Newest Literature Essays

When analyzing Greek mythology, it is evident the stories exist to legitimize, explain, or provoke interest in the societal structures in place. However, just as Vergil reworked Homer’s The Odyssey, as The Aeneid, to become a political propaganda...

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings, the natural environment plays an important role as a tool for characterization and personification of the natural world. Readers who have studied Tolkien and know of his respect for nature might assume...

In his “rags to riches” story, Ragged Dick or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, by Horatio Alger, Jr., we are introduced to the character of Richard Hunter (known on the streets as Ragged Dick), a bootblack working in the rough...

Dante’s Inferno and Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat define their essential beliefs and attitudes regarding sin and the meaning of life. Their contrasting opinions of sin outline the extent to which their values differ and the way they live their lives....

Robert Frost wrote almost solely about nature, exposing his belief in pathetic fallacies, the belief that nature should match internal feelings. Additionally, his style is vertical, meaning he looks up to a higher power or meaning. Both...

Markus Zusak’s narrative The Book Thief and Roberto Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful use historical perspective to explore the impact of war. Zusak’s The Book Thief uses the narration of death to follow the life of a young girl in war torn...

Like visions of God, the study of the role and importance of the female body stands at the forefront of lots of text written by mystical medieval women. As we discussed in class, Julian of Norwich’s sick body allowed her to have visions of God,...

Ibsen’s use of the symbol of the Tarantella dance is instrumental in demonstrating the changing dynamics and progression of Nora and Torvald’s marriage. The intensely dramatic and passionately performed Tarantella dance depicts a different side of...

In Seamus Heaney’s short autobiographical poem, Digging. Heaney describes his strong feeling towards the land on which he grew up on and the role that he and his relatives played on it, but also his untraditional choice to write rather than dig....

In Louise Erdich’s Love Medicine, we are introduced to the protagonist, Lipsha, who has great love and respect for his grandparents who raised him. Interwoven throughout the story, we witness the complicated history and dynamic of his grandparents...

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a nineteen-eighty-five novel depicting the struggles of a young woman unwillingly designated to serve as a surrogate mother for a high ranking official in the totalitarian, theocratic state of Gilead,...

In Jeremiah 31, The Lord declares that “The days are coming,... when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to...

William Shakespeare’s vast collection of plays can generally be categorized by genre: his plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet are considered tragedies, while Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are considered comedies. One...

What about a horror story is chilling to the bone, makes hair stand up on the arms, and leaves the reader gaping and shuddering? In “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, the author uses traditional horror-writing techniques to achieve a stirring,...

Helen Fielding’s ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ is at the forefront of modern female culture, contributing greatly to creating the ‘chick lit’ genre as we know it today. The novel was written and published in the mid-1990s, at a time when post-feminism...

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, presents the linked stories of different slaves in Kentucky from the perspective of an omniscient narrator. “The role of the omniscient narrator is to chronicle the events of a story in an impartial...

The Normans and the Saxons have expected racism throughout the novel but the ultimate racism is against the Jews. While both Normans and Saxons dislike each other with a somewhat good reason, both, however, are outrageously callous towards Isaac...

Emotionally charged and deeply intellectual literature acts as the voice of an empathic society, reeked by disturbing uncertainty and consumed by an anxious paralysis. T.S Eliot’s confronting suite of poetry forces a reconciliation with the...

In literature, a foil character is utilized by authors to, through contrast of the characters, highlight the characteristics of the protagonist. In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale, Moira is the college friend of Offred and represents Offred’...

In both The Merchant’s Tale and A Doll’s House, sexual relationships are symbolic of power imbalances, the exploitation of others, and the strenuous relationship between men and women in societies continually determined by gender relations. Sexual...

The accusation that the character “Doc” Franklin Hata lives “a gesture life” gives title to Chang-rae Lee’s novel about the Asian-immigrant experience of displacement and identity when assimilating into American society. A Gesture Life explores...

Animal rights have recently become a topic of interest in contemporary society, primarily due to the endangerment of many species, and the use of animals for types of lab testing. Human understanding of animals in the western world is shaped by...

Boyish haircuts and flat chests were trademarks of the 1920s flapper; as this style spread throughout America’s cities, it marked a dynamic change in women from their traditional appearance and lifestyle of the late 19th century and into the era...

Throughout the ages, many scholars have tried to explore the idea of human dignity and self-respect. Some associate one’s self-worthiness with wealth and social status, claiming that the higher the salary, the higher the self-worth. Some believe...