Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

A 6 page paper that provides an overview of the darker elements in the writings of Joyce Carol Oates. A number of her stories are used as examples to illustrate points being made. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page analysis of the book, Molokai by O.A. Bushnell. Set in the leper colony, Kalaupapa, in the late 19th century, the book is divided into three sections, each told from the perspective of that character. This writer proposes that the story's main theme is love and that the character, Malie, is positioned to ...

A 7 page paper analyzing Annie Dillard's book of personal essays. It concludes that it is Dillard's goal to find meaning in every aspect of her life, and to do this she seeks the answers to the deepest questions of existence through an all-encompassing vision of God. No sources except book.

This 5 page paper examines and analyzes Chinese-American author Gish Jen's 1996 novel, 'Mona in the Promise Land.'

In 5 pages, the writer discusses Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen. The incessant topic of the paper is the Asian American experience and how Jen uses emotion to portray this. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper that provides an overview of the basic themes in O'Connor's novel about the social and political issues relevant to the Irish-American community in Boston in the 1950's. This book provides a view that is both sympathetic and accurate, and documents the political corruption during this era. No additional sources cited.

This 5 page report discusses Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel 'The Last Hurrah' and looks at it in the context of how politics have changed in America over the past forty years. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper on Richard Preston's terrifying book about the Ebola virus. The paper concludes that Preston's actual agenda in writing this book is summed up in the last chapter: that the earth has come to regard humans as a parasite, and is using viral disease to exterminate us. No sources.

A 4 page comparison of the microbiological information presented in Richard Preston's book 'Hot Zone' and the movie 'Outbreak.' Concludes that while Preston's book presents valuable and factual information about such organisms as the Marburg Virus and the Ebola Virus, the movie presents only fictional information and is of little public educational value. Bibliography lists ...

A 5 page analysis of the concepts presented by Pirsig as they relate to what he calls 'dynamic quality.' No additional sources cited.

A 10 page paper on William Kennedy's 'Ironweed,' which describes the differences in the life experiences of the two women who run with Francis. Francis is a murderous ex-baseball player who returns to family after destroying Helen. Helen reconciles herself in death. This paper postulates that this story is another parochial vision ...

This 5 page report discusses Tillie Olsen's short story that examples a mother/daughter relationship and the difficulties faced by a single, impoverished mother who agonizes over her ability to not do enough for her daughter, Emily. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

6 pages in length. James Fenimore Cooper, the prolific author who has penned some of the most memorable literary works in American history, did not originally intend to be a writer; rather, the fact that he found his inherent ability to write was discovered quite by accident. His literary career began at the ...

A 3 page paper looking at James Fenimore Cooper's protagonist of The Last of the Mohicans in terms of the way he represents American values. The paper argues that while Natty's strong, silent, rugged type is still popular in western, romance and adventure fiction, he does not reflect the uncertainty of our own age. Bibliography ...

A 3 page essay that examines how Cooper uses the character of Uncas, the last of his tribe, to present Native Americans as a noble, admirable people and challenge the prejudicial attitudes of his day. The writer also argues that Cooper uses the character of Cora, who is of mixed heritage, to this purpose as ...

This 7 page research paper compares and contrasts the characters of Ellen Montgomery in Susan Bogert Warner's The Wide, Wide World (1852), and Clara Wieland in Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland (1798). Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 5 page essay on the turn-of-the-century novel by Theodore Dreiser. The writer looks at how Dreiser made the settings of Chicago and New York a dynamic part of the characterization and action of the novel. It is the writer's premise that Dreiser took less care with the characterization of his protagonist then he did ...

This 5 page report discusses the great novel by Theodore Dreiser and his development of the character of Clyde Griffiths. While some of critics have accused the character of 'Clyde' as being a misogynist or a sexist, this writer presents the argument that Clyde was neither. The only person Clyde looked down on ...

A 5 page paper that discusses sorcery and politics in Tim O'Brien's novel ‘In the Lake in the Woods.' This paper demonstrates the way John Wade utilized sorcery as a means to create the illusion of political credibility and also presents the way that sorcery is used as a part of the political process ...

A 6 page paper looking at these two works of war literature by, respectively, Tim O'Brien and Homer. The paper concludes that the way war is reported impacts the way readers come to regard not only the experience of war but their society as a whole. Bibliography lists three sources.

A 4 page essay on the science fiction novel by Mary Brown showing how the book portrays a young girl's rite of passage towards adulthood. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper discussing why April Sinclair's Coffee Will Make You Black should be a part of any college sophomore-level English class. No additional sources cited.

A 6 page paper looking at Tina Howe's 'Painting Churches'; Wallace Shawn's 'Aunt Dan and Lemon'; Eric Bogasian's 'Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll'; Maria Irene Fornes' 'The Danube;' and Craig Lucas' 'Prelude to a Kiss'. The paper shows how each of these plays display what it is that makes us human by revealing what is ...

A 9 page paper on William Gibson's science fiction novel. It argues that although Neuromancer's world is really not that much of a stretch technologically from the capabilities we now have, it is a dystopia because it warns us about the dangers of a society in which no one cares about anything but pleasure. No ...

A 5 page book report on how Whitley Strieber makes use of temporal refraction, the instability of the reality constant, and the space-time continuum in his "The Forbidden Zone." The paper discusses the fact that Strieber's intent for the science fiction novel was to present the characters actions in light of physical science rather than ...