Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

A five page paper looking at Ernest Gaines’ short story in terms of the way the events of the story contribute to the development of the character of the protagonist, James. The paper shows how James is taught by his mother to fight starvation, cold, and hardship with pride; these are lessons he can use ...

A five page paper comparing Daniel Defoe’s eighteenth-century novel with two movie versions made from it. The paper argues that movie versions of novels set in remote time periods frequently say more about the periods in which the films themselves were produced than they do about the period in which the original novel was set. ...

An eight page paper looking at the English dramatist Christopher Marlowe in terms of the ways he influenced the development of Elizabethan drama. The paper concludes that Marlowe had a pivotal role in the development of both the Elizabethan blank verse drama and the “play of ideas” -- both specialties Shakespeare would make his own. ...

A five page paper looking at four short works by this famous Lebanese-born poet in terms of their expression of love, harmony, and oneness. Works covered are: “Laughter and Tears,” “Song of Fortune,” “Song of Love,” and “Song of the Wave.” Bibliography lists one source besides poems.

A five page paper looking at this modern classic by Manuel Puig. The paper looks at the way Puig’s novel uses the motif of cinema to illustrate the growing relationship between Valentin and Molina. No additional sources.

A six page paper providing an overview of this nonfiction book by Jonathan Spence. The book tells the story of Hong Xiuquan, a lower-class Chinese who, believing himself to be the brother of Jesus Christ, led a nearly-successful peasant revolt in nineteenth-century China. No additional sources.

A six page overview of this novel by Alan Duff on a dysfunctional Maori home in New Zealand. The paper raises questions about the sociological reasons for the Hekes’ behavior, and presents parallels to the situations of disenfranchised ethnic groups in our own country. No additional sources.

An eight page paper looking at the issue of separation in Toni Morrison’s modern classic. The paper points out that there are really two separation issues in this story: the unreasonable separation of mothers and children under slavery, and the inability of Sethe, the protagonist, to separate her oldest daughter from herself. Bibliography lists five ...

A five page paper looking at this early novel by William Faulkner in terms of its perception of women’s roles in Southern society during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The paper concludes that Faulkner is most comfortable with women taking an active part in the war effort if they plan to return to being proper ...

A three page paper looking at Arthur Miller’s play in terms of those aspects which are deliberately not realistic. The paper discusses Miller’s intentions in presenting the play in this manner. No additional sources.

A 20 page paper looking at the way three late eighteenth-century women writers -- Jane Austen, Charlotte Smith, and Mary Robinson -- portray romantic love. Specific works considered are Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” Smith’s Sonnets II, VIII, and XII, and Robinson’s “January 1795” and “Stanzas Written Between Dover and Calais, July 20, 1792.” Bibliography lists ...

A five page paper analyzing this well-known fairy tale. The paper presents four different interpretations of the Cinderella story from a sociological or psychological perspective, concluding that regardless of which interpretation one chooses, the story provides a unique path into the psyche of the reader. Bibliography lists five sources.

A five page paper looking at the process by which adolescents separate themselves emotionally from their parents’ values and goals. The paper argues that in both stories, the young protagonists come to the difficult realization that the person their parents want them to be is simply not who they are. No additional sources.

A five page paper looking at these two works (by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, respectively), comparing and contrasting their futuristic utopias. The paper concludes that Huxley is more afraid of technology for its own sake, and Orwell is more afraid of totalitarianism, but the works have much in common. No other sources.

A five page paper looking at these five seminal twentieth-century writers and thinkers in terms of their ideas on our search for meaning in life. Writers and works discussed are Erich Fromm’s “To Have or To Be?”, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Carol Pearson’s “The Hero Within,” and ...

A six page paper looking at three of the stories in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: The Shipman’s Tale, The Cook’s Tale, and The Miller’s Tale. Each story is shown to be a ribald story which is told at the expense of a lower-class tradesperson or rural bumpkin from an implicitly upper-class, educated point of view. Bibliography ...

A five page paper showing how T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf consciously defined modernism in their critical essays and employed it in their works. Specific works discussed are Woolf’s “The Metaphysical Poet and Modern Fiction” and “The Mark on the Wall,” as well as Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent” and “The Waste Land.” No ...

A three page paper looking at this short story by Katherine Mansfield in terms of its symbolism, tone, and theme. The paper concludes that Miss Brill may be overly sensitive and also too much in need of approval, but she does not deserve to be ridiculed. No additional sources.

A five page paper looking at the way Anne McCaffrey’s 1968 novel presents the topic of female self-actualization. The paper shows that as the women’s movement of the late sixties got underway, women needed positive images of strong women such as the protagonist of this novel. No additional sources.

A five page paper looking at Cantos XXXII, XXXIII, and XXXIV of Dante’s classic work in terms of the way the poet uses symbolism and imagery to heighten our understanding of the poem’s meaning. Special attention is paid to the significance of ice, which contrasts with our expectation that Hell is a lake of fire. ...

An eight page paper looking at these two works in terms of whether the protagonist’s ends justify the means taken to achieve them Through tying both protagonists’ motives to irrationality, the paper argues that they do not. Bibliography lists four sources.

A five-page paper looking at Christopher Marlowe’s sixteenth century play in terms of its relevance today. The paper argues that much the same theme is echoed in films such as “Frankenstein,” and in the debate over cloning. Bibliography lists four sources.

A five page paper looking at Aphra Behn’s seventeenth-century novel in terms of the degree to which it portrays the issue of slavery realistically. Through quoting historical material on the slave trade in that era, the paper argues that not only is Behn’s work accurate, but it presents the romance of two black lovers much ...

A four-page paper looking at these two works from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, respectively. The paper shows that while both works deal with the city as a central motif, and both present cities which are imaginary and ideal, the intentions of the authors in writing their works make their presentations very different. Bibliography lists ...

A five-page paper analyzing Walt Whitman’s poem in terms of its relationship to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The paper looks carefully at symbolism and imagery, concluding that Whitman uses his poetic art to help him work through his shock and grief. No additional sources.