Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

This 7 page paper provides an analysis of Katherine Mansfield's short story 'A Doll's House' and evaluates the characters, plot, and the major themes of the story. No additional sources cited.

A 7 page paper which analyzes the symbolic meaning of the wall surrounding the protagonist's apartment in 1970s Bombay. The paper concludes that the wall is a metaphor for the protagonist's sheltered and cloistered life, which is changed abruptly as he embarks upon a potentially risky attempt to help a friend.

5 pages in length. The writer offers a brief overview of Wilbur Smith's novel about slaves and Pharaohs, power and enlightenment. No other sources cited.

A 5 page paper discussing the similarities between three short literary works; 'The Case for Torture,' by Michael Levin, 'The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS,' by Stephen J. Gould, and 'Thank God for the Atom Bomb,' by Paul Fussell. All three of these works discuss some aspect of humanity and life in general. While each one ...

A 5 page paper on the book by Nancy Farmer. This book is a young adult book but is highly entertaining and educational. The story takes place in Zimbabwe in the year 2194. While it is in the future and has many strange characters it is a book which is largely based on ancient African ...

5 pages in length. The writer gives an overview of David Guterson's novel about a murder trial that takes place in the Japanese village of San Piedro. While the reader is immediately drawn into the story line, the eloquence with which the author writes is yet another aspect to the attractiveness of this ...

Dalton Trumbo's anti-war novel about the reflections of Joe Bonham makes a significant statement about the nature of man and the struggles of war. This 3 page paper provides a brief overview of Trumbo's book and considers the significance within the societal view he provides. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper on the book, 'Daughter of Time,' by Jocelyn Fey. This paper discusses the meaning of the title. There are many ways to interpret this particular title, the most obvious and common interpretation, and the one predominantly discussed, is that of truth. The daughter of time has often been considered to mean ...

A 3 page essay discussing why the normally well-behaved protagonist of this autobiographical story suddenly threatened to stab her teacher. The story concludes that Bebe's outburst was caused by the absence of both her father and the entire presence of fatherliness in her life. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 5 page analysis of the protagonist of Alan Paton's 1948 novel Cry, the Beloved Country. The paper points out that Kumalo was already a faithful and devoted priest prior to the traumatic loss of his son, but his loss enabled him to learn new ways to put his faith into action. Bibliography lists one ...

2 pages in length. The writer offers a brief account of Caroline Janover's book about a young boy with a learning disorder. No additional sources cited.

A 6 page book report on Sheila Baxter's 'Still Raising Hell.' Baxter's book is a first hand look at poverty, obesity, and general prejudices aimed towards the less privileged, or the less beautiful, people. Baxter's main issue is that in dealing with this subject matter, it has only been the 'educated' that truly write about ...

An 8 page paper looking at the critical response to the fiction of Alice Adams. Citing the varying reactions of many critics to Adams' work, the paper suggests that Adams' depiction of the class to which most reviewers belong cut a little too close to the bone, which may account for her mixed reviews. Particular ...

A 7 page paper which examines the way masculinity is represented in Sam Shepard's play, True West. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 6 page paper provides an analysis of John Milton's Paradise Lost as it concerns the character of Satan. The paper answers the question as to whether or not Satan is portrayed as a hero. The answer is in the affirmative and support is provided for the position. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper analyzing 'Future Shock,' by Alvin Toffler. His book, though written in 1970, concerns many of the issues that are quite important today in terms of the changes civilization is experiencing, and has experienced. In addition to discussing Toffler's book, the subject of rural, and other, education is discussed in terms of ...

A 5 page paper which analyzes Tim O'Brien's 1994 novel, Lake of the Woods, to determine how events from John Wade's past made his future inevitable, whether his outcome was just or unjust as well as O'Brien's interpretation. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

10 pages in length. To presume that Ignatius J. Reilly was merely a figment of John Kennedy Toole's literary imagination is to say that this personified manifestation of humanity does not live around every corner of every town. Indeed, the Ignatius J. Reilly's of the world are alive and well and infiltrating every ...

A 5 page paper discussing the book 'Hope Leslie' by Catherine Maria Sedgwick. This is a novel set in early America and deals with the subject matter of the Native Americans and other prevalent issues of the day, in a completely different manner than perhaps any book has before. Sedgwick approaches her subject matter from ...

This 5 page report discusses the horrendous injustice of what Eugenia Ginzburg faced in terms other than her painful imprisonment. Instead, it examines the idea of betrayal of an individual by the system which she has chose to support her entire life. Bibliography lists only the book itself as a source.

A 5 page critical analysis of the book 'The Ox Bow Incident' by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. The book takes a bit of work to get involved in, starting out slowly with overly involved descriptions of characters, yet quickly becomes a truly excellent study of the condition known as mass hysteria, or mob mentality. The ...

Doris Lessing's story 'To Room Nineteen' is a story about the repression of the human spirit and seeming unending emptiness and personal alienation that come as a result of social, cultural and even ethnic divisions. Susan Rawling, Lessing's main character, vacillates between sanity and insanity, and her struggle to escape the accompanying alienation comes ...

A 5 page paper looking at this compelling story by Doris Lessing. The paper discusses the protagonist's difficulty in separating her emotional needs from her culture's expectations of women's roles. No additional sources.

A 12 page paper on Doris Lessing's 1973 novel, using it as a point of departure to discuss women's cultural roles in contemporary Western society. Insights from Turner's British Cultural Studies, An Introduction; Adam and Allan's Theorizing Culture: An Interdisciplinary Critique After Postmodernism; and John Storey's What is Cultural Studies: A Reader as well as ...

6 pages in length. To say that women have had to fight for their existence within the literary world would be a gross understatement. Indeed, the road to self-expression through the written word has been paved with patriarchal intolerance and characteristic skepticism. That women have been forced to prove their worthiness within ...