Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

This 3 page paper evaluates this classic work for various themes such as death and social mobility. The use of language by the author is also discussed. No additional sources cited.

A 4 page paper which examines whether Hawthorne believes man is basically good or evil based on this trio of short stories. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines the theme of life and death through admitting one must accept death as seen in Stephen King's novel "Pet Cemetery." Bibliography lists 2 additional sources.

A 5 page essay that examines the structure of Doctorow's novel Ragtime and argues that the final chapter of this is far more than the jumbled stew of coincidences that it appears to be on the surface. Rather, the final chapter of this novel offers a successful closing that ties up the loose ends of ...

A 3 page paper which examines the novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and then contrasts the novel to the film. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page essay that analyzes John O'Hara's short story "The Ideal Man." The writer argues that the theme of this story is the un-romantic, far from ideal nature of the average American husband during the era immediately following World War II. Furthermore, the writer argues that an examination of this story demonstrates how people ...

A 5 page essay on John O'Hara's short story "A Phase of Life," which deals with how Tom, a recovering drug addict, deals with his addiction and how it affects his relationships. Additionally, the writer argues that O'Hara implies that Tom will again return to his drug-addicted lifestyle. No bibliography is offered.

A 4 page paper which examines the mother/daughter relationships in Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" and Ursula Hegi's "Floating in My Mother's Palm." Bibliography lists 3 additional sources.

This 3-page paper discusses the survival strategies as portrayed in Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," and also focuses on how Crane's sometimes omniscient view helps outline these strategies.

This 5 page paper discusses The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos. Quotes cited from text. Synopsis, description of the evolution of Eunice from childhood to womanhood. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 4 page paper which summarizes Hawthorne’s short story and analyzes it. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page paper which provides a summary of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.” The paper discusses conflict, theme, setting, and characterization. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page report on Jeannette Haien’s novel “The All Of It.” No additional sources cited.

This is a 7 page paper that studies Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” from a formalist perspective. Writer Kate Chopin (1851-1904) wrote during the time of naturalism which was considered as a “literature of manly men”. However, critics argue that a purely masculine approach to naturalism and the reality of the ...

This 4 page paper discusses the effects of war as philosphized by two modern authors: Sebastian Faulks(Birdsong) and Pat Barker (Regeneration). Quotes cited from text. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

This 6 page paper discusses the overt political rhetoric of Upton Sinclair's work, The Jungle. A brief synopsis is given, with accompanying analysis of the themes and messages. Quotes cited from text. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

This 4 page paper analyzes Katherine Mansfield's short story, Miss Brill for theme, symbolism, character analysis, and narrative voice. Quotes cited from the text. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 4 page essay that examines the early American poetry of Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. The writer argues that each poet recorded their reactions to colonial life in their verse, leaving a poetic legacy that offers a glimpse of what life was like in a seventeenth century early American colony. The picture of colonial ...

A paper which compares and contrasts these two works and the way in which they deal with the treatment of the elderly in modern society. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

Good vs. Evil : A 3 page essay that analyzes Grisham's novel The Rainmaker. The writer argues that in presenting this narrative, Grisham provides the perfect tableaux for examining the theme of good versus evil, as developed through the circumstances affecting his protagonist Rudy Baylor. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This is a 5 page paper discussing how the ideologies of Alice Walker and Jane Austen are represented in their novels. Women novelists Alice Walker and Jane Austen provide different examples of how they have managed to represent their own ideologies within their novels. Alice Walker wrote “The Color Purple” in 1982 and conveyed her ...

A 4 page paper which examines the destructive nature of Brett, in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” towards herself and men who are incomplete in themselves. Bibliography lists 2 additional sources.

A paper which considers the theme of negro domination in Chesnutt's The Marrow of Tradition, with reference to his treatment of moral and ethical values within the black and white communities and the socio-economic hierarchy of the South. Bibliography lists one source.

A 6 page discussion of Delillo’s novel and its illustration of the impact of the Cold War on American culture. Revolving largely around the analogy of baseball, this novel illuminates many aspects of a war which unfolded largely without recognition by a significant segment of the American public. This lack of awareness, however, ...

This 10 page paper analyzes the Preface to Whitman's Leaves of Grass, the first edition. Examples are cited from the text as well as a discussion on the use of ellipses, language, and exclamation points. Bibliography lists 1 source.