Newest Literature Essays

Doctor Faustus’ closing speech is unquestionably the most emotional scene in Dr. Faustus. His mind moves from idea to idea in desperation and he spends his final hour in vain hoping that he may be spared from his fate. He looks inward for an...

James Earl argued that Beowulf should be read in context of historical and external knowledge. He calls this method intertextuality, whose benefits are unlimited. Intertextuality gives the reader a heightened sense of genre, theme, and even “...

“The Farmer’s Children” by Elizabeth Bishop reveals her outlook on the children’s actions through literary techniques such as characterization. Upon being sent out to guard the barn’s machinery on a winter night, Cato and Emerson did not question...

Mary Shelley develops the character Victor Frankenstein, a young chemist who discovers the secrets of creating life, with an unending thirst for knowledge. His studies and desires lead him to build a Creature which wreaks havoc on Victor and all...

The American Dream―a phrase that was once the foundation of many immigrants’ hopes for a new life now feels fanciful and almost cruel. Not only do immigrants face economic difficulties upon arrival to the U.S., but they also face a world where...

In both ‘Song’ and ‘Remember’, Rossetti articulates several different attitudes towards death, avoiding any one set approach. In ‘Song’, she uses techniques involving the structure and tone of the poem to communicate that she is in fact happy to...

The struggle of the outsider is facilitated by their isolation and their inability to form significant bonds with others in their community. Whilst outsiders have the capacity to challenge their respective communities, their struggles inevitably...

It is human nature for people to seek acceptance from society in order to be happy. In Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “The Nose,” this idea is seen through the eyes of a priest looking for acceptance from his people. Every day people search for happiness...

Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing” follows the story of a family that tragically loses their son in a car accident. After the son’s death the parents continually receive phone calls from the baker of their son’s birthday cake, enraging the...

Jean Toomer, in his novel Cane, compiles issues that plague the black community of the United States through the lens of characters who struggle with conflicts that arise because of racism in both the North and the South. These issues include...

In Shakespeare’s Henry V, King Henry constantly considers the position of God in his endeavors of war. The King’s pondering of God’s view of and hand in war continuously guides his decisions and and methods. Henry’s consideration of God eventually...

Sometimes, ignoring reality is easier than facing it. When traumatizing events occur, repression is a common coping mechanism used to deal with one’s feelings and thoughts. As an unknown person once said, however, “When something bad happens you...

Francois Truffaut, director of the film The 400 Blows (1959), concerns himself with the delinquent child abandoned by the education system and even the family. As a French New Wave director, Truffaut’s motive is to represent the real-life drama of...

In The Color of Water, Ruth, a Caucasian young woman, gravitates toward Black men because of the rejection, lack of love, paternal neglect, and sexual abuse she encountered at the hands of her own father, and because of the first love of her life...

In Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali, responsibility closely aligns with life purpose for those who must fulfill key roles in Malian society, and throughout the story, exemplary characters dutifully perform the obligations. Responsibility in this...

Webster’s presentation of the fallen world in Act V of The White Devil appears as a more developed and grander reflection of Milton’s fallen world in Book IX of Paradise Lost. Milton’s outstanding attributes of the fallen world are developed by...

Modernist poet Edward Estlin Cummings (pen name e. e. cummings) uses diverse poetic structures in “Buffalo Bill’s” and “next to of course god america i” to draw the reader’s attention to the deeper meaning behind the words. Cummings experiments...

Modern psychology, although a relatively new and largely still-debated scientific field, focuses on not how people do certain things, but why. Most people would agree that modern psychology began with Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. Freud’s most...

“The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.”

This quote from Edsger W. Dijkstra is a fantastic illustration of the question that surrounds the world of artificial...

Knowing the elements of Arabesques (1986), authored by Anton Shammas, clarifies the meaning of the ancient art form as well as enlightens the reader on the significance of the novel. His purpose, technique, and message are intertwined with the...

Though most children’s literature is not necessarily always intended to be read solely by children, it is important to consider the reception of the child. In the Grimm Brothers’ “Cinderella” and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s...

Beauty - in its physical embodiments - is one of the most important overarching themes of Dai Sijie's novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Dai creates a sense of beauty in the novel by highlighting the beauty of the characters, the...

Rudyard Kipling’s “If-” explores the themes of manhood, hard work, and discipline. The speaker feels that one should have humility, confidence, and several other virtues in order to be a man. Kipling uses literary techniques including anaphora,...

The concept of hunger can be used to represent many different things, whether it be in the physical, emotional, or conceptual sense. In Natalie Diaz’s poetry, hunger serves to represent ideas in both physical and psychological ways. She places the...