Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

5 pages in length. An indepth look at Cassara's most well known book. The beginning history of America is based on this new age of enlightenment as outlined by such philosophers as Locke, Hume and Rousseau. Cassara explains this in his book which is reviewed here. Bibliography lists one source. ...

A 7 page paper which discusses how "Man of Straw," by Heinrich Mann demonstrates more about how society really works than does traditional historiography. Various examples from real life are presented as examples which illustrate how we are often in the dark about reality, save through the expressions found in first hand knowledge and fictional portrayals of real life ...

A six page paper looking at the critical reception of David Hare's 1997 play. Critical reviews are assessed through a genre approach; a normative approach; a literary history approach, and finally an interdisciplinary literary analysis. Bibliography lists four sources.

An eight-page paper looking at this seventeenth century novel by Marie de La Fayette. The paper shows how the events of this unabashedly "women's novel" nonetheless contain social criticism and a clear insight into French history in the sixteenth century. Bibliography lists seven sources.

This 10 page paper provides an overview of the analysis of the history and modernization of fairy tales of Charles Perrault. This paper looks at Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood, as they have been adapted over time. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This seven page-paper gives a portrayal of two societies that have been forced into modern times. The Mayas and the Gawas are holding fast to their history even when mankind is pushing them into the future. "Maya Saints and Souls in a Changing World" by John M. Watanabe and "The Fame of Gawa" by Nancy ...

This 8 page paper provides a comparative view of the narrative techniques utilized in Richardson's Clarissa and Fielding's History of Tom Jones. This paper considers the way in which events are related in the text, Richardson's use of the epistolary technique and Fielding's development of the "omniscient narrator and commentator, and the impact that both of ...

The nature of folktales is such that history and tradition of particular cultures are incorporated into the legends, ballads, proverbs, and tales that form the basis of folklore. This 7 page paper examines the Slavic tale of the Snow Maiden and Grandfather Frost. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

In the 'melding pot' of American history, immigration has long been held as an ideal of inclusion and acceptance. This 3 page paper examines the theories postulated in Noel Ignatiev's How The Irish Became White concerning the assimilation of Irish immigrants into American society. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page paper that presents a critical analysis and discussion of the major theme and primary idea presented in Ray Bradbury's 1943 short story The Crowd. This discussion includes a brief history of Bradbury's writing career and examines how the writer's life experiences and observations are reflected in The Crowd as well as ...

This 5 page report discusses whether or not the relationships between human beings is improving, either on the individual or the cultural level. This report argues that they are not. When one examines the history of humanity and the ways in which various groups have subjugated others, it is logical to assume that the world has become a far ...

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the main theme is the destruction of knowledge and history through the burning of books and how that destruction portends the end of civilization. This 5 page paper explores the book through the perspective associated with Marshall Mcluhan in his book, Understanding Media, and David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous. No additional ...

The emphasis in urban studies, however, is the development of social, political, religious and ethnic configurations within the emerging structures. This 7 page paper asserts that North And South by Elizabeth Gaskell and Vanity Fair by William Thackeray are both novels that provide insight into English social, political and economic history. No additional sources are listed.

A 5 page paper that presents an interpretation of the definition of Americanism by examining the distinct characteristics and tendencies of Americans and the origins of these traits. Discussed are the definitions of Americanism as presented in Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 essay "The Frontier in American History" and Alexis de Tocqueville's "Why the Americans ...

This 7 page paper provides an overview of the life and writings of Langston Hughes, especially as his life and poetry interact with each other as representative elements of an era in Black history. This paper not only determines the link between Hughes' life and works, but also relates them as elements of Hughes' ...

(8 pp) James A. Michener did not begin writing until he was forty years old, consequently there is a great deal of maturity about all of his work, which touched on religious and racial tolerance, hard work and self-reliance, themes which made him popular with the masses but not particularly in the ...

This 9 page paper proposes to assimilate the lessons of history by comparing the theories concerning Thatcherism, the book, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and John Osborne's play, Look Back In Anger. Bibliography lists 10 sources.

A five page paper which analyses Walt Whitman’s preface to Leaves of Grass, looking specifically at the way in which he deals with the topics of history and the past, the function of the poet, and the importance of the common man in relation to the United States as a whole. Bibliography lists 1 source.

5 pages in length. Literary history demonstrates that good and evil do not exist merely in people who are good or evil but rather as abstract forces battling within them. As a direct result, readers of such works find few characters who can be called good or evil, with particular emphasis upon Melville, ...

(5 pp) Lydia McQueen, the major character of Wilma Dykeman's 1966 novel, The Tall Woman is the embodiment of a paradox: of harder times in history and simpler times of living in the rural south, when people had the time to cultivate and clean even the windblown leaves out of their own ...

A 10 page research paper that examines the Pat Barker's trilogy set during World War I -- Regeneration (1991), The Eye in the Door (1993), and The Ghost Road (1995). Barker based the characters in these novels on real historical figures. The writer argues that this sort of historiographic metafiction offers fresh insight on the ...

A 5 page discussion of the reconstruction era following the Civil War and the impact of this era of freed slaves. Outlines the history leading up to this era and the measures which would be taken to ensure black entry into the predominantly white world. No additional sources are listed.

This 5 page paper considers the way that the family is portrayed in Livy's 'History of Rome'. The paper considers the role of the family in a social context as well as within the state as a whole. The bibliography cites 1 source.

An 8 page paper which examines the famous Harlem Renaissance artistic movement, which lasted from approximately 1920 to 1940, and how "Jazz" represents this historical period by considering the commentary Toni Morrison is making about this history, and how her representation shapes the contemporary view of the Harlem Renaissance. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

Feminism, for all its debate, is the promotion of a different social and cultural view of history; one in which women and female characteristics are celebrated. This 5 page paper examines the definition of feminism provided by Alan Johnson in his book, The Gender Knot. No additional sources are listed.