Essays and Research Papers on Mixed & Comp. Literature

A 6 page paper on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as well as Le Morte D'arthur by Thomas Malory. The paper argues that both works are romances, although they reflect the tradition in different ways; the medieval romance genre is defined, and then both stories are analyzed to show how they fit the tradition. ...

A 5 page paper examining the way these three authors -- and their detectives -- purport to involve the reader in the solution of the crimes but in fact deflect his attention from the very clues he needs. Novels covered are Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, John Dickson Carr's The Emperor's Snuff Box, ...

A five page paper looking at the question of whether James Joyce’s Ulysses and Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber deserve to be considered obscene and vulgar. The paper concludes that Joyce’s use of vulgarity is a natural part of an otherwise life-affirming novel; Carter’s is merely intended to incite lust in the reader, and thus ...

A six page paper comparing these two writers of detective fiction in terms of the way they reflect their respective societies, and how this affects the moral statements made by their fiction in general. Particular works compared are Conan Doyle's 'Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' and Mosley's 'White Butterfly.' Bibliography lists four sources.

A seven page paper written in dialogue form, detailing an imaginary interview with these two seminal nineteenth-century feminist writers. The paper compares and contrasts their views of political and social theory on the one hand and female education on the other. Bibliography lists five sources.

A 6 page paper which compares and contrasts Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman," Frank O'Connor's short story, "First Communion," and Sylvia Plath's poem, "Metaphors" in terms of characters, tone, plot and style to reveal how each author appeals to the senses, emotions and intellect of the readers.

This five-page-paper presents the topic of alienation as depicted by D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and Doris Lessing. The way each author incorporated the topic in a book and the cause of the alienation are all discussed. Bibliography lists three sources.

A 6 page paper which compares and contrasts the protagonists' journeys, in John Cheever's short story, "The Swimmer" and in Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves," noting how appearances can sometimes be deceiving.

An 8 page paper which compares the title character in Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" with the heroine Nitta Sayuri in Arthur Golden's novel, "Memoirs of a Geisha" to consider that although the characters are from different cultures, live in different time periods, and had vastly different fates, their evolution and maturation ...

10 pages in length. The lure of the good life, as enhanced by drugs, prostitution and easy money, is a prominent Italian Mafia theme between John Grisham's The Client and Mario Puzo's The Godfather Part I. In the typical one-for-all, all-for-none mentality of a world gone bad, both of these literary projects casts a ...

A five page paper looking at these two works by Sophocles and Chinua Achebe, respectively, in terms of the similar characterization of their protagonists. The paper concludes that the fact that both heroes share a tragic flaw -- arrogance -- as well as a similar fate, makes us realize the extent to which the elements ...

5 pages in length. Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres" has long been compared to Shakespeare's "King Lear"; while there are many similarities to the classic play, one can readily argue that there are just as many departures from "King Lear," as well. One of the most pertinent departures addresses women and their place in ...

A 5 page review of the work of John Barth, one of the most notable fiction writers of the twentieth century. Discusses the societal need to classify and categorize such works. "Lost in the Funhouse" is a collection of short stories, essays, meditations, and jokes which stands in contrast to most contemporary approaches ...

7 pages. This sample essay paper focuses on two essays, one essay that compares a passage of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock with Milton's Paradise Lost. The second essay is a comparison of Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano with Oroonoko, by Aphra Behn. Both of these essays are ...

A 5 page paper which compares and contrasts the writing styles of Guy de Maupassant and Kate Chopin. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A five page look at fifteen female writers from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The paper concludes that female writers strained against social expectations; they were supposed to be one thing -- such as a slave girl, a spinster, a housewife -- but in their hearts they knew they were something else, and that ...

30 pages in length. The writer discusses various social and political points pertaining to The Tempest, The Prince, Utopia and Divina Commedia. Bibliography lists 13 sources.

This 3 page paper examines how and why the novel has been remained a successful form of literature. This paper asserts that the novel has remained such a powerful communication tool based upon its ability to criticize society. This paper refers to "Pride and Prejudice" and "Fathers and Sons" in support of its ...

A five page paper which looks at the different narrative techniques employed by Toni Morrison in Sula and William Faulkner in As I Lay Dying, showing how both are highly effective in advancing the development of character and plot. The writer also compares these two works to three others, showing the variation of narrative technique ...

During the early eighteenth century saw a dramatic expansion of commerce and trade. This 6 page paper considers how this trend reflected in the writing of the eighteenth century. The works of Daniel DeFoe Jonathan Swift George Lillo and Joseph Addison are quoted. The bibliography cites 6 sources.

An 8 page paper. Palace Walk, written by Naguib Mahfouz is compared and contrasted to The Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village, written by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea. Mahfouz places a fictitious family against the backdrop of the reality of Egypt's struggle for freedom from British rule. Fernea writes about her ...

Walter Benjamin, writing on Kafka and the concept of redemption in modernity, relates how redemption is premised on the past. Freud turns our attention to science as the only provable, explanatory form of redemption available, and that redemption resides in the psyche of the individual. He scoffs at the concept of a religious form of ...

An 11 page discussion of feminist preferences and content in science fiction. Contends that the creation of the literary genre of “feminist science fiction” is in reality an injustice to feminist as that genre makes the assumption that writing content and preference is determined by gender. This genre requires a literary work to ...

A 3 page essay that contrasts and compares two short stories. While the legacy of patriarchy has receded in Western industrialized countries, it remains entrenched in cultures. Bessie Head in "The Collector of Treasures" (writing from an African perspective) and Mahasweta Devi in "Dhowli" (writing about Indian culture) each show the devastation that patriarchal custom ...

The desire for change was Montaigne’s burden. “In this university,” Montaigne writes, “I suffer myself to be ignorantly and negligently led by the general law of the world . . . 'tis folly to hope it . . . . .” Under consideration, "Of Experience" and "Of Custom" to discuss Montaigne's writing and his beliefs. ...