Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

A 4 page paper which examines two characteristics, fear and ignorance, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil.” No additional sources cited.

A 3 page essay that analyzes the theme of time in this novel and discusses specifically how the past intrudes into the present as a shaping influence. No additional sources cited.

A 4 page paper which summarizes and analyzes aspects of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” Bibliography lists 2 additional sources.

A 7 page research paper that discusses the stance of Henry David Thoreau on slavery and how this stance coincides with this transcendental idealism. The writer argues that examination of this issue in Thoreau's life shows a slow evolution from passive resistance to open admiration for the action taken by violent abolitionists, such as Brown, ...

This 15 page paper examines the anti-transcendental messages inherent in Hawthorne's novel, The Blithedale Romance. Bibliography lists 13 sources.

A 4 page paper which illustrates how the character of Fowler, in Graham Greene’s novel “The Quiet American,” was a man who had lost direction. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page paper which examines the themes of evil and terror in Edgar Allen Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” No additional sources cited.

This 3 page paper illustrates the ways in which Willy escapes from facing the reality of his true situation. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 5 page paper discusses the effect that the Weimar Republic had on the people during that time, living in Germany. Examples are taken from Fosse's Cabaret, and Fallada's Little Man, What Now? Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page paper which summarizes and then analyzes Jane Smiley’s essay “Say It Ain’t So, Huck: Second Thoughts on Mark Twain’s ‘Masterpiece.” No additional sources cited.

A 3 page analysis of William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying.” Bibliography lists 2 additional sources.

A 4 page book review that focuses on McCrumb's use of setting in this novel. While this novel is billed as a mystery/suspense novel, the reviewer argues that it is much more than that. McCrumb, basically, uses the conventions of the mystery genre in order to present a sympathetic portrayal of a region that is ...

A 3 page paper which contrasts the main characters in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” No additional sources cited.

A 7 page paper which compares and contrasts how Puritan themes are featured in each text. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines how the book is political, considers whether or not it is a work of fiction, and discusses how the reader knows whether or not the text is a work of fiction. No additional sources are used.

A 3 page paper which summarizes and discusses Alice Sebold’s novel “The Lovely Bones.” Bibliography lists 3 sources.

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

A paper which looks at various aspects of Miller's play, including Willy as the antithesis of the tragic hero, the role of flashback in the narrative, and the socio-political comment which Miller makes on the "American dream".

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

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 paper which looks at Alvarez's novel in terms of symbolic interaction, with specific reference to the culture clash that the sisters experience, and the problems they have reconciling their patriarchal Catholic upbringing with New York culture of the 1960s. Bibliography lists 2 sources

A 14 page research paper/essay that argues that the precepts of transcendentalism can be seen in the work of both Louisa May Alcott (daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott) and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who were both products of the New England transcendentalist literary culture. Examination of Alcott's Little Women and Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin demonstrates that ...

A 6 page essay that argues that Louisa May Alcott in Little Women used the nineteenth century cult of domesticity to underscore transcendental themes. Examination of Little Women shows that Alcott manages to reinterpret the ideals of domesticity within the context dictated by Transcendentalism, which shows the March sisters remaining true to themselves and ...