Many people have varying opinions on parenting, usually motivated by deeply personal beliefs. These differing outlooks on raising children develops children themselves into different people with very specific values instilled in them by their parents. The impact of childhood on their development is undoubtedly substantial,...
In William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, the titular protagonist Caleb is purportedly writing to prove his innocence after his former master, Mr. Falkland, destroys his reputation. However, in the postscript, once Falkland has died after being convicted for his crimes, Caleb appears to regret his actions....
Although Junior in Salvage the Bones is only 10 years old, his character not only is complicated but also provides complexity to the rest of Ward’s novel. His birth resulted in the death of Mama, which leaves the rest of the family motherless and alone...
Have you ever tried stepping up, making a change in your own life? Everyone is scared of taking chances and making differences in their lives. Scrooge, the main character of Charles Dickenss novel, The Christmas Carol, is no different. Scrooge is an old man who...
Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace” is about a woman who longs for another life that seems a world away. She has a loving husband and a comfortable home but does not appreciate what she has because of her desire to be wealthy. The...
Infinity is a part of the chronicles of nick series and is the first installment. The book follows a boy named Nick Gautier. Nick is a boy who attends a private school, but he can only afford going because he is a scholarship student. Because...
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” exemplifies characters’ defects ironic to the title. Rather than highlighting goodness, O’Connor focuses on the bad traits the characters carry. An ideology of Christianity is that one must have a healthy mind, body, and soul, otherwise one may be lacking...
In the Death of a Salesman, Willy is portrayed as an interesting character who has dreams to be liked and make money on the basis of being liked. He was a good handyman and would have been happier working in Alaska with his brother. His...
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Caesar is a soon-to-be monarch who is murdered by a group called the Conspirators whose justification for their actions may be debated. Throughout the story, Brutus switches sides several times, starting as Caesar’s best friend, then going on to kill Caesar,...
In 1960, Harper Lee, an American novelist, wrote a novel that conquered the hearts and minds of millions of readers worldwide. To Kill a Mockingbird is a unique book due to its complexity, and Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is among the most interesting characters despite...
Alexander Pushkin’s novel, Eugene Onegin, gives the reader an excellent insight into his thoughts and beliefs regarding different types of human behavior. Throughout the novel Pushkin illustrates many of his own characteristics via the two main male figures, Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky, despite them...
Prompt Examples for the Essays on “Gilgamesh and Enkidu” The Dynamic Duo: How do Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s contrasting qualities contribute to the strength of their friendship? Explore the specific traits and behaviors that make Gilgamesh and Enkidu such a unique and complementary pair in the...
The creation of an intriguing plot must involve at least one major character whose own actions and external interactions dictate his or her development. External interactions between round characters, static characters, and environmental or supernatural activities, within the plot affect the decisions of the major...
Not like many other plays you have read or seen before, ‘night Mother written by Marsha Norman is a play which focuses on only two main characters. The entire play is spoken through the thoughts of a mother (Mama) and daughter (Jessie). Most of their...
William Shakespeare’s early writing aims to advance a philosophy of history. It asks how kingdoms are built and destroyed. The author approaches theater as a tool which might potentially elucidate key events by studying important players. For example, Julius Caesar forefronts that corruption which converts...
Guilt was a major recurring theme in the book “Fifth Business” by Robertson Davies. Reaction of certain characters to conflicts in the novel shows that the morals and values taught in childhood can reveal one’s true persona. Davies shown this theme at the start of...
‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play broadcasting the theme of responsibility throughout. The play is known as a morality play. This is when characters in the play personify a moral quality. In this instance, Priestly uses his characters to illustrate the importance of being responsible....
As I read the beginning of Emma Zunz I instantly felt the shock of the situation or disaster if you will. The first paragraph focused only on the fact that her father had suddenly died. The subtle hint by writing “by a certain fein o...
Sheila’s character changes massively throughout J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, often in a manner that registers increasing maturity. At first, Sheila is presented through stage directions as a ‘pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’; she is pictured as...
That the character Desdemona in Shakespeare’s play Othello holds on to her dignified manner until the very end, when she is murdered by her jealous husband, is indicative not only of her chaste mind, but also of her willful determination. Given that women of the...
What motivates Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Also known as Robin Goodfellow, the spirit Puck is based on legend contemporary to Shakespeare (OED). His origins are as curious as his character: the Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of Puck to “the pouke… commonly...
Nathaniel Hawthorne is notorious for portraying characters whose past largely affects who they are and how they act in the future, and The Blithedale Romance is no exception. The interesting thing about The Blithedale Romance is that much of the characters’ past is not known...
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield demonstrates his life struggles between being a “phony” and a good person. The story begins when Holden is watching the football game from the top of the hill at his high...
Though the reasons for William Shakespeare creating such sinister character as Iago is unknown, it can be seen as commentary on the inexplicable evil that exists in the world and how good and innocent men can fall victim to it. In Othello, Shakespeare creates a...
In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, she reflects back on her indigent and malnourished life. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Jeannette never had a real childhood and was forced to mature at a very young age. Constantly moving from city to city because...
Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is one of the most praised and important works of the modern American literature of the 20th and 21st century. This book which is set in the end of the 1940’s and beginning of 1950’s has as the...
William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice has a big focus on many issues that are still prevalent in our 21st century, marriage and relational commitment being one, but it is portrayed as convenience or for an individual’s profit, instead of love. In the play, love...
The concept of resiliency is a profound and well-administered trait in many literary pieces, amongst protagonists; one to be valued and admired by those surrounding them. Resilience is a trait often dealt to a character who undergoes a merciless amount of discrimination and terror throughout...
Mathilde Loisel of “The Necklace” and Dee of “Everyday Use” can easily be compared and contrasted, for they treat others very similarly, and the situations that they either put themselves in or, unfortunately, fall into are ironic. Although the stories take place in completely different...
Introduction: Tom Buchanan is an important figure throughout the course of The Great Gatsby, and is used as Fitzgerald’s symbolic representation of the moral and emotional decadence of the era. Background: Tom forms part of Fitzgerald’s social critique of the upper classes, and reflects the...