Essays and Research Papers on American Literature

(5 pp) James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, is compared to Zora Neal Hurston's Mules and Men. Zora Neale Hurston and James Agee present similar external views of the rural south. Hurston has a more authentic internal or emotional presentation than Agee. It has been suggested that Hurston retained her own ...

A 5 page paper which considers the many symbols represented by the bull in the 1957 short story. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This 5 page paper analyzes the short story with an emphasis on the role of Sammy, the narrator. The theme of class consciousness is a focus of this paper that explores several aspects of this well known work. No bibliography.

A 6 page essay that examines Vonnegut's novel Galapagos. In this book, Vonnegut argues that the ultimate effect of humanity's sociological problems with technology, from weaponry to gene splicing, will be that nature will win in the long run by doing away with the root-source of the problem – humanity's large brain. The central ...

This 5 page paper contemplates Mark Twain's belief that the victory of a sound heart should supersede a deformed conscience. The concept is discussed. Examples from the work support the sentiment. No additional sources cited.

11 pages in length. When Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, it should have been no surprise that it brought forth much protest, outrage, and an overall feeling by most that the book should not be allowed to stay in print. This paper examines the perception of the book by both white and African ...

A 5 page paper which discusses the changes which occur in the characters of Henry Fleming and Wilson in Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage." No additional sources cited.

This 7 page paper provides an analysis of this popular story that takes place during the Civil War. Plot and setting are analyzed and several themes are explored. No additional sources cited.

(5 pp) The "Gates of Fire" or the "Hot Gates" was another name for the narrow rocky pass at Thermopylae. There, a hand-picked force of 300 Spartans and about 700 allies, were to delay the invading Persians for as long. The idea was that an elite force, willing to sacrifice their lives ...

(5 pp) Through four American narratives by Chopin, Hurston, Williams, and Hawthorne, we will get a "feel," for the perceived idea of marriage. The author will propose a different definition, as well as examine those given by these authors.

This 5 page paper explores Hemingway's theory of the tip of the iceberg in five short stories, focusing on Soldier's Home. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

(3 pp) " Zeferino drove down Folsom Street wondering why he had never noticed Raphael's Silver Cloud Cafe and Bar. He had driven down Folsom Street, down Seventeenth, and even down Shotwell on hundreds of occasions, investigating scores of cases. He conjured up a mental picture of the area as he waited at a ...

A 5 page paper which argues that Hester is the greatest sinner within the story "The Scarlet Letter." Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A five page paper which looks at the concept of heroism in A Lesson Before Dying, and the way in which it is exemplified by the characters of Jefferson and Wiggins, in relation to the socio-cultural values of the era in which the novel is set. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

4 pages in length. Describes the book written by Timothy Egan as he explored the Pacific Northwest when he went to scatter his father's ashes. This excellent paper gives some insight to the book and makes us realize that Egan had a passionate feel for the quickly vanishing Pacific Northwest.

This 5 page paper looks at the impact of African slavery in Africa by considering Basil Davidson's book 'The African Slave Trade'. The paper find merit with some arguments, but also disagree with other arguments from the book. The bibliography cites 1 source.

A 6 page essay that answers the question 'how should the reader view the nature of what happened to the unnamed heroine?' The writer argues that the story describes the protagonist's slow descent into madness, which, ironically, offers more freedom then sanity. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page discussion of the analogy presented by Rex L. Jones in the essay "Poker and the American Dream". Critiques the contention that they reason people play poker is a sort of pursuit of the American dream, the one big pay off which will make life worthwhile. Points out that because of ...

An 8 page paper which examines what message the 1899 novel has for women of the twenty-first century. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 5 page essay that summarizes Lan Cao's evocative novel of Vietnamese emigrants. Monkey Bridge tells the story of seventeen-year-old Mai Nyugen and her widowed mother, Thanh, who emigrated to the US from Vietnam. It relates what assimilation to American life has been like for both mother and daughter, as well as detailing the complicated ...

A 6 page discussion of the societal message which Kurt Vonnegut imparts in "Breakfast of Champions". Outlines key characters and events commenting on the message which rests there. Emphasizes that "Breakfast of Champions" is in many ways a satire on contemporary American society, a society which is largely an empty conceptual category. ...

(5 pp) The House on Mango Street (1989) is a deceptive work. It is a book of short stories-and sometimes not even full stories, but character sketches and vignettes-that add up, as Sandra Cisneros has written, "to tell one big story, each story contributing to the whole-like beads in a necklace." Conversations ...

A 5 page paper which discusses the use of realism and fantasy in George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House." The paper also discusses other works of Shaw's which present similar images bordering amidst realism and fantasy. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This 5 page report discusses Ernest Hemingway’s short stories and the ways in which he presents only the “tip of the iceberg” and the impact of the story lies beneath the surface, left to the imagination of the reader. It seems remarkably clear that Hemingway was determined, in virtually all of his writing, to demonstrate an alternative way of thinking ...

5 pages in length. In this comparison of the character of Lucy in Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage and Satan in John Milton's Paradise Lost, we find an interesting contrast between the characters. While Findley's work is more a parody than is that of Milton's, both hint of a juxtaposition of their true character. Bibliography lists ...