Essays on Literary Genres

2794

"My Papa’s Waltz"- Roethke’s Mixed Feelings

4 pages / 1827 words

The poem "My Papa’s Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a work rich in ambiguities, which are shown through the language used in the work as well as in the relationship between the speaker and his father. Readers can detect two sides to this poem. One...

Poetry

2795

Sterling’s Rift: Perception in The Yellow Birds

2 pages / 1105 words

In his novel The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers takes the reader into the mind of a soldier. This work evokes not only the physical duress of fatigue and fighting, but also the emotional stress and the long-lasting trauma that remains with a soldier even after...

Novel

2796

The Flaws of Prometheus and The Wrath of Zeus: Major Figures in Hesiod’s Theogony

2 pages / 1026 words

Zeus is certainly not a person to trifle with, especially when it comes to his sacred fire. The punishments dealt out by Zeus are probably anything but fair but are all very metaphorical and symbolic if the reader reads between the lines. Prometheus, creator of...

Poetry

2797

Love and Lessons in The Zahir

3 pages / 1449 words

The Zahir is a kind of novel that helps the reader deeply understand what life is and what it has to offer to the loved, unloved, and the people helplessly searching for love. Although the word ‘love’ is repeated numerous times, the central theme, ironically,...

Novel

2798

Zola’s Use of Setting in Therese Raquin

1 page / 386 words

Emile Zola uses the setting within the novel Therese Raquin in order to deepen the meaning in the text, specifically focusing on the reoccurring imprisonment versus freedom theme. Interestingly, Zola often uses his freedom with choice of setting to display Therese’s imprisonment within her life. ...

Naturalism Novel

2799

Baum’s Land of Oz: a Reflection of a Corrupt America

2 pages / 1098 words

Though regarded by many as a harmless children’s tale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was crafted by L. Frank Baum to convey an allegory of the Populist Party during the 1890s and to illustrate his concerns about the American government. Baum pinpointed the apparently negative...

Fairy Tale

2800

Sand as Representative of Community in Woman in The Dunes

3 pages / 1243 words

Sand in The Woman in the Dunes is an omnipresent force that cannot be easily escaped. In the novel, sand is defined as an aggregate of rock fragments, sometimes including loadstone, tinstone, and more rarely gold dust, with a diameter of 2 to 1/16mm (13)....

Novel

2801

The Search for Self-achievement: Abe’s Woman in The Dunes

3 pages / 1356 words

In The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe, the protagonist Niki Jumpei leaves his work and family behind in search of a new species of beetle. On his search, Niki finds himself trapped in a hole amongst the sand dunes, and he initially tries...

Novel

2802

Foreign Devils and Funny Foreigners: Approaching The Woman in White

5 pages / 2056 words

The Woman in White, with its many twists and cliffhangers, reflects the turmoil of Victorian England, which was becoming a multicultural society. London’s hosting of the 1851 World Fair, a lavish affair hosted in a massive “Crystal Palace”, reflected both this transformation and England’s pride...

Novel

2803

The Masculine and Feminine Identity in Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White

5 pages / 2133 words

Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White portrays the distinctly partitioned sexual spheres in the Victorian era, as is reflected through the weak and victimized female characters and the powerful and domineering male characters. The Victorian femininity is characterized through passivity, endurance and unassertive meekness, while...

Novel

2804

Gothic Conventions in ‘the Woman in Black’

2 pages / 1066 words

‘The Woman in Black’ by Susan Hill is often described as a ‘ghost story’ and it’s eerie and considerably terrifying narrative falls well within gothic tradition. In this essay I will explore the gothic conventions used and the effectiveness with which they are portrayed through...

Gothic Fiction

2805

Presence of Failure and Disappointment in The Whitsun Weddings

3 pages / 1509 words

‘A record of failure and disappointment’ is a reductive assessment of a poignant collection of poetry that explores the nature of existence and the conflicts, contrasts and contradictions of life. Larkin presents experience in a mixture of delicate tones (“your hands, tiny in all that...

Poetry

2806

The Windup Bird Chronicle: a Literature in Translation Analysis

3 pages / 1555 words

Haruki Murakami, Japanese author of The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, has many characters who all have influential aspects on the protagonist Toru Okada. But one particular character, May Kasahara, is one minor character who has a critical effect on the unfolding of the protagonist throughout...

Fiction

2807

Webster’s Tragic Vision in "The White Devil"

5 pages / 2139 words

John Webster’s The White Devil portrays an inherent brutality within the human condition, which, while humanity may strive to do good, ensures its ultimate destruction. He draws on genuine fears of the Jacobean era to attribute immorality to every aspect of human life, hinting at...

Drama Literature Review Tragedy

2808

The Prices Set by Society: Reading The Wife of Martin Guerre

2 pages / 770 words

Janet Lewis’ novella The Wife of Martin Guerre describes one woman’s quest for the truth, in the face of breaking her community’s traditional patriarchal and religious practices and beliefs. Set in a rigid 16th century society, which demands submissiveness and silence in exchange for stability,...

Novel

2809

The Role of Women Portrayed in The Novel "The Wild Geese"

3 pages / 1154 words

Ogai Mori, one of Japan’s most highly respected writers, was the author of the novel “The Wild Geese”. One of the primary characteristics of Mori’s work is its examination on problems that arise in people’s lives, specifically when their desires conflict with the demands made...

Novel

2810

Marxist Criticism of The Watsons Go to Birmingham

2 pages / 1023 words

Introduction Christopher Paul Curtis certainly makes a point to address class in his telling of the Watsons’ story, but beyond this, The Watsons Go to Birmingham carries more direct allusions to specifically Marxism. The novel chronicles a snapshot in the lives of the Watson family...

Fiction Marxist Criticism

2811

How Isolation Can Influence Rash Decisions: Character Analysis of Robert Billings

2 pages / 823 words

In the novel The Wave by Morton Rhue (the pen name for Todd Strasser), a history teacher conducts an experiment to understand Nazi Germany’s influence on its people. However, students turn against each other and terrorize those who are not part of The Wave. Robert...

Novel

2812

The Poetry of Charles Simic: Simplicity Sings

4 pages / 2039 words

Charles Simic’s poetry specializes in illustrating the profound within the mundane. Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1938 (Ford). He is of Serbian descent. Naturally, his early life was dominated by the Nazi period. While of much Simic’s work derives from this time (Ford),...

Poetry