Literature Essays

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A Brief Overview of Tzvetan Todorov's Theory of the Fantastic

1 Page 572 Words
Tzvetan Todorov is a French and Bulgarian literary theorist and cultural critic who is best known for his contribution to literary theory in the form of his definition of the Fantastic in literature. As an important note, when Todorov discusses the fantastic, he is not discussing fantasy literature. Though fantasy critics, theorists, novelists and fans will often refer to fantasy...
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The Waste Land': Water Motif Showing Decay in Modern Society

3 Pages 1550 Words
TS Eliot uses water as a motif throughout the Waste Land. It is shown in different lights: at the beginning we can see that water is the cause of death and in the last book we see water an essential asset for life. Eliot links water to religion and spirituality to create a clear connection between the decay of the...

The White Tiger': Balram Halwai as an Atypical Character

2 Pages 876 Words
Balram Halwai is a protagonist in Aravind Adiga’s epistolary novel The White Tiger, in the sense that he is the primary driver of events in the story, and due to the fact that he faces great challenge and adversity, and overcomes the difficulties in his path. However, it is that nature in which he conquers his challenges that Balram diverges...

The Turn of The Screw': Searching for Love in a Book

2 Pages 989 Words
In “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, the central character, the governess, feels so isolated that she will do anything necessary to quench the feeling. She decides that the way to do so is to be in love. Unfortunately, because she is located in Bly, such a desire is not possible to actualize. When the governess realizes this...

Birches': In-Depth Analysis

2 Pages 1008 Words
Robert Frost’s “Birches” is one of the most widely appreciated poems. It is a fine example of the poet’s power to fuse observation and imagination. Frost belongs to the pastoral tradition. Most of his poems reveal the beautiful countryside of New England. They also express the national spirit of America. If his poems are closely read, they can be seen...
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Thomas Hardy's Philosophical Outlook

6 Pages 2843 Words
Hardy’s conception of human life was shaped in part by his extensive critical reading of the Bible, study of ancient tragedy, contemporary philosophical and scientific works, and in part by his rural environment. Ernest Brennecke, who wrote one of the earliest appraisals of Hardy’s philosophy of life, argued that Hardy developed “a consistent world-view through the notions of Chance and...

Sylvia Plath Feminist Criticism

1 Page 465 Words
Sylvia Plath was widely regarded as “one of the most celebrated and controversial post-war (‘feminists’)” writing in English” [Oates] in the twentieth century. In her ‘Ariel’ collection, Plath explores the gender inequality and expectations that plagued society at that time, and arguably today. Through her poetry, Plath criticises the social norms and values that socially conditioned both men and women...

Vladimir Nabokov’s Writing Method

2 Pages 887 Words
Few things are more tempting to a writer than to write about writing. Having a couple of novels behind me, along with a dozen short stories, hundreds of pages of clickbait headlines (which I am not particularly proud of), as well as a number of academic texts, I know a thing or two about the craft of words. Vladimir Nabokov...

The History Boys': The Comedy in the Play

3 Pages 1392 Words
Alan Bennett’s The History Boys uses the opposition created between the characters of Hector and Irwin to structure the play and question the education system. The two characters are naturally opposed - in age, teaching style and fundamental beliefs. This creates comedy which is used, perhaps to convey the playwright’s personal beliefs and relay his experience with the ‘Oxbridge’ system....

Measure for Measure': Deep Understanding of Shakespeare's Problematic Play

4 Pages 1782 Words
Throughout the extensive criticism written on Shakespeare plays, the definition of these problematic plays has been a constant topic for debate. Kiernan Ryan suggests critics focus either on these plays all having in inherently ‘political implications’, or a form of deconstructive, or psychoanalytical analysis. Yet the potential for another opinion could still be valid as expressed by critics such as...

Birches': A Plot Summary

3 Pages 1454 Words
The poem opens with the sight of curiously bent birches trees. When the poet sees birches bending to left and right in the backdrop of “straighter and darker ” trees, he likes to believe it is the work of some country boy who must’ve indulged in swinging them. However, he is fully away that it cannot be the case as...
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The Main Statement of Rostand in Cyrano De Bergerac

2 Pages 917 Words
Rostand’s classic, Cyrano De Bergerac, resonates with audiences of all eras and cultures essentially because it reflects on a universal theme. It is conflict, and specifically the internal conflicts of a hero struggling with ambitions of the material with his innermost, spiritual and intellectual self. All of this is within the desire Cyrano feels for Roxane, which guides his behavior....

Post-Colonialism in 'Waiting for the Barbarians'

7 Pages 3292 Words
Waiting for the Barbarians is a novel written by JM Coetzee which has strong themes of Post-Colonialism. To begin, an understanding over what post-colonialism is specifically in literature needs to be elaborated. A simple definition most would define post-colonialism as an issue happening after colonialism in a country and its ramifications. Interestingly, the definition has also expanded; ‘some writers have...

The Chosen': Triumph Over Darkness

2 Pages 1057 Words
These words from the headstone of a Jewish holocaust victim perfectly define Chaim Potok’s use of light as a symbol of knowledge and truth in a world of tradition. Potok uses Reuven’s observations of light to give the reader clues of Danny’s awakenings to the truth and knowledge of the outside world in The Chosen. Danny’s surroundings particularly show the...

The Haunting of Hill House': Analysis of Gothic Elements

1 Page 630 Words
In the novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson she presents gothic elements by explaining gruesome and off-putting elements which creates an uneasy and unpleasant feeling for the reader. This appears by the personification the house is given and how the house gives off a dark vibe. It’s mentioned how at the house no one can hear you...

Salome': The Intertextuality of Carol Ann Duffy’s Poem

2 Pages 1005 Words
“Salome” is a poem taken from Carol Ann Duffy’s collection of poems The World’s Wife; most of the poems share a common feature: a historically marginalized narrator retelling the story from personal perspective. Salome’s character originally appeared in the New Testament and over the centuries many novels and paintings focused on Salome and the legend of Salome contributing to iconization...

Birches': Main Idea of a Book

4 Pages 1896 Words
Birches” is a memorable poem that is rich and interesting enough to repay more than one reading. Robert Frost provides vivid images of birches in order to oppose life’s harsh realities with the human actions of the imagination. I recommend this poem to anyone interested in reading and studying poetry that meets many requirements for excellence. However, it can not...
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Literary Elements of a Legend

1 Page 432 Words
Reviewed double_ok
A legend is a very old and popular story that may be true. the legends of ancient Greece. If you refer to someone as a legend, you mean that they are very famous and admired by a lot of people. Though customarily told as “true” stories, legends often contain supernatural, bizarre, or highly improbable elements. Types of legends include folk...

Dear Mama' – The Modern Ode by Tupac Shakur

2 Pages 991 Words
An ode can be defined as a ‘ceremonious lyric poem on an occasion of dignity in which personal emotion and universal themes are united’ (Ode, 2012). Although hiphop music is usually known for it’s violent, and often, masculine lyrics, ‘Dear Mama’ the first single from Tupac Shakur’s album, “Me Against the World” produced in 1995, can be considered to be...
Ode
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Refusal Of Social Conventions In Sylvia Plath’s Poetry

3 Pages 1496 Words
Post-world war II period is incomplete without the name of Sylvia Plath. Plath being a significant artist, turned out to be reputable after her suicide in 1963. She has recognized herself because of her famous collection Ariel which hold alarming and acclaimed stanzas. She used bold and wild metaphors, repeatedly disrupting and violent symbolism to summon mythic characteristics in humankind....

Leo Tolstoy on Finding Meaning in a Meaningless World

9 Pages 3842 Words
Shortly after turning fifty, Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828–November 10, 1910) succumbed to a profound spiritual crisis. With his greatest works behind him, he found his sense of purpose dwindling as his celebrity and public acclaim billowed, sinking into a state of deep depression and melancholia despite having a large estate, good health for his age, a wife who had...
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Arthur Miller’s Ideas about ‘The American Dream’

1 Page 454 Words
Arthur Miller himself once stated that the play is tricky to categorize because none of its characters stand up and make a speech about the great issues which he believes it embodies. This is also a problem for anyone who would attempt to develop a clear idea about what messages Death of a Salesman attempts to deliver and consequently it...

Macbeth': Beneficiality of Gender Roles in Society

2 Pages 746 Words
In the Renaissance period, gender roles were one where men and women were assigned specific roles to which society portrays their standards and requirements. The value, social expectations, and personal status differed greatly between the genders. Men were the ruling voice over everyone else. Women had no control over their role in society, and their public reputation was dishonorable and...

Understanding Of 'This Is a Photograph of Me Poem'

1 Page 629 Words
Eerie, my one-word description of Margaret Atwoods poem, This Is a Photograph of Me written in 1939. Based off of the words, the layout, and what the poem actually says is what gave me this eerie sense of feeling. The poem also gave me a feeling that I overlooked something so in turn I read it over and over again,...

The Hiding Place': Corrie Ten Boom’s Suffering

2 Pages 746 Words
Corrie Ten Boom’s astounding life story; “The Hiding place” is an incredible story about her and her sister Betsie, being sent to concentration camps for hiding Jews in WWII. Despite enduring so much pain throughout this adventure, Corrie and her sister continuously worshipped God. Every day these two sisters had to convince each other, and themselves, that all this suffering...

Tragedy in 'Fire on The Mountain' by Anita Desai

2 Pages 974 Words
The Indian author Anita Desai creates in Fire on the Mountain (1977) a perfect tragedy in the Greek mode. The novel has an abrupt ending in a tragic manner and the tragedy becomes complete when Raka sets the forest on fire. Lonely and isolated Nanda Kaul suffers lot in her life. She chooses loneliness after her husband’s death. She wants...
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Life Of Pi And The Work Of Sylvia Plath

3 Pages 1200 Words
We are in complete and total control of our thoughts, actions and everyday decisions… whether we choose to believe this is down to us. Throughout my life, I have had several times where I stopped to question myself and my happiness, and what I was doing to feed and maintain it. My curiosity for this sparked when I realised that...

The Social and Artistic Vision of Jack London is Relevant Today

2 Pages 854 Words
Jack London was a socialist who lectured and gave speeches urging members of the working class to join together and fight for a better form of government than the one they were living under. His message to the capitalist class of his day was, “No quarter! We want all that you possess.” From an early age, London was determined to...
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