of the book and its application to his life. The Prologue introduces the alchemist and tells a new version of the Greek...
Literary CriticismLiterary DevicesThe Alchemist
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2 Pages 1000 Words
Stylistic analysis has a great role in understanding the importance of the literary elements as well as the linguistic contents in literary text. An attempt is made in the current paper to stylistically analyze the literary elements used in the concerned short story. Introduction Stylistic analysis is of great importance to know how language functions in a text. It provides...
3 Pages 1527 Words
Mindstyle refers to the term coined by Roger Fowler, in 1977, which referred to any distinctive linguistic representation of an individual mental self, whether of a character, narrator, or implied author. The impression of a mindstyle is usually cumulatively conveyed through consistent linguistic choices which together cut the narrated world to a distinctive cognitive pattern. To first discuss the particular...
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4 Pages 1815 Words
Dark places by Gillian Flynn and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, similarly use symbolism to discuss major themes within the novel such as the American dream, memory and true crime through the use of narrative of crime events. Symbolism and figurative imagery is used within both texts as a voice to express the writer's inner thoughts, commenting on themes...
In Cold BloodLiterary CriticismNovel
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3 Pages 1427 Words
Lord of the Flies is set during a war; Golding may have got this idea as he was in a war himself. The boys are being evacuated, when the plane crashes on the island. After the boys get out it is washed out to sea. 'He glanced around the scar ', this is the first thing that Ralph sees when...
Literary CriticismLord of The FliesNovel
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3 Pages 1240 Words
Introduction Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, Never Let Me Go, is a profound exploration of the complexities of human identity, the ethics of cloning, and the inexorable passage of time. Set in a dystopian England, the narrative follows the lives of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth—students at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic boarding school. The novel delves into the philosophical and moral questions surrounding...
Literary CriticismNever Let Me GoPerspective
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4 Pages 1969 Words
The Tell-Tale Heart is a story that indicates that one man’s fear and guilt can drive him insane. This is a story about a caretaker who has had enough of an old man’s eye. His diseased mind thinks that the old man’s eye, which he likens to that of a “vulture eye; it was pale blue with a thick film...
Literary CriticismSymbolismThe Tell Tale Heart
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1 Page 518 Words
Introduction Sara Holbrook's poem "Democracy" is a thought-provoking piece that challenges conventional notions of democracy and raises questions about its true meaning and practice. In this critical essay, we will explore the various themes and techniques employed by Holbrook in her poem, analyzing the underlying messages and implications of her words. Analysis Holbrook's poem "Democracy" is a critique of the...
DemocracyLiterary CriticismPoetry
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1 Page 597 Words
Travelling through the pages of Anna Quindlen's thought-provoking essay, 'Quilt of a Country,' I find myself embarking on a reflective journey. Quindlen's words weave together a tapestry of ideas that explore the complexities of America's diverse cultural landscape. As I delve into her insights, I am compelled to ponder upon the themes of diversity, unity, and the power of acceptance....
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2 Pages 859 Words
'I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.' The preceding quote is an excerpt from Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' which is an absurdist fiction novella about Gregor, a salesman, who unexpectedly transforms into an enormous parasite one morning. 'The Metamorphosis' is an allegoric story that is...
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3 Pages 1196 Words
The 1920s, known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring ‘20s, was a decade of great prosperity, booming businesses, the rise of the middle class, and the beginning of new ways to spend leisure time through dancing, nightclubs, and saloons. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the interactions and conflicts between the divisions of the upper class. The...
ConflictLiterary CriticismThe Great Gatsby
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2 Pages 1072 Words
Today’s headlines, analysis papers, and debates sent a direct message about the expectations of gender stereotyping, which perpetuates the family dynamic. Parents directly convey their beliefs about gender by providing instruction, illustration, guidance, and training to their children from their early childhood. Cultural expectation assigns the role and expectation for both genders, to organize their lives and behavior. Children can...
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2 Pages 742 Words
In a way, evil is like a contagious disease. It can be held inside of one person until it has infected someone else. With that being said, it continues to do so until the carrier of the evil dies without passing it to another person. Human nature plays a huge role throughout the play, “Hamlet”. Evil played a part in...
HamletLiterary CriticismSuicide
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2 Pages 870 Words
Introduction: The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a tragic and darkness-themed play that illustrates internal conflict within characters and paranoia. In this passage, we can see how Shakespeare tries to convey to the audience how Lady Macbeth is trying to manipulate Macbeth’s actions into the dark, which is the main theme of the play. Shakespeare uses a variety of...
ConflictLiterary CriticismMacbeth
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3 Pages 1350 Words
Gregory Corso was one of the many poets during the Beat Generation alongside Allen Ginsberg. He was born to an immigrant couple then the mom sadly died when Gregory was a child (Hoover). Unlike Allen Ginsberg, Gregory was not the most educational poet in the world because of his past with his family. He was put into an orphanage and...
Literary CriticismMarriagePoetry
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2 Pages 777 Words
Janice Mirikitani is an author who wrote “Suicide Note” which is a poem that is filled with many smiles, metaphors, and lines of repetition. Just from reading the title, readers should get the feeling appears to be gloomy and depressed. It almost felt as if the poem got colder after every single sentence till the very end. The use of...
Literary CriticismPoetrySuicide
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1 Page 529 Words
Mary Maloney is the protagonist of Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”. She is introduced as a typical middle-class housewife who is six months pregnant and is devoted to her husband, Patrick Maloney. She is described as a beautiful woman, with soft skin and lips, and dark and large eyes. She is a docile wife who eagerly waits...
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4 Pages 1935 Words
Women have had to fight to get to where they are today. The right to vote, equal wages, the perception of their status in society... all these victories, whether fully achieved or not, have been, and still are today, a struggle. In a hetero-patriarchal society where men have more advantages than women or at least more social freedoms than women,...
Literary CriticismSymbolismThe Color Purple
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2 Pages 987 Words
When we think of heroes, we tend to associate them with a cape or a mask. This statement has not remained true in both early and modern times throughout history. Odysseus who was King of Ithaca and a hero in Homer’s poem “The Odyssey” was a prime example of an individual with nobility and strength. Now Gilgamesh did not quite...
Harry PotterLiterary CriticismTragic Hero
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5 Pages 2404 Words
Societally, we are approaching a crossroads in terms of the rights of women -- one side leads back to a draconian patriarchal society, and the other leads towards a freer world. In her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood provides a glimpse of what the future may look like were we to choose the former. Atwood’s use of different colors...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Handmaid’s Tale
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3 Pages 1409 Words
Attempts at female independence are universally shown as a prominent theme in both 'Wuthering Heights' and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' This is revealed in the ways the female characters try to fight against the patriarchal system that strips away their independence and both oppresses and represses them. In 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' the omniscient narrator demonstrates to the reader the...
3 Pages 1461 Words
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, and Much Ado About Nothing are all plays that are concerned with several kinds of problems like having trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy, trying to separate truth from untruth, and seeing the truth within the truth. The plot of each play relies on the ability of actors to tell convincing lies and have them...
3 Pages 1256 Words
Introduction The narrative of "The Boys Who Challenged Hitler" underscores a remarkable chapter of youthful defiance amidst the oppressive shadows of World War II. Authored by Phillip Hoose, this historical account illuminates the courageous endeavors of the Churchill Club, a group of Danish teenagers who dared to resist Nazi occupation. Amidst the bleak landscape of war-torn Europe, these boys emerged...
Adolf HitlerBook ReviewLiterary Criticism
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3 Pages 1475 Words
Fiction is a quintessential area of the human experience. Without it, the world would be a dreary place. Imagination is vital for one's sanity and happiness. Fantasy teaches us about suited people. Though fictional characters are spun from the thread of dreams, their underlying natures are in particular based on genuine people. Fantasy teaches us to admire the pinnacle notch...
Critical ThinkingHarry PotterLiterary Criticism
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3 Pages 1359 Words
 Ashima, the Indian mother of the story, is born and raised in Calcutta, West Bengali which she calls home; that is until her arranged marriage with Ashoke Ganguli causes her to travel across the globe to North America and settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the early stages of this transition, Ashima struggles with leaving her entire family behind to now...
ImmigrantsLiterary CriticismThe Namesake
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1 Page 678 Words
The novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is an engrossing tale that shows the reality of love in war. The novel follows the love between Frederic Henry, a lieutenant in World War I, and the English Nurse Catherine Barkley. While Henry is serving in the Italian ambulance service, he becomes wounded and is relocated to the hospital where...
A Farewell to ArmsAlcoholLiterary Criticism
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2 Pages 1062 Words
Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding about a group of boys who are marooned on an island. As the story progresses, the boys slowly transform into savages and lose their civility. The Freudian Theory addresses the three human personalities: id, ego, and superego. The id personality is based on desire and instinct, the ego personality is...
AllegoryLiterary CriticismLord of The Flies
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