Essays and Research Papers on German Literature

A 5 page essay that examines the significance of the 'host of the beast' and the 'host of the lamb' in Boll's masterpiece, 'Billiards at Half-Past Nine.' No additional sources cited.

This five-page-paper presents a discussion about novel , "Billiards At Half Past Nine," by HEINRICH BOLL , and the lack of compassion that the era portrayed. Bibliography lists one source.

This 5 page paper focuses on the Remarque novel and compares its descriptions with the reality of military conflicts today. Several quotes from All Quiet on the Western Front are included. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A five page paper looking at Remarque's novel in terms of the degree to which it functions as either a confession or an accusation. The paper concludes that -- despite the author's statement to the contrary -- it does function in both those ways; what saves it from being propaganda is the blunt realism ...

(5 pp) As an Austrian author, Bernhard was harassed and denounced at home while being honored abroad, largely because he dared to challenge Austrians to acknowledge who they had been. He complained about their vacillation with their own national identity. And ironically his own style of writing follows that unique ebb and ...

This is a five page paper which argues the thesis that this excellent story is more than a tale of intrigue or mystery set amidst the violence of Nazi Germany, but more of an autobiographical sketch penned by the author in order to release some of the demons experienced by himself and his family during these same times. Bibliography ...

A 5 page paper discussing classic works by these German authors. Both Heine and Grass portray a dark and nearly hopeless Germany in their works. Heine's Deutschland, a Winter's Tale is older than Grass' The Tin Drum by more than 100 years, a century in which Germany rose to command world attention twice. Grass portrays a ...

A 5 page paper which compares and contrast the protagonists' views on death and how they speak of their own dying in William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of King Lear" and Johann von Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther," concentrating on one key passage from each work, and closely analyzing how the emotions of each man ...

A 5 page paper which examines Erich-Maria Remarque's classic 1929 novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" by specifically considering how German soldiers understand the origins of the war, the impact of technology and industrialization on World War I, and how and why the romantic illusions about combat disintegrate, and why Paul Baumer and his comrades ...

This 5 page paper provides an analysis for Ingeborg Bachmann's short story "Word for Word." While the protagonist is the focus of the analysis, the paper also looks at mood, theme, plot and title. No additional sources cited.

7 pages in length. Many audiences consider Nora's departure in the play A Doll's House rather scandalous, viewing her as a villain or bad person because of her actions. Ibsen would have us judge Nora as a victim, protagonist and heroine rather than a villain. Understanding the play and delving deep into the characters portrayed therein, perhaps it ...

This 4 page paper asserts that the character of Felix Krull in Thomas Mann's Confessions of Felix Krull : Confidence Man is play acting as a means to hiding from his own insecurities. No additional sources are listed.

(5 pp) Incarceration of citizens has grown throughout the world, so that now, there are different types of principle-based systems that a country can choose to contain its felons. What we will do in this discussion is examine two different principles in the corrections system, one in Germany and the type generally ...

A five page paper looking at this play by Bertolt Brecht, in terms of its meaning and significance in the twentieth century theater. Topics discussed include modernism, expressionism, the anti-hero, and Epic Theater. Bibliography lists seven sources.

A 5 page essay that examines the perspective on reality taken by Remarque in discussing the horrors of war during WWI. The reader follows the perspective of the protagonist, Paul Baumer, as he goes from being an idealistic youth to a hardened, war-experienced realist, to finally arriving a naturalistic philosophy that offers some hope for ...

This 5 page paper examines the question of who really wrote the plays of Bertolt Brecht. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 5 page paper which identifies and describes the various stages of Siddhartha's spiritual development. No additional sources are used.

5 pages. There are those who would argue that Thomas Bernhard's work, Wittgenstein's Nephew, is an autobiography, or whether it is actually more than that. This paper will look at this argument by analyzing both the work of Thomas Bernhard as well as that of Wittgenstein, in order to prove that this is not just an autobiographical work ...

(5 pp.) Our challenge in this discussion is to examine the nature of "Gabriele" in Thomas Mann's novelle Tristan, We will look at the relationship of this woman to her art and her death. Are they related. Or was her death a mere coincidence? Or is there another possibility? Bibliography lists ...

A 7 page essay that examines Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front in regards to how this classic novel describes the horrors of World War I. The writer focuses on Remarque's account of front line life and survival. No additional sources cited.

A 5 pages essay that looks at several sources on how to analyze the character of Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, a narrative in which the protagonist is turned into a large bug. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 7 page report discusses the reality experienced by both Siddhartha and “underground man” are extreme awakenings of the truth of life and the relationship that exists between human beings as well as the ways in which individuals develop a sense of themselves and others. Both primary characters come to understand the extreme dichotomy that is presented in terms of human ...

A 5 page paper which examines the role of the story’s supporting characters, the office manager, the three boarders and the cleaning woman (charwoman). Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 5 page paper which argues that the character of K, in Franz Kafka's "The Trial," is a reflection of the author. Bibliography lists 5 additional sources.

A 5 page paper which examines the texts as a way of illustrating and defining literary modernism. Bibliography lists 12 sources.