Gun violence is an ongoing issue in the United States. Gun control laws attempt to reduce the amount of gun-related crime that occurs by placing restrictions on who can own guns, where they can be sold, and how they are sold. Gun rights supporters argue that gun control restricts their Constitutional right to bear arms … Read more
Les Miserables is a book written by French author Victor Hugo and published in 1862. Symbolism can be found throughout the novel, with many of the characters donning names with symbolic significance. Below are some quotes from Les Miserables that show instances of symbolism, along with brief explanations on what each quote means or stands … Read more
Iago is a hero of Othello because Iago does not fit the classical idea of a tragic hero. Iago does not have flaws that lead to his downfall nor does Iago seem to develop any change in perspective throughout the play. The role Iago plays instead is much more similar to that of a protagonist … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe is widely considered to be one the most influential and successful American writers of short stories and poems. His works, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven,” have been read, taught, and studied for years for their poetic style and clever plots. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems are studied for their tone, … Read more
Mathematics is a certain way of thinking and doing that has been around since the dawn of humanity. Mathematics as a whole can be seen through history as a steady evolution, starting from simple hand calculations to modern-day computing machinery. Mathematics allows people to understand not only what’s happening in the world but also why … Read more
The poem starts off with an image of the son recalling the past memories of his father, who is now passed. Although it seems very simple, Roethke’s use of language creates a strong impression that evokes nostalgia, sadness, but at the same time happiness. The first stanza reads: My papa’s Waltz was the saddest ever … Read more
Today’s society is vastly different than it was twenty years ago, and the change hasn’t stopped as many new technologies such as social media continue to develop. Cyberbullying, a huge problem in today’s society, has become one of the most controversial issues that parents, students, and lawmakers are fighting to control. Cyberbullying impacts thousands of … Read more
Barn Burning is a short story written by William Faulkner. Barn Burning was published in the June and July 1940 edition of The American Mercury magazine. Barn Burning is one of Faulkner’s most famous pieces and has continued to be influential today. This tale takes place during the height of the Great Depression and follows … Read more
The tone in The Awakening is generally interpreted as hopelessness because the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, has no control over her life and fails to fulfill expectations. The novel opens with Edna gathering children’s clothes for charity (a traditional act), but then she talks about how society should be run by women instead of men. The … Read more
When A Doll’s House debuted in 1879, some people were shocked. A woman leaving her husband? A young woman stealing money from her father to help her husband? A woman rejecting children, domestic bliss, and a life of servitude? What kind of lady was Nora Helmer? A bit of social context is necessary. At the … Read more
The Brothers Karamazov, one of his most celebrated works, is the final novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The author wrote it between 1880 and 1881 (mostly in Staraya Russa) and died less than four months after its publication, on 28 January 1881. The book portrays a parricide in which each of a murdered man’s sons shares … Read more
The Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in 1944. The play takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, over one week of Tom Wingfield’s life during the Great Depression. The story focuses on Laura Wingfield and her struggle with mental illness/schizophrenia while being constantly reminded of the past by her mother Amanda Wingfield, … Read more
The story The Cask of Amontillado was written by Edgar Allen Poe. The time period the story takes place is after people have died, but before bodies are buried. The setting is an underground crypt. The main character is Montresor and the secondary character is The man in The Cask of Amontillado. The mood is … Read more
David Copperfield has two friends that David admires throughout the novel: Mr. Heep and Mr. Steerforth. David is always chasing after one of these friends, but David’s relationship with Heep is a little more complicated than David’s relationship with Steerforth because David does not know what to do about his feelings towards both of them. … Read more
Odysseus and Achilles are two of the most well known Greek heroes. Odysseus was a Greek king during the Trojan War and hero of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”. Odysseus was able to return home after his struggle began in Troy, unlike Achilles who died at Troy during the Trojan War. Odysseus is well known … Read more
” The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams is a play that takes place in 1936. The characters in the story are the mother Amanda Wingfield, her daughter Laura and her son Tom . The story is set in St. Louis, Missouri . The play has been produced over 50 films , plays and an opera. … Read more
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles depicting Antigone’s defiance of Creon, the King of Thebes. Antigonus, Antigone’s father and ruler of Thebes had died in a battle with the neighboring city-state, Argos. Antigone’s brother Polynices had led an attack on his native city, Thebes in an attempt to seize power. Antigone and her sister Ismene … Read more
The character development in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is superb. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, develops over the course of the book from someone who rebels against society’s standards to a woman who accepts herself and life with open arms. The antagonist, Chillingworth, also develops from someone who seeks revenge on all sinners to … Read more
Walter is a man who ultimately cares about himself and his family and tries to keep this conceit and their well-being as central as possible even in the face of change. Walter, A Raisin in the Sun’s protagonist, is an economically ambitious man. He buys into mythic ideals such as those he associates with Ahab, … Read more
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel written by John Steinbeck. The story begins with Al Joad and his family, who were farmers in Oklahoma. They decided to leave because the land was not good for farming anymore. The dust storms ruined the crops and there was no money left after buying food for their … Read more
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills himself after mistakenly believing his lover, Juliet, has died. This occurs in Act 5 , Scene 3 of the play. Romeo had previously consumed a poison called “death-cap mushroom” while at the Capulets’ mansion with Friar Lawrence in order to make him appear dead for a short … Read more
Hermes is the god of financial gain, communication and thieves. Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia and Hermes was born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. Hermes’ con artist skill became apparent at his birth – Hermes stole some cattle from Apollo who happened to be Hermes’ older brother. Hermes then … Read more
Odysseus, a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character in The Odyssey , is known for his bravery and cleverness. Odysseus’ greatest feat is his journey home to Ithaca, after spending ten years fighting with the Greeks in Troy (see note 1). Odysseus travels through different lands and across bodies of water … Read more
Heart of Darkness is a novel written by Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness serves as the center point to which all other characters and story arcs revolve. Heart Of Darkness was written during a time when realism was just coming into play with novels, making Heart Of Darkness one of the first pieces of fiction … Read more
Angela’s Ashes follows the memoirs of Frank McCourt and details his childhood in Brooklyn and Limerick. The memoir spans from Angela’s (Frank’s mother) childhood until she returns to Ireland after her husband dies. The memoir begins by detailing Angela’s childhood in Ireland, writing about how poverty stricken the family was, the lack of food that … Read more
Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the Holden Caulfield wants to be a child forever and imagines his family as “phony” people, unhappy with their job as parents. The Holden’s family is too much like the rest of adults he sees: phony. Holden believes that children are innocent and thus they don’t lie; Holden wishes he was … Read more
For Canterbury Tales , Geoffrey Chaucer drew on an existing tradition of storytelling—most notably, The Canterbury Tales’ frame story is the tale of a group of 30 people who tell stories to each other as they travel together on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury in fourteenth-century England. The Canterbury Tales consists of both manifest … Read more
Hard times in the novel are presented through irony via an unsteady economy, social deprivation, and suffocating relationships. These three elements work together to show how life is not always easy when surrounded by people who are unwilling to help or be kind. The first example of irony was Crawley being evicted from his house … Read more
Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army. Othello has been tricked into believing that his wife, Desdemona, has been having an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio and kills her. Othello then discovers that the “affair” was all a lie. Othello is then killed by … Read more
The American Dream as it is seen in the 1920s before the Great Depression was a dream of economic prosperity. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this dream of achieving wealth and happiness through hard work exists as a materialistic goal for each of its characters to obtain. Materialism can be seen throughout … Read more
This poem is from the Romantic era period. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that began in Europe through a return to nature, medievalist, and a fascination with folk art and folklore. The Romantics stressed individualism over traditional rules of aesthetics and expected emotional response from the audience. Romanticism is known for its emphasis … Read more
J. D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J. D. Salinger that was originally published in The Saturday Evening Post on December 16, 1951 before being released as a novel on July 16, 1953 through Little, Brown and Company. [1] The story follows Holden Caulfield, an adolescent who struggles with … Read more
Frankenstein, which was written by Mary Shelley, is a novel that encompasses the process of creation, evolution, ambition and judgment. Frankenstein’s monster makes an appearance in the novel when he attempts to seek revenge on Frankenstein for abandoning him. A large part of Frankenstein’s reasoning behind leaving his creation was due to the fear of … Read more
“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is novel that novel that tells the story of its protagonist Stephen Dedalus, his childhood, adolescence and maturation in Ireland in the late nineteenth century. Joyce’s novel is mainly concerned with presenting Stephen’s conflict in regards to religion. James Joyce was raised Roman Catholic but strayed … Read more
The Cave is a wordless comic that tells the story of an explorer’s discovery of The Cave. The explorer ventures underground to explore The Cave, and gains knowledge about The Cave in the form of paintings along the way. The paintings tell The Explorer to beware The Haze, but The Explorer disregards this warning, proceeds … Read more
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese immigrants were subjected to strenuous interrogations at Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay. In order to keep out Chinese deemed undesirable, federal law required ships’ captains to submit a list of all passengers with their full information before landing from China. The intent was … Read more
Maya Angelou is a writer, poet and civil rights activist. Maya was born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya’s father was abandoned by his parents as a child and he attempted to find family members to stay with but they were no longer alive. Maya’s mother was a very strong woman who worked as … Read more
It’s that time in Josefina Lopez ‘s Real Women Have Curves when Ana returns from her semester at the University of California, Berkeley. Ana is excited about her education and what it will mean for her future. She wants to show off all she has learned but find herself instantly annoyed with everyone’s reaction to … Read more
Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest and most ingenious men that history has ever known. Leonardo’s genius was not limited to one aspect of life, but spanned many fields; including science, art, music and mathematics. Leonardo is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time, who pioneered new standards in … Read more
Paper, a short story written by Catherine Lim, was first published in 1977 as Paper Marriage. In Paper as well as Paper Marriage, the lead character is a young woman who lives with her mother and brother. The woman has been dating a man from work for three years, but she feels no romantic passion … Read more
All My Sons was written by Arthur Miller in 1947. All My Sons is a play that takes place in the 1940s, during World War II. All of the main characters are influenced by either World War II or the Great Depression before it, which had lasting effects on their lives. All of these factors … Read more
The Miracle Worker is a play in two acts by William Gibson adapted from his 1959 teleplay The Miracle Worker . The original version was performed at the Playhouse Theatre in London opening on April 14, 1963. The play tells the story of Anne Sullivan ‘s struggle to teach Helen Keller how to communicate with … Read more
Frankenstein is a novel involving human nature, free will, life, death, the meaning of existence and relationships. Frankenstein creates several internal conflicts for its main character Frankenstein himself as well as for all other characters Frankenstein encounters throughout his life. Internal conflict is present for Frankenstein when he is creating the monster by imagining what … Read more
The Holocaust refers to the systematic state-sponsored extermination of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany in occupied Europe. The Holocaust took place in stages, starting with vile acts of verbal and physical abuse, followed by stepped up legal discrimination, including stripping Jews of their civil rights, restricting their travel options, destroying their property, culminating in … Read more
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic American tale of a Puritan woman caught in a triangle with her husband and the reverend, Dimmesdale. The novel takes place in 17th-century Boston during the strict morality enforced by The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is widely respected for his devout preaching. The reoccurring theme of … Read more
The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare. The main characters in The Merchant of Venice are men, the only woman in the play being Portia who lives in Belmont and who has no lines. The female characters in The Merchant of Venice provide mostly love interests for male leads and they seem … Read more
Masculinity and femininity are known to be traits that describe the behavioral qualities of an individual. Gender stereotypes are the preconceived notions society builds about certain things, views, or people. The majority of these conceptions come from popular culture and media. Some examples include the ‘dumb blonde’ and the ‘all-star quarterback’. Gender stereotypes can be … Read more
The Odyssey is an epic poem written by the ancient Greek poet Homer. The protagonist, Odysseus, relates his 10-year journey returning home to Greece after the Trojan War. The poem mainly focuses on his adventures but does contain some references to his wife and son at home in Ithaca while he is away. The poem … Read more
Hard Times is a novel by Charles Dickens, written and published in 1854. Hard Times: For These Times (or Hard Times) was also the name of a speech given by Charles Dickens; we will see the connection between the title and the content later. Dickens explores industrialization in England without romanticizing it like he did … Read more
Grendel is a 1971 novel by John Gardner about the monster Grendel, whom the book follows through his perspective. Grendel is an anti-hero that causes misery wherever he goes until Beowulf arrives to put an end to him. Frankenstein is a novel written in 1818 by Mary Shelly after she heard of the story of … Read more
