Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

A 4 page look at two very modern stories -- Cheever's 'The Swimmer' and E.B. White's 'The Door' -- in terms of their role as exponents of existentialism. The paper concludes that both protagonists go insane because all the props holding up their self-concept and place in the world have been knocked away, and they ...

A 10 page research paper on Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery", and the issue of the majority rule vs. minority rights. The writer examines the story of a community which stones to death one of its members to insure crop fertility, and applies this to American majority rule and the individual, with an emphasis ...

A 5 page essay on her terrifying short story about human sacrifice in a small agricultural village. The writer addresses this issue and what it says about human societies as a whole giving examples from the past and present where similar thinking is taking place. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper examining Shirley Jackson's famous story in terms of how its ending is foreshadowed by the events in the book. The paper concludes that careful plotting and handling of symbolism leads us toward the shocking ending, but does not spoil it for us. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 7 page paper discussing a comparison of Margaret Fletcher in the play, I'm not Stupid and Mr. Summers in The Lottery in controlling their environments and others around them. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A basic, 5 page overview of author Shirley Jackson's life & works. Using several of her stories (including The Lottery) as examples, the writer discusses Jackson's frequent use of evil as a theme. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 5 page analysis of two short stories, John Updike's 'Wife-Wooing' and James Thurber's 'Unicorn in the Garden'. Both stories explore the effects of marriages in which the husband and the wives are living very much on two separate planes. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

5 pages in length. John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Araby share many of the same literary traits, because the former is essentially a retelling of the latter. The primary focus of the two stories revolves around a young man who is compelled to decipher the different between cruel reality and the ...

A 5 page essay that describes this intriguing psychological study by James. The paper argues that viewpoint affects the perception of reality as it is filtered through the needs and concepts of the characters' personalities. In this way, James has the narrator inadvertently contrasting his own shallow personality with that of the noble Miss Tita. ...

A 6 page discussion of characters and theme in Henry James' Daisy Miller. No Bibliography.

A 5 page paper on the novella by Henry James. The paper describes the social upheaval of the late nineteenth century as the moneyed middle class jostled against the aristocracy, and shows how, in this novella, Winterbourne never understood Daisy Miller because his class-consciousness got in the way. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 10 page research paper on the evil inherent throughout the novel's development. The writer highlights the progression by which the naiveté and psychological oblivion of the principle character leads to trapping her in a fraudulent life dominated by her husband. He's a man who wants and needs-but hates-women, who insists that the ...

A 9 page paper arguing that the ‘world' in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is but a microcosm of the real world. The paper analyzes the role and responsibilities of the hero, both in this novel and in real life. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

5 pages in length. When asking the question of whether the governess in Henry James' Turn Of The Screw was truly crazy or merely a victim of ghostly pranks, one has to establish a basis for such an answer. Did she display consistent acts of lunacy in her daily activities? Was she ...

5 pages in length. Henry James is extremely effective in conveying and manipulating point of view in his fictional ghost story The Turn of the Screw. By delving deep into the subconscious activity of his characters, James is able to evoke an eerie sense of obscurity that would otherwise be overlooked with any ...

A 5 page paper which examine the developmental stages of the group process and its changes as described in the book and film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Bibliography lists 2 sources.

4 pages in length. Paper presents an analytical discussion of characters in 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.' Particularly-covered are Nurse Ratched and Mr. Murphy. No Bibliography.

A 10 page research paper on the Chief, the narrator of Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The writer details application of Freudian, Lacanian, and Marxist theories to the character. Bibliography lists 16 sources.

A 5 page paper on Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Erving Goffman's book Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. The writer shows how both books are indictments of the institutionalization of the functionally mentally ill. Bibliography lists three sources.

5 pages in length. Literary analysis comparing and contrasting One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Although worlds apart, the two works have almost identical themes: freedom vs. control and the good of man. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

An analysis of Maggie, the lead character in this Stephen Crane's work, is contained in this 6 page paper. The writer argues that Maggie's story is a tragic one-- with the tragic element being due mostly to the societal era in which Maggie lived. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page look at this novel by Stephen Crane in terms of its analysis of the rights of poor women during the latter years of the nineteenth century. The paper notes that no Constitutional guarantees of fair treatment covered these women, and notes that women are similarly unprotected by the Constitution today. ...

An 8 page paper discussing the way Crane's highly imagistic portrayal of nature in this famous short story actually comes closer to the experience of the shipwrecked men than a realistic rendition would have done. Bibliography lists seven sources.

A 3 page analysis of the short story by Crane that depicts the struggle of four men to find land after the sinking of their ship. The writer argues that Crane's story is an excellent example of the 'realism' movement in writing that attempted to show life's complexity in an objective manner rather the idealizing ...

In 9 pages, the author discusses the psychological transformation of Henry Fleming in 'The Red Badge of Courage' by Stephen Crane. In 'The Red Badge of Courage' Stephen Crane the portrays a psychological transformation that takes place in the protagonist Henry Fleming. This transformation occurs over the period of the novel from its beginning ...