Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

A 5 page research paper/essay that examines this novel and its historical context. As the American Civil War was going on, President Abraham Lincoln is said to have commented when he meet Harriet Beecher Stowe that her novel had served as a “catalyst for war.” Reportedly, at the 1862 encounter, Lincoln said, “’So you’re the ...

An 11 page discussion of feminist preferences and content in science fiction. Contends that the creation of the literary genre of “feminist science fiction” is in reality an injustice to feminist as that genre makes the assumption that writing content and preference is determined by gender. This genre requires a literary work to ...

This is a 4 page paper discussing social class and human happiness found in the works of Pope, Swift and Defoe. The 18th century writings of Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe reveal much of the attitudes of the time in which adherence to social class is directly related to human happiness. Pope however ...

This is a 3 page paper discussing “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in regards to its place within the educational system and grade levels which can appreciate the work. “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was written by Mark Twain (a.k.a. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) in 1884 and was originally meant to be read as adult fiction and ...

A 7 page discussion of the theme of death as it is found in Margaret Laurence's "The Stone Angel". Laurence used writing as a tool to work through her pain. With her writing she could create an imaginary world that was, at least on the surface, free of the real life trauma that ...

This 10 page paper looks at Jack London's classic work and evaluates it by focusing on the theme of free will. The symbolic nature of the ships is discussed. Characterization is also a focus and the relevance of gender is touched on. The work is placed in historical context as it was written during ...

In 5 pages the author discusses the similarities and differences between Dante and King Lear. ''King Lear' is a tragedy that was written by William Shakespeare. 'Inferno' is part one of a three-part story, which was written by Dante Alighieri. Although both stories are tragedies and contain ...

A 9 page review of the societal restrictions portrayed by these two Civil War era authors. These authors were as separated in their societal backgrounds as they were in their race, men who had no qualms about expressing themselves both in person and in their writings. These writings provide us with distinct views ...

Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road in the early 1950's, though it wasn't published until 1957. The relationship of his escapades in the book and the philosophies of the 'beat' generation are well known. One area that has not been explored to any extent is the relationship the journey taken in the book has with ...

A 13 page paper discussing how “real” hypertext fiction is. A common complaint of hypertext fiction is that it permits – even encourages – writers merely to get by with “good enough,” that it does not force authors to write well in terms of conveying ideas that build upon one another to culminate in ...

This 5 page report discusses the short story writer known as “O. Henry” who wrote using a pseudonym rather than his real name -- William Sydney (originally spelled “Sidney”) Porter. He became “O. Henry” after spending several years in prison and making the determination to return to freedom as, literally, a new man.His first nationally published short story, ...

A 3 page essay that contrasts and compares two short stories. While the legacy of patriarchy has receded in Western industrialized countries, it remains entrenched in cultures. Bessie Head in "The Collector of Treasures" (writing from an African perspective) and Mahasweta Devi in "Dhowli" (writing about Indian culture) each show the devastation that patriarchal custom ...

This is a 5 page paper discussing the writer Flannery O’Connor and the themes and characters in her work. The writer Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah in 1925 to a Catholic family. She was highly observant of the religious zeal and injustices which existed in the southern states during her lifetime and incorporated these ...

An 8 page essay that analyzes four stories by nineteenth century author Kate Chopin: "The Story of an Hour," "Ripe Figs," "A Respectable Woman," and "The Storm." The writer argues that Chopin, as a nineteenth century woman, focused her writing on the emotional experience of the women of her era. While many of these ...

3 pages in length. The Elmore Leonard style of crime writing has long held readers captivated by the author's inherent ability to weave a web of double-crossing, desperate thugs whose attempts to possess stolen goods is infused with comedic dialogue and a snapshot of human nature at its worst. Rum Punch follows this ...

Americans are in love with the idea of youth. It is a culture that idealizes and idolizes the components of youth, The American ideal of beauty is centered around youth and innocence. When Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita he did not set out to write a controversial book about pedophilia, but a book ...

In 4 pages, the writer summarizes the main points of three critics who have written criticism of 'The Catcher in the Rye', noting similarities and differences in their criticisms. ''The Catcher in the Rye' is a 1950s book that has been criticized in many forms by many people. Holden Caulfield is the subject of ...

A 4 page essay that examines the fiction of Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto, specifically looking at Goodbye Tsugumi, Kitchen and N.P. as being representative of her fictional style. The writer argues that Yoshimoto writes from the heart, offering her readers insight into the minds, as well as the lives of her protagonists. It is this ...

A 5 page essay that analyzes Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Woolf pictures women and men as being both "locked out" and "locked in" by the boundaries of these roles. In exploring the ramifications of this perspective, Woolf shows how writing is not simply an effect of innate talent, but it also ...

5 pages. This paper looks at the works of two authors, Nuruddin Farah who wrote Secrets and Bapsi Sidhwa who wrote Cracking India : A Novel. Both writers deal with the increase of violence in their countries. This increase in violence is an event of history-making proportions. The important lessons to ...

This 7 page paper discusses the role of myth within a good story: Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Aurel. The importance of archetypal image is discussed, as well as the perception that writing is the key to human consciousness as shown in Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy: ...

An 8 page discussion of the theme of change which characterizes “Desert Solitaire”, a book which was written in a much simpler time, a time before Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam, a time before the rampant development which now characterizes the American West. This paper emphasizes Abbey’s sensitivity to the wonderful ecological complexity ...

This 5 page report discusses the fact that Illusion and reality are the key ingredients in Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly” (1988) and those factors are what have had the greatest influence in terms of how his work has been interpreted by audiences seeing it performed or its film adaptation for which Hwang wrote the screenplay. The story ...

In reading short stories it is sometimes difficult to remember the reason why they are written. In Good Country People, by Flannery O'Connor, the development of character allows the reader to make discoveries about themselves. This 5 page paper argues that the character of Joy, Hulga is dual dimensional as seen by the change in name. Her ...

A 5 page research paper that investigates how three philosophers, Barthes, Foucault and Descartes, approach the topic of writing and authors. Bibliography lists 3 sources.