Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

A 3 page essay that responds to De Crevecoeur's famous essay. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur (1735-1813) wrote about his impressions and his pride in an infant country, a nation of immigrants, the newly formed United States of America. In his essay "What is an American," he offers the opinion that "...we are the ...

A paper which looks at the concept of womanhood in the antebellum South as portrayed in Faulkner's A Rose for Emily, with specific reference to the relationship between Miss Emily and the townspeople in general. Bibliography lists 1 source.

This 4 page paper examines sections 4 and 5 of the book "The Americans: The National Experience" by Daniel Boorstin. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 3 page essay that discusses 2 short stories. George Martin, a science fiction writer, expressed in an interview (Locus, December 2005, 69) that he felt that too often science fiction and fantasy fiction paints characters as being black-and-white and, furthermore, that to humanize them with shades of gray requires multiple viewpoints on a conflict. ...

This 3 page paper discusses Tom Dyja's book "Play for a Kingdom." Bibliography lists 1 source.

This 3 page paper argues that Janie achieves freedom and self-knowledge in the course of her travels across Florida. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 6 page discussion of Kim Ronyoung's "Clay Walls". This paper illustrates the differences between Haesu and Faye and contends that this difference defines the Korean American experience. No additional sources are listed.

A 3 page paper which examines the absence of the male/father figure for much of “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. No additional sources cited.

A paper which compares the two novels, with regard to specific themes such as the role of the hero, environmental pressures on the characters, and the nature of emotional/romantic relationships as portrayed in the two texts. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 10 page essay that examines four short stories by Flannery O'Connor: A Good Man is Hard to Find; Good Country People; Greenleaf and Revelation. The writer argues that each of these narratives shows how O'Connor was fascinated by the ways in which grace, that is, redemptive understanding of basic flaws, can come to individuals ...

A 4 page paper which summarizes the novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson. No additional sources cited.

A 4 page paper which examines the positive sides of materialism and what it can offer as seen through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.” Bibliography lists 8 additional sources.

A 3 page paper which examines how McCourt’s harrowing childhood memoir illustrates that bad things happen for a reason. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 3 page paper which examines why Emily murdered Homer in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” No additional sources cited.

A 3 page paper which compares the F. Scott Fitzgerald characters of Daisy from “The Great Gatsby” and Bernice from “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.” No additional sources cited.

A 4 page review of “Out of This Furnace” by Thomas Bell. No additional sources cited.

A 4 page review/summary of “The War of the Roses” by Warren Adler. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page paper which examines the environmental conditions of Glen Canyon Dam before and after its mention in the book “the Moneky Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A paper which considers issues of humanism and grace with regard to the characters of the grandmother and the Misfit in O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find". Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 9 page paper that is composed of 3 entirely separate shorter paper on specific Italian-American authors. These papers are 3 pages in length and have at least 2 sources in their bibliographies. The authors and works are: Giose Rimanelli's Benedetta in Guysterland; Richard Vetere's Gangster Apparel; and Anthony Valerio's Lefty and the Button Men ...

A 5 page book review that focuses on a specific aspect of thematic content. Ruth Ozeki's novel All Over Creation offers a complex web of thematic tension, with relationships and plot twists pivoting around the issue of knowledge/ignorance and how this informs the lives of the book's characters. This thematic tension works on multiple levels ...

A 5 page paper which examines the theme of money, and how it affects people and society, as seen in the novel “The Maltese Falcon” by Hammett and the film of the same name. Bibliography lists 5 additional sources.

A 7 page paper which relates the events of the Great Depression to the Joads, considering specific literary elements (point-of-view, characterization, and symbolism) that reveal and reinforce the novel’s themes. Bibliography lists 8 sources. TGgdgrapes.rtf

A 5 page paper that addresses aspect of James Welch's novel Fools Crow. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a way of life was coming to a close for North America's Native American population. The imposition of European culture and the massive migration of whites westward rationalized the conquest of the continent. James ...

This 4 page paper discusses discusses the book The Long Goodbye and its film adaptation by Robert Altman. Bibliography lists 3 source.