Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

A 7 page paper discussing the element of revenge within an extremely tightly woven story and how this story was a commentary by Poe on his disdain of the aristocracy and all that they stood for, as well as his personal belief in the cruelty of society. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This 6 page essay explores the deed of revenge in Poe's story. Montressor believes he has been endured many injuries at the hands of Fortunato but when Fortunato insults him, he cannot take that and he carefully plans revenge. There is only one moment in the last scene when he hesitates, a moment of remorse ...

A 5 page paper looking at Edgar Allan Poe's classic story in terms of its point of view. The paper analyzes Poe's reason for writing it in first person, and concludes that we are more likely to sympathize with the narrator, so the shock is all the greater when he turns out to be the ...

This 5 page paper discusses the suggestion of incest or deviant behavior in Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 short story, 'The Fall of the House of Usher.'

A 2 page essay on the single effect of deterioration in Poe's 'Fall of the House of Usher.' The writer argues that the house is actually personified-- and as it gradually collapses so does the family within. No Bibliography.

A 5 page paper analyzing the way Edgar allan poe's life experiences are reflected in two of his most famous stories, 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'Ligeia.' Bibliography lists four sources including Poe's short story collection.

A 5 page paper providing a psychological analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. The paper concludes that Poe wrote about a plague because the sheer number of beloved people who had died during his lifetime must have seemed like a plague to him. Bibliography lists five sources.

A 10 page paper discussing the idea that the source of Poe's morbid imagination may have been the deaths of so many of his female relatives and loved ones, and his inability to separate the concept of 'mothers' from 'brides.' Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 7 page paper examining the way three famous writers interpreted Edgar allan poe, with a special focus on his short story 'The Masque of the Red Death'. Critiques by William Butler Yeats, Robert Louis Stevenson, and H.P. Lovecraft are compared, contrasted, and analyzed. Four sources including the story itself.

10 pages in length. For nearly a century and a half, speculation has surrounded the untimely death of Edgar Allan Poe. But now there is new evidence suggesting he did not die drunk, but rather from another malady entirely. The writer shows us how Poe's life, full of sorrow and disappointment, may have ...

An 8 page paper examining Poe's short stories for evidence of the author's obsession with death. The paper begins by providing some background on Poe's life, then looks at ten stories, four in detail, in order to show that his fascination with the theme of death was endemic in his personality. A 1 page ...

This 5 page report discusses Edgar Allan Poe's 'detective' story with an eye to the attitudes of class consciousness and superiority demonstrated by the main character, C. Auguste Dupin, in relationship to the Prefect of the Parisian Police. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper on Sherwood Anderson's classic 1919 book of connected short stories. It discusses Anderson's philosophy of community and interpersonal relationships as developed in the book, and examines the motif of human isolation as it occurs in several of the short stories. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page essay on Sherwood Anderson's humorous short story The Egg and how it always got the best of his family from a failed chicken farm to an egg who refused to do tricks.

A 5 page paper on Upton Sinclair's landmark work. The paper argues that while Sinclair intended to write a polemic for socialism through the chronicle of a poor immigrant in Chicago's Packingtown, readers focused instead on the abuses of the meat-packing industry. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

3 pages in length. In Sherwood Anderson's The Egg, the father's failure to perform the egg trick ties together the very heart of the story, because it represents how everything in their lives proved traumatic, troublesome and ultimately doomed to failure. Significantly clear is how the father relates everything in his life to ...

3 pages in length. There is a larger mystery represented in Sherwood Anderson's The Egg than just what is on the surface. Significantly clear is the cycle of the egg as compared with the cycle of the narrator's meaningless life. The writer discusses how this endless cycle compares to that of the ...

A 4 page paper discussing the relationship of the text to the actual conditions in the Chicago industrial plants it describes.

A 15 page paper that provides an overview of the economics leading up to the turn of the century and the defining characteristics of the Chicago meatpacking industry as presented in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. The writer examines historical accuracy as it may or may not have been presented by Sinclair. Bibliography lists 8 additional ...

This 5 page paper is replete with references to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle but focuses on 1990s America. The paper provides a discussion concerning how immigrants are treated in America. The Amadou Diallo shooting is used as an example. No bibliography.

An 8 page research paper looking at the psychological aspects of the beast within us as represented by Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson. The writer posits that the double is related to the public and private sides of self and coping with those two sides determines psychological health. Bibliography lists 9 sources.

An 8 page paper contrasting Cervantes' Don Quixote with Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. The writer shows how one functions at the level of the spirit and the other at the level of the body, but both are necessary for every human being. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

A 4 page creative narrative that takes the perspective of Lengel in Updike's 'A & P' and reflects upon his internal struggles with the action in this short story. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper looking at the character of the store manager in John Updike's well-known story. The paper asserts that Updike's manager represents the entire narrow-minded attitude of this small New England town, and thus is metaphorically present through the entire story, even though he only appears in person at the end. Bibliography lists ...

A 5 page essay that discusses how this nineteenth century author's work revolved around the idea that through hard work and good character anyone could rise to the upper class in America and achieve the 'American Dream.' The writer shows how Ragged Dick, the original 'rags to riches' story, typified the formula that Alger ...