Essays on Literary Genres

3269

Ginsberg’s Howl: a Barbaric Yawp

2 pages / 955 words

It is not a surprise that Allen Ginsberg aligned himself with Walt Whitman in his poem “Howl,” as the title page to his book of the same name reads, “Unscrew the locks from the doors! / Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” (Ginsberg 1)....

Poetry

3270

American Dystopia; American Spaces and Allen Ginsberg’s ‘howl’

5 pages / 2457 words

In his 1956 poem ‘Howl’ Allen Ginsberg portrays a vision of America that is simultaneously both apocalyptic and somewhat hopeful of the future. Ginsberg, one of the primary figures of the counterculture of Beat Writers during the 1940s and 50s, presents America as a land...

American Culture Poetry

3271

An Exploration of Light in August and All The Pretty Horses:

2 pages / 1044 words

In both novels, All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy and Light in August by William Faulkner, a central theme of heroism and the expectations placed on the two main characters and other’s surrounding them is presented as a pivotal point for the advancement of...

All the Pretty Horses Light In August Novel

3272

Wildness and Civilization in All The Pretty Horses

3 pages / 1483 words

The post-World War II boom that informs today’s world has no place in Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. The post-war optimism and suburban complacency common to other American works of this period does not figure into McCarthy’s novel, peopled as it is by characters...

All the Pretty Horses Novel

3273

The Manipulation of Western Tropes in All The Pretty Horses

3 pages / 1487 words

Without a doubt, Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses stays true to many common tropes within the Western genre. However; what makes this novel so unique is how McCarthy manipulates some of these important tropes. They are still present throughout the book, in fact, some...

All the Pretty Horses Novel Western Culture

3274

Maturing Jack Burden: The Responsibility of The Converted, Nihilistic Idealist

6 pages / 2952 words

In Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, the narrator, Jack Burden, is a fictionalized version of Warren himself. Jack expresses Warren’s views, which are initially nihilistic, cynical, and escapist. He attempts to distance himself from any darkness surrounding him and his actions, yet simultaneously...

Literature Review Novel

3275

Jack Burden's Experiences in All The King's Men

6 pages / 2721 words

Jack Burden is far more than a narrator describing the rise and fall of Willie Stark in Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. Intertwined in his description of The Boss’s political machinations and personal dilemmas is an account of his own thoughts and aspirations....

Literature Review Novel

3276

Jack Burden’s Journey of Self-destruction in All The King's Men

3 pages / 1384 words

Jack Burden, the chronicler and one of two possible protagonists of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, is anything but a static narrator. His character is quite possibly even more dynamic than that of Willie Stark, the novel’s man of the hour. Throughout the...

Literature Review Novel

3277

The Futility of Dreams in All The Pretty Horses

2 pages / 1122 words

Cormac McCarthy’s ‘All the Pretty Horses’ exposes the futility of clinging to “phantom” dreams which are ultimately “falling away” as a result of the inevitable progression of society. McCarthy emphasises that protagonist John Grady Cole is unable to achieve the idealistic life of an American...

All the Pretty Horses Novel

3278

Significance of The Title in All The Pretty Horses

4 pages / 1634 words

The title of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, All the Pretty Horses, reflects the significance and variance of roles that horses play in this coming-of-age story, as they relate to John Grady. The horse, which was the social foundation of Western American culture until the mid-20th century,...

All the Pretty Horses Novel

3279

Alias Grace Through a Feminist Lens

4 pages / 1844 words

Feminism is defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and the organized activities on behalf of women’s rights and interests” (Merriam-Webster). This includes liberation from sexual, religious, legal, and economic oppression as well as breaking free from rigid...

Novel Women’s Rights

3280

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: The Winding Road to Self-discovery in Robert Penn Warren’s All The King’s Men

3 pages / 1452 words

In Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, three major characters, Jack Burden, Willie Stark and Adam Stanton, embark on a whirlwind journey of self-discovery that leads to tragedy for some and optimistic enlightenment for others. Throughout the course of the novel, each learns something...

Novel

3281

Revisioning Childhood: Memory and Senses in Alice Munro’s "Walker Brothers Cowboy"

2 pages / 1082 words

Walker Brothers Cowboy, a short story written by Alice Munro, presents the pivotal (and perhaps formative) experience of a young, unnamed, female narrator. Munroe filters the girl’s visual and olfactory-enriched memories through the present tense thoughts of a markedly matured voice, creating a nostalgic effect...

Short Story

3282

"Identical Seeming Skins:" Identity and The Short Story in The Beggar Maid

5 pages / 2476 words

In an oft-cited review of Alice Munro’s fourth published collection, critic John Gardner asks a pertinent question regarding “whether The Beggar Maid is a collection of stories or a new kind of novel.” While this question is not only germane, but even imperative to interpretation...

Personal Identity Short Story

3283

Mrs. Fullerton’s Odd Dominos of Ambition

2 pages / 713 words

In the short story The Shining Houses by Alice Munro, Mary is a young inquisitive mother who explores the lives of her neighbours in the community. The story follows her day on the way to a child’s birthday party, the characters in the story all...

Ambition Short Story

3284

Alice Munro and The Social Roles of Women

3 pages / 1284 words

Most of Alice Munro’s major characters are women, whose social and interior lives are portrayed in great detail by their author. All of these women tend to give the reader an overview of what being a woman signifies in a society mostly ruled by men....

Short Story

3285

Sideshadowing and The Unconsummated in Alice Munro's "The Love of a Good Woman"

7 pages / 2974 words

A possibly dangerous intruder does not show up. A woman has dreams of a long dead man from her past. A child hopes to trick two teenage girls into thinking she is a ghost. A reminder that the king of France is bald. These are...

Short Story

3286

No One Likes to Be Alone: The Lonely, Independent Women of Alice Munro

3 pages / 1453 words

Along with stone tools, the Paleolithic Era brought on the division of labor according to gender. This division eventually created the inequality between men and women, which caused the endless battles women had to fight to regain their birth rights. Scant progress had been made...

Short Story

3287

The Importance of Secondary Characters in Ancient Greek Drama

3 pages / 1149 words

In Aeschylus’s Oresteia, the Chorus of Agamemnon and Cassandra share several common traits. The chorus, a large group made up of miscellaneous elders, would, as individuals, all function as secondary characters. Cumulatively these individuals create one main character that offers supplementary information and commentary to...

Character Drama