What makes a hero? Most people say it involves honor, bravery, a willingness to take risks, and put others’ safety and well-being above your own. Can someone be a hero and a law-breaker at the same time? Depending on where you stand on a particular issue, a man involved can ...Read More
What makes a hero? Most people say it involves honor, bravery, a willingness to take risks, and put others’ safety and well-being above your own. Can someone be a hero and a law-breaker at the same time? Depending on where you stand on a particular issue, a man involved can be a terrorist or freedom fighter. Where do you stand? The open-ended nature of this question makes it fodder for any number of different essay angles. As the question of what makes a hero is extremely wide, choose an issue or individual to research and outline for an essay, develop the introduction, body and conclusion, and compare your notes against samples of papers before making a final draft.
The world of Stephen Crane's fiction is a cruel, lonely place. Man's environment shows no sympathy or concern for man; in the midst of a battle in The Red Badge of Courage "Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of...
In Ernest Hemingway’s work of literary brilliance, The Old Man and The Sea, Santiago finds himself pitted against a beauty of nature – a beast in the eyes of man. At first glance transcending the task of slaying the marlin is what makes Santiago a hero, but...
Thoreau writes that “This curious world we inhabit…is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.” This seems to be a philosophy that Hemingway’s character, Santiago, would adopt. Throughout the novella, “The Old Man and...
The first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey depict Telemachus’ transformation from an immature, frightened child into an intelligent adult as he comes to encompass qualities that the ancient Greeks sought in heroes: an adherence to the rules of xenia, a loyalty to one’s family,...
Milton dedicated his life to the war of good and evil; this is apparent in his epic poem “Paradise Lost,” but also in his political battles against the Royalists who abused the power of the monarchy and the Presbyterians who wanted to mandate religion. As...
Milton’s exploration of heroism in Paradise Lost has been the focus of much debate and controversy since the poem was first published. Critical attention has shifted through the years from Satanism to feminism, from the exultation of Adam to the Anti-Satanist redemption of the character...
In Chapter Twenty of Middlemarch, Dorothea Brooke realizes that she has made a grave mistake in marriage: “…for that new real future which was replacing the imaginary drew its material from the endless minutaiae by which her view of Mr. Casaubon and her wifely relation,...
The concept of creating heroes is as inherently human or at least historically prevalent as creating gods. The latter is motivated by a need to clarify the world, the former by a craving to establish a sort of unattainable glory or ideal to emulate. Either...
The novel In the The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, consists of a frame narrative told by the only Mirabal sister to survive the reign of Trujillo, Dede Mirabal. This story takes place in the Dominican Republic all the way back in 1938,...
The epic poem Beowulf highlights the role of God as a guiding protector who provides earthly wealth and well-being to the people of 6th century Denmark and Sweden. Beowulf and his people worship a pagan god who serves to keep humility and peace. The Anglo-Saxons...