Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on John O'Hara/The Ideal Man. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that analyzes John O'Hara's short story "The Ideal Man." The writer argues that the theme of this story is the un-romantic, far from ideal nature of the average American husband during the era immediately following World War II. Furthermore, the writer argues that an examination of this story demonstrates how people can be influenced by the expectation of others. No bibliography is provided.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khjotim.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
era immediately following World War II. In other words, John OHara does not picture the "The Ideal Man" in this short story, but rather shows how his leading male
character, Walter Jenssen, falls far short of this evaluation. This story dramatizes the relationship between Walter and his wife Elsie. If anyone in the story deserves the description of "ideal,"
it is Elsie, not Walter. However, an examination of this story shows that, because Elsie has praised Walter in a newspaper interview -- after he has thought about it --
Walters behavior is somewhat improved. He is influenced by Elsies perception of him, which shows how people are influenced by the expectations of others. Basically, "The Ideal Man" is
a character study of both Walter and Elsie. Walter is shown to be emotionally immature, as he is more concerned with the opinions of his co-workers than he is with
being a good father and husband. Elsie, on the other hand, is shown to be a much more "ideal" wife than Walter is a husband. The story opens with Walter
completely occupied with his newspaper. He gives no attention to either his wife or his children as they sit at the breakfast table. Early on, however, in the story,
there is the suggestion that Elsie is a good mother. OHara writes that the "only thing," that Elsie "held against" her children, is the fact that having them had produced
a negative effect on her teeth (130). There are several elements in the story that indicate that the time period is immediately following World War II in the late 1940s
or early 1950s. This is clear because Elsie refers to both Clark Gable and Tyrone Power in her newspaper interview and it was the post-WWII was the era in
...