Literature Essays

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Sympathy for The Devil: William Butler Yeats and Fascism

2 Pages 846 Words
When we slot figures neatly onto the plinths of our national pantheon, the heroic status we make often require some scrubbing before they are fit to be viewed by the public. Figures of national renown are scrubbed clean of their more radical thoughts- Martin Luther King Jr’s avowed leftism for example- in order to turn them into saints with simple...

Ode to a Nightingale Summary & Analysis

2 Pages 898 Words
The speaker opens with a declaration of his own heartache. He feels numb, as though he had taken a drug only a moment ago. He is addressing a nightingale he hears singing somewhere in the forest and says that his “drowsy numbness” is not from envy of the nightingale’s happiness, but rather from sharing it too completely; he is “too...
Ode
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Symbolism and Themes in 'The Flowers'

2 Pages 945 Words
Introduction Alice Walker's short story "The Flowers" is a profound narrative that delves into themes of innocence, loss, and racial violence. Within a compact narrative, Walker encapsulates the essence of a young girl's transition from innocence to a harsh awareness of reality. Through the use of symbolism and vivid imagery, Walker invites readers to explore the complexities of racial history...

A Study of What Constitute a Hero as Depicted in Perseus Story

2 Pages 1050 Words
Being known as a hero is a great honor. You are held in high esteem by people all over the world. You have great fame and sometimes even great fortune. But to become a hero is a challenging path. It requires you to have great strength of character, being honorable and arising to trustworthiness. Sometimes the path can be physically...
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William Butler Yeats as a Symbolist

3 Pages 1308 Words
William Butler Yeats is regarded as one of the most important representative symbolist of the twentieth century English literature who was mainly influenced by the French symbolist movement of 19th century. Symbolism as a conscious movement was born in France as a reaction against naturalism and the precision and exactitude of the 'naturalist' school represented by Emile Zola. The French...

Angels and Demons': Critical Analysis Of a Book

1 Page 433 Words
A brilliant page turner for readers who love brilliant storyline and drama. Angels and Demons is an outstanding thriller, mystrey and crime fiction by Dan Brown, is also the writer who wrote “Da Vinci Code.' The book has the same protagonist, Robert Langdon who is a professor and is set in the cobbled street of Europe and the Vatican City....

Suburban Sonnet' Analysis

3 Pages 1172 Words
Gwendoline Nessie Harwood’s poem ‘Suburban Sonnet’ aims to commentate on the harsh reality and expectations of motherhood in the 1960’s. This powerful yet convoluted allegorical poem reveals the extreme burdens and strains that women tackled every day. Life for women in the 1960’s was simply just ‘a pot boiling over’ and Gwen Harwood utilizes her vivid recollection of her childhood...
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The Issue of Bureaucracy in Franz Kafka’s “The Trial”

4 Pages 1706 Words
Introduction to Bureaucracy in "The Trial" Written at the beginning of the 20th century “The Trial” depicts “the rise of bureaucracy, the power of law, and the atomization of the individual”, which are allegorically reflected in a story about Joseph K., a bank employee who is accused of unspecified crimes. This rather surreal and pessimistic narrative begins when two guards...

Comparative Analysis of Apollo and Aphrodite

2 Pages 1017 Words
Greek mythology is a collection of stories that the ancient Greeks used to say. Such myths are about the world’s history and creation, the lives, and actions of gods, characters, and mythological creatures, and the roots and the importance of the worship and ceremonial rituals of the ancient Greeks. The stories of gods and goddesses in ancient Greece were an...

Examples of Legends in Literary Texts

1 Page 682 Words
Originated from Latin legendus, legend means “something which ought to be read.” According to J. A. Cuddon, a legend is “a story or narrative that lies somewhere between myth and historical fact and which, as a rule, is about a particular figure or person.” Traditionally, a legend is a narrative that focuses on a historically or geographically specific figure, and...
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‘The Martian Chronicles’ Made Climate Change Visible

4 Pages 1997 Words
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to encircle the planet, the structure of our lives has dramatically changed in the effort to slow the spread. Even among other diseases, Covid-19 presents as an especially invisible threat, because carriers can have it for weeks before realizing they’re sick, if they even show symptoms at all. In the interim, they risk transmitting it...

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Summary

2 Pages 859 Words
In the Adventures of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain, friendship and loyalty are concepts that are important in the lives of humans. In this novel, Tom makes new friends and new experiences. However, he especially treasures the bonds that he has with Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher. With Huckleberry Finn, the author, Mark Twain shows how simple adventures, blood...

Thomas Hardy as a Great Novelist

3 Pages 1423 Words
Thomas Hardy is one of the greatest English novelists. With his fourteen novels, he has carved for himself a niche in the glorious mansion of the English novel. He is a great poet as well as a great novelist; but the success and popularity of his novels-especially his six major novels - has overshadowed his glory as a poet. As...

Analysis of Imagery and Other Literary Devices in Dover Beach

2 Pages 840 Words
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“Dover Beach” is a four stanza poem written by Matthew Arnold that starts out with a quiet scene. It begins with the speaker looking out on the moonlit water and listening to the sound of the waves. The author describes that the night air is “sweet” as he stands on the pebbled shore looking out at the “calm” sea. However,...

Troilus and Cressida' as a Problem Play

4 Pages 2038 Words
A problem play is a play in which the playwright portrays the social, political and economic problems of the society he lives in. The problem play is a development form of the ‘drama of ideas' (Drama of ideas is a type of discussion play in which the most acute problems of social and personal morality is revealed). It is tragic...

The Minister's Black Veil': Internal Conflict in a Book

3 Pages 1406 Words
“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about an old minister who through his own inner demons hopes to teach his community how to live with theirs. The story begins with Mr. Hooper, the church’s minister, entering service with a mysterious black veil over his face, causing quite a stir among his parishioners. Mr. Hooper delivers a sermon on...

Autobiography of Ex-Colored Man: First-hand Segregation Experience

2 Pages 952 Words
James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man challenges the status of race relations in the United States in the early 1900s. Written on the heels of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision which legally established segregation in the United States, the novel depicts the life of a mixed-race narrator in an effort to argue that racial divisions are a contrived...

Blindness and Ignorance Vs Sight and the Truth in Oedipus

3 Pages 1253 Words
''We are only as blind as we want to be -Maya Angelou. There are a variety of connotations to the phrase ''blind. Some people tend to view blindness as a physical disability that resembles inferiority. Others believe that blindness defines ignorance as one is unaware of their surroundings or actions. However, the public's attitudes towards blindness are misconceptions as even...

To Kill a Mockingbird': Main Ideas of an Author

4 Pages 1658 Words
Harper Lee last spoke publicly about the book in the 1960s. She said that it is a universal theme and that it portrayed an aspect of civilization. Lee has made it clear that she wants absolutely nothing to do with the media. No matter what facts were brought up about Lee’s childhood she put her foot down when critics say...

The Bet': A Look at The Worth of Life as Depicted

2 Pages 863 Words
Would you accept the offer of two million dollars in exchange for fifteen years of your life? Despite what you may think, some people would accept the offer without thinking twice. The short story “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov perfectly demonstrates that wealth delivers a happiness that only lasts for a fraction of time, while wisdom could last a lifetime....
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The Trial': The Role of Justice and Judgment

1 Page 537 Words
Kafka's Trial questions the relationship of justice and the law (often capitalized in the novel as 'the Law'). The thing about laws is that they're supposed to be just. If there's an unjust or an unfair law, we expect to be able to work to get the law overturned by appealing to higher principles of justice. (Consider, for example, the...
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Faust': Dr. Faustus's Tragedy

2 Pages 1031 Words
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus depicts a clash between the values of the medieval world and the emerging humanism of the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages in Europe, God is the center of intellectual life, and in art and literature, the emphasis revolves around the lives of the saints and the mighty instead of ordinary people. On the other hand, The...
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The Trial': Plot Summary

2 Pages 853 Words
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) has been called everything from a modernist to an existentialist, a fantasy writer to a realist. His work almost stands alone as its own subgenre, and the adjective ‘Kafkaesque’ – whose meaning, like the meaning of Kafka’s work, is hard to pin down – has become well-known even to people who have never read a word of...
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The Uncanny': Summary

2 Pages 1066 Words
The Uncanny, published in 1919, is one of the most famous of Sigmund Freud’s essays. This is not only because many of his most foundational ideas had their genesis here but because the essay pertains to aesthetics and popular culture, making it both accessible and gripping for a broad readership. The Uncanny is a good example of Freud’s predilection for...

The Rainbow': Book Review

1 Page 592 Words
There, on the dusty floorboards, was a piece of paper, folded neatly. A newspaper article from 1941, written in German, alongside a faded picture of two men in Nazi uniforms staring at the camera. I was about to place it back in the box of forgotten things when something in the text jumped out at me. My breath caught in...

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall': Summary

2 Pages 1098 Words
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall is a 1930 short story written by American author Katherine Anne Porter. While the story is set inside a bedroom, most of the action takes place inside the mind of 80-year-old Granny Weatherall as she spends her last day on her deathbed. The narrative employs a stream-of-conscious monologue as Granny recollects her long life and...

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman': Historical Context

1 Page 600 Words
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman should be understood within the context of the Enlightenment as a movement containing complex and often contradictory political, religious, and philosophical implications. The most famous definition of the Enlightenment, though very late in the movement, comes in Immanuel Kant’s essay, “What is Enlightenment?”: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is...

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall': The Message of a Story

2 Pages 913 Words
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” was the first of Katherine Anne Porter’s Texas stories, all drawn from persistent memories of her own impoverished and motherless childhood as well as from her memories of her sternly rigorous and religious grandmother, Catherine Anne Porter of Kyle, Texas. Ellen Weatherall is a character distinctly different from grandmother Sophia Jane Gay, who plays an...
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