Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

A 4 page paper which examines how the events in James Baldwin’s personal life influenced his first novel. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 3 page paper which analyzes Mary Renault’s novel “The Last of the Wine.” No additional sources cited.

A 5 page essay that contrasts Leslie M. Silko's Ceremony and Russell Banks's Continental Drift, novel in which the authors craft tales in which the cultural perception of "otherness" and ethnic identity play a role. In Ceremony, Tayo (Silko's protagonist) eventually comes to terms with his identity through reconciliation of his ethnic identity to mainstream ...

A paper which investigates issues of female control and domination in The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, with specific reference to the wife's views on economic independence, sexuality, and the role of men and women in marriage. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A paper which compares Sartre's play and Mahfouz's novel, with particular reference to the philosophical ideologies presented in the two works. The writer focuses on Sartre's existentialism as embodied in the phrase "hell is other people" and Mahfouz's perspective on the concept of eternal Truth. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 6 page paper which compares and contrasts two of Beowulf’s opponents and analyzes their symbolic significance. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

5 pages in length. Laughter, according to Bergson, is an ever-changing entity – such a strange metamorphosis that it requires "something more flexible than an abstract definition." The extent to which laughter is an inextricable component in potentially every aspect of life is both grand and far-reaching; indeed, Bergson's comment "in laughter we always ...

A paper which looks at the concepts of frontiers and boundaries in three texts by Salman Rushdie, with specific reference to postcolonial and postmodernist elements in his work. Bibliography lists nine sources.

4 pages in length. Yann Martel's Life of Pi explores the deeper side of human existence by focusing upon mankind's inherent vulnerability. The literary techniques used to draw out these images are achieved through setting, conflict and plot. No other sources cited.

A 4 page paper which examines the theme of imprisonment in Albert Camus’ work “The Plague” and “The Outsider.” No additional sources cited.

A 10 page paper which examines how epic and romance are featured in what are ‘essentially celebrations of bygone worlds.’ Bibliography lists 8 sources.

7 pages in length. The place in which Edgar Allen Poe is emotionally enshrined within the minds of the reading public is that which is both unique and sparsely populated; only those writers who hold the ability to utilize symbolism in such a manner as is found in The Tell-Tale Heart, The Masque of ...

A 4 page essay that argues that Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1973) presents a manifesto that basically summarizes the attitude of the 1960s toward authoritarian institutions and the value of non-conformity. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines the relationship between people and the earth as it involves personal healing in Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony” and Margaret Atwood’s “Surfacing.” No additional sources cited.

A 10 page paper which examines the focus on and symbolic nature of art as seen in Jane Urquhart’s novel “The Stone Carvers.” Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 2 page paper which examines the writing style in When the Other Dancer is the Self by Alice Walker. No additional sources cited.

A 2 page paper which examines the style of writing in E.B. White’s Once More to the Lake. No additional sources cited.

A paper which looks at Gogol's Mirgorod stories in comparison to Dead Souls and The Government Inspector, with regard to the diversity of themes and forms which they demonstrate. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

An 7 page paper which summarizes chapters 1-13 of the classic 1959 novel. No additional sources are used.

A 3 page paper which examines how the roles of men and women are presented in Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Homer’s “The Iliad.” Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 3 page essay that analyzes the language used in a passage from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. The writer argues that this passage, which is from volume 1, chapter 2, demonstrates how Bronte's use of language works at multiple levels in order to construct characterization of Jane both as a child and as an ...

A 3 page essay that compares and contrasts Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Toni Bambara's "The Lesson." The writer argues that they both address issue of equality. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 4 page overview of the short story by Joyce Carol Oates, a story inspired by the real-life murderer Charles Schmid, the murderer that had acquired the name of "The Pied Piper of Tucson" because of his inexplicable ability to convince young girls to do whatever it was that he wanted. The author of this paper ...

A 5 page paper examining the differences in the societies of “Utopia” and “The Time Machine.” More’s “Utopia” can be seen as portraying advances that could occur in a society dedicated to socialist principles, Wells as exemplifying the undeterred headlong rush into capitalist advances at all costs. Neither view is plausible in reality, ...

A 4 page essay that focuses on the First Book of More's Utopia and the criticisms that More makes of English society during this era. The writer shows that More particularly objected to the use of capital punishment for theft and the enclosure of public lands. No additional sources cited.