Essays and Research Papers on (All) Literature

A 4 page essay that discusses how Christian influences can be seen in this primarily pagan epic poem. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page essay that compares Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” and the 2006 film “The Pursuit of Happyness” (directed by Gabriele Muccino for Columbia Pictures) present two very different portrayals of fatherhood. The protagonists for both works are salesman, both fathers, both down-and-out and desperate to succeed. But they are also extremely ...

An 8 page paper which examines the role of wine in Homer’s The Odyssey. The paper also examines the differences in how Homer and today’s culture perceive the drinking of alcohol. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 7 page paper discusses the characters of the Miller, the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner, and the tales they tell. It also tells what these stories tell us of life in 1340, and how they mesh together. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

This 4 page paper discusses the similarities between the fictional character Melinda Sordino from the book “Speak” and the celebrated poet, activist, author and performer, Maya Angelou. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines imagery and language in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. No additional sources cited.

An 8 page essay that discusses Alan Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential and Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore share a common feature. In each instance, the playwright uses comedy in order to make some serious observations about human nature and the way in which people relate to one another. Characterizations, dialogue, plot structure and props, every ...

This 3-page paper is a book review for Berkun's Myths of Innovation.

This 3 page paper discusses the book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, about his experiences as a “boy soldier” in the Sierra Leone civil war. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 3 page paper discusses what Ray Bradbury was trying to warn us about in his novel “Fahrenheit 451.” Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines the themes of water, clothing and the bird in the ending of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page paper which examines the powerful impact of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper. No sources cited.

3 pages in length. While Catalina de Erauso's raucous autobiography entitled Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World does incorporate the undercurrent of cross dressing and alternative lifestyles, an even greater subtext is the gratuitous and very common reality of human conflict. From the moment she enters the nunnery ...

This 3 page paper argues that Christopher Hitchens is correct in his assertion that God is not great. Bibliography lists 1 source.

This 3 page paper argues that Em, not Isherwood, can be considered the real hero of George Stewart's novel "Earth Abides." Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page research paper/essay that discusses this aspect of Dunbar’s poetry. The poetry and the life of African American Paul Laurence Dunbar exemplifies a condition that W.E.B. Du Bois referred to as “double consciousness,” which is a “historical self-awareness of African Americans struggling to overcome a legacy of slavery and discrimination while claiming ...

In four pages this paper examines the types of conflict in this Willa Cather short story, such as the external conflict through the characters’ hypocritical judgments of Harvey Merrick and the internal conflict through the characters’ bitterness over Harvey’s success. Two sources are listed in the bibliography.

A 3 page paper which examines the American Dream in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 3 page paper focuses on this unusual play that sees a woman simply going to another continent to meet her husband's family. As it turns out, the family is very odd. Characterization is explored. No additional sources cited.

7 pages in length. Reaching back for the past is an appropriate way to describe the elements of time and memory in Stafford's poem. In his mind is a recollection of how the farm felt when he lived there, both tangibly and metaphorically; as the years pass and he attempts to connect once ...

A 5 page paper which examines issues of race, as well as other elements, in Toni Morrison’s Sula. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 3 page analysis of a book review. Neila C. Seshachari’s review of a scholarly book of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s famous short story “The Yellow Wall-paper” edited by Julie Bates Dock offers a concise, lucid summation of this text. Seshachari begins by explaining why this book is significant, which is, in part, due to the ...

This 5 page paper discusses the evolution of the vampire from the cruel bloodsuckers of legend to the suave, even romantic, anti-heroes of today. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

This 7 page paper discusses the search for the planet Vulcan, which at one time was thought to orbit between Mercury and the Sun. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 3 page character analysis of the tragic hero, Oedipus and Antigone from the Oedipus Trilogy. No additional sources cited.