Literary Criticism essays

1280 samples in this category

Essay examples
Essay topics
2 Pages 728 Words
The more highly people endorse materialistic values, the more they experience unpleasant emotions, depression, and anxiety. The novel ‘The Pearl’, written by John Steinbeck in 1944, follows an allegory that poignantly and succinctly teaches the reader about the negative consequences of materialism. ‘The Pearl’ is about a Mexican Indian pearl diver named Kino who finds a valuable pearl and is...
Literary CriticismMaterialismThe Pearl
like 432
1 Page 661 Words
Most people don’t understand what mental illness does to someone’s mind. Having a mental illness back in the 1960s was even worse. Know one would understand how hard it was not to think about mental illness or thought that if someone doesn’t do anything they will magically get better, however, that has been proven wrong since then. The best medicine...
like 291
3 Pages 1164 Words
Introduction "Tuck Everlasting," a novel penned by Natalie Babbitt, is an enchanting tale that explores the concept of immortality and its implications on human existence. Set in a quaint rural village, the narrative follows the life of ten-year-old Winnie Foster as she encounters the Tuck family, who have drunk from a magical spring granting them eternal life. The story unfolds...
Book ReviewLiterary CriticismReading Books
like 432
4 Pages 1951 Words
There are lots of people who cannot have strong relationships with their parents. Some would call others lucky to be able to have the opportunity to connect with their parents. Thi Bui gives information for us to recognize that not every relationship with a family will always be pure. My family constantly talks about their childhood memories up until their...
Literary CriticismParent-child Relationship
like 432
1 Page 587 Words
‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ – a ballad by John Keats, that’s title translates to the lady without mercy, creates a sense of betrayal from the start. The poem begins from the first-person perspective of the main character, asking himself a question, “O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms”, now pointing to the conclusion that this character is a knight, asking...
Literary CriticismPoetry
like 238
2 Pages 928 Words
“Instead of worrying about what cannot be controlled, an individual must shift their energy into what can be created” (Roy T. Bennett). Jeannette Walls from The Glass Castle and Baby from Lullabies For Little Criminals have been trapped in a state of disillusionment their entire lives. Delusion runs in the Walls family, and the children lack a rational parental influence...
DramaLiterary CriticismThe Glass Castle
like 432
3 Pages 1548 Words
Feminist literary criticism arose from the work of first-wave feminism but mostly came about from second-wave feminism in the early 1960s. Inspired by the civil rights movement in the US, women of all ages began fighting to secure a more prominent role in society. They strove for equality between men and women in the workforce. Post-colonial readings represent the aftermath...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 125
3 Pages 1171 Words
The story of Jeannette Walls is nothing short of what you could describe as nightmarish. From living in houses with caving walls to dealing with a narcissistic, alcoholic father, Walls endured a childhood of horrors. Through Walls’ traumatic childhood, we experience the constant turmoil, dysfunction, and broken promises that she lived with throughout these crucial years of her life. Walls’...
DramaLiterary CriticismThe Glass Castle
like 432
5 Pages 2228 Words
Relationships can often affect our sense of being to the point where we cannot discern the difference in how much we have changed within ourselves. Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, and Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl convey that one can easily lose their identity and self-being which can lead to one becoming easily vulnerable...
6 Pages 2549 Words
Throughout history, women have been constrained by their corresponding society’s beliefs, and nurture that instruct or compel them to be who they are not necessarily meant to be. This issue has been limiting feminine freedom and failed to admire the humanistic approach to consider all individuals to be equally free, fenced with no boundaries. This essay is subjected to outline...
like 432
1 Page 592 Words
The successful reframing of prisons in texts engages an audience to explore the powerful change of perspectives on prisons through the isolation of characters and differing contexts. In the prose fiction ‘Hag-Seed,’ Atwood's appropriation of The Tempest, reframing the metaphorical prisons in Shakespeare's'‘ The Tempest’ to a literal representation has shifted the audience to a modern view of prisons. Thus,...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 223
3 Pages 1451 Words
Textual conversations allow a perfect and personal amalgamation of our own experiences and the moral lessons taught by the texts. Textual conversations expose the benefit of the experience detailed in Literature and how they relate to our life and the human condition. All expectations, thoughts, and experiences are relative to our past experiences, our whole lives are experienced in comparisons...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 432
3 Pages 1313 Words
The Tempest is a challenging play to categorize because it is considered by most scholars to be Shakespeare's final solo piece. It has been classified as a 'problem plays,' and examination of the work has emphasized the work's straightforward nature. Many have sought to link Prospero to Shakespeare himself, viewing the play as a last act. Part of the problem...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 433
2 Pages 1091 Words
Discoveries can provide new insights that transform an individual’s perception of themselves and the world. Both William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Tempest (1611) and Laura Palmer’s memoir, Mystery is the Precinct Where I Found Peace (2002) highlight how introspection enables individuals to be emotionally transformed. Furthermore, both texts reveal how by reconsidering prior assumptions, individuals may discover renewed perspectives and future...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 258
2 Pages 1030 Words
‘Orange Is the New Black’ is an American comedy-drama series streaming on Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir about her experiences in a minimum-security federal prison. It covers themes such as racism, sexism, and the monetization of human beings. The Black Lives Matter movement is also an extremely important theme of the finale of Season 4, alongside...
Literary Criticism
like 432
1 Page 417 Words
Rather than centralizing on postcolonial critiques of Caliban as the colonized ‘Other’ in The Tempest, Atwood reimagines a humanist critique of the Fletcher Correctional Players in Hag-Seed. Inspired by Canada’s reformative prison literature of the Shakespeare Behind Bar program, Atwood adapts the universality of Shakespeare’s language to allow the inmates to transgress their mundane existence through the rehabilitative power of...
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 203
4 Pages 1683 Words
Elizabethan play or theatre, also known as English Renaissance theatre, is referred to as the plays written and performed during the reign of Elizabeth I of England from 1558 to 1603 CE. The actors of the play were generally touring troupes and the plays were written in blank verse. The plays, more often than not, are based on non-religious themes....
Literary CriticismThe TempestWilliam Shakespeare
like 432
3 Pages 1207 Words
Feasting, as defined by Linwood Fredericksen from the Encyclopedia Britannica, is “a day or period of time set aside to commemorate, ritually celebrate or reenact, or anticipate events or seasons—agricultural, religious, or sociocultural—that give meaning and cohesiveness to an individual and to the religious, political, or socioeconomic community”. Holiday feasts were an essential part of the social scene of the...
2 Pages 967 Words
When you think of a cult, what is the first thing you think of? KKK, Manson Family, or Heaven’s Gate? Would you consider the Internet to be a cult? “A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object” is the definition according to the dictionary. Throughout history, there have been many real-life and fictional interpretations...
Book ReportDystopiaLiterary Criticism
like 432
2 Pages 912 Words
One of the key themes in the novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is the theme of the supernatural because it symbolizes all the aspects and the allegories of the two social problems of life. One aspect of the theme supernatural that the writer focuses on occurs at the beginning of the novel. Stave 1 embodies how the Ghost...
A Christmas CarolLiterary Criticism
like 438
2 Pages 1052 Words
‘Stargirl’ is a novel by the author Jerry Spinelli. Jerry is an American writer that grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and he now lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He decided to become a writer at the age of 16 after a poem he wrote about sports was published in a local newspaper. Jerry went to Gettysburg College and he got his...
Book ReviewLiterary Criticism
like 432
1 Page 451 Words
‘Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!’ by Len Foley is a funny story for children from 4 to 7 years old. A small boy Siegfried is trying to find out what's stinking so bad about the book. Every page of it reveals a new answer to the question: where could the bad smell possibly come from? The book invites us on a journey...
Book ReviewLiterary Criticism
like 432
1 Page 573 Words
Introduction Katherine Paterson's novel 'Lyddie' takes readers on a compelling journey through the life of a young girl facing numerous challenges in 19th-century America. Set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, the story explores themes of resilience, empowerment, and the pursuit of dreams. Through the character of Lyddie, Paterson showcases the strength and determination of a young woman striving...
Literary CriticismLyddieNovel
like 217
1 Page 609 Words
Amy Tan's short story, "Fish Cheeks," explores the theme of identity and cultural acceptance through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl named Amy. Set during a Christmas Eve dinner with her American friends, Amy experiences a clash between her Chinese heritage and the desire to fit in with her predominantly white peers. Through the vivid portrayal of her internal...
Amy TanFish CheeksLiterary Criticism
like 432
2 Pages 1034 Words
Three elements that yield a heroic warrior include Bravery, Courage Confidence, and Honor. Beowulf shows his bravery in his battles with monsters much larger than himself. He fights without weapons and when he has aged shows his confidence in himself, and his courage to never back down. He is honored by the Geats and the Danes throughout the poem as...
BeowulfLiterary Criticism
like 228
1 Page 675 Words
Over the past decade, the rights of Indigenous people have improved. Unfortunately, some rights and freedoms have not yet seen any improvement at all, and some have even worsened. Thomas King's 'Borders' is a short story demonstrating self-identity and the national pride of Indigenous people. Throughout the story, readers realize the theme is set to showcase the self-identity of the...
Literary CriticismShort Story
like 432
2 Pages 913 Words
'The Lottery' authored by Shirley Jackson was first published on June 26, 1948, just after World War II. It took place in a small village in New England. The story is such unique literature that once gets reading to it but also all attention gripping into the same. 'The Lottery' actually gives the lottery a different meaning because of the...
Literary CriticismThe Lottery
like 432
2 Pages 917 Words
Chaos, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “complete disorder and confusion,” (Oxford University Press). In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, the reporter figure Casca, accidentally meets Cicero, a prominent senator in Roman politics. From lines 15-32, Casca gives a long speech where he reveals more details about the storm of which he has a great fear. The first image of...
2 Pages 883 Words
Paradise Lost and Frankenstein share how little control we have to control our fate. In Paradise Lost God always had Satan under his control and was able to undue or influence his actions. In Frankenstein, however, the monster is not always under control by Victor but isn't able to change how people perceive him. Both novels seem to emphasize the...
FrankensteinLiterary CriticismParadise Lost
like 413
price Check the price of your paper
Topic
Number of pages

Join our 150k of happy users

  • Get original paper written according to your instructions
  • Save time for what matters most
Place an order

Fair Use Policy

EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via support@edubirdie.com.

Check it out!