Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

This 10 page paper examines three books that involve upper class extravagances, adultery and intrigue. The three books discussed are Where Angels Fear to Tread, A Severed Head and The Needle's Eye. The works are analyzed primarily from Marxist and feminist perspectives. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which examines the stories (the protagonists in particular) in order to gain a greater understanding of each author’s message about reaching manhood in American culture in terms of race and class through plot, characterization, setting, tone (narrative point of view), and imagery. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

7 pages in length. The writer discusses conflict, theme and technique as they relate to Orwell's 1984. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines the symbolism found in Sherwood Anderson's short story "I Want to Know Why." No additional sources cited.

This 5 page paper compares the film "Born on the Fourth of July" with the book "The Things They Carried. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 8 page paper discusses David Shipler's ground breaking book on the 35-40 million Americans who work hard but are remain mired in desperate poverty. Bibliography lists sources.

An 11 page paper which compares and contrasts Kate Chopin's "A Story of an Hour" and Gail Godwin's "A Sorrowful Woman." Bibliography lists 8 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines the characters' sense of powerlessness in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." No additional sources cited.

A 3 page essay that examines the theme of anger in novels by Fante and Himes. John Fante, in his novel The Road to Los Angeles, and Chester Himes in If He Hollers Let Him Go, both picture angry young men as their protagonists. While both of these characters have their anger at society in ...

A 3 page paper which examines the characteristics of a rebel as seen in John Updike's short story "A & P." No additional sources cited.

An 8 page research paper/essay that examines the "Divinity School Address" of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882), one of America's leading transcendentalist philosophers. On July 15, 1838 Emerson gave the commence address to graduating seniors from Divinity College in his hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Examination of this address shows that it largely sums up much of ...

A 3 page paper which examines what Horatio Alger's recipe for success is as seen in "Ragged Dick" and "Mark, the Match Boy." Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines how the death of Curley's wife, in John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men," was neither her fault not Lennie's but rather of the society. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 3 page paper which examines the idea of the American Dream as seen in Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." No additional sources cited.

A 3 page analysis of the narrator, the character of Susie, in Alice Sebold's novel "The Lovely Bones." No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which examines the ways in which these female protagonists were oppressed by the men in their lives, explores their similarities and differences, the social conflicts of sin (Hester) and race/class (Lutie), and the contrasting outcomes these women faced. No additional sources are used.

A 7 page paper which examines how Tillie Olsen’s life, the Great Depression in particular, impacted her writing, and considers how reality shaped her fiction. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines naturalism in the work of Emile Zola and in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House." Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines elements from Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." No additional sources cited.

A 4 page paper which analyzes Steinbeck’s revered 1938 short story, noting parallels in such earlier short stories as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” (1904), and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” (1924). Bibliography lists 7 sources.

A 3 page paper which analyzes the personification of the American Dream in the character of Nick in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page paper which examines three market structures seen in John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath." The market structures examined are monopoly, oligopoly, and pure competition. No sources cited.

This 3 page paper discusses Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" and the implications it has for man in his struggle to dominate nature. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This 3 page paper provides a thesis regarding the acceptance of normalcy as the work is discussed. Some quotes are included. No additional sources cited.

A 6 page paper which examines the relationship between the individual and nature, the spiritual questions Poe raises in these stories, and how these questions seem to be answered by these stories and others. Bibliography lists 4 sources.