Newest Literature Essays

Lack of familial support is the primary reasoning behind low self-esteem and insufficient development in children. In Catherine Hernandez’s Scarborough, poverty is the root cause of neglect. In the novel, Sylvie displays the obstructive impact of...

In a society today that idealizes perfection, many find themselves forming a façade to hide their flawed reality. In “Dressing Up for the Carnival” by Carol Shields, a disguised truth prevails, showing that those who are posed with domestic issues...

In When the Emperor Was Divine, Julie Otsuka takes us through the journey of a Japanese-American family that is displaced to internment camps along with many other families because of the war. The novel is told through the different perspectives...

Immigrants often face social alienation and exclusion from the society they are trying to enter, causing them to feel powerless. In Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, it is shown that the hardships of entering a new cultural space cause an...

Viktor Frankl, a neurologist, psychologist and Holocaust survivor once quoted, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” This suggests that sometimes a person might find himself in a dangerous...

When viewed unironically, “The Revenger’s Tragedy” may appear to be a misogynistic play. However, upon viewing it through a satirical lens, it seems unlikely that the playwright shares the motifs and ideas that the story seemingly promotes....

Given that Shakespeare’s primary motivation for writing Richard III was less fueled by a desire to accurately depict the objective truth regarding the title character’s short-lived tenure as England’s monarch, than it was by the intention of...

Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is his magnum opus and in it, that is exactly what he does, which is to endure a “savage journey to the heart of the American dream”....

‘Gattaca’ (1997) directed by Andrew Niccol, follows the life of Vincent Freeman. Vincent was born with mutations in his DNA, therefore illegally purchases the DNA of genetically superior Jerome Morrow, to fulfill his career aspiration of space...

We emotionally respond to a text as it has been intentionally set up to manipulate the audience into behaving and thinking in a particular manner. The Help is a historical fiction film set during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement and outlines...

Universal among all human groups, from co-workers to entire nations, is a particular way of behaving. As we socialize and engage with one another, we develop characteristic methods of thinking, feeling, acting, and judging. This is what we know as...

Identity is a force that has the potential to both unite and alienate groups and individuals. While belonging to a group can enrich one’s value of their own identity and foster meaningful connections, it also creates barriers that minimize...

The Epic of Gilgamesh took place in ancient Mesopotamia, during a time where people were transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to one where people were settled. Although this was a huge leap in the development of civilizations, women’s roles in...

My Fair Lady, the 1964 musical film written by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, is a somewhat effective adaptation of the 1913 play Pygmalion written by George Bernard Shaw. Although slight changes in the characterization of central...

Both Amy Tan and Willa Cather, in the books The Joy Luck Club and My Antonia, convey the challenges foreign immigrants undergo when attempting to assimilate to the new language and culture of America and the disconnect that forms as a result while...

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” Such is the dogma that underlies the social and economic theories laid out by German philosopher Karl Marx in his political pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto. In...

When reading James Joyce’s, Dubliners, conformity and the role it plays in society are important themes. Throughout the text, the characters struggle to adhere to the “social norms” of their time. In numerous stories, the characters are tasked...

World War II is remembered as a struggle against an obviously evil entity; it was the Allied forces’ fight to put down the Axis powers and bring to an end the Nazi’s fascist regime. Allied troops are often exalted as heroes, and remembered for...

In Major Barbara, one’s religion is equated to their sense of morality, as well as their belief system. The play features a number of characters, each with strong and often conflicting convictions. These faiths shape the characters’ courses of...

Morality can be defined as a society’s set of values and beliefs. This, in turn, moulds the subject position of the members belonging to this society and defines what they perceive as right and wrong, thus giving birth to moral relativism. Moral...

In modern-day, power is an entity that everyone desires but the simplest things such as a person’s language or even the socioeconomic status can change the game. Language consists of many elements within but most are disregarded such as culture...

Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go is developed slowly, following its characters as they unassumingly and quietly move through a dystopian landscape towards their deaths. The nature of this dystopian world unfolds piecemeal through Kathy’...

Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession both follow characters who are portrayed as existing on the limits of their respective societies. Santiago and Mrs. Warren both maintain their fringe positions...

Seconds after leaving the womb, babies start to take in the world around them. Although they may know little information about it or its inhabitants, they are taking the first steps on the road to becoming a human—being self-aware of existence. In...