Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

This 8 page paper explores Stephen Spender's reflections of nazi persecution of homosexuals in his book, The Temple. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

Gardner and Kafka – A Look at Two Authors: This 5-page essay examines authors John Gardner and Franz Kafka through their prose, Grendel and The Trial respectively. Sharing the love of existentialist/ nihilistic themes, both men weave tales wracked with self-exploration and the need to define oneself. Bibliography lists 2 sources. SNGrendl.doc

A 5 page paper which examines how the element of symbolism is used in each short story. No additional sources are used.

A 5 page paper which compares and contrasts the gods and magical creatures in the stories "Monkey" and "Gilgamesh." No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which discusses Mark Twain's use of Language and Imagery as literary elements in 'Life on the Mississippi.' No additional sources cited.

The Inferno & The Odyssey – Comparing Characters: This 10-page comparative essay examines Inferno and The Odyssey by Dante Alighieri and Homer respectively with respect to their major characters. Life experience, character traits, etc. are all explored while illuminating the vast number of similarities/ contrasts that abound between these two bodies of work. ...

Gawain, the Green Knight & Chaucer’s Tales – Courtesy Personified?: This 8-page essay examines ‘courtesy’ as a code of ethics in Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Using these works issues of courtesy will be evaluated in order to determine whether or not invoking its precepts is a help ...

A 5 page essay that paraphrases, or restates, the principal points of Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous essay 'Self-Reliance.' No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which examines how symbolism is used as a literary device throughout the play, and includes criticism from, among others, the playwright and the play’s original director, Elia Kazan. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

A 5 page paper which analyzes two characters from each of the stories, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The character discussed are Elizabeth and John in "the Crucible," and Goodman Brown and Faith in "Young Goodman Brown." Bibliography lists 4 additional sources.

A 10 page paper which considers the book’s thesis, a review of the contents, what the author accomplished, its strengths and weaknesses, and to whom this book would appeal. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page paper which discusses various aspects of Homeric warfare. The aspects discussed include clothing, weaponry, troop information, and other various topics. The information provided pertains to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Bibliography lists 6 additional sources.

O’Neill, Thoreau & Whitman – On Societal Inequities: This 7-page essay compares Eugene O’Neill’s “The Hairy Ape”, Henry Thoreau’s “Walden” and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” In addition, these works are used to explore sociological ideologies germane to Man’s need to belong, economic disparities between classes and the like. Coming from different walks ...

A 5 page paper which discusses how Ken Kesey's character of McMurphy, in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," is representative of Christ. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page essay that examines various perspectives on the guilt and innocence of Oedipus in the play by Sophocles. The writer examines several of these arguments, concluding that the ones favoring the viewpoint that Oedipus was guilty make the best argument. No bibliographical information available.

Skeletons in the closet were, once upon a time, left there to clatter in the wind and to scare the children of the household. This 5 page paper explores the role of ancestors as examples in William Kennedy's Very Old Bones. No additional sources are listed.

An 8 page paper which discusses the presence and significance of haunting in "Jane Eyre" Charlotte Bronte and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman. Bibliography lists 6 additional sources.

A 5 page essay that considers the question: 'what would be on the menu for a dinner centered around the foods used in James Joyce's Ulysses?' In answer to this, the writer discusses how Joyce uses food symbolism in this novel before listing the foods that might be included at such a meal. No additional ...

A 5 page paper which discusses how courtesy and the so-called code of honor are used in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "The Miller's Tale." The paper discusses whether the courtesy and code are used righteously, or used for selfish and snobbish reasons. No additional sources cited.

This 8-page comparative essay examines Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily” and “The Sound and the Fury” relevant to the concept of time. Each of the major characters holds fast to an idea of time that is far afield of reality. Yet, all the divergent viewpoints eventually do seem appropriate in light of the themes ...

A 5 page paper which examines how the ideas in Kingsolver’s collection of essays, “High Tide in Tucson” appear in the content and style of “Pigs in Heaven.” Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page paper which discusses the heroines in "Phaedra" and "Hedda Gabler." The paper compares how the two present the crises and the dilemmas and how they offer us an examination of the role of women in the 17th and the 19th century. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which examines why lying awake at night is important to the story. No additional sources are used.

A 5 page essay that discusses how director Ridley Scott's movie Blade Runner expanded creatively on the themes presented by Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The writer argues that Scott's film actually improves on the story presented in the novel through the changes made in the adaptation, while preserving the ...

A 5 page paper which examines how the literary elements of nineteenth-century romanticism are displayed in the novel. No additional sources are used.