Essays and Research Papers on German Literature

A 6 page paper which compares and contrasts the characters, themes, and the pacts each protagonist makes. No additional sources are used.

A 3 page paper which examines how the author creates a linkage between beauty and death in the text. No additional sources are used.

This 9 page paper compares two classic literary works, "Faust" and "Madame Bovary" with regard to their philosophical undercurrents and the times in which they were written. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 4 page discussion of the blending that is occurring between man and machine. This paper reviews the work of Director David Cronenberg, author Donna Harraway, and philosopher Martin Heidegger. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 5 page paper discusses the relationship between Siddhartha and Govinda and argues that it is more than a traditional friendship; it is also a "calendar" of sorts, in which the presence of Govinda marks the stages in Siddhartha's development. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 10 page research paper/essay that contrasts and compares Ursula K. Le Guin's science fiction/fantasy The Land Hand of Darkness and Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf, which are two novels that share a basic orientation in that both narratives employ fantasy in order to illustrate the author's views on the tendency of human beings to view reality, ...

A 3 page essay that examines 2 views of WWI. History texts, such as Matthew Perry's Western Civilization: A Brief History, look at wars and major events from the broad perspective. Perry's analysis of the First World War, for example, focuses primarily upon the major decisions of the war and those who made them. This ...

A 4 page essay that discusses Wolfram von Eschenbach's thirteenth century German epic, in which there is an emphasis on a knight's honor that is directly associated with combat. In this epic, the hero, Parzival, is on a journey that takes him to the Holy Grail, but more importantly, he is also on a spiritual ...

This 4 page paper traces the similarities between Franz Kafka and his literary creation, Gregor Samsa, the poor man who woke one morning to find that he had been transformed into a gigantic insect. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page research paper/essay that discusses Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front, which offered the world one of the first realistic views of warfare. The writer also contrasts and compares wartime experience during World War I with the current US war in Iraq. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 3 page paper discusses Goethe’s first novel, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” with regard to the following questions: who is telling the story, to whom is it told, how much time passes, where the story is set, and how do specific words affect the reader’s understanding of the story. Bibliography lists 1 source.

This 6 page paper compares the Charles Perrault version of the fairy tale “Cinderella” with that of the Brothers Grimm, and what the differences might tell us about the two cultures. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

This 3 page paper discusses the way in which the film “All Quiet on the Western Front” illustrates some of the points Karl Marx made in “The Communist Manifesto.” Bibliography lists 2 sources.

This 4-page paper compares the plays "Major Barbara" and "Mother Courage," and discusses their negative commentary on society and its values. Bibliography lists 3 sources.`

A 5 page character study and summation of Goethe’s Faust. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This 5 page paper discusses the troubled relationship between fathers and sons in “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner; “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke; and “The Killings” by Andre Dubus. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 4 page essay that is a reaction paper to Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, which is set during the lifetime of the Buddha and involves the search of a young man for Nirvana (Enlightenment). The major themes of the novel, such as the nature of wisdom, the nature of enlightenment, the importance of love, ...

A 7 page paper which examines how psychologically traumatic WWI was on the characters in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This 5 page paper compares and contrasts these two works. Themes of freedom and modernity are duly noted. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 3 page paper reviews the book “Charlemagne” by Matthias Becher. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 6 page paper compares the 1950 Disney cartoon with other versions of the Cinderella story, and argues that the Disney Studios “sanitized” it to make it suitable for children. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 7 page paper considers the era in which Kafka's novel was written and how the work reflects this period in time. This paper also considers why Kafka chose the particular structure and language of the work relative to the progression of existential thinking. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A five page paper looking at Hermann Hesse's last and most provocative novel in terms of its treatment of intellectualism in the modern world. The paper centers on the motif of the Glass Bead Game, and argues that it is impossible to play the Game as an intellectual discipline because its truths can only be ...

A 4 page essay that discusses the meaning of Franz Kafka's The Trial. The writer argues that the case against Josef K. parallels Kafka's reactions to having tuberculosis. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 5 page paper which offers up an analysis of aspects of the novel Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. No additional sources cited.