Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

This 3 page paper explores Ondaatje's work Running in the Family, and explores the reasons he ran away from his family and his subsequent re-discovery of his heritage. Focus is on his works and his abilities as a writer, as well as his family life. Bibliography lists one source.

This five-page-paper presents a discussion about Dante's Inferno and an overview as to its meaning. Bibliography lists one source.

7 pages in length. Compares Dante's Inferno to the works of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and The Thousand and One Nights. The sins and punishments of each are treated differently, due mostly to the fact that the eras and the audiences change throughout time. Bibliography lists one source.

A 7 page paper that examines the concepts of culture versus materialism and practicality versus intellectualism as presented by the Schlegel and Wilcox families in E.M. Forster's 1910 novel Howard's End. Also included are discussions of the symbolism incorporated into each family characterization as well as into the physical estate of Howards End. ...

A 6 page paper which discusses the character of Hektor, from Homer's Iliad, and argues that he is a man that stands as a hero for all men. He is a fierce and loyal fighter, yet is also a very loyal and loving partner and father. He has his doubts, yet is sworn to his duty as a ...

A three page paper looking deriving a definition of modernism by looking at Marcel Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past". It compares the seeker in the modernist era to Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, who tries to define values in a period that didn't seem to have any. Bibliography lists one source.

A three page paper on contrapasso, the Italian term for selecting a punishment that perfectly fits the crime. In Dante's Inferno, Dante tried his best to come up with unique punishments that would convince his readers that sinners are really held accountable for their very specific sins in the afterlife, and they should thus do ...

A three page paper looking at a short passage in Dante's "Inferno," describing the fate of a group of sinners frozen in a lake of ice. The paper shows how Dante, intending to invoke our revulsion, succeeds only in invoking our pity. No additional sources.

This 5 page paper considers the nature of the role of women in Beowulf and The Romance of Tristan and assesses how women are both expendable and centralized in these examples of medieval literature. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page essay that compares and contrasts the heroes of Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days," Phileas Fogg, and Homer's "The Odyssey." The writer contends that through these heroes, each author represented his ideas pertaining to his world. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

6 pages in length. In life, as in death, Edgar Allan Poe evoked a feeling of sympathy from his readership. Those who knew him well considered him deep, mysterious and contemplative; thus, coupled with the copious tragedies he suffered throughout his life, especially the loss of his first wife Virginia, it is easy ...

This 20 page report discusses one of the best-known of Aleksandr Pushkin’s (1799-1837) short stories and focuses on the symbolism and thematic content it presents. “The Queen of Spades” was written in 1834, only a few short years before he was to die in a duel over his socialite wife. It is the ironic story of a compulsive ...

5 pages in length. The writer discusses conflict of identity as it relates to social and economic class. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

The concepts of personal freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are an integral component of the idealized social system in the United States. This 7 page paper explores the themes and ideas presented by Howard Zinn in his book, The Declaration Of Independence. No additional sources are listed.

This 8 page report discusses Joyce’s 1922 epic “Ulysses” and the various events of a single day in Dublin in June of 1904, and the focus on Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Bloom’s wife, Molly. The report demonstrates the ways in which Joyce demonstrates his ability to challenge both the norms of the English language as well as the framework ...

5 pages in length. In the Dorothy Allison story "Question of Class" as well as in the William Faulkner work "Barn Burning" we see how each author deals with the devastation of lives that poverty brings to us. The callousness of class distinction is brought almost rudely to our attention in each of these works, and yet these authors ...

This 6 page paper presents the argument that The Reeve's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, represents that society through the auspices of ironic detail. No additional sources are listed.

6 pages in length. Characteristically reminiscent of Ondaatje's heritage, "Running in the Family" clearly represents the author's personal perception of reality as it not only exists within his own mind, but also how it resides within the confines of society. While the story is intricately intertwined with both past and present, Ondaatje relishes the ...

A five page paper analyzing the language used by Gwen Harwood in this contemporary sonnet. The paper notes particularly Harwood's use of the language of surface and texture, and discusses the poet's concern with looking beneath the surface to discern the reality below. No additional sources.

This 6 page report discusses four classic works of the medieval timeframe and the concept of courtly love. Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, Beroul’s The Romance of Tristan, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the mysterious “Gawain-Poet,” and Beowulf each shows the reader that it is important to understand that it was the subjective presentation of either the lovers’ ardor ...

This seven page paper presents an examination of The White Devil by John Webster, and Kit Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great. Comparisons and contrasts are studied to get a true picture of the similarities and differences between the works of literature. Bibliography lists two sources.

3 pages in length. Tituba, the only black woman to be accused of witchery, had many conflicting issues in her life, not the least of which were trying to distinguish a balance between suffering and happiness in order to construct a meaningful life. In her attempt to achieve this elusive balance, she must ...

A 5 page discussion of the differences in experiences and interpretation a child might have in reading the 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' as opposed to those an adult might have. Observes that the child sees adventure and independence while the adult sees satire, stereotype, even the realities of capitalism. Concludes that undoubtedly ...

A 20 page paper looking at the historical identity of American blacks between 1850-1900 as related to the racial theories of the time, and in the context of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson." The paper points out that Twain was a white man who wrote of racism, but ...

In a psychological drama, the attention of the audience is focused on the reactions of the characters to the situations presented. This 5 page paper explores the plays Alcestis, Medea and Hippolytus by Euripides, in terms of the conflict centered on gender issues and, or, the relationship between men and women. No additional sources are listed.